In short
Nick Hexum (311’s lead singer) explains how the band has stayed together for 35+ years, linking longevity to flexibility, gratitude, sobriety, fitness routines, and creativity driven by curiosity rather than focus groups. He also discusses music-industry shifts (CDs to Napster to streaming) and his view of AI as a tool that can’t replace “the real deal.”
Guest backgrounds
Nick Hexum is the lead singer of 311, a long-running cross-genre band (rap/rock/reggae/punk influences). He grew up in Nebraska, moved to Los Angeles at 17, and later became sober around 2005–2006. He’s known for integrating fitness into touring and for writing/performing across decades.
Key claims
Long relationships require “democracy” and focusing on strengths; sobriety was a turning point that led to seeking help (recovery, trainers, guitar lessons). Exercise helps mental health (citing research that exercise can be as effective as therapy/meds, and even more effective in meta-analyses). Creativity comes from taking chances and frequent releases.
Notable examples
311 touring with weights since 1993; a gratitude list on Thursdays; learning vocal warm-ups and “singing through the break”; writing “Amber” in about an hour; meeting Joe Strummer (Strummer’s boom box had a 311 sticker); touring with bands like Incubus, Limp Bizkit, Sublime, Dirty Heads, The Roots, and Ziggy Marley.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOInterview with Nick Hexum
1:41 to 1:59
An introduction to Nick Hexum, discussing the band's longevity.
“Today's episode, we interviewed Nick Hexum, the lead singer from 311.”
Interview with Nick Hexum
3:02 to 3:20
An introduction to Nick Hexum, discussing the band's longevity.
“If you love us like we love you, why not show up by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear over at mindpumpstore.com?”
Maintaining Band Harmony
3:20 to 4:32
Nick Hexum shares insights on teamwork and flexibility in a band.
“Super rare for people to stick together that long.”
Friendship and Music Bonds
4:32 to 6:00
Exploring the friendship background of the band members.
“But I think underneath that is knowing that we're better together than we could be apart.”
Navigating Fame and Sobriety
6:00 to 7:10
Nick discusses the challenges of fame and maintaining sobriety.
“But so, yeah, it just it started with friendship, you know, and I had kind of moved out to L.A.”
The Role of Bandmates in Recovery
7:10 to 9:00
How bandmates support each other during tough times and addiction.
“Yeah, it can play tricks on the brain, you know, when you have a lot of people adoring you.”
Sobriety in a Party Culture
9:00 to 11:00
The difficulties of staying sober in the music industry.
“you can drive yourself nuts by being like i just wish they would do this one thing differently but You can instead choose to focus on their strengths.”
Connection Between Fitness and Sobriety
11:00 to 13:20
How fitness became a crucial part of Nick's sobriety journey.
“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.”
Integrating Fitness on Tour
13:20 to 14:02
Nick explains how the band incorporates fitness into their touring life.
The Struggle of Being an Outlier
14:02 to 15:10
Explore the challenges faced by outliers in creativity and self-medication.
“And so you can be outliers in this direction with dysfunction.”
Show all 33 chapters
Channeling Energy Through Music and Fitness
15:10 to 16:18
Nick discusses how exercise and goals help channel his energy and creativity.
“I think that I've always felt like that.”
Touring with Iconic Bands
16:18 to 17:43
A look back at Nick's experiences touring with famous bands and the connections made.
“I mean, us and Incubus had so much fun back in the day.”
The Evolution of 311's Music
17:43 to 20:04
Discussion on the genre-blending nature of 311 and their unique musical journey.
“And so it was interesting because you've toured with different styles of music too, right?”
Navigating the Music Industry Changes
20:04 to 22:58
Nick shares insights on how 311 adapted to major shifts in the music industry.
“So it was just like a concept that really came together.”
The Role of AI in Music
22:58 to 24:18
An exploration of AI's impact on creativity and the music industry today.
“So I try and see when I'm putting on a concert, this is like an essential part of humanness.”
Following Curiosity in Creativity
24:18 to 27:05
Nick explains how following curiosity drives his artistic direction and new projects.
“And that's always, you know, being from Nebraska, that's always been around me, and my mom's from Nashville.”
The Balance of Art and Audience
27:05 to 28:00
Discussion on the importance of authenticity in art versus audience expectations.
“And are you driven more by, um, what you like is the outcome of it versus like what the audience is receiving?”
The Journey of Authentic Artistry
28:00 to 29:13
Learn about the importance of authentic creativity and self-approval in artistry.
Cultural Shift: From Nebraska to LA
29:13 to 30:48
Discover the culture shock and musical influences experienced by Nick Hexum when moving to LA.
Navigating Painful Memories in Music
30:48 to 33:15
Explore how personal tragedies inspire and influence creativity in songwriting.
“And then I would go and try and jam with people.”
The Balance of Validation and Self-Worth
33:15 to 35:05
Understand the challenges of seeking validation as an artist and the importance of self-approval.
“When you look back at all these years, what are some of the bad business decisions that you think you guys made?”
Financial Decisions and Band Dynamics
35:05 to 37:37
Learn about the financial journey and decision-making processes within the band.
Musical Influences and Inspirations
37:37 to 39:15
Discover the significant influences in Nick's music career and how they shaped his artistry.
“I mean, I think that there's a healthy itch to keep a little bit of hunger going, you know, and keep exploring and putting, making new music and so forth.”
Meeting Heroes and Learning Lessons
39:15 to 42:01
Hear about the experiences of meeting musical idols and the lessons learned from those encounters.
“Because sometimes you hear stories where people meet their hero and they're like, that guy was not, he was a jerk or he wasn't as cool as I thought he was.”
Facing Disappointment in the Music Industry
42:01 to 43:19
Learn about the unexpected negativity faced by artists in music.
“I'm sure that taught you, though, something about that, right?”
The Intersection of Fitness and Mental Health
43:20 to 45:34
Discover how fitness journeys can improve mental health and cognitive function.
“And so that was working with personal trainers, getting into boxing, and taking that feedback from a coach.”
Music's Role in Exercise and Community
45:35 to 46:30
Explore the powerful connection between music, movement, and community bonding.
“I mean, the reason why people attend concerts is for the oxytocin and the bonding and the high that comes from synchronized movement.”
The Benefits of Exercise Beyond Chemicals
46:31 to 48:41
Understand how exercise yields benefits that go beyond physical health.
“Like I'm a tall guy, so I only jog at 150 BPM.”
Warm-Up Routines and Vocal Health
48:42 to 52:25
Learn about the importance of warm-up routines for vocal performance.
“Dude, you swam out here and said, there's sharks out there.”
The Power of Collective Singing
52:26 to 56:00
Discover how singing together can create a harmony that enhances performance.
“manage that like touring so much and staying healthy are you like not yelling at people that Yeah, I don't scream at people.”
311's Journey and Connection to Youth
56:00 to 1:02:00
Learn how 311 maintained relevance with younger audiences and their early music scene.
“A lot of bands have to suffer through nobody showing up.”
Shaquille O'Neal Collaboration Story
1:02:00 to 1:05:46
Discover the entertaining story behind 311's collaboration with Shaquille O'Neal.
“lincoln continental i just needed to have the suicide doors you know put a huge subwoofer that You could hear down the block.”
Fitness Routine and Nutritional Habits
1:05:46 to 1:07:28
Explore Nick Hexum's fitness routine and dietary preferences while on tour.
“I like the communal nature of everybody high-fiving and just show up and it's different each time.”
Transcript
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3:47Adam Schafer: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, especially when they achieve a level of success, which you definitely have, especially for three decades. How do you guys do that? Have you stayed together for 35 years through all of that? Yeah. Well, you got to be flexible. You got to be ready to not get your way and get outvoted. Sometimes you got to respect democracy. It's kind of good when there's an odd number of people because you're not going to get deadlocked at, you know, two to two.
4:29So 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. But I think underneath that is knowing that we're better together than we could be apart. It's greater than the sum of the parts that keeping an attitude of gratitude that I'm very fortunate to be in 311 and that we stumbled on a special lineup that wouldn't be the same without who we are. so it's like you said bands will break up if especially maybe the lead singer thinks well i could do this on my own yeah you know what i mean but i i i've always known that i 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
5:30Sal Di Stefano:need to be like well let's slow down a little bit that's there was there a bond going in to the to the band like did you guys have know each other yeah did you all because 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, three of us. 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.
6:07But so, yeah, it just it started with friendship, you know, and I had kind of moved out to L.A. by myself from Omaha when I was 17 and floundered around the Sunset Strip. you know, seen for a little bit. And it just, 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 it started pretty organically.
6:38Adam Schafer:You know, you, what you said earlier, I mean, I guess you could sum it up and say, stay humble and gracious, which that's gotta be hard in music when you're getting crowds of people. Just adorned constantly. you know, People are like, you're so great and all this stuff. How do you, 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? Yeah, it can play tricks on the brain, you know, when you have a lot of people adoring you.
7:19and 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 but it could go the other way sometimes too you
7:39Adam Schafer: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 fans and the partying and the substances, it can come in. It can get a little worse. Do you guys check each other pretty well? Definitely.
7:55Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, when you go, take me through each friend, right? And Bam Amber, because they're mostly very good friends. Obviously, great friends by this point. Like, what does each guy represent in the circle? Because I think of the four of us. Like, we're so different. But it represents, I think, the mix is perfect, which I imagine you've got something similar, where someone's probably more the aggressive guy, someone's the guy, like you said, the brave. Someone does the business. Someone's, yeah, like who's who, 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.
8:30And sometimes the guys are like, yes. And sometimes I'm like, I don't know about that one, dude. And I've realized that that was good for me 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 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.
9:19So you really have a choice. 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 du jour. and to force yourself to look at your blessings is very important in life or in a band or any kind of relationship.
9:41Adam Schafer:Where do you, what are the areas about, because you'll just speak for yourself, right? What are the parts about you that your partners give you grace on? So I can name a few for myself that my partners give you. What are the parts about you where you're like, man, I feel so blessed that they overlook these aspects of how I do things? Wow, man. Well, I think they were 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 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.
10:21So let's try it.
10:23Adam Schafer:Talk about that hard period of where you had to go through sobriety. When was that? And what was that process like? Back in like 05, 06 was like when I was like, basically the story was, I got it, I got it, I got it. Okay, I don't got it. And that moment of like, all right, 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.
11:15You know, people are like, you take guitar lessons? I'm like, yes, there's plenty that I still have to learn.
11:20Adam Schafer:Yeah. Talk about how hard, because that's hard anyway. Like for someone comes out sobriety successfully, that's like incredible. but to do it in an industry uh where you're in a party yeah i mean you're in that world like uh talk about how because a lot of guys don't make it out 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's 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 shit in the morning you know so it's it's not that big of a deal but it it was harder at the time like all I need to figure out ways to have fun and how to be social and different things without the booze and etc.
12:30Was 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? 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, I remember reading an article, endorphins are nature's antidepressants. Yep. so i've always and i i saw that in my 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
13:28Adam Schafer:bring weights out with us on the road oh really yeah a weight bench doing bench press and that's rad yeah when'd you guys start doing that the beginning 93 wow yeah that was really sure 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 and kettlebell 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 oh 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 Now, if you look at general population, everybody kind of fits in this nice bubble.
14:26Adam Schafer:And then you have outliers. And so you can be outliers in this direction with dysfunction. And then you have outliers with musical talent or intelligence with engineering or whatever. And the more of an outlier you are, there's a higher rate of being drawn to self-medicating. and I've heard this before when people say the part of me that makes me good at hyper-focusing and creating this company or being a really good musician is also this part of me that, man, when I'm not playing, I'm like, it's hard to deal with. Is that true? Do you find that to be true? And was exercise a way for you to kind of like, you found that as a way to kind of calm that?
15:10Yeah, too much energy. I think that I've always felt like that. I remember as a kid seeing the book on a bookshelf, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I felt that at times. So I needed to learn to challenge that, to channel that. And now I've just noticed that I have to always be working towards a goal, whether it's a new song, fitness, home projects, whatever it is. So sitting still is like, it just drives you crazy. Yeah. It doesn't work for me.
15:44Adam Schafer:Yeah, yeah. What's it like, you know, because you're doing a show today after 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 five in the morning get a few hours of sleep get up and that's and then like lift weights and sound check and then start partying and then do the show and party after the show you know it i could not do that anymore so it was good to clean up the act 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 deftone sugar ray 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 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 Everybody from Sublime, Dirty Heads, The Roots, Ziggy Marley.
17:18Everybody.
17:19Sal Di Stefano:Who's your favorite to tour with? Oh, man. I mean, us and Incubus had so much fun back in the day. We haven't toured with them in a while. Is that just because you guys connected? Because you guys connected? Is it similar? Yeah. Yeah. There was just a kinship feeling with them, yeah. Well, you guys were one of the first kind of cross-genre bands. And so it was interesting because you've toured with different styles of music too, right? So you've done rap. You've done reggae. You've done some punk. So did you ever do any with the grunge bands? Because I know your music itself is pretty positive and energetic.
18:04and it seems like that's a little bit of a clash with like some of the doom you know grungy kind 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 the hairspray and everything yeah 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 people are like you were the only band that would fit in
18:43Adam Schafer:how do you how do you fit there talk about the different fans what's the vibe like in all of those how different is the vibe in each of those arenas it is it is pretty different but like you We just did a South American tour with Limp Bizkit and maybe kind of lean heavier, more on the heavier stuff for a show like that. And then we'll do these like reggae festivals like Monterey or whatever. And then we'll do more of a reggae leaning set. But we pretty much just go and do our thing. But there are times when we can see like, okay, 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 set lists or changes yeah based on that fresh set list every night yeah well you guys have a gajillion songs so have you gone
19:35Sal Di Stefano: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 that's a long time to stay 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
20:09Adam Schafer:yeah so it's true you feed off the people you're playing for them 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 someone probably it was just i was trying to make like like amber is the color of a sunset and 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. Wow. So you, I'm trying, so now it's just occurring to me that you guys have been around so long that you went through different stages of the music industry.
20:58Adam Schafer: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. Now you've got like AI, which is really weird. Like, what was it like going through all of that? And let's end with AI because that's a really big, strange, like, how's this going to work? Yeah. So we were there for very huge sea changes, which one of them was first the heyday of CDs when they were charging$17.99 for CDs. um so that was the late 90s and then napster caused a complete collapse in recorded music were you guys at that time were you guys like what are we gonna 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 oh yeah so smart yeah we're gonna tour every summer that's our mainstay and we'll work the albums in smart when we can 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 CD sales because their revenue just yeah 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 were ready to pay for it because the convenience and instead of having to go on LimeWire and download stuff, they don't pay the most fair royalty rates, but they're still.
22:45Adam Schafer:Still a business. Yeah, it's a business and the music industry is back at all time highs. So it, you know, it survived and music is such a integral part. 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 putting on a concert, this is like an essential part 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 can't imagine these new artists are probably freaking out or thinking like how they're gonna like do you have any predictions of what how the industry is gonna 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 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 old-timey instruments mandolin and fiddle and pedal steel guitar and banjo and stuff like that i'm just very into the the classicness of that i don't know i don't the ai ai can make a somewhat of a facsimile but i don't think it's going to anytime soon replace the real deal 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.
25:26And that's always, you know, being from Nebraska, that's always been around me, and my mom's from Nashville. So that influence has always been there, but maybe I was kind of denying it or avoiding it. So it just felt really natural to do that. And it just happened not through a conscious decision, but just by meeting people like my buddy Kenny from the band Water Tower, who were backing me up tonight. 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 it that lent itself towards this kind of americana so i know he's going tonight I'll be telling some stories about like the different songs about what.
27:04Yeah, 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 is 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 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 i'll just say like well
27:52Sal Di Stefano:if that's what we happen to do that's cool well you reference rick rubin i and i'll i'm sure i'll mess the quote up i've heard him say that like 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 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 yeah you can get in a lot of trouble chasing that yeah no that's that's right he said his audience comes last because you will dilute your creativity if you're i wonder if they're like this quarter that quarter whatever like you just have to make what's cool to you and follow that curiosity which isn't a guarantee
28:37Adam Schafer:that'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 it's going to be bland 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 was it 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 there's no surfing nebraska from the beach boys like growing up i loved this whole like idea of la and surf culture and beach 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 beaches a lot so I already loved it and I just knew that's where I wanted to be and then also the the punk rock that was coming out of of LA was really cool 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 that 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 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 so in that so you're talking um early early mid 90s that you came to la 88 80 okay 88 so this is before because 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 but your experience of la at 17 and 88 was probably like magazines mtv then you go to la was a culture shock we're like whoa were the things that you saw that you expected and things that you did not expect?
30:39Yeah, well, I think it was just a little frustrating because linking up with the right people, there was like the Recycler and Musicians Connection magazines. And then I would go and try and jam with people. And it was just a lot of hair metal. It was still the tail end of Motley Crue and all those kind of - Def Leppard and all that stuff. Yes, it was that kind of thing. and I was like, that's not my jam. So that's what led to me realizing my boys from Omaha would be my best collaborators.
31:17Sal Di Stefano:You talked about going to these 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 an area that you've struggled to go to a place that 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 because it was too painful. But I know that there's so many families that have gone through similar things. Just other things like family stuff. My own, there's a song called Work of Fiction where I'm talking about my own desire for validation and approval and just cleaning out the closet because that's what really good art can do is to be cathartic and help you process things.
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32:17Adam Schafer:How do you survive that validation challenge while being an artist that is in front of, you're touring every summer. That's like the ultimate validation machine. if I could ever imagine one. So it's feeding this, I don't know if you would say, an insecurity at the same time you're trying to deal with it. How do you do that? Well, I think the reason why what I was saying earlier, especially some solo artists, 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, of being helpful, of being kind, of being generous, that I need to approve of myself it 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 don't like that or i don't like that can you name some where it was like oh this is gonna 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
34:07Sal Di Stefano: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 bad business decisions that you think you guys made? Oh, bad. You know, we, we are always, we're 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 like 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 fact that you guys this is something that i've 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 at work with four people 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 verses yeah yeah i know that we get into it we get into it you gotta go to rock paper scissors yeah and and uh and why i lie even though again when it's no disrespect to even compare to it's just like we all are responsible for different things i would i would say sal is our lead singer right so it's like for sure but there's things that everybody does but you still get credit like we get equal credit no matter what there's certain parts that guy's 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 an opportunity where they're like sell the rights we can get this big million dollar payout and one of the guys like man i can really use that right now like that hasn't no no we we everybody brings their own certain strengths you know what i mean tell me uh you're i always like talking to someone who's had the amount of successes you had to um your relationship with money and that journey 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 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 crush yeah yeah i mean i we thought 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?
37:55I mean, I think that there's a healthy itch to keep a little bit of hunger going, you know, and keep exploring and putting, making new music and so forth. And I'm, I'm only human. I'm not 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.
38:23Adam Schafer:Who are your favorite artists that you like to pull from? I mean, Paul McCartney is the greatest living musician, in my opinion, as far as all around, you know, from, of course, songwriting, singing, instrumentation, performing, just and having such a vibe of love and positivity. Like, that's the pinnacle. when you were a kid you said Beach Boys yes I love cheerful music it always has transported me that comes through for sure can you go through like the different influences you had growing up because I'm sure like you know 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 really what I want to know well the first band that really blew my mind was The Clash okay yeah that's a great band fairly fairly angry you know it was you know 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 wow wow that's cool that's a pretty special place 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 yeah good point it like and it'll be a special place for you forever yeah yeah yeah have you met anybody as you guys were coming this 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 like have you had an 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's gonna 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 no oh yeah that's joe's boom box i was like wow my hero has our sticker that's a cool my life is did he know you're a huge fan there did he know yeah did you i mean i i think he heard totally fangirl when you met him like what was that like oh man i was just like yes i i fangirled now was Was it what you had expected?
41:12Adam Schafer:Because you build it up. Was it what you expected? Because sometimes you hear stories where people meet their hero and they're like, that guy was not, he was a jerk or he wasn't as cool as I thought he was. He was great. 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.
41:34Sal Di Stefano:Any artists like that that you've met along the way that maybe shattered your paradigm or change your thinking along the way?
41:46I don't know. I mean, there's definitely some assholes out there. Can you name them?
41:54Adam Schafer:I'm going to guess in the hair metal space. That would not be my usual positivity to talk shit about anybody, throw shade.
42:01Sal Di Stefano:I'm sure that taught you, though, something about that, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's not how I want to be.
42:08Adam Schafer:Can you tell us without naming names where that kind of, because there's, 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 met have made like extremely racist comments. And I'm like, really? Yeah. How is this? In the music industry? Yeah. You get canceled for that. I'm surprised. You're just kind of shocked, I'm sure. Yeah, I was like, you're just going to say that out here with some guy you just met? He's like, you're from Nebraska, right?
42:50Adam Schafer:Let me just make this joke real quick. Tell us about the fitness journey because this is a big part of your life now. So I know you were working out, but back then you were also partying and stuff. At what point was this? How did that evolve for you with fitness, with cognitive health, mental health, all that stuff? So I think it was all kind of self-taught until at the same point of when I got sober, like I said, that led to asking for help in many areas. And so that was working with personal trainers, getting into boxing, and taking 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 yeah okay and it goes through all the different things like whether it's SSRIs or different types of exercise.
44:06I'm going to – Sal can tell you it for you.
44:09Sal Di Stefano:We talk about it all the time. Yeah, we've probably quoted this before. This might surprise you. Look at what's at the top of the list.
44:15Adam Schafer:Yeah, dance. Yeah. Yeah, dance, walking, jogging, cognitive behavioral therapy, yoga. Told you guys I just started dancing. Exercise, SSRI, strength. I mean – The dance is at the top. Yeah. And there's studies that – Here you go, brother. So there's a lot of studies on exercise and depression and anxiety. And there was a recent meta-analysis that showed that. So the previous studies had shown it was as effective, at least, as medication and talk therapy. And I always argue that if you stretched the study out long enough, exercise would do even better because there's no down-regulation receptors.
44:51Adam Schafer:There's no negative side effects. It just keeps getting better and better. well now we have recently we had this meta-analysis that showed it was one and a half times as 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 like why do you think it's so it's so effective for that well you probably know more about the the brain chemistry but i just know I want to know your perspective because you experienced depression and, you know, substance abuse and then exercise. I love hearing from people like you.
45:30Adam Schafer:Like, what was your experience through that? I mean, the reason why people attend concerts is for the oxytocin and the bonding and the high that comes from synchronized movement. Like 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 feel this feeling of love and purpose and the bonding. So that's what a concert provides. So my job is to get everybody to lose their inhibitions and get moving so they feel that high from it. And then so when I exercise, I sync my exercise up to music.
46:31So 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 was that 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 um and when even when i'm lifting weights i'm syncing up like one two three four one and just doing things really so really isolate and then but feeling 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
47:17Adam Schafer:training totally that's cool there's there's such a it's such an interesting combination or should i say um association or crossover between music and movement or exercise obviously so uh because 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 they suddenly start to move uh so there's something there and i i don't know of too many people that don't like to work out to music and 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.
48:03Yeah.
48:03Adam Schafer:Um, so there's this really interesting connection, but I think a lot of the benefit from exercise, because I guess it releases feel good chemicals and all that stuff, but I can give you those chemicals and it's not going to do the same thing. So I could find, I could get chemicals like endorphins inject you and it's not going to be as beneficial. I think part of it 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 regulation that you would when you get something that feels good and you didn't do anything hard.
48:38Adam Schafer:You just took a pill or snorted something. Yeah. Breaking through those mental barriers is so important. Like yesterday I had a day off and the two ideas that both were a little bit fear inducing 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 and then i was like and then i'm going surfing which the waves were very big yesterday so i was like i'm gonna take i'm gonna i'm gonna hire a surf instructor because i don't want to drown and the waves are 10 feet high and it was so i got long rides 100 yards and paddling back out fighting through the waves was like so exhausting so this morning i'm 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 a mat and a jump rope, I still manage to get a good start with cardio to get warm and then do strength training just with like squats, pushups.
50:01Adam Schafer:Dude, you swam out here and said, there's sharks out there.
50:06Sal Di Stefano:Before you came today, he was just talking about how scared he is to swim. This was a great one. West Cliff, you'll be all right. A little further south. I've heard that. I don't know if that works. I stay clear, man.
50:16Adam Schafer:You know, it's interesting. There's few things that light up the whole brain, 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. So music affects the brain in a way to where it helps you learn other things. So it can help you learn math, science. 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. Exercise and activity does this as well. It lights up the whole brain. So it's a very natural thing to combine.
50:52Adam Schafer:And so my question to you is, do you think it helped you with your music? Absolutely. Not just the fitness part, but the creativity part. Yeah. I think that getting that, the confidence that you get from exercise will help you make more courageous artistic decisions. and 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 properly warmed up before I get out there. What does that look like? What does a warm-up look like before you get out and do a set? So I like to 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 yeah okay so it's not like a little warm-up you're actually doing a workout yeah no no i didn't mean 90 minute duration i meant oh before like 90 minutes before the show starts got it so i probably work out about 25 30 minutes and then have an hour to like get dressed and warm up the voice 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 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 you like not yelling at people that Yeah, I don't scream at people.
52:40That was just another one of the things that I learned to ask for help with is to work with a vocal coach that could help me do the warm-ups. So I 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, which I never knew until I found this one guy who just like saved my voice.
53:08Adam Schafer:You know what's interesting about, well, there's a lot of things that are interesting about music, but I find it fascinating that it's, I said this earlier, it lights up the whole brain. 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 I'm saying he's terrible. Justin's a lot better.
53:45Adam Schafer:Doug maybe. 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. It cancels out the errors. Is that true? What do 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 it's combined with everybody else.
54:31That's why you hear the soccer chants and stuff that just sound incredible.
54:35Adam Schafer:Isn't that rad? 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 it come on i have a favorite kid but you can pick you're gonna stay on the podcast but you know uh there there are certain songs that are are extra special and i don't know there's a a song called creatures for the while 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 always changes take me take me through
55:19Sal Di Stefano: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 it like take me through a day that like was like was there a moment yeah was it take me through one of the most exciting like moments of like we made it or that holy shit like and 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 nuys 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 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 music sounds from nebraska we were just were you guys all sitting around together yeah oh really around did you create a scene in nebraska that was like notable yeah yeah we were really 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 i love Yeah, so it really was like a perfect launching pad.
56:51A lot of bands have to suffer through nobody showing up. We hit the ground running because of that. And then another big moment was when in the mid-'90s they had buzz clips on MTV, and that meant this is the song that everybody's buzzing about. Oh, right. When Down got a buzz clip. Yeah, that took off. It was on every hour. And then you saw the shows get way bigger. And also the audience get a lot 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. We want that. They will be with us for a long time. And I wanted to have people feel about 311 the way I felt about The Clash.
57:41Are you still connecting right now with the youth and 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 shit, but now it's a little different. You know what's interesting?
58:00Adam Schafer:Because I noticed this with my kids, because I have four kids, and I noticed with my teenager. I think it's because of the internet and YouTube. their breadth uh and scope of music is so vast like i grew up in the 90s and it's like you either like this or you're like that yeah you're in a category and there were some kids that liked you know you know music that spanned 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 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 Well, yeah, and now my daughters are wearing the baggy pants that we wore.
58:42We were just talking about that the other day. The JNCOs or what?
58:47Sal Di Stefano:Super baggy jeans are all back in style again. How many kids do you have? Three daughters.
58:51Adam Schafer:Three daughters? What's that like, being 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. How old are they? 11, 14, 16. Are they into music too? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Nice. So you got, hold on a second. You got like two teenagers and one almost teenage daughter. You got three teenage girls. And a wife. It's four on one, bro? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's why you're still doing tours? You got to hang with the homies. I got to go out of the house, dude, and do a tour for a month.
59:35That's your golf. Yeah.
59:37Adam Schafer:Yeah, dude. Yeah. I mean, but they love their dad so much. And it's like, it's so, to come home to that, you know? And so it is tough to leave. Like, it's just a power shift, you know? Because I'm the benevolent sheriff when I'm home. I'm the one that's like, hey, be on time, clean up your room, that kind of stuff. Are you so hard to be cool to your teenage kids? Do they think you're cool? Or is it like when you run into fans, like, oh, I got a little. Are they like, oh, dad? Yeah. They enjoy it. I mean, maybe it's because we're lucky enough that there's such a 90s resurgent that their friends think it's really cool.
1:00:26Oh, that's cool. Your dad? Oh, yeah.
1:00:27Sal Di Stefano:So that fits right in with the style. Yeah. That's really cool. When you, the moments, right, like you were talking about that were huge, that in that 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, five years old. And, you know, he taught me so much about rock and roll culture. You know, he was a teenager in the late 50s when the time of Buddy Holly and Elvis and Chuck Berry and everything. So I could identify what the difference between a 56 Chevy and a 57 Chevy and the whole car rock and roll culture kind of things.
1:01:16And he was just so supportive, you know, buying me guitars and driving me around to, you know, we'd go on camping trips and go in the thrifts 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
1:01:37Sal Di Stefano:first so 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 yeah yeah and 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 rad 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 i just needed to have the suicide doors you know put a huge subwoofer that You could hear down the block. Yes. That was, you got it like a very metallic gold paint with lots of sparkle in it.
1:02:20You still have it? No. No. It caught fire. What? it caught fire? What? What? Oil leak, leak in the engine, caught fire. Oh, that sucks. Okay, this thing's done.
1:02:32Adam Schafer:Oh, man. You have a, you have a favorite place you like to play? Cause you've been all over. Is it, yeah. Do you have like a, a place that you like, you love going back to? Is it home? We have great shows in Omaha. But as far as a venue, Red Rocks comes to mind. We've played there like 18 times. And it's just a magical place.
1:02:52Sal Di Stefano:That's Colorado, right? Yeah, yeah. Colorado. I've never actually been to that venue. I hear it's amazing. Yeah, I got to go. You got to tell me about Shaq and how you guys got connected to him and how he sang a song with you and all this stuff during the height of him on the Lakers. Yeah, please tell me he's one of the ones that you really like. I love Shaq. I'm a big Shaquille O 'Neal fan. You were talking about the poster. I'm a big Shaquille O 'Neal fan. I have one of his shoes. Oh, you do? Yeah, you have to share some Shaq stories because I tell these guys all the time about his heart is so big and he doesn't get credit for a lot of things he does.
1:03:32Sal Di Stefano:He doesn't put it out there very much. No, great, great guy. um so we around the time of the um from chaos album we were a good buddy of ours was had a label that shack 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 um and we were going to play some pickup and you can you can see in the in the video he would be in trouble for that for sure 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 like yeah yeah nobody's got a pair of 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 and and we were like what if you get caught for that he was like i'm a laker yeah yeah hey i'm loyalty here oh my god so he just wow siren down to make it all yeah that's great that's great story yeah that's awesome
1:05:45Adam Schafer:very cool so with with your uh when what does 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 cross-training type F45 classes to me. I like the communal nature of everybody high-fiving and just show up and it's different each time. So I do that. And then I just go through different phases. Sometimes it'll be more about jogging. Where I live in Topanga, there's just nothing but wilderness around there.
1:06:31So there's tons of trails. So I'll do some running. Sometimes I'll go heavier 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. What are nutritional habits like for you? You know, I'm just back to full 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. And so I'm back to just eating full spectrum, trying to steer away from the bad stuff.
1:07:13Adam Schafer:Favorite bad food? I had a wonderful Five Guys burger yesterday. Oh, yeah. That's good stuff, dude. That's a good bad food. That's not really bad. That makes us weigh in my diet all the time. Well, good deal, man. Yeah, this was a lot of fun. I appreciate you coming on, man. I hope you have a great show tonight. and Felton. Yeah, looking forward to it.
1:07:35Sal Di Stefano:See, Justin, make sure you razz him out there for sure. He'll be moshing everybody. he'll be the idiot that moshing. He'll definitely
1:07:40Adam Schafer:be the idiot that moshing. It's bluegrass. I know, I know, I know. I'll contain myself. He'll mosh anything. I just do it sporadically. No, but I appreciate you coming on, man. So, yeah, I hope you guys have a great show tonight. Yeah, this was fun. We got into a lot of cool stuff I haven't talked about before, so that's awesome. Good, Thank you, man. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Super Bundle at mindpumpmedia.com. The RGB Super Bundle includes MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, and MAPS Aesthetic.
1:08:15Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam, and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com. If you enjoy this show, please share the love By leaving us a 5 star rating and review on iTunes And by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family We thank you for your support And until next time, this is Mind Pump
From the publisher
In this episode the guys sit down with Nick Hexum, lead singer and co-founder of 311, just hours before a live show. Nick opens up about how the band has stayed together for 35 years, his path to sobriety in 2005-06 and how the band stuck by him through it, bringing weights on the road since 1993 and having a full gym dressing room on every tour, and why exercise was his earliest tool for managing anxiety and depression. He covers the study showing dance and exercise outperform SSRIs for depression by one and a half times, how he syncs his workouts to BPM-specific playlists, working with a vocal coach who saved his career, losing his youngest brother to an overdose and finally writing a song about it, Shaq showing up to their music video during the NBA playoffs with two left shoes and a siren on his SUV, meeting Joe Strummer of The Clash and finding a 311 sticker on his boom box, the Rick Rubin creativity principle of audience coming last, and his new Americana solo project with mandolin and fiddle. He also shares his thoughts on AI in the music industry, how the Grateful Dead touring model saved them from the Napster collapse, and why he surfed ten-foot Santa Cruz waves the day before this interview.
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0:00 - Intro
1:59 - How 311 has stayed together for 35 years — democracy, gratitude and knowing you're better together
9:06 - Nick's sobriety journey in 2005-06 and how the band helped him get there
11:17 - Bringing weights on the road since 1993 — gym dressing room on every 311 tour
13:09 - Why outliers and creative people are more drawn to self-medicating
16:32 - How the music industry changed through CDs, Napster, Spotify and now AI
20:57 - Why the Grateful Dead live touring model protected 311 from the Napster collapse
25:47 - The inspiration behind Amber and how it was written in one hour on a Saturday morning
29:58 - Writing a song about losing his youngest brother to an overdose
36:41 - Exercise 1.5x more effective than SSRIs for depression — the meta-analysis
43:16 - How Nick syncs his workouts to BPM-specific playlists for different exercises
47:17 - Breaking through fear as the key to growth — busking and surfing ten-foot waves before this interview
51:21 - How Nick warms up before a show and why working out 90 minutes before performs better
54:05 - Working with a vocal coach who saved his voice
57:42 - Three teenage daughters and the 90s resurgence making him the cool dad again
59:27 - First big purchase after getting signed: a 1969 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors that caught fire
1:01:23 - The Shaq story — two left shoes, an illegal siren through LA traffic and the NBA playoffs secret
1:04:36 - Nick's current fitness routine — F45, trail running in Topanga Canyon and tour prep