After 3 months of phone stalking, label jabbering, a couple
failed interview attempts, and an endless stream of patience,
we finally present you with the Heckler 311 interview. While
the other mags may want to talk about hairstyles, fashion, or
who’s blowing who in Hollywood, well, we didn’t think
you’d give a lick to read about that crap while you’re
sitting on the shitter or ass frozen stiff on a ski lift somewhere.
Heckler always delivers the goods and only the goods. Skateboarding,
drugs, and 4x4s; we discussed only the important things with
the band during a pre-show chat at NBA famous Arco Arena. We
hope you like the final outcome.
Who
are the skateboarders in the “Come Original” video?
P-nut: Bucky is one of the guy’s, god, I can never remember
their names when the question comes up. Bucky Lasek?
P-nut: Yeah. We met them quickly and just once. They were super
cool and they had a lot of fun, that’s all we really expected
out of them. The ramp was really nice. It’s crazy filming
a video and trying to get the right shots from the skateboarders,
I think it worked out really well and it was cool adding that
to the video. Was that your concept, to put skateboarders in the video?
Nick: It was just something we agreed on with Kevin Kerslake
who directed the video. He made the point of bringing it up
in his original treatment and we were behind it all the way. Do you ever snowboard?
P-Nut: No, I wish I could say yes, because I’ve always
wanted to, and I skated a lot when I was younger, so I know
I could catch on to it if I ever gave it a chance, but I’ve
just been so busy. When I have free time I usually tinker with
my 4x4. I’ve been up to Big Bear in my truck and seen what
boarding was all about, but I haven’t gotten my feet on
a board just yet. What kind of 4x4 setup do have?
P-Nut: I’ve got a ‘96 Toyota Landcruiser with a 2”
lift, a 9,000 LB winch on the front, an Australian Bull Bar
that I saw them all have in Australia. Have you ever gotten it stuck?
P-Nut: I’ve gotten it close. I got it up on 2-wheels on
my birthday this year, and that was pretty fucking scary. The new album, Soundsystem, you guy’s worked on it for
over a year?
P-Nut: At least. It was like a year and four or five months.
We did a bunch of rehearsals before hand, and recorded it on
our own to computer-all digital, before our producer Q even
showed up. Then we really started working on it. We were working
on it extra time-that’s why I think it sounds so good. What did you attempt to do differently this time around?
Nick: We didn’t want to work on a timetable. Every other
album we’ve done besides Grassroots, which was done at
a house we were living in at the time, were all done in big
studios. So, we wanted to do this one in a controlled environment
that was just us, all of our equipment, and not having to worry
about time. So we were paying by the month instead of by the
day, which you do in big studios. It would have broke us to
do this album in a big studio, so it was nice. Did you feel you had a lot to live up to after 1997’s
Transistor wasn’t as well received as past efforts?
P-Nut: We just wanted to get back to what we were used to more.
Transistor was more of an experimental album. Yeah, we kind
of felt we had a lot to live up to with this album, but we weren’t
disappointed with Transistor, we didn’t make that album
for everybody. If we would have made that album for everyone
it would have been a totally different sounding record. There has definitely been a lack of respect for 311 from
the music press. Do you feel 311 gets the amount of respect
you deserve?
P-Nut: We get respect from the musicians and that’s what
really matters. That’s what really matters when the day
is done. Critics always come and go. I’ve been reading
a 600 page biography on Stanley Kubrick and all his movies got
panned, and he was one of the greatest director’s in the
world. So, fuck what the media says it doesn’t matter. What came first for you-punk or reggae?
P-Nut: Punk. Reggae is something I’ve learned to enjoy
as I’ve grown up, but punk was something I think anyone
can grasp onto. Punk is like a necessary thing, reggae takes
a little bit of learning to get used too. You guys listen to a lot of Peter Tosh?
P-Nut: Yeah, I love Peter Tosh. I love The Congas; I like the
really old dub stuff. Yellowman is some of the earliest stuff
that Nick kind of hit me to. I love all the old Bob Marley.
So much good stuff. The herb-It’s always been an almost religious part of
the 311 experience. You still smoke everyday?
P-Nut: Yeah, everyday. Do you think things will change? Will 311 live to see the
legalization of the herb?
P-Nut: I can’t say for sure, I’d like to think so.
It’s going to take a certain amount of passion on America’s
part to realize that it’s better to teach someone about
drugs, instead of locking them up in a cage. That’s not
going to solve anything-that’s just concentrated criminality,
it just teaches someone how to be more of a hood. All those
people in prisons for non-violent drug offenses are just trying
to feed their families, just like everyone else in the world.
They may be trying to do it in a cheap way, but the pay off
is so much that in some situations you can’t help it. It’s
just horrible to see that America; supposedly the land of the
free, trying to be all pompous and nice, and we go and blow
people up in different countries. We can’t even take care
of our own social problems, which I believe drugs is not a criminal
problem. We just need to teach people right from wrong, we need
to smoke weed, and not do smack or coke, bottom line. How
many albums has 311 sold?
Nick: We’ve sold 5 million albums. We just went over the
barrier a couple of weeks ago. Has that taught you a lot about the music industry?
Nick: It’s taught me a lot about the industry, but I don’t
really like the business side of it. I like being a performer
that’s what I’m here for. How many albums have you guys recorded in the last decade?
Nick:
We did 2 in Omaha, five studio albums, and one live album. So,
we’ve done 8 albums in the last decade. You guys are from Nebraska, which is smack dab, right in
the middle of America. What was that like growing up in Omaha?
P-Nut: I think it’s allowed me to connect with people in
a way that maybe I wouldn’t be able to if I had grown up
in a city and been locked into my own little reality. In Nebraska
you have to lean on people to exist, not like in a city where
you can take care of your own shit. It was fun, a really nice
way to grow up. It’s really weird to go back there nowadays
because even though it’s growing as a city, not all that
much changes. It’s a totally different world and it’s
amazing to think that I grew up there and everything I’ve
seen since then, traveling all over the world, and it’s
just weird to comeback to your starting point. In the last decade of existence, 311 has done so much and
accomplished a lot. Can you take it any further?
P-Nut: Yeah, we can do more, but I like where we’re at.
I definitely wouldn’t be complaining about the position
we are in, because we can go anywhere and sell a couple thousand
tickets, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Like
I said earlier, we have the respect of the musicians, and that’s
a really nice way to go to bed every night.
Nick: I’d like to have some international success. Because
it’s not just the words, I mean the words make a lot of
sense to the people from other countries, especially if they’ve
learned English, but just from listening to all the western
music in their lives. Beyond that, the melodies are timeless
and the musicianship should stand on it’s own that we should
breakthrough sometime. Any closing words?
Nick: Yeah, always remember the best gift you can give anyone
is an orgasm.
Who
are the skateboarders in the “Come Original” video?
How
many albums has 311 sold?