How 311 Has Stayed Together for 35 Years w/ Nick Hexum | Mind Pump 2902

Key Takeaway

Stay humble and remain teachable, especially after achieving success. When you've reached a level of accomplishment, learning to ask for help—whether with recovery, fitness, or taking lessons—requires humility. This teachability is what allows continued growth. As Nick Hexum discovered, the moment you think you've got it all figured out is often when you need guidance most.

Episode Overview

Nick Hexum, frontman of 311, shares insights on maintaining a 35-year partnership, navigating sobriety in the music industry, and using fitness as a tool for mental health. He discusses the importance of humility, staying teachable, focusing on strengths in relationships, and following creative curiosity rather than outside validation.

Full Transcript

Transcript of How 311 Has Stayed Together for 35 Years w/ Nick Hexum | Mind Pump 2902 from Mind Pump Show. Auto-generated from episode audio; may contain minor errors.

Nick, welcome to the show, man. Hey, thanks for having me. I got I got a an interesting question for you because you guys have been together together together for 30 years. 35 35 35 35 years. 35 years. 35 years. 36 on June 10th. That's the anniversary. Yeah. I have a personal reason for the question I'm about to ask cuz uh we've all been together as business partners with this podcast now for about 11 years. years. years. Um and which is rare uh in in the new media space.

super rare for people to stick together that long. And so people are always asking us, "How do you guys work together? How do you keep it that long?" I think it's probably even more rare in music for a band to stay together, together, together, especially when they achieve a level of success, which you definitely have, especially for three decades. H how did how do you guys do that? How have you kept stayed together for 35 years through all of that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you got to be uh flexible.

You got to be ready to not get your way and get outvoted sometimes. You got to respect democracy. Um, [snorts] it's kind of good when there's an odd number of people cuz you're not going to get deadlocked at, you know, two to two. So, we have five band members and I know I'm going to get outvoted sometimes and have to lick my wounds and just accept it. Um, but I think underneath that is knowing that that that we're better together than we could be apart. It's it's greater than the sum of the parts.

Um, that keeping an attitude of gratitude that I'm very fortunate to be in 311 and that we stumbled on a special special special um, lineup that wouldn't be the same without without without the who we are. So, it's I like you said, bands [clears throat] will break up if especially maybe the lead singer thinks, well, I could do this on my own, you know what I mean? But I I I've always known that I [clears throat] was very fortunate to have those guys and that they add a lot.

They keep me balanced and there's a gas and a break type of arrangement. You know, some people have crazier ideas and other people need to be like, well, let's slow down a little bit. bit. bit. Is there was there a bond going in to the to the band? Like did you guys have you guys know each other? Yeah. Did you all Cuz what's unique about us also is that we knew of each other, but really when we built this together, it was the first time we all came together.

We weren't like hanging out homies before. Was it similar with you guys or did you have a bond before? Well, for you guys it was it was Providence. You stumbled into something great. For us, we were high school buddies. um three of us and um and then we met the other two guys like in college years which we didn't really go to college a little bit here and there but um so yeah it just it started with friendship you know and I I had kind of moved out to LA by myself from Omaha um when I was 17 and floundered around the Sunset Strip, you know, scene for a little bit And it just I I realized the best thing I could do was to go back and link up with my buddies from Omaha because they they got it the way I got it.

And so [snorts] it started pretty organically. You know, you you what you said earlier. Uh, I mean, I guess you could sum it up and say stay humble and gracious, which that's got to be hard in music when you're getting you're getting you're getting crowds of people just adorned constantly and you know people are like you're so great and all this stuff like how do you and that especially when maybe not now 35 years later you're wise you've done it for a while you're like okay I know what this is like but when you're a kid and you're from Omaha and you're getting this attention talk about the mind games that they can play on you and how did you guys navigate that.

navigate that. navigate that. Yeah, it can play tricks on the brain, you know, when you have a lot of people uh adoring you. And um and I think that's kind of why a lot of solo artists get into more trouble because they don't have like a crew of people telling them no. You know what I mean? Like Michael Jackson never had a bandmate being like, "Yo, chill out." So, yeah. I mean, it can go the other way sometimes, too. We got bandmates that are like, "Keep going, dude." I can think of quite a few of those that I could imagine.

But yeah, with all the the fans and the partying and the substances, it can come in, it can it can get a little Do you guys check each other pretty well? well? well? Definitely. Definitely. Definitely. Yeah. When you go take me through each each friend, right, and band member because they're mostly very good friends, obviously great friends by this point. Uh like what is what does each guy represent in in the circle? cuz I think of the four of us like we're we're so different and but it represent I think that the the mix is perfect which I imagine you've got something similar where someone's probably more the aggressive guy, someone's a guy like you said the brave someone does the business who's who's and like explain their role.

Well, I'd probably just mostly want to speak for myself and say that I'm the one that's like throwing out a lot of crazy ideas and sometimes the guys are like yes and sometimes like I don't know about that one, dude. and I've [snorts] realized that that was good for me to to have and um and they're just they're just very um honest good good guys. I've come to really appreciate them and I think it's important in any type of long relationship to um focus on the strengths of the arrangement whether it's your wife or your bandmates or whatever.

You can you can drive yourself nuts by being like, I just wish they would do this one thing differently, but you know, you you can instead choose to focus on their strengths. And we as humans have a magnifying mind that those become bigger the more we focus on them. So you really have a choice of it's the same thing with like thankful Thursdays. I make a gratitude list on Thursday to take stock of all the blessings I have in my life because it's very easy to stay focused on the problem dour and to force yourself to look at your blessings is very important in in life or in a band or any kind of relationship.

Where do you what are the areas about because you'll just speak for yourself, right? What are the parts about you that your your partners give you grace on? So, I can name a few for myself that my partners What are they parts about you where like, man, I I feel so blessed that they overlook these aspects of how I do things. Wow man. Well, I think they were um patient with me when I was struggling and I needed to get sober. You know, that's probably the biggest one.

That's a big one. And um and there's other times where they'll say like, "I'm not super into this idea, but I can tell it's important to you, so let's let's try it." Talk about uh that hard period of where you had to go through sobriety. When was that? And and what was that process like? like? like? Back in like 05 06 was like when I was like basically the story was I got it. I got it. Okay, I don't got it. And that moment of like, all right, I I something's wrong here that I went through and the other guys kind of led me toward that realization.

And then it basically opened the floodgates of learning to ask for help, whether it's with recovery or fitness or taking guitar lessons. That humility to remain teachable is something that's very important, especially when you've achieved some level of success. success. success. You know, people are like, "You take guitar lessons?" I'm like, "Yes, there's plenty that I still have to learn." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, this episode is brought to you by Seed. So, Seed is the world's best probiotic. Now, look, there are studies that show that taking a probiotic helps things like gut health.

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're in that world like uh talk about how cuz a lot of guys don't make it out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Talk about how difficult that is in that in that environment alone. Yeah. Well, I think you know, so I was what, 35, 36 back then. So it it so much more a part of what people do for fun is go out and rage at clubs and you know what I mean, that kind of situation. But now it's no big deal because everybody around me is naturally kind of cleaned up their act and more focused on like hey we don't want to feel like [ __ ] in the morning like you know so it's it's not that big of a deal but it it it was harder at the time like all right I need to figure out how to ways to have fun and how to [snorts] be social and different things without without without the booze and etc.

Yeah. Was this where really your passion for fitness started to kind of take off as you're going through that sobriety process or was that before? Have you had I would say it was more about I think when I was like 20 that I realized that if I went for a long run and lifted some weights that that would help me with my crazy it would help. And even back in the 90s there, I remember reading an article, endorphins are nature's anti-depressants. anti-depressants. anti-depressants. Yep. Yep. Yep.

So, I've always and I I saw that in my own own own reaction that I would feel better and have more confidence and feel more relaxed and less anxiety. So, it was that was always kind of part of it. But then I um evolved quite a bit. I mean, there was We actually were one of the first bands to bring weights out with us on the road. Oh, really? Oh, really? Oh, really? Yeah. A weight bench doing bench press and and and That's rad. That's rad.

That's rad. When did you guys start doing that? The beginning 93. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow. So, on on the road, you go get your your workout. Still to this day, we have a one dressing room is is the gym and it has like a an exercise bike and a weight bench and free weights and mats [clears throat] and kettle bell everything and everybody was on board or was this mainly you driving this? Um, back in the day we would all do it and then people kind of well one guy's more into like yoga now and so it it's mostly me and essay that that do the do the weights and everything every day.

You know what's interesting when you look at the I love talking to people like you because um you know if you look at uh general population everybody kind of fits in this nice bubble and then you have outliers and so you could have you can be outliers in this direction with like dysfunction and then you have outliers with like musical talent or intelligence with engineering or whatever. And the more of an outlier you are, uh there there there's a higher rate of being drawn to uh self-medicating.

self-medicating. self-medicating. And I've heard this before where people say the part of me that makes me good at hyperfocusing and uh you know creating this company or being a really good musician is also this part of me that man when when I'm not playing I'm like it's it's hard to deal with. Is that true? Do you find that to be true? And and was exercise a way for you to kind of like you found that as a way to kind of calm that? Yeah. Too much energy.

I I think that I've always felt like that. I um I remember as a kid seeing the book on a bookshelf, the unbearable lightness of being like that. I I felt that at times. So I needed to learn to challenge that uh to channel that. And now I've I've just noticed that I have to always be working towards a goal whether it's a new song, fitness, fitness, fitness, home projects, whatever it is. Like so sitting still is like it just drive you crazy. you crazy. you crazy.

Yeah. It doesn't work for me. Yeah. Yeah. What's it like uh you know because you're doing a show today after this. this. this. What's it like doing a show now versus I don't know early days? Well, I think I've learned a lot of um health hacks as far as um a getting my voice ready, singing scales, warming up my guitar, playing um stretching, knowing just the right way to to work out. Before it was just like I can't even believe what what we would party until [snorts] 5 in the morning, get a few hours of sleep, get up and that's and then like lift weights and soundcheck and then start partying and then do the show and then party after the show.

show. show. It you know it I could not do that anymore. So it was good to clean up the act. Who who have you you've toured with a bunch of other Who are some of the people you guys have toured with? And well, getting um an opening slot for 311 was kind of a um a good springboard for a few bands back in the early 90s like No Doubt, Corn, Deone, Sugar Ray, Incubus. Incubus. Incubus. Uh so we toured with with a ton of great bands and some of them went on to become quite a bit bigger than us.

But uh you we still you know we do our unity tour in the summer where we'll pair with cool bands and lately I mean we've had everybody from Sublime, Dirty Heads, The Roots, Ziggy Marley. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Um everybody over the place. Who's your favorite to tour with? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, I mean us and Incubus had so much fun back in the day. We haven't toured with them in a while. Um, but but but is that just cuz you guys connected?

Cuz you guys connected. You guys are similar or Yeah, there's just there was just a kinship feeling with them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you guys were like one of the first kind of cross genre bands. And so it was interesting cuz you've toured with different styles of music too, right? So you've done like rap, you've done like reae, you've done, you know, some punk and like So did you ever do any with the grunge bands? cuz I know your your music itself is like pretty positive and energetic and it seems like that's a little bit of a clash with like some of the Doom, you know, grungy kind of.

of. of. Yeah. I mean, I like I like heavy music and I like the fact that with grunge that they could have heavy music without like, you know, dressing up in spandex and with a hairspray and everything. So, I definitely enjoyed that. Um, but like there was one year, I think it was 95, where we went from the Warp Tour, which is punk rock, to the Horde tour, which was hippie music, to the Cypress Hill Temples of Boom tour. And like we people are like, you were the only band that would fit in.

How do you talk about the different fan? What's the vibe like in all of those? How different is the vibe in each of those arenas? It it is it is pretty different, but like you know, we just um did a South American tour with Limp Biscuit and you know, we maybe kind of lean heavier more on the heavier stuff for for a show like that and then we'll do these like reggae festivals like Monteray or whatever and then we'll do more of a reggae leaning set.

But we pretty much just do just go and do our thing. And but there are times when we can see like, okay, this this is this is a little too hard for this particular crowd or maybe like they're not into the softer stuff. So you can kind of So the set list sort of changes based on that. that. that. Make a fresh set list every night. Yeah. Well, you guys have a gajillion songs. So, songs. So, songs. So, have you gone through phases where where one of you has felt like they have lost the love for it and then had to rekindle that or have you guys been consistently in love with doing it all?

That's a long time to stay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I think people ask like, is it really enjoyable to play Amber every night? And I it is because I am there to be of service and I know what that song meant to people. So, I'm not strictly there for my own enjoyment. My own enjoyment. I enjoy it when I know they're enjoying it. So, So, So, it's true. You feed off the people you're playing for, though. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What was the inspiration for that song, by the way?

It's a love song. Yeah, it's a love song, but and I just Is there someone? [clears throat] [clears throat] [clears throat] Probably. Probably. Probably. It was just I was trying to make like like amber is the color of a sunset and to to make like all the warmest sounding tones like that guitar tone is the warm envelope filter effect on there makes it so there's like nothing harsh in the entire song. So it was just like a concept that really came together and I wrote it in like an hour on a Saturday morning.

morning. morning. Wow. So you I'm trying so now it's just occurring to me that you guys have been around so long that you you went through different stages of the music industry. It was like CDs maybe and then downloading music. So you had the whole Napster thing going on and then iTunes. Uh oh, that's changing everything. everything. everything. Now you've got like AI which is really weird. like how do you like what was it like going through all of that and then and let's end with AI because that's a really big strange like how's this going to work?

to work? to work? Yeah. So Yeah. So Yeah. So we were we were we were there for very huge sea changes which one of them was first the the heyday of CDs when they were charging $17.99 for CDs. CDs. CDs. Um, so that was the late 90s and then Napster [clears throat] caused a complete collapse in recorded music. Were you guys at that time were you guys like what are we going to do? Was it like a big panic? We had already made the conscious transition to more have the business model of like the Grateful Dead, which is we're a live band first.

So smart. So smart. So smart. Yeah. We're going to tour every summer. That's our main stay. and we'll work the albums in smart when we can. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, we had already kind of pivoted. So, it didn't really affect us as much as more pop artists that were just relying on relying on relying on CD sales. CD sales. CD sales. Yeah. Cuz their revenue just [snorts] Yeah. gone. Yeah. gone. Yeah. gone. And then it picked up again through streaming services, you know, like Spotify figured out how to make it something that was better than free, you know what I mean?

like you you were ready to pay for it because the convenience and instead of having to go on Lime Wire and download stuff, they don't pay the most fair royalty rates, but there's still still a business. Yeah, it's a business and the music industry is back at all-time highs. So, Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. it, you know, it survived. And music is such a integral part of I mean it's been around between 50 and 100,000 years as part of human bonding to get together tribal dance getting together.

So I try and see when I'm having a putting on a concert like this is this is like an essential part of of humanness. Yeah. And then AI is really weird right now because if you asked me five years ago, what do you think AI would do last? I would have said art and music. I for some reason I'm like this there's a there's a component of creativity there that a computer can't do. Dude, they're it's creating music and I can't even tell and it's weird and it's tripping me out.

like how are people now you guys have been around you have a loyal audience so you're set but you I I can't imagine these new artists are probably freaking out or thinking like how they're going to like do you have any predictions of what the how the industry is going to work with this um I'm not too worried about it but maybe I should be I just know that like people are connecting with the heart that comes through the art and Um, [clears throat] [clears throat] [clears throat] but you know, AI is a tool like anything else that could be used for help or for harm.

And but there's going to be crazy like bespoke content where you can say like, "Hey, AI, make me a combination of these different artists and it'll do it for you." But that only can happen when there's like fair compensation for the people that are training it. But I don't know for me like I'm with this current project that I'm doing which is Americana. It's all oldtimey instruments mandolin and fiddle and pedal steel guitar and banjo and stuff like that. I'm just very into the the classicness of the I don't know I the AI AI can make a somewhat of a faximile but I don't think it's going to anytime soon replace the real deal.

What what motivated this new direction? Oh man. Um just following my curiosity. I mean that to me is the ultimate way to stay creative is that when you get a scent of something that you want to follow, you go towards it. And um And um And um that's always, you know, being from Nebraska, that's always been around me and my mom's from Nashville, so um that influence has always been there, but maybe I was kind of denying it or avoiding it. though it just felt really natural to to do that.

And it just happened not through a conscious decision but just by like meeting people like my buddy Kenny from the band Water Tower who were backing me up tonight. um he and I just kind of he gave me mandolin lessons and then we started writing songs and it's just kind of one thing led to another and it also came from um reading Rick Rubin's book about creativity which is um about that you need to take a lot of chances in your art and um and have frequent releases so you don't get caught up like writer's block is basically where anybody can write a song it writer's block is when you don't like it.

So, you need to keep just putting out music and getting having the courage to keep doing that. And then another book I read called Saved by a Song was about going into vulnerable parts, exploring the date, the deep the dark caves of your psyche because that's a very cathartic and people really relate. So going into kind of tough stuff that I maybe didn't feel comfortable singing about before that lent itself towards this kind of Americana. So Americana. So Americana. So I know he's going tonight. I'll be telling some stories about like the different songs about what Yeah.

I was going to ask you too like has there been moments where um so your record label or they're kind of pressuring you to do these follow-ups for hits and you know you're driven by your art and what's coming from within and are you driven more by um what you like as the outcome of it versus like what the audience is receiving? You can't actually write a good song based on like a focus group. It does not work. You just have to follow curiosity and do what you think is cool.

If you're Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you're too worried about what everyone thinks, you're going to lose your originality and that authenticity. So, as much as I'll hear comments of like, "You guys need to do more of this or that." And and I'll just say like, "Well, if that's what we happen to do, that's cool." that's cool." that's cool." Well, you referenced Rick Rubin. And I I I'm sure I'll mess the quote up, but I've heard him say that like [clears throat] [clears throat] [clears throat] I don't I don't make this for them.

I do it for myself. And that's like that's true artistry, right? Is like going down the path of it's actually more of a a selfish thing that you're doing. And if hey, if it turns out there's a bunch of people that connect to it and like it, great. If they don't, then so what? And you get in a lot of trouble chasing that. that. that. Yeah. No, that's that's [clears throat] right. He said, "Audience comes last because you will dilute your creativity if you're I wonder if they'll like this chord or that chord or whatever." Like, you just have to make what's cool to you and follow that curiosity, which isn't a guarantee it's going to do great.

But if you do the other way or you try to cater to them, that's almost always a guarantee that's not going to do great. do great. do great. Yeah. It's going to be bland or and it's going to suck. Um, so you grew up in Nebraska and then how old were you when you came to LA? 17. 17. 17. Was there a culture shock? Because that's a big that's like not the same place at all. Where does the surf kind of vibes come from being in there's no surfing Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska from the beach boys?

Like growing up I loved this whole like idea of LA and surf culture and beach. I I mean I was lucky enough to get to travel a ton with my grandparents. So we would go to the Caribbean and Hawaii and okay okay okay beaches a lot. So I already loved it and I just knew that's where I I wanted to be. And then also the the punk rock that was coming out of of LA was really cool. like like like um you know there was Fishbone and the Chili Peppers and you know Jane's Addiction that were just blowing up right when I got there and I was like this this this the and that's kind of where the hybrid music started.

Like I know you said that we were one of the first bands but like they were the actual first bands but we took it to you know a new way. Like we were probably the first band on the radio that was combining rap and rock. That's that's the I think the most distinctive part I've noticed dude because it was the Yeah. It was the rap rock kind of mashup and you saw some of that a bit with like Aerosmith and you know and how there was kind of some but it seemed engineered it wasn't authentic.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So and that so you're talking early early mid '90s that you came to LA 88. Okay. 88. So this is before cuz now with the internet you get I mean you still can't get a total feel but you can see what it's like and different. But your experience of LA at 17 and 88 was probably like magazines, MTV, then you go to LA. Was there culture shock? Were you like whoa were there things that you saw that you expected and things that you did not expect?

Yeah. Well, I think it it was just a little frustrating because linking up with the right people, you know, there was like these uh The Recycler and Musicians Connection magazines and then I would go and, you know, try and jam with people and it was just a lot of hair metal. It was still the tail end of, you know, Mly Crew and all those kind of Death Leopard. Death Leopard. Death Leopard. It was it was that kind of thing. And I was like, that's not my jam.

Um, so that's what led to me realizing like my my boys from Omaha were be my best collaborators. So collaborators. So collaborators. So you you you talked about going to these like deep dark caves and trying to pull that out and that's part of the inspiration of where you're going now. Can you share with us like an area that you've struggled to go to a place that you've or you're recently going to right now to inspire you? Yeah. I have a song about my youngest brother dying of an overdose and that's something that I didn't want to talk about cuz it was too painful.

But I know that there's so many families that have gone through similar things. Um Um Um just other things like family stuff. um my own there's a song called Work of Fiction where I'm talking about my own desire for validation and approval um and just just cleaning out the closet cuz that's what really good art can do is to um be cathartic and help you process things. How do you h how do you survive that validation uh challenge while being an artist that is in front of you're touring every summer?

That's like the ultimate validation machine if I can if I could ever imagine one. So it's it's feeding this I don't know if you would say an insecurity at the same time you're like trying to deal with it. Like how do you do that? Well, I think the reason why what I was saying earlier, especially some solo artists, artists, artists, you know, you know, you know, lose control is because they're so focused on the outside validation that learning to live in a way that you approve of yourself is ultimately so much more important.

And that comes from the self-esteem of doing esteemable acts of having an attitude of service, the being helpful, of being kind, of being generous, that I need to approve of myself because it outside validation does not fix you the way self esteem does. any challenging times where that got challenged like uh like maybe you did a performance where you're like, "Man, they didn't like that or I didn't like that." Can you name some where it was like, "Oh, this is going to be tough." be tough." be tough." Yeah.

Well, I've heard other I think I've heard Bono talk about this that if he's doing a concert and he can tell that there's one person that's just kind of sitting there like it's very hard not to focus on that one person. So you really just in the same the attitude of gratitude you need to focus on what's working rather than looking for that one possible you know failure. Yeah. When you talked about um one of the things you guys did that I think was so brilliant was always focusing on the your your audience and the touring and live throughout all these these things right that we've watched Spotify and everything come through.

When you look back at all these years, what are some of the the bad business decisions that you think you guys made? Oh, bad debt. Um, you know, we we are always pretty careful to keep things in house and not just like, you know, sell away all of our rights like some artists just see a check and they and they make bad decisions. So, you know, we've been pretty careful about that and keeping a, you know, a grassroots attitude. That that was the name of our second album because we were like, we're just we can't rely on the label or anything to do this for us.

So, we're just going to take it straight to the fans. Um, so I can't think of any band decisions that were very bad, but I I have an extreme risk tolerance that have made some, you know, some blunders, but mostly good ones. the the fact that you guys this is something that you know not that it's no disrespect to even compare us to what you guys have done because it's nothing like that but one of the things that people always are because we've tied everything every bit of every business our angel investing our real estate portfolio everything that we've built we're all equal partners in everything and uh people are always like how in the hell does that work with four people like similar like similar like similar so you're you're four okay yeah there's four yeah so there's So you can get into a deadlock of two versus we get into it.

We get into it. You got to go to rock paper scissors. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And and uh and why I lie even though again no disrespect to even compared. It's just like we all are responsible for different things. I would I would say Sal's our lead singer, right? So it's like it's like it's like for sure. for sure. for sure. But there's things that everybody does, but you still get like we get equal credit no matter what. There's certain parts that guys handle. So, but I what people have always asked is like, man, is there never a time when like one of the guys needs more money or needs more of that?

Like you have a opportunity where they're like, sell the rights and we can get this big million dollar payout and one of the guys like, man, I could really use that right now. Like that hasn't that hasn't that hasn't No, no, we we everybody brings their own certain strengths, you know what I Tell me uh your I always like talking to someone who's had the amount of success as you had to. Um your relationship with money and that journey. Uh a lot of times when you're young and you come into a ton of money, especially if I don't know your history, if you came from much or not.

Um but what has that journey been like? Um [sighs and gasps] well, I think we all made kind of smart decisions of, you know, buying houses and stuff back in the mid 90s. So, um, you know, it's it's all worked out pretty good, but we we just kind of maintain a slow burn, you know what I mean? Like, we're not big huge ups and downs basically because of our solid fan base that's not it's not the biggest in the world, but it's a cult following. So, it's enabled us to have a very consistent business.

It's not super high-flying. We're not on private jets or any of that. Were you always grateful of that? Because you know sometimes I think artists could be thirsty to want to be like crush. Yeah. I mean I we again again again I hate to keep comparing us because it's like uh in the podcasting space we're not Joe Rogan but we have this incredible loyal fan base that has been a blessing. It's been an absolute blessing. I I actually like that growth for sure. And so have you always liked that or did you did you thirst for more and then you've now become like grateful for that?

I mean, I think that there's a [snorts] a healthy itch to keep a little bit of hunger going, you know, um and keep exploring and putting making new music and so forth. And I'm I'm only human. I'm not um completely immune to envy when I, you know, see somebody winning a Grammy or something like that. But and then I just get back to how incredibly blessed I am. Yeah. Uh, who are your favorite artists that you like to pull from? I mean, Paul McCartney is the greatest living musician in my opinion is when as far as all around, you know, from of course songwriting, singing, instrumentation, instrumentation, instrumentation, um, performing just and having such a a vibe of of love and positivity like that's the pinnacle.

M when you were a kid you said Beach Boys. Yes. I love cheerful music. It always has transported me. That's Yeah, that comes through for sure. Can you go through like the different uh influences you had growing up? Cuz I'm sure like it, you know, some the different stages you had different like right now you're listening to music that takes you back to Did you ever have an angry face like metal? That's that's really what I want to know. Well, the first band that really blew my mind was the Clash.

Yeah, a great band. fairly fairly angry, you know, it was about, you know, kind of fight the power sort of revolution rock. Um, and that really appealed to me when I was 13 and uh that I would just became so obsessed with that band. And so now I've had a few times when artists tell me, not artists, when fans tell me 311 is to me what the Clash was to you. And I'm like, wow, that's that's pretty special place to And and it's also something that there's only a window when people can get that into a band when they're in their their teen years.

You know what I mean? Good point. It like and it'll be a special place for you forever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do have you met anybody as you guys are coming? This has happened to me a couple times where I'll meet someone and I was like I've been following them since I was a kid and I'm a fan. They're like, "Yeah, I love your show." I'm like, "What?" Yeah. Like have you had any opportunity to meet some of your heroes? So, um I'll try and make this story fairly quick.

Basically getting to meet Joe Strummer of the Clash. The way it went down is that um the guy that was managing him was having a dinner party and he was like, "Nick, come by. Joe Strummer is going to be there." And when I got there, there was this cool Cuban music coming out of a boom box. And I went over a little closer and it had a 311 sticker on it. No way. No way. No way. He goes, "Oh yeah, that's Joe's boom box." box." box." I was like, "Wow, my hero has our sticker on his boom box.

box. box. My life is Did he know you're a huge fan?" Did he know? Yeah. Did you I mean I I think he heard Did you totally fang girl when you met him? Like what was that like? Oh man, I was just like Yes. I I fang girlled. Now, was it what you had expected you? Because you build it up. Was it what you expected or because sometimes you hear stories, people meet their hero and they meet like usually that guy was not he was a jerk or he wasn't as cool as I thought he was.

Oh, he he was great. He he imparted me with just so much perspective and wisdom of having been through, you know, I guess about a 30-year career at that point. So, yeah, it was really powerful. any any artists like that that you've met along the way that um maybe shattered your paradigm or changed your thinking along the way? I don't know. I mean, there's definitely some [ __ ] out there. there. there. Can you name them? I'm going to guess in the hair metal space. not being my usual positivity to talk [ __ ] about anybody, throw shade, but um I'm sure that taught you though something, right, about that, right?

Yeah. Yeah. That's not how I want to be. Can you tell us without naming names where where that kind of cuz there's there's I I mean this happens where you meet someone, you have an expectation and they just crush you because they're either a jerk or they just whatever. I mean, it's happened a few times that people in bands that I've met have made like extremely racist comments and I'm like, like, like, how really? how really? how really? Yeah. How is this in the music industry?

Yeah. [snorts] Yeah. [snorts] Yeah. [snorts] You get cancelceled for that? I was surprised. surprised. surprised. You're just kind of shocked, I'm sure. Yeah. I was like, really? You're just going to say that out here with some guy you just met? They like, you're from Nebraska, right? Yeah. Let me just make a joke real quick. quick. quick. Tell us about the fitness journey cuz you're you're like this is like a big part of your life now. So I know you you you were working out but back you were also partying and stuff and at what point was this like when how did that evolve for you with fitness uh with cognitive health, mental health, all that stuff.

that stuff. that stuff. So I think it was all kind of self-taught until at the same point of you know when I got sober like I said that led to asking for help in many areas and so that was working with personal trainers personal trainers personal trainers um getting into boxing and um taking that that feedback from a coach and um and just you know but I keep getting combining it with mental health and there was I have to tell everybody about this study that is um because to me it was such a game changer.

It's about study on fighting depression. depression. depression. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. And it goes through all the different things like whether it's SSRIs or different types of of exercise. I'm going to going to going to probably S can tell you for you. We we we talk about it all the time. Yeah, we probably down to this before. This might surprise you. Look at what's at the top of the list. Yeah. Dance. Yeah. Dance. Yeah. Dance. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Dance, walking, jogging, cognitive, behavioral, the yoga.

Told you guys start dancing. Yeah. Exercise, SSRI, strength. I mean, dance is at the top. Yeah. And there's and there's studies uh that Here you go, brother. uh there's a lot of studies on exercise uh and depression anxiety and there was a recent uh meta analysis that showed that so the previous studies had shown it was as effective at least as uh medication and talk therapy um and I always argue that if you stretch the study out long enough exercise would do you even better because there's no down reggulation receptors there's no ne negative side effects it just keeps getting better and better well now we had recently we had this meta analysis that showed it was one and a half times is effective.

So why do you think that is? Because one of them you're talking about your problems and tackling them. The other one is you're exercising. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like like why do you think it's so it's so effective for that? Well, Well, Well, you probably know more about the the brain chemistry, but I just know that I want to know your perspective because you you you experienced uh depression and you know, substance abuse and then exercises that could be I I love hearing from people like you like what was your experience through that?

I I I I mean the reason why people attend concerts is for the the oxytocin and the bonding and the high that comes from totally totally totally synchronized movement. Like totally people think that when you go to boot camp that you're marching just to get in shape, but it's actually building a hive mindset. Like you know there's been studies of people that from marching day after day that they they feel this feeling of love and purpose and the bonding. Um [snorts] Um [snorts] Um [snorts] so that's what a concert provides.

So that my job is to get everybody to lose their inhibitions and and get moving so they they feel that that high from it. And then so when I exercise I exercise I exercise I sync my exercise up to music whether um so I have different playlists like I'm a tall guy so I only jog at 150 BPM when that so I have a whole playlist that's just 150 BPM and I run in time EDM what are you listening to? Yeah, there's like a whole genre called hard style, which is this that that tempo.

Then when I'm on the elliptical or I'm jumping rope, it'll be techno, which is 130, you know. And then [snorts] um and even when I'm lifting weights, I'm sinking up like 1 2 3 4 1 and just doing things really. So really isolate and then but feeling the the music too. Um, not always, but that that's when I enjoy it the most. I'm getting like a dancing high while I'm doing strength training or training or training or Totally. Totally. Totally. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool.

There's there's such a it's such an interesting combination or should I say um association um association um association or crossover or crossover or crossover between music and movement or exercise obviously. So, uh, cuz we think of dance and we don't think of it as exercise because it's it's dance, but, uh, it's movement. Um, and little kids will do this. You'll play music. Nobody's taught them how to dance and they suddenly start to move. Uh, so there's something there. And I I I don't know of too many people that don't like to work out to music.

And then there's data that shows very clearly that uh, especially if you have an emotional connection to certain music, it'll improve your performance better than a performance-enhancing you know, stimulant. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so there's this really interesting connection, but I think a lot of the benefit from exercise because yes, it releases feel-good chemicals and all stuff, but I could give you those chemicals and it's not going to do the same thing. So, I could find I could get chemicals like endorphins, Injectia, and it's not going to be as beneficial.

I think part of it is is you're doing something hard to get it. And then there's the growth process of, well, I suck at this exercise. I get better at it. I got to have discipline. When you get reward for things that are hard, you don't get the down regggulation that you would when you get something that feels good and you didn't do anything hard. You just took a pill or, you know, snorted something. snorted something. snorted something. Yeah. Breaking through those mental barriers is so important.

Like yesterday I had a day off and um the two ideas of that both were a little bit fearinducing was a go down to the mall in Santa Cruz and busk on the street corner with my friends from water tower. That's very unfamiliar to me. But I was like that's terrifying. Let's do it. Okay. it. Okay. it. Okay. And then [clears throat] I was like and then I'm going surfing which the waves were very big yesterday. So, I was like, I'm going to take I'm going to I'm going to hire a surf instructor because I don't want to drown and the waves are 10 ft high.

ft high. ft high. And it was so I got long rides 100 yards and then paddling back out fighting through the waves was like so exhausting. So this morning [snorts] I sore, tired, and I but I was like, I know the best thing for me today to get ready for the concert, to get ready for this podcast is to work out. So even though I'm in the RV and all I had was um a mat and a a jump rope, I still managed to get a a good start with cardio to get warm and then do strength training just with like squats, push-ups, and Yeah, dude.

You sw you swam out here in S. There's sharks out there. Yeah. Before you came here today, he was just talking about how scared he is to swim. swim. swim. This is a great clear be. I've heard that. I stay clear. I, you know, it's it's interesting. There's few things that light up the whole brain. Um, you know, because different activities will light up parts of the brain, but there are certain things that light up the whole brain in a way that integrates them. One of them is music.

Uh, so music affects the brain in a way to where it helps you learn other things. So it can help you learn math, science, uh, and we know this now because we pulled it out of school and we're like, "Oops, we made a mistake trying to put it back in." Um, exercise and activity does this as well. It lights up the whole uh, brain. So it's it's a it's a very natural thing to combine. And so my question to you is, do you think it helped you with your music?

music? music? Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Not just the fitness part, but the creativity part. creativity part. creativity part. Yeah, I think that getting that the confidence that you get from exercise will help you make more courageous courageous courageous um artistic decisions and the the clarity that you get from it. And I know that if I hit the stage cold, I'm not going to do as good of a show if I get [snorts] properly warmed up before I get out there. You know, we What does that look like?

What does a warm-up look like before you get out and do a set? So, I like to um do brief cardio just to get warm and then do like weights and core about 90 minutes before the show. Wow. So, an hour and a half you're working out. working out. working out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, it's not like a little warm-up. You're actually doing a workout. workout. workout. Yeah. No, no, I didn't mean 90minute duration. I meant Oh, before Oh, before Oh, before like 90 minutes before the show starts.

Got it. Got it. Got it. So, I probably work out about 25 30 minutes minutes minutes and then have an hour to like get dressed and warm up the voice. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. And and then the show is like about 100 minutes long. So, that's a another really good workout. But I know the shows go better if I'm getting my my body revving up my engine. Yeah. The whole voice preservation thing. I noticed too like your your tone's [snorts] very low through this. And I know that's purposeful because you're going to be singing and out with it a lot.

Uh how how do you manage that like touring so much and staying healthy? Are healthy? Are healthy? Are you like not yelling at people that cut you off? Yeah. I don't I don't scream at people. Um, I that was just another one of the things that I learned to ask for help with is to work with a a vocal coach that could help me do the warm-ups or I learned to learned to learned to sing through the break, which is the break is the separation between your speaking range and your falsetto to be able to go through that and naturally go back and forth between that, that, that, which I never knew until I found this one guy who just like saved my voice.

So, So, So, cool. You know what's interesting about Well, there's a lot of things interesting that are interesting about music, but um I find it fascinating that it's uh I I said this earlier, lights up the whole brain. It it helps you learn other things. It's how you it's the best way to remember things is through music. It's really interesting thing that happens in the brain where if I sing something, I'll remember um far more than if I if it wasn't attached to a tune. Then there's this other interesting thing that I noticed in concerts where if you hear me sing on my own, I'm not very good.

You hear Adam sing, he's terrible. Justin's a lot better. Doug, but if you put 5,000 people together and they sing a song together, it kind of sounds good. There's like this harmony that happens. It's almost like we're supposed to all sing together out the errors. Yeah. errors. Yeah. errors. Yeah. Is that I mean, is that true? What do you think? you think? you think? Yeah. No, I think that that's part of what I mentioned about tribal dance is singing together. Like humans are so naturally want to do what other people are doing and we we find skills that we didn't know we have when we link up with other people.

Like just how how you mentioned that a not so good singer can sing good when when it's combined with everybody else. That's why you hear the soccer chants and stuff that just sound incredible. Isn't that rad, you know? you know? you know? Yeah. It's so cool. Uh what what's your favorite song to perform? I mean, my songs are like my kids. I can't pick a favorite kid. You can pick on the podcast. I'm just kidding. But, you know, uh there there are certain songs that are are extra special and I don't know, there's um a song called Creatures for the W for a while that um you know was just super fun to play live that just really everybody goes buck wild for.

Um but it it always changes. So take me take me through a a moment in in time like for example when a song like Amber goes like when the moment when you guys are all together as a band and and you watch it take off or you you see it on MTV or you see the sales on like take me through a day that like was like one of moment Yeah. was take me through one of the most exciting like moments of like we made it or that holy [ __ ] like and [clears throat] everybody together that had to be Yeah.

There's a couple. Um, first one was when we all moved out from Nebraska and lived in Van Eyes at Little House. And then our first record, our first single, K-Rock, which was it's still a very important station, but it was the King Maker at that time in the early 90s. 90s. 90s. And they they played our song and and uh the the disc jockey said, "Can you believe it? This band is from Nebraska. We need to all move to Nebraska. This is how music sounds from Nebraska.

We were just Were you guys all sitting around together? together? together? Yeah. [clears throat] Sitting around like did you create a scene in Nebraska that was like notable? Yeah. Yeah. We were really really really Oh, yeah. That's awesome. Crazy shows of people going wild with the moshing and the stage diving and everything. So it was it was like our very first gig was opening for the band Fugazi, which is Oh, I love Fugazi. Yeah. So it it really was like a perfect launching pad. A lot of bands have to suffer through like nobody showing up.

Like we hit the ground running because of that. Um and then another big moment was um when in the mid '90s they had buzz clips on MTV and that meant that this is the song that everybody's buzzing about. Oh, right. Went down got a buzz clip. Yeah, that took off. It It was on every hour and then you [clears throat] saw the shows get way bigger and also the audience get a lot younger younger younger because MTV viewers and then you had a lot of people that were like, "Now there's all these kids at your show." And I'm like, "Good.

That's we want that. They they will be with us for a long time." And you know, like I wanted to have people feel about 311 the way I felt about the Clash. And are you still connecting right now with the the youth and like getting new people kind of interested in this? Yeah, I mean Amber and Love Song and Champagne kind of the softer stuff has really appealed to teens for some reason. Usually it's like the teens like the hard [ __ ] but now it's coming back.

It's a little different. You know, it's interesting because uh I noticed this with my kid cuz I have I have four kids and I know this with my my teenage my teenager. [snorts] I think it's because of the internet and YouTube. Their breadth uh uh and scope of music is so vast. Like I grew up in the '9s and it's like you either like this or you like that. Yeah, you're in a category. And there were some kids that liked, you know, you know, music that span decades, but it was rare.

Um but now it's like my daughter will be playing music and I'm like that's from the 80s. Oh my god, that's I grew up with listening to that and that's new. I don't even know what that is. So, I would imagine you guys are probably seeing that with like kids that are like, "Oh, I just discovered you guys." Like, yeah, we've been around for a while. while. while. Well, yeah. And now my daughters are wearing the baggy pants that we wore in the the the We just talking about that the other day or what?

or what? or what? Super baggy jeans are all back in style again. again. again. How many kids you have? Three. Three daughters. Three daughters. What's that like being a dad? a dad? a dad? It's the most rewarding and challenging but most rewarding gig in the world. You know what I mean? Like you get more the feels from taking care of a baby than anything else. Seeing else. Seeing else. Seeing 11, 14, 16. Are they into music too? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Nice. Nice. Nice. So you got Hold on a second.

You got like two teenagers and one almost teenage daughter. You got three three daughters. Teenage girls and wife. It's four on one, bro. It's four on one, bro. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's why Is that why you're still doing tours? You gotta hang with the homies. I gotta get out of the house, dude. Do a tour for a month. That's your golf. Yeah. Yeah, dude. What's dude. What's dude. What's Yeah. I mean, but they they love their dad so much and it's like it's so so to to come home to that, you know, and so it is tough to leave like it there's just a a power shift, you know, cuz I'm I'm the benevolent sheriff when I'm home.

Like I'm the one that's like, "Hey, can be on time, you know, clean up your room." That kind of stuff. Are you It's so hard to be cool to your teenage kids. Are you Do they think you're cool or is it like when when you run into fans like, "Oh my god." Are they like, "Oh, dad." dad." dad." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They They enjoy it. I mean, maybe it's because we're lucky enough that there's such a '9s resurgent that their friends think it's really cool. Your dad.

Your dad. Your dad. So, that fits right in with the style. That's really cool. when you uh when the moments right like you were talking about that that were huge that in that moment like who do you pick moment like who do you pick up and call first and why? My dad comes first like he my first love was his stack of 45s from the 50s that I listened to when I was like 5 years old. And you know he taught me so much about rock and roll culture.

you know, he was a teenager [snorts] in the late 50s when the time of Buddy Holly and Elvis and Chuck Barry [clears throat] and everything. And so I could identify what the difference between a 56 Chevy and a 57 Chevy and and the the whole car rock and roll culture kind of thing. and he was just so supportive, you know, buying me guitars and driving me around to, to, to, you know, we'd go on camping trips and go in the thrift um the pawn shops and buy guitars and stuff like that.

So, you know, but my mom too, but like my dad was the rock and roll guy, so he's probably the first cuz that had been probably one of the cool moments too, like maybe the first like big concert to have dad at was I'm sure. sure. sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. And when we're back in Omaha and we'll play, I'll be like, "There's my dad right over there. He's 86 and he's walking out with us." That's so awesome. That's right. That's right. That's right.

What's your first big purchase when you when you started making it? Right when we got signed, I got um a 69 Lincoln Continental. Lincoln Continental. Lincoln Continental. Okay. I just need needed to have the suicide doors, you know, and put a huge subwoofer that you could hear down the block. block. block. Yes. That was got a like a very uh metallic gold paint with lots of sparkle in it. in it. in it. You still have it? No. No. No. What? Wait, it caught fire? What happened?

happened? happened? This oil leak leak in the engine caught fire. fire. fire. Oh, that sucks. Okay, this thing's done. You have a favorite place you You have a favorite place you like to play? Cuz you've been all over. Is it Yeah. Do you have like a a place that like you love going back to? Is it home? Uh we have great shows in Omaha. Um but as far as like a venue, Red Rocks comes to mind. We've played there like 18 times 18 times 18 times and it's just a magical place with That's Colorado, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Colorado. Venue. I hear it's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Got to go. You got to tell me though uh about Shaq and how you guys got connected to him and how he he sang a song with you and all this stuff during like his the height of him on the lake. Yeah. Please tell me he's one of the ones that you really like cuz I'm a big I love I'm a big Shaquille O'Neal. I mean it's I got his car. I am a big Shaquille O'Neal fan.

So I have one of his shoes. Oh, you do? Um Um Um yeah, you have to share some Shaq stories cuz I tell these guys all the time about he's one of those he's his heart is so big and he doesn't get credit for a lot of things he does. He doesn't put it out there very much. And so so so no great great guy. Um, so we around the time of time of time of the um, from Chaos album, we were a good buddy of ours was had a label that Shaq was doing a rap album on and he was like, I want to do one rock song.

And so he was, buddy was like, 311 could do that for you. So we collaborated on a song called Psycho. And then um when we were going to do our video for the song um You Wouldn't Believe, we asked if Shaq would come and appear in the video. And first of all, he was like, "Okay, if I do it, it has to be secret because we're in the middle of the NBA playoffs right now." right now." right now." Um and we were going to play some pickup B.

And you can you can see in the in the video we're playing basketball for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he showed up. He he told he said at the end of the day he said if you tell anybody about this I'll sue you. So I'm risking suit by telling the story. He showed up with two left shoes. He he just grabbed two shoes. So they don't really show his feet in the video because he was wearing Oh my god. Yeah. Nobody's got a pair of those size.

those size. those size. Yeah. Like 22s or something. Um and uh and the thing was is he was up in his house which I think was like Sherman Oaks. We were shooting the video down in Long Beach. So, we were like, I think we need to charter a helicopter in order to get him here in time, but we couldn't make that happen. So, he was like, no problem. I got you. And he had this like SUV with a big Superman sticker on the front and he would just put a siren.

Shut your face. Yes. And he's going through traffic and everyone's moving [snorts] and and we were like, what if you get caught for that? He was like, "I'm a Laker." Laker." Laker." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, I'm royalty here. Oh my god. So, he just Wow. Wow. Wow. siren down to making Long Beach. That's a great story. That's awesome. Very cool. So, with with your uh when what is your fitness routine look like when you're not touring? Is it I'm assuming it's different? So, like right now, I'm just kind of in a maintenance thing where I'll do like what I did today.

Um, but I guess like if I'm getting ready for a tour, I might do like um, you know, cross trainining type like F45 classes to me. I like the the communal nature of everybody high-fiving and just show up and and it's different, you know, um, each time. So, I do that and then I go just go through different phases. Sometimes it'll be more about jogging. Where I live in Tanga, there's just nothing but wilderness around there. So, there's tons of trails. So, I'll [snorts] do some running.

Um, sometimes I'll go heavier on on the weights and other times I'll just be doing kind of a maintenance thing where I just make sure I hit every muscle and wake it up. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. What are nutritional habits like for you? you? you? You know, I I'm I'm just back to full [snorts] spectrum eating. There was a while when I was keto. There was a while that I tried vegan, but I just had to eat so much when I could not get full as a vegan.

So, now I'm back to just eating full spec full spectrum, you know, try and steer away from the bad stuff. But stuff. But stuff. But favorite favorite bad food. Um, I had a wonderful Five Guys burger yesterday that hit the spot. That's good stuff. stuff. stuff. That's a good bad food. That's not really a bad food. That makes it makes it way in my diet all the time. Yeah. Well, good deal, man. This is Yeah, this is a lot of fun. I appreciate you coming on, man.

I hope you have a great uh show tonight. And Felton, yeah, looking forward to it. See, Justin, make sure you raz him out there for sure. He'll He'll He'll be moshing. He'll be the idiot, but he'll definitely be the blueass blueass. I know. I know. I know. I'll contain myself. myself. myself. He'll anything I just do it. No, but I appreciate you coming on, man. So, yeah. I hope you guys have a great show tonight. tonight. tonight. Yeah, this was fun. We got into a lot of cool stuff I haven't talked about before, so that's good.

Hey, thank you, man. All right, I know you like that episode. If you did, check this one out. How strong should you be? Ever wonder if you're actually strong or at least compared to people like yourself? Today's episode, we're going to talk about that and we're going to help you determine how strong you should be and also talk about the steps to getting strong as fast as possible. In fact, we're going to talk about the fastest way to get bigger and stronger all at the same time.

I know you say Adam, Adam, Adam, I Yes, it does, actually. And I know that you wrote a really complex episode here, but I think Justin's metric has been the