311's SA Martinez says the rockers really lucked out when it came to casting the band's annual Unity Tour, which comes to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater this weekend.
"Creating the right package to take on tour in a lot of cases will make or break a tour," says Martinez, who handles turntables and vocals for 311. "Either it works or it doesn't. It really has to do with luck."
The tour's lineup has previously included Ziggy Marley, Offspring, Snoop Dogg and the Wailers. Touring with 311 this summer is Sublime with Rome (lead singer Rome Ramirez).
"A lot of bands like to tour with 311 because we have a good reputation of working together," Martinez says. "There's not a bad vibe at all, and that's really important. When you go out on tour, you want people who will be cool."
Martinez says he is a longtime Sublime fan. The California band stopped touring for years after lead singer Bradley Nowell died of a drug overdose in 1996. It reformed in 2009 with Ramirez.
"In the early days, we played some club shows with them, so it's awesome now to do a proper tour with them now after they've come back together," Martinez says. "The guy in the spot now is doing a really good job, though those are very big shows to fill."
311 is touring in support of its new "Universal Pulse" album, out this month. The first hit off the album is "Sunset in July," and Martinez says true 311 fans will recognize the song's signature 311 groove and tempo.
"The song has a shuffle vibe," he says. "You don't hear that in modern rock anymore. It's everything that 311 is. We're not sure we really had that on the last record."
311 fans will also notice that "Universal Pulse" is the shortest album in the band's history, Martinez says.
"When you look at a band's discography for a band that's been around for a while, you can pull out records with handfuls of songs that should not have been on the album," he says. "You can't make that case here. Every song belongs, and every song is strong."
"Universal Pulse" is the band's first release on its own imprint, something the band members felt they had to do for business purposes.
"We have too much history to just give it away, so the natural step was to create an imprint, do it ourselves, take back what we've worked for."
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