311 – Interview [2003]

A thank heaven it’s 311. Interview
Chad Sexton

Being Nebraska boys – are you now calling yourself Cali boys?

Yeah, I mean we moved out there in ’92.

Who are you down for governor then? Gary Coleman or Arnold?Going into a record, do you take different approaches?

We like to try new things, but it always comes from the heart. We keep it simple. We don’t try to completely reinvent ourselves. We like to try things musically. We love music and didn’t get into it for any other reason. We like to think thirteen years down the road and that we are relying on writing music we like to perform.

You threw some interesting tracks our way with “Beyond The Great Sky” and “Sometimes Jacks Rule The Realm”.

If you go back to any of our first records with songs like “Paradise” and Tim soloing it’s like a Grateful Dead thing. Musically it was a triplet feel, but just like anything else we were inspired by our experiences. Nick put that together about a friend of ours who committed suicide. It came from the heart. Even if you hear “Lose” on Grassroots. We haven’t really done anything like that to this day. Sometimes they aren’t that conscious. Tim wrote most of “Beyond The Great Sky” and we put it together like every other song.

When tracks come in from other members is it natural to feel where they are going?

Honestly we think we are a musicians type of band and not trying to write 8th note rock. We like to write music for people who love music. There is that experience of playing with guys for twelve years. It is challenging still, it’s not an easy thing. The last record was one of the hardest records for us to record. There are good things about playing with the same guys for twelve years and some things get to you.

What was the hardest part?

Writing songs. It’s a challenge to write good songs. Some people like Elton John can dish them out. But we are a garage style rock band. You can come up with everything but not love everything. We wanted to come up with twelve good songs and concentrate on those instead of writing thirty songs. It’s a challenge to come up with stuff you love.

Do you still get the rush from playing live?

We always go for it with each show. It’s more draining than ever.

All of us who watch want to be on stage. Is it just an unexplainable feeling?

It’s not like you just pop up there and you are standing up there and people are going crazy. It does take a lot of concentration. I probably only look at the audience about three times during our show.

Wow, really?

Yeah, It’s just challenging to focus and concentrating that hard. I have no idea about what is going on with the crowd.

You seem to be the comedian of the group. Is the whole group like that or do you hold that role?

We all have our funny moments. We love comedy that is for sure.

Does that keep it light on the road?

Whatever makes people happy and that is how it’ll stay on the road. We grew up together and love messing around.

Is there any advice that you’d give to a kid who wants to be in your position?

Work at it. No one is going to hand it to you, no one is going to come out of the woodwork to help, and you have to go for it. It will be challenging, you will have problems along the way, but you have to give it time.

Is it the love for the music or raw desire that keeps you pushing it when you’ve seen hundreds of bands come and go?

I don’t really have an answer for you, we just love doing it and keep doing it for that reason. All the bands that come and go for many different reasons, some may not have had the love for it and dropped out. That isn’t the case for us; we were musicians from the beginning and always will be. We didn’t paint ourselves in the chorus like we had to wear makeup and play one style of music. We are able to experiment and are creative.

+ Charlie Craine

Anyone that isn’t Gray Davis.