311 is back on the road this summer as they are every year spreading funky hard rock jams all across the country as the summer sunsets grace the sky. Lead vocalist Nick Hexum joined us to talk about what’s on the horizon for the band.
YAGER: Have you guys written any new songs since Universal Pulse?
HEXUM: I think everybody is always kicking around a few ideas. Things just kind of drop out of the sky even if I have to sick it into my voicemail or use the recorder on my iPhone. I bring a little studio with me so I’ve been flushing out some demos. I know that me and SA are both working on some side projects, some extracurricular stuff, so the juices are always flowing.
YAGER: When we spoke to P-Nut last year he mentioned you guys might start putting out songs AS they’re written/recorded, one at a time, what do you think about that idea now that music has gone mostly digital?
HEXUM: We’ve been kicking around ideas for a long time like a subscription service or maybe a song of the month club. It’s really had to say what would be best. The old fashion album cycle works fine but we decided we were going to do a shorter album so we could not have to take such a long break. When we recorded Uplifter we recorded over 20 songs for it and that’s part of the reason it took years in the making because you want to make sure that its fresh. People always say I wonder where you guys are going to next musically and say me too, I’m kind of excited to see what the group consciousness is going to come up with.
YAGER: All these nice weather places keep getting the big 311 events! When is NYC going to get a 311 blow-out party to make us forget about the fact that for some reason we choose to reside in place with miserable temperatures for ½ the year?
HEXUM: I don’t think people hate their lives that much at a time but I definitely hear what you’re saying. I appreciate you mentioning the cruise because the new boat we got for next year’s cruise is really really cool. It’s going to be the best cruise yet next March. I’m really excited about that. We just started having internal discussions about how were going to do different stuff, shows on the beach and stuff like that. We’re going to make it the best cruise yet, it’s the third one. I think it’s important that people need vacations and combining music with a destination that makes a once in a lifetime thing. You have the shows where the band comes to where you live but part of the fun is going down to Miami and getting on a boat.
YAGER: You guys have had so many great singles over the years and you just keep churning them out, but were there any songs that you regret not turning into a single?
HEXUM: Yeah, I pushed to have Champagne be a follow up single after the success of Amber because it was a similar sound but more up-tempo and I really loved the lyrics. I thought that was a hit that never happened but I couldn’t convince the record company and to do it and I’m probably still pissed off to this day about it. (laughs)
YAGER: Fans love your behind the scenes DVDs like Enlarged to Show Detail, any thoughts of putting out another one?
HEXUM: Yea, we keep kicking that around. What we end up usually doing is putting together 10-15-minute behind the scenes shorts, like trailers. There is a really cool Pow Pow overview on our website that shows all the craziness behind the scenes, the people camping, jumping into the lake and the show itself. I think because everything has changed and people aren’t really going out and buying DVDs anymore we just put up shorter versions online for free but maybe one day we will put out another Enlarged to Show Detail, who knows.
311 play Sunday, July 21 at Cruzan Amphitheatre with Sublime w/ Rome, with Cypress Hill, Pennywise & G. Love
~ Scott Yager | The Sound Magazine
