SELF WRITEN BIO

Nicholas Lofton Hexum was born in Madison, Wisconsin on April 12, 1970. He is the lead vocalist, funk guitar, and programer. Chad Ronald Sexton was born in Lexington, Kentucky on September 7, 1970. He is the drummer and programer. Douglas Vincent Martinez was born in Omaha, Nebraska on October 29, 1970. He is the vocalist and also the master at the turntables. His nickname is "SA" and it stands for Spooky Apparition. Aaron Charles Wills or "P-Nut" was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 5, 1974. He is the bassist. He got the nickname P-Nut because his head looks like a peanut. Timothy Jerome Mahoney was born in Omaha, Nebraska on February 17, 1970. He is the lead guitarist.

311 didn't get their permanent line-up until 1991, but a lot of the members were in other bands. It all started in 1986. From 1986-1987, Nick Hexum and Tim Mahoney were in a band called The Eds. The Eds were a local Omaha band that also featured Ward Bones, Andy Gray, and Ed Birmingham. Nick Hexum and future 311 member Chad Sexton, also played in their highschool's Jazz Band at Westside High in Omaha.

Nick Hexum soon decided to move to Los Angeles, California. Therefore, The Eds broke up. Later, he moved back to Omaha and formed another band called Unity with Chad Sexton on drums, Tim Mahoney on guitar, Ward Bones on the keyboards, and himself on the bass. Nick and Ward soon move back to Los Angeles and Chad and Tim shortly followed. For a year, 1988-1989, Unity gigged at a number of clubs in L.A., creating a small fan base. In 1990, Chad Sexton returned to Nebraska and Nick Hexum moved to Germany, so the band Unity broke up.

Later in 1990, Chad Sexton formed a band called the Fish Hippos, with Aaron Wills (better known as P-Nut) and Jimmy Watson. Nick Hexum heard about the band, so he returned to Omaha to join the Fish Hippos. The bands name was changed to 311 shortly after. They also released their first self-produced cassette Dammit!.

The name "311" is a police code for indecent exposure. Jimmy Watson (16 years old at the time), after a party, decided he wanted to take a swim. So he hopped a fence and went skinny dipping in someone's swimming pool. "Someone saw him and called the police. The cops arrested him, cuffed him, and brought him naked and dripping wet to his parents front door. He was taken to court, and the law he had broken was code 311. We thought that was such a laugh that we called ourselves, 311 and the name stuck....."-Nick Hexum

In 1991, 311 got their permanent lineup with Tim Mahoney on lead guitar, SA Martinez on vocals and the turntables, Nick Hexum on lead vocals and guitar, Chad Sexton on drums, and P-Nut on the bass. They released their first full-length recording Unity and an EP titled Hydroponic.

311 moved to Van Nuys, California in 1992. Soon after they arrived they were discovered by Capricorn Records, and signed a record deal with the Nashville based label. They also made their label debut with the CD Music.

In 1993, 311 went on tour to support their release of Music. They played small venues, since they had such a small following because they were getting no radio air play, whatsoever. One night, on their way to the next show, Nick Hexum was driving the group's rickety old Winnebago when it started to overheat. Nick didn't notice until he saw flames in the side mirror. A fire had started underneath the RV. The musicians jumped out just before the RV exploded. They barely escaped with their lives. They stood on the side of the interstate and watched as all of their equipment and personal belongings burned, but they still managed to play a headlining gig, the next day in Omaha using borrowed equipment.

311 released their second major album, titled Grassroots, in 1994. Grassroots debuted at number 193 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

In 1995, 311 released their third and most popular album titled, 311. The self-titled disk is also called "the blue album" because the cover is blue. 311 reached number 56 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts, and received several good reviews from many rock critics.

A rumor started in 1996 that the name 311 stood for the Ku Klux Klan, with K being the 11th letter of the alphabet, 3 times.....KKK. Complaints about the rumor, resulted in a ban of the groups t-shirts in a number of schools across the country. This was just a rumor and is not true, 311 does not mean KKK.

1996 was a big year for the guys in 311. They started to get noticed because of the KKK rumor, and they started to get tons of radio air time. Their songs were constantly being played on radio stations, and their videos were on heavy rotation on the cable channel MTV. They even got to open for the legendary rock group, Kiss. The people at that show did not really enjoy 311 very much. They weren't there to see 311, they were there to see Kiss. But Chad Sexton of 311 said it was still a fun show to do!

Also in 1996, the album 311 peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts. In July, the Recording Industry Association of America certified 311 platinum. 311 also released a home video, Enlarged to Show Detail in December. It contains interviews with the band members and crew, live footage, and behind the scenes footage. It also comes with a CD, containing four unreleased tracks. Enlarged to Show Detail emerged as a top-selling video and appeared on the Billboard Top 200 list.

Also in December of 1996, the blue album was certified double-platinum. 311 went on a long tour to support the success of their self-titled CD. By the end of 1996, 311 went triple-platinum and sold more then 22 million copies.

In the beginning of 1997, 311 started recording their new album. The new disk was released in early August and is titled Transistor. 311 put 21 tracks on the CD, even though they only got paid for the first 12 songs. They thought they owed something to the fans since they usually released a new album every year and they didn't in 1996. Transistor received very negative reviews from most of the rock critics, though it debuted at number 4 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts and in the first week of sales sold 128,500 copies. Which proves a quote from singer Nick Hexum to be true, "Rock critics didn't put us here so they can't take us down."

Starting in early August, 311 went on a worldwide tour to support Transistor. The tour was called the TransisTOUR in honor of the CD. They started in California and worked their way through the country, playing in almost every state at least twice. On August 22, 1997, i had the chance to see them live in Camden, New Jersey at the Sony Blockbuster Entertainment Center.The show was amazing! They played for two and a half hours, and played an encore of 2 songs. 311 makes you feel good about yourself. Their songs are all about positivity and unity, that everybody is the connected in some way. The people at the shows are very friendly and make you feel like you belong there. "Our shows are intense and hard hitting, but its a festive vibe. The overall feeling is one of celebration."-Nick Hexum

In January of 1998, the Transistor tour ended. A good time was had by all. 311 plans on releasing a new album in 1999 sometime.

311 SOUNDSYSTEM BIO

Just like any great sound system, the Los Angeles-based eclectic rock band 311 is comprised of five perfectly matched - yet independently functioning - components, which when operating as a well-tuned unit, create an undeniable musical force.

The five components of 311 all grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Vocalist Nick Hexum, drummer Chad Sexton and guitaritst Tim Mahoney went to high school together on the west side of Omaha and vocalist SA Martinez and bassist P-Nut went to high school together on the south side of Omaha. In 1988 they all began playing music in various bands on the local scene. In 1991, they joined together and formed what is now known as 311. After independently releasing three albums and touring aggressively throughout the midwest, they began to earn a dedicated regional following. In 1992, 311 moved to Los Angeles and were signed to Capricorn Records.

The band released their Capricorn debut, Music, in 1993, and hit the road immediately to support the record. The tour was briefly sidelined when the band's RV caught fire and exploded, destroying all their equipment and personal possessions - but, determined to stay on the road, the band canceled only one show before returning to the stage with gear donated by sympathetic friends and fans.

For the next four years, 311 maintained a relentless touring schedule, playing approximately 200 shows per year and stopping only to record 1994's Grassroots and 1995's self-titled 311 album.

311’s fan base grew tremendously as people were drawn to the band’s unique sound, boundless energy and powerful performances. Then, in late 1996, 311's popularity exploded when the single "Down" stormed up the charts over a year after the release of the self-titled album. "Down" reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Radio Chart, and the follow-up single, "All Mixed Up," went to #2. Videos for both singles reached #1 on MTV as well. The self-titled 311 record is now triple-platinum, with more than 3 million copies sold.

Thanks to 311's die-hard fan base, the band's fourth Capricorn album, Transistor, debuted at #4 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart upon its release in 1997. The band's headlining tour in support of Transistor drew an average attendance of 10,000 people per night in the U.S., and 311 also toured Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The album is now certified platinum.

In 1998, 311 put out two new albums dedicated to their loyal fans. First, in September, they released Omaha Sessions on their own What Have You Records label. This release contains nine tracks selected from 311's three independent albums (recorded 1988-1991), and is available only from 311's official web site (www.311music.com). Then, in November, Capricorn released 311 LIVE, a set of 14 classic 311 live tracks.

Now, after selling a total of over five million albums, 311 prepare to unleash Soundsystem, their first new studio recording in two years.

Soundsystem was written & recorded from June ‘98 through June ‘99 at The Hive (the band's own recording studio in Burbank, California), and was produced by veteran producer Hugh Padgham (Sting, XTC, The Police) and Scotch Ralston, 311's long-time producer and live sound engineer. The record was mixed by Ralston at NRG Studios in North Hollywood.

The band decided to really take their time during the writing and recording of Soundsystem to ensure that the end result was the best it could be. “We holed up in the studio for a year so we could really live with the songs,” says Hexum. “Everyone gets to improve when you take your time,” adds Sexton.

Soundsystem features 311's energetic raps, infectious melodies and trademark blend of hard rock, hip hop, reggae and funk - however, this time around, the band decided to focus most on their hard rock roots. “Our goal,” says Hexum, “was to make a really kick-ass rock record - a little less experimental and more raw. This time there’s very little knob fiddling. It’s loud guitars and loud drums. It’s probably the most rock album we’ve made.”

“There’s such a great balance on this record,” claims Sexton, “If you were to combine our fourth album Transistor with our first album Music I think you’d come up with something like Soundsystem.”

The mostly-up-tempo songs on Soundsystem reflect a perspective often missing from today’s most popular rock music - a positive outlook that 311 has been celebrating since their inception.

“I get letters from people saying, ‘I listen to your music when I’m feeling down and it cheers me up, it gets me through some hard times.’ In my lyrics, I’m really talking about keeping positive, and reasons to find something to enjoy in life, and reasons to go through the difficult things that we all run into.”

“With all the negativity around in music today,” says SA, “ours is a voice equally strong, but one that’s more in the light, so to speak.”

The songs on Soundsystem were also crafted with the concert stage firmly in mind, which is where the members of 311 plan to spend most of their time throughout the year 2000.

“You can’t be a real judge of the band unless you see us live,” says bassist P-Nut. “Even though we’ve put years worth of work into recording, we’re still a live band. The emotion that comes during live shows is so different than during the making of albums, which become a very personal thing. But a live show is this collective experience that we share with everybody.”

“When we would question parts of songs, during the making of the record, we would rehearse them and figure out how they would work live,” recalls Mahoney. “And usually the way a song works live is the way it sounds the best. The more you play them, the more you understand them and can groove on them, make them flow. That’s why taking our time with this record really paid off.”

This contemplative approach to songwriting manifested itself in 13 new 311 songs sure to appeal to a wide range of music lovers - including the undeniable power of “Livin & Rockin’” (which combines jungle rhythms, punk rock distortion and aggressive rap vocals), the infectious melodies of “Flowing,” the dancehall rock attack of “Come Original,” the futuristic voyage of “Evolution”, the lead guitar magic of “Life’s Not A Race,” and the upbeat reggae romp of “Strong All Along.”

The band that once headlined the punk rock Warped Tour, co-headlined the jam rock H.O.R.D.E. Tour and Cypress Hill's Temples Of Boom Tour, all in the space of a single summer, is still defying categorization and gathering new fans daily.

With a new album's worth of songs in their arsenal, 311 will hit the road this Fall for a special grassroots club tour, which will be followed by a U.S. tour of larger venues throughout the year 2000. The band has not toured in nearly two years, and they are looking forward to once again spreading their positive vibe to crowds worldwide. "We're on a mission of positivity," says Hexum, "to balance out all the bad vibes, the anger, and the bad news in the world."