After more than two decades of shaping their reggae-infused rock sound and amassing a faithful fan base, when 311 headed to the studio to record this year’s “Universal Pulse” album, their approach was clear. 311 fans should hear what they love about the band in their new music as easily as they have with their earlier work.
“The focus, more and more, is just nurturing the audience that we already have and not necessarily bucking the trends—it’s more just kind of ignoring them,” said bassist Aaron “P-Nut” Wills, speaking from Los Angeles. “Playing more and more from our heart, trying to just squeeze out what we think our people want to hear from us, not this unseen audience of shadow figures that may or may not appreciate what we do.
“Why augment our creativity to fit into someone else’s sensibilities? We would rather just rock our people and have it spread word-of-mouth from them.”
After forming in 1988, 311’s recorded legacy began with 1990’s indie-label “Dammit!” album. Kicking off a string of gold or platinum albums with ’93’s “Music,” they hit a commercial peak with ’95’s “311,” which spawned radio favorites “Down” and “All Mixed Up.” With each album from that point having reached the Billboard top 10, P-Nut considers what he feels has led to the band maintaining their strong following over the years.
“It definitely starts, and probably ends, with the philosophies within, how people can connect with our solving-problems attitude,” the bassist mused. “It’s easier to smile than make things more difficult for yourself. If you’re going to put effort into both you might as well put the positive spin on it. In that way we’re not for everybody.
“As we were growing up and we were hearing all this angst music that we loved, as we were putting the band together it was like, ‘Wow, that’s not really us. We’re enjoying this. We’re having fun being alive,’ and we just kept with that attitude. It’s easier for us to see the light instead of digging to the dark.”
The biennial event known as 311 Day is coming up in 2012. Starting in 2000, the band began celebrating a holiday of their own every other March 11, with 311 playing for hours to crowds of thousands. The shows were initially staged in New Orleans, but due to scheduling issues the site has since moved to Las Vegas. While enthusiastic about the event and what Vegas has to offer, P-Nut can’t help but be wistful when recalling its Southern origin.
“The bars on Bourbon Street, without prompting from anybody—band, management, fans or otherwise—would start playing our music the night before the show and name drinks after songs. It was made for New Orleans, and the fact that we can’t do it there is a real kick in the balls, if you will.”
Hank3 (or Hank Williams III) recently told this writer that country music is one field where fans are more likely to grow old with the artists they care about. While their music falls well outside of that genre, P-Nut still easily sees a parallel with 311 and their fans.
“We definitely continue to hold our audiences well, as well as (311) constantly refreshing it, so we’re getting the best of both worlds by dumb luck and the nature of the band. It’s cool to see it passed from generation to generation—older fans bringing their kids, those kids playing songs that their parents hadn’t heard. It’s pretty amazing, and it’s really nice to be able to pay attention to the whole thing through Twitter and our website and the Internet.”
http://www2.richmond.com/entertainment/2011/nov/30/311-national-ar-1499340/
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