We got to speak with 311’s Nick Hexum and SA Martinez regarding the upcoming summer tour with The Offspring and Gym Class Heroes. Plus they addressed all of that talk about releasing new music in 2018.
311 kicked off 2018 with live performances alongside acts such as Zebrahead, Save Ferris, Method Man & Redman, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, plus their epic 311 DAY shows in Vegas, the 420 Eve Fest at Red Rocks & Back to the Beach Fest in the sand of Huntington Beach. Their upcoming ‘Never-Ending Summer’ tour will span 29 dates, kicking off July 25 in Mountain View, CA and wrapping on September 9 in Wichita, KS. This year marks the 19th consecutive year of 311 hitting the road for a Summer headlining tour, each year seemingly bigger than the last.
Nick tells The Pier “We had a great time with Offspring on the Unity tour back in 2010 and we felt like that was a really good fit for a summer with tons of familiar songs from back in the day. Gym Class Heroes brings in more of the hip hop, you got the punk with Offspring and us with our reggae and all the different 
styles that we do. We’ve usually been the ‘Unity Tour,’ we’re kind of doing a different concept; ‘Never Ending Summer,’ it’s going to have a BBQ vibe, lots of vaping, craft beers, hot sauce and all the fun stuff we like to have on summer tour.”
This is the latest time of summer that 311 has ever started a tour with it commencing on July 25th. They haven’t been home for the month of July in more than 20 years, so there’s excitement for the members to see what its like to be home for the month with family.
[Related: 311 Announce Never Ending Summer Tour with The Offspring]
The band is still reeling from last June’s release of Mosaic. It was their 12th studio album and their 10th consecutive to debut in the Top 10 of US Billboard 200 at #6. It’s exciting to hear that the band is already in the process of wanting to have a new record out this year. They’re back working with both Scotch Ralston and Goldfinger’s John Feldmann who both produced tracks for Mosaic.
In an interview with The Pier, Nick explains: “On This new album we’re kind of doing a 2 part production where some of the music with Scotch Ralston is very garage band with a bunch of guys noodling and figuring stuff out. Then some of the other stuff we’re doing with Feldy is more a modern production, and we really like both. It felt like a bit of a turning point where we cracked open a new style and we feel a lot of momentum now. That’s why we’re in the studio getting more than half-way done with this new album. We’re going to put it out later this year because we just feel a sense of momentum, excitement and we don’t want to wait so long between albums. There’s lot of ideas floating around, so its nice.”
In further describing the record, SA explains: “I would say its a continuation of Mosaic. We’re still working with Feldy and getting a little mix of everything. This record was a inspiration to sticking with that Feldmann flame to see where it goes next.”
There’s no confirmation of new material being performed live this summer, although Nick Hexum did tease: “A lot of times we like to keep it under wraps, because once you play it live, it winds up on Youtube. But we definitely like to stoke the excitement, and we’ll roll it out however it feels right at the moment. We’ll see where the groups conscience leads us.”
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Article By: Mike Patti
Photo By: KZ of In The Barrel Photo
Watch: 311 – “Too Much To Think”