Random Notes

311
Capricorn
Not all Funk Metal sucks, as 311 are out to prove. An Omaha-raised, LA-based quintet with gnarly grooves galore, 311's third, self-titled effort is a believable pastiche of slick chops, Pop panache and Metal mayhem which seems to include just a little bit for every listener. Thanks to yet another outstanding effort by producer Ron St. Germain - an NYC dancefloor mixologist best known in the Rock world for his work with Bad Brains, Living Colour, and Soundgarden- 311 is phat without trying to disown their White roots. Lead vocalist Nick Hexum bumps 'n grinds his way through fourteen tracks that even the Red Hot Chili Peppers wouldn't wince over. Highlights of this pleasant preformance include "Guns (Are for Pussies)" and "Misdirected Hostility," but you'll have to decide for yourself. Don't call 911, 311 is on it's way.
Kyra Burton

Backstage With 311

After making his acquaintances in Los Angeles last spring, I find 311' s pink-haired front man, Nick Hexum, backstage at an east coast date waiting for the delivery of a bottle of hair die that will give him his new look. His timid body language and soft-spoken voice contrast with the powerful live performances his fans have come to now and love.

The recent success of "Don't Stay" has introduced 311 to the modern rock radio scene, as well as MTV. But this is no great importance to Nick. A self-proclaimed "non-media darling," the band has escalated through the underground music scene by "putting on good shows, writing good songs," and word of mouth.

Nick adds: "If we make our songs for ourselves and for our hardcore fans and radio and MTV happens to like it . . . that's fine. It just matter what your motivation, you intention, is to start with."

Hexum started a band with guitarist Tim Mahoney and drummer Chad Sexton in 1988. The trio added bassist P-nut in 1990, and got their first break opening for Fugazi in Omaha that spring. When back-up vocalist SA Martinez joined a year later, the circle was complete. Like most young bands, 311 headed for L.A. in 1992 and signed with Capricorn Records a couple of months later.

At first listen, you might group 311 in with other white rap/rock acts such as Rage Against the Machine or the Beastie Boys. But upon closer inspection, an array of musical influences become evident. By sweeping the spectrum with elements of funk, reggae, hip-hop, and melodic jazz, 311 is carving their own musical niche. The unique musical voice remains in tact thoughout their new release, 311, despite the stylistic roller coaster that carries you from track to track. From the heavy guitar driven "Hive," to the reggae inspired "Purpose," 311 continuously break normal musical barriers by changing styles seemingly with every verse. Hexum explains that "...311 is just a product of what we like. Hip-hop hard rock...it seems if you listen to both, then why not play both. Reggae, jazz, whatever we listen to is what we come out playing."

In addiction to pioneering sound, 311's intelligent lyrics often concern themselves with important themes. A close examination will reveal songs expressing views on everything from gang violence to racial harmony to morality and drug abuse. Lyrics from "Misdirected Hostility" indicate that Hexum speaks from personal experience.

Marijuana has also been a constant pulse in 311's work, from "My Stoney Baby" on their debut, Music, to "Offbeat Bare Ass" on their follow up, Grassroots. And this past year, 311 joined forces with N.O.R.M.L proponents Cypress Hill and the Black Crowes, among others, to record the CD, Hempilation, which, not so coincidentally was released by Capricorn. The past four years for have been almost dream-like for these Omaha natives. And the most interesting part is that they did it all the old-school; not through imitating what they heard on the radio, not through walking the well-worn road of power-pop-punk, but through innovative sounds and a grueling tour schedule. Often playing five shows a week for five months straight, 311 continues to realize the importance of remembering who they are. You will find no pretension, or cockiness from the member of this band. They are just five white guys from Omaha, Nebraska who are doing what they love, and being successful at it.

311, Phunk Junkeez, 1000 Mona Lisas (Los Angles View)

It's easy to see why 311 sell out all-ages clubs every time they hit Los Angles. These five Omaha, Neb. transplants deliver on their promise to create a percolation metal-rap-funk fusion for their hometown every time. At last Friday's show, all the basic elements of a great 311 preformance were there: crunchy power-guitar churns; slap-and-pop bass lines; psychadelic-inflected bridges; and, of couse, the desperate give and take between romance and wrath in singer/rappers Nicholas Hexum's and Count SA's voices.

The set was heavily seasoned with spirited cuts from their newest cd, the self-titled 311, which was what the crowd wanted to hear. Although the group's 1993 debut Music was a much hookier work, the quintet has now blossomed artistically into a band with as broad a creative base as funkmeisters Fishbone. And Friday's faithful crowd seemed ready for just about any style 311 wanted to throw around.

311 (Rational Alternative Digital)

311 recently released their third album in three years. And continued on what seems to be their constant tour. The new album finds a slicker sounding 311. But don't think they've gotten weak-sounding, their self-titled album is also very hard hitting. When they played last week, they completely immersed the crowd in their fusion of funk, reggae, rap, and metal for two and half hours. I had a chance to speak to P-Nut, the bassist, before the show and here's an overview of our conversation.

---

RAD

What are some of your influences, people that have inspired your bass playing?

P-NUT:

I listened to a lot of Steve Harris from Iron Maiden, Cliff Burton from Metallica when I was growing up. When I started playing slap, I was listening to Mark Kahn and Flea, and Stanley Clark, the originator. Just lots of different music, lots of different styles. I'd put on an NWA album and make up bass lines over it to get ideas, just 'cuz I liked the tempo. I didn't have a drum machine to give me tempos. That's probably why I enjoy rap so much.

RAD

Did you start off as a band with an idea of how you wanted to sound or did it just sort of happen?

P-NUT:

Not really, we always wanted to put, like, heavy guitars with reggae or dance hall, or something jazzy. We always wanted to make stuff like that and just have rap in the sound. Just tough music.

RAD

You've pulled it off really well.

P-NUT:

Thanks, we've been workin' on it for a long time, I'm really pleased with it.

RAD

How do you feel about the new album?

P-NUT:

I like the new album better than all of the others.

RAD

I'm still partial to "Grassroots," but I still need to give the new one time to grow on me.

P-NUT:

Yeah, it'll grow in. It's just a little bit different. We've changed a little bit. We got a little wider, we wanted to do more reggae. Plus it sounds so good!

RAD

Yeah, it hits hard.

P-NUT:

It's got a fuller sound, it sounds great. I wanna remix "Grassroots" and make it sound better.

RAD

Did you switch producers?

P-NUT:

Hell yeah! The producer we have now is so much better!

RAD

When did you move out to California?

P-NUT:

In the very beginning of '92, We moved out and within 6 months we got signed and within three months we were in the studio.

RAD

What made you decide to sign with Capricorn?

P-NUT:

It was the only deal. We really wanted to sign, and we liked the idea of being on a smaller label. They told us they wouldn't hassle us about the music that we make. They said they'd keep us out on the road and that's exactly what we wanted to hear so we decided to go with them.

RAD

You have pretty much toured constantly for the last three years. Have you recorded your albums on the road or how have you found time to record them?

P-NUT:

We usually take time off in the winter to do another album. We're gonna take two months off this year. Maybe we'll work on putting together a live album from the tapes that we've made from the shows, and then just keep touring.

RAD

Three great albums in three years is quite an accomplishment!

P-NUT:

I love that! I think it's fantastic!

RAD

Are you gonna slow down after the live album?

P-NUT:

Maybe a little after this one. Not too much, that's for sure! We'll always be pumpin' out tons of music. We can't help it.

RAD

Who writes your stuff? Is it a collective process?

P-NUT:

The vocalists write all of their lyrics, but as far as the music it's pretty collective.

RAD

When did you shave your dreads off?

P-NUT:

um.. In February, when my girlfriend left me. I gave them to her. She put them on a painting. It's really cool.

RAD

You have been playing with ska bands lately, like No Doubt and the Voodoo Glow Skulls. Are you guys into ska?

P-NUT:

I love playing with ska bands! Nick has got a sticker on his guitar speaker cabinet that says "Support your local ska band." We support every thing that's good.

RAD

How did the song for the "Hempilation" compilation come about?

P-NUT:

That's one of our favorite songs off of HR's "I Love" album. That's such a great album--a great tune to smoke marijuana to! We always wanted to do, like, a Bad Brains song, or something of that flavor. It's strictly reggae up until the end when we put our own part on to it. I thought that song deserved more credit than it's ever gotten because no one's ever heard of it.

RAD

I have a lyrical question and maybe you can answer it. What's the "Naz?"

P-NUT:

The "Naz"--that's taken from a guy named Lord Buckley who is our guitar tech's grandfather. He was like a Vaudeville kind of speaker. He was right before the whole beatnik thing where people would just get up and tell stories. And one of his most famous ones was called the Naz. It's about Jesus of Nazareth. I love that song!

RAD

Yeah, either that one or "Don't Let Me Down" are my favorites off of the new album. I noticed you have an web page and an e-mail address. Are you all into the computer thing?

P-NUT:

Well, we don't get to do it that much. My mom's the one who runs our web site. So at least if I'm not doing it, someone that created me is. She is always doing it. She's addicted to that stuff .

RAD

I thought your web site was really cool.

P-NUT:

We did an interactive interview when we were in the studio. By the time we got done, it was like 30 minutes long. We had people from all over--England and America.

RAD

I've noticed a prominent theme to your albums. Like "Grassroots" has more of a hometown theme, whereas the new album has sort of a "how messed up society is" type theme.

P-NUT:

We're not the band that bitches very much.

RAD

No, but I think there's a good, positive, take-a-look-at-life type attitude to it.

P-NUT:

I think it comes off in a positive way. If it doesn't, you should look at it again and see that it does.

RAD

"Guns are for pussies", I think, is an example of what I'm trying to talk about.

P-NUT:

I like to think I had a lot of influence on those lyrics. Me and Nick wanted to write those lyrics because it's just so factual. I'm always bitching about my friends who pack guns. It sucks--there is so much fear that isn't necessary.

RAD

A few people have tried to pass you off as Rage Against The Machine rip-offs. Any one who listens to your stuff knows that's not true, but I wanted to give you a chance to respond to that.

P-NUT:

I'd say that if you listen to our music with no vocals, some of our songs have the same sort of energy from it. It's rap and metal and just raw, and tons of bands do it, but not that many do it well. So being classed with Rage in that level doesn't bother me whatsoever. But if you listen to the albums side-by-side, you're gonna feel good after listening to our albums, and you're gonna feel pissed after listening to their album. And we're very proud of that. We don't have anything against those guys. I don't really get into the screaming part the whole "you're gonna burn" over and over again. I got over it really fast. I listened to that album a couple of times. I don't get Zach. I don't like his attitude I think he should get over it. Just cross that barrier and enjoy life for what it is instead of just poking at it for so many things. It's just so much better to feel good. Being classed with them is funny sometimes, but people have to have a reference to something.

311's punk-reggae mix is funky fun (The Daily Weekend)

311's punk-reggae mix is funky fun
By Kari Jones
Daily Weekend editor
"Hey, sorry I called (45 minutes) late, but we were just, uh, goofing around on the bus, you know," 311 lead singer Nicholas Hexum apologized in a mellow, barely audible voice in an interview last week. It was difficult to believe that the demure Hexum on the phone was the same man who jumps on stage every night, grabs the mic and belts out lyrics like "Don't you know that the devil is in me / and God, she is too!" Perhaps it was a piece of Nebraska surfacing in the Omaha raised, Los Angeles based band.
Wherever it came from, Hexum's dual nature was mirrored by the crowd at 311's sold out St. Andrew's show last Friday. It's rare to see a band who can whip the fans into a kicking, clawing, moshing frenzy, and then bring them down to a peaceful grooving level, all within the same song. But leave it to 311 to do it with their unique blend of punk, reggae and every other interesting sound under the sun.
Not surprisingly, Hexum cited a wide variety of bands from Cole Porter to DeLaSoul as his personal musical influences. "Bob Marley really affected my life," he stressed.
The sheer mass of fans at Friday's show reflects an upswing in the band's popularity. SA Martinez (co-vocalist and master of turn-tables) even paused toward the end of the show to thank the crowd for showing up. "Yeah, we played downstairs (at St. Andrews) last year to like six people, so it's cool to see so many people here now," he said.
311's growth in popularity may have happened recently, but fans seemed equally familiar with the band's older material as they were with newer songs. "Nix Hex" and "Hydroponic" (from 1993's "Music") drew just as many screams, applause and increases in crowd surfing as "Don't Stay Home" and "Hive" (from their latest, self-titled release "311.")
Perhaps, as Hexum pointed out, that's because the new album is 311 at their explosive, intense best. "We always said one day when we felt like we had totally kicked ass, we would call (our album) `311' because it would be the best representation of who we are," Hexum explained. And if the album never gets consistent radio play, that's just fine with him.
"We model ourselves after bands with huge, live followings like Pantera and Phish," said Hexum. "Building through the underground... is a longer, harder road, but it can be done."
The band has been on a long, hard road of touring hell since May and plans to continue on until Christmas, take a break, and then head right back out again. Since Hexum has already hinted at the afore-mentioned "goofing" on the bus, one might wonder what touring with the band is really like. Words of advice: When you ask a band like 311 what the craziest thing that ever happened to them on tour was, be prepared for the obscure.
"I guess the craziest thing was driving down the road in an RV that was completely on fire and ready to explode," Hexum said. "It was a huge inferno like something out of Die Hard 3. We lost all of our equipment."
There is some confusion as to how the fire started (goofing gone awry?), but the point is that the band pulled themselves up from that flaming low point, got some new equipment, and kept on truckin.' They even have a new video for "Don't Stay Home," that has appeared on MTV exactly twice, according to Hexum.
"It's basically a crapshoot whether it gets played or not," he explained. Hexum didn't seem overly concerned about video hype, however, and once again praised the off-beat road to popularity.
"We're just grateful that (our popularity) happened from the fans," he said. He described the fans as "stoners, skaters," and then lovingly added "people like us." In the future, 311 plans to stay loyal to their following and hit the road as often as possible. "We're just gonna keep touring and building through the underground," Hexum said.
And if a little "goofing" occurs on that underground road, with 311's fun, funky, altogether joyous sound ... it can easily be forgiven.

Baltimore Sun, 1995

After a couple of album and a lot of touring, the average band would be overjoyed to hear that its latest album is beginning to catch on with radio. But singer and guitarist Nick Hexum of 311, a band founded in Omaha and now based in the Los Angeles area, says radio play is nice but not something he thinks about much.

"Videos and radio and all that, that's something that's out of our hands," he said from a tour stop in Asbury Park, N.J. "So we just focus on putting on a really good live show, because radio and video isn't where the roots of music are.

What we're doing is a continum of the most basic form of communication, going all the way back to, like, an African drum circle, where a few people banged on drums and the other people danced. That is what has been going on for thousands and thousands of years, and we're just one tiny piece of the time line."

Even so, Hexum said he has been somewhat surprised at the warm response "311" has received from radio programmers. "Alternative radio says that we're too rap or too funky, and R&B-rap radio says that we're too rock," he said. "It's like we're sitting right in between many formats. But it's more rewarding in the long run to be in the noman's-land area, because I guess we're paving our own path in some ways."

311 Drop the 411 (Daily Wildcat, 1995)‏

311 is focused on fusion of punk sounds and hip-hop vocals. The band appeared recently at the Party Gardens in Phoenix to promote their newly released, self titled third album. Mutato Reporter Eben Gering discussed the band's views on performance and sound with guitarist Tim Mahoney.

Mutato: How has your audience changed since you first toured?

311: Well, it has changed in that it has grown. I see a lot of the same people at the shows now that I saw when we first started playing. We've kept a lot of fans over the years and found new ones. It's been a steady, slow growth. I see people with lots of different concert T-shirts at the shows. It seems like our fans are people who grew up listening to punk or reggae and also enjoy hip-hop. Probably some Seattle fans (laughs).

Mutato: Have MTV and increaded airplay altered your objectives as a band?

311: We just write the songs that are natural and true to us. We released and album of songs we're proud of. If a radio station wants to play one of our songs, then that's cool, because we want to try and touch people with our music. No ammount of commercial success is ever going to change the way we write music.

Mutato: Did you think you'd get as big as you are at the start?

311: We've surpassed many of our dreams already. We've just been working for the last five years and try to go with the flow and keep on keepin' on (laughs).

Mutato: The last album seemed mellower than your first two. Does this reflect a permanent shift in stylistic direction or a temporary departure?

311: Well, we recorded 21 songs, and only 13 were put on the album. There were some pretty funky, weirder songs that didn't make the cut. I think the album just reflects where we're at at this time. It wasn't a conscious choice, just what we sounded like. It's one of our albums I guess.

Mutato: What about those songs that didn't make the cut?

311: They'll all eventually get released. There's a sound track for the movie National Lampoon's Senior Trip I guess it was called? or Class Trip? So we gave them some songs that didn't make the album, and they chose a song called "Outside". We have another song we recorded later for the Hempilation called "The Herb". They'll all eventually get released. Whether it's on a compilation of B-sides or what, we don't have any definite plans right now. We play them live though.

Mutato: Do you ever feel ripped off by new bands with reggae, hip-hop, punk style sounds?

311: No.

Mutato: Are you interested in bigger concerts with other performers, like Lollapolooza?

311: We're really into doing our own shows, and we've never been offered Lollapolooza or anything like that, so I don't know what we'd do in that position. We'll see. Maybe we'll get offered that.

Mutato: What do you guys listen to when you're not on stage?

311: Well, lots of different stuff. Old jazz, new jazz, lots of reggae, rock, Pantera (laughs). Acid jazz, just a whole good party mix of music.

Mutato: What do you have planned coming up?

311: We're out through Thanksgiving right now. We're going to take a few months off then go back on the road, probably February. We're going to try and step it up and travel with production.

Mutato: Are you ever playing Tucson again?

311: Yeah, we'll be back to Tucson for sure. Probably next summer we'll come and play Phoenix and Tucson both.

Mutato: What is your philosophy about live performance?

311: Its really a lot of what we're about. It's really fun. If we make a record, and then we get to go out and play it live for the fans, people can come out and hear them. We all enjoy listening to live music.