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311
Published: July 2004
Story: Jeff Royer
Photo: press photo |
"It might be corny to say, but you have to accentuate the positive,"
says 311 vocalist S.A. Martinez.
He's right, that's totally corny. But it's understandable that
Martinez would be feeling a little giddy right now. When we spoke in
June, not only was 311 basking in the afterglow of its most acclaimed
album to-date (2003's Evolver), but the Nebraskan quintet was
preparing to celebrate 10 years of innovative, reggae-infused rock
with the release of a Greatest Hits album.
"It's a nice retrospective of our catalog and it's really something
for the casual fan, the sideline or fence type of fan, something for
them to pick up and get acquainted with the band a little more," says
Martinez of the record, which features singles from the band's
triple-platinum breakthrough album ("Down," "All Mixed Up") through
recent hits like the summery "Amber" and the current No. 1 hit, "Love
Song."
"It kind of marks that time period and kind of puts a stamp on it,"
he states. "We'll move on to our next phase."
The cherry on top of 311's first decade of music is the success of
"Love Song" - a Cure cover the band recorded for long-time fan Adam
Sandler's "50 First Dates" movie. While 311 has six Top 10 rock
singles to its name, the band has never really been able to stretch
into other markets until now. Suddenly, people over 30 have not only
heard of 311, but can actually name one of the band's songs.
"We wouldn't have done the song had it not been asked of us to do.
And so, everything that's come of it has been gravy," Martinez
explains. "In this day and age, to get a song on the radio is kind of
hard. It's harder than people think. So it's nice to keep the
momentum going when we're not touring by having something on the
radio. It keeps your presence out there and your profile out there.
You don't want to get lost in the shuffle."
The album also contains two previously unreleased tracks - "How Do
You Feel?" and the next single, "First Straw" - which showcase the
band's ability to flip-flop between melodic, rock-steady reggae (what
they do best) and the radio-friendly hip-hop/rock fusion that the
band helped to invent in the early '90s (what they do most).
Despite the genre's waning popularity, Martinez is adamant that 311
will continue in its rap-rock ways. Of course, that may be because he
is the band's rapper.
"That's what we're known for," he shrugs. "We still do that style of
song, that structure. It's not necessarily that we're moving away
from it. But we definitely like to sing and not necessarily have to
have a rap in a song. I think whatever the song calls for or however
a song is inspired is the direction we'll take it."
Even within the dismal realm of rap-rock, 311 has managed to
distinguish itself by refusing to play the tough-guy card. In fact,
Martinez and company have always made an effort to keep things on a
more positive tip. Which is rap-talk for "optimistic."
"I just don't have any chip on my shoulder. I never grew up with one,
and I guess a lot of the guys in the band didn't either," Martinez
figures. "A lot of things are not right in the world, but then a lot
of things are pretty good in the world. That's how I feel about it.
I'm healthy and my family's healthy, and it doesn't get any better
than that. That's number one."
Of course, if you'd sold over 7 million albums, you'd be feeling
optimistic, too. Normally, here's the part where I'd say that never
in their wildest dreams did the five kids in 311 imagine that they'd
go platinum seven times over and kick-start an entire genre of music.
Except this time, as Martinez relates, world domination was always
always part of the dreamscape.
"We always shot for the stars," he admits. "Yeah, there might have
been times where maybe our expectations were a little too high, but
you have to have them high. You have to shoot for the top -
especially when you're from Nebraska."
While their hometown wasn't exactly the mecca of modern music, 311
seem to have jumped that hurdle successfully. Fate, timing, talent -
whatever the reason, nothing, not even a botched record contract and
years of messy lawsuits, has been able to bring this band down.
"We have good chemistry between one another. We appreciate the hard
work that goes into it," Martinez reflects. "There's a much bigger
picture. And really, we just facilitate this kind of energy. It's not
even ours. It just kind of comes through us, and we get to share it
with everybody. It's great."
Even though the Greatest Hits album has only been on shelves for a
month, 311 is already thinking about the next project. While it's too
soon to make any definitive statements, Martinez does promise a
predictably unpredictable mix of styles that can only be described as
"that 311 sound."
"We're going to surprise a lot of people with our next record. We're
going to probably go into areas people may have never thought of us
going," he teases. "I just think as long as we keep an open mind and
a love of music our number one priority - which we will, that's just
a given - I don't think we can fail.
"I think we all feel that we still really haven't even made our best
record yet, which is I think a great feeling," Martinez adds. "It's
something I think is definitely around the corner."
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