EVOLVER
This album had a noted maturity for the band both in lyric and in Hexum’s vocals.
Nick began to study the Beatles’ discography during this period and the music reflects that. They also gave a nod to The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ album by titling it ‘Evolver’.
RADIO SINGLES / MUSIC VIDEOS:
Beyond The Gray Sky was also a single from Evolver. No music video was created for it however.
B-SIDES:
Two tracks from this album didn’t make the final cut.
What Do You Do (exclusive to Japanese Import album)
Time is Precious (was released on 311.com as free download)
You can find these on Archive.
ALBUM TITLE THOUGHTS FROM NICK:
“After 14 years together as a band, I think we’ve really grown and evolved as people, musicians and songwriters. And we feel like our fans (and music lovers in general) have evolved right along with us. These days people just seem to be more open-minded to hybrid forms of music. We’ve always loved mixing rock, rap, reggae, funk, jazz, etc…because we love all types of music – and I know we’re not alone. The new album will have plenty of classic 311 rockers – but as we take another step forward in the evolution of 311 – the record also branches out into some new territory. All of this led us to the title “Evolver” (along with a love for the Beatles album “Revolver”). We think it suits the album perfectly. We’re all really excited about the new songs and we can’t wait to share them with you.”
NICK ON ALBUM COVER:
The album cover concept and photography were done by the band’s longtime friend, Ron Ulicny. Ron explains, “I wanted to project 311 in a different light; for them to be seen from a new perspective. My inspiration really comes from band’s I dig from the ’60’s and ’70’s (Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd), and an appreciation of the album artwork they created. I wanted to take a risk with an ambitious project that reflects more of an art piece, which goes beyond most of today’s album covers. I thought this photo concept would fit the band well and still present them in a cool way.”
WORDS FROM P-NUT:
The recording of this album has taken a while, this is true, but the proof is in the pudding. We are all very excited with all the songs, which are a bit more ambitious than normal; meaning they are a little longer, cover more emotional space, and are going to be fun to play and witness. The really cool thing about having one’s own studio is you can mix and record at the same time. We did these songs in batches, so no one person had to do all their stuff in sequence. So, that means we had some songs that were ready to mix before we recorded the last few songs. And that being said, we listened to half of the album while still putting together the final touches on the ones that were left. Very good for gettting energy on the last tracks. I can only imagine how much a 311 fan is going to appreciate this work that we’ve done. It’s that good/great. See you on the road this summer. Be good be god,
P-Nut
WORDS FROM NICK:
We are confident we are taking a huge step forward. Hmm… what does that mean? A step forward towards hard ass rock? A step towards beautiful harmonies? Dope beats? Funky basslines? Soaring guitar solos? Heartfelt mellow moments? Yes! Yes to all! Yes to life!! Yes to music!
We realized that in order to keep the quality up, we had to take our time. Especially when you consider how many albums we’ve put out in a decade. But the good news: we have done some of our best work ever! Now that we have our own top of the line mixing board, the sounds we’ve been getting are awesome. Song wise we’ve got some tunes that feel like real breakthroughs. I’ve always wanted to combine the melody of some of our mellower stuff with the power and tempo that gets the crowd jumping. We’ve definitely achieved that on a few songs. A few songs are straight up rockers, there’s a little dub and dancehall, and there’s a couple of lo-fi acoustic numbers too. As usual with 311, diversity.
Nick
AN INSIDE LOOK WITH NICK HEXUM:
CREATURES
“Creatures” started out as a guitar riff I had played into my mini recorder sometime on tour last year. It sounds like power chords, but it has a major 3rd in it giving more of a complex flavor than regular power chords. I asked Tim to come up with the second part so I gave him the Pro Tools file to see what he was vibing on. He came up with a funky bouncing single note riff that is now the verse. He uses the trademark Mahoney effects that he used on Champagne. I then fleshed out the rest of the song in an marathon seven hour session in my home studio. SA came up with some raps that went with the lyric theme of tension, aggression, and anxiety; the common perils of modern urban life. I wanted the bridge to go into a different world; swirling synths reminiscent of early Pink Floyd. This will be a blast to play live.
RECONSIDER EVERYTHING
It’s one of Chad’s favorites. The guitar intro was intended to be straight ahead punk, implying a double time tempo. But then the drums come in with a half time feel making it distinctly 311. One highlight of the song is a memorable wah-guitar hook played by Tim. Lyrically it’s about thinking for yourself. As the title implies that doesn’t mean reject everything people tell you, but always question things so you can find your true path. Inspired partly by Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. A quote from that book, “Notice how they’ll accept anything except a man who stands alone.”
CRACK THE CODE
I feel this one is a breakthrough because it is so unique. The intro has some Pet Sound-ish bells over a funk bassline. The opening chorus (there are quite a few different choruses in this one) is SA singing about the difficulties of opening up. Then I sing another chorus with a similar but different theme and then a bridge that builds to the hard ass dancehall part. It has a completely different feel with hard rock guitars, rapped vocals, and a crazy beat that combines dancehall rhythms with an almost drum corps 32nd note snare turn around. Lyrically, “Crack the Code” is about finding someone who understands you, which is a marvelous accomplishment.
SAME MISTAKE TWICE
This is the second song written for Evolver. It’s a bouncing punk jam in the spirit of The Clash but with more harmonies. It’s about vice and the struggles that everyone goes through.
BEYOND THE GRAY SKY
This song is an emotional outpouring about my best friend from high school, David Barker, who suddenly took his own life last year.
Looking back reading his emails he alluded to a “cloud of darkness” in his writings. At the time, I read right past it and didn’t even notice those words. You always feel guilty like you should have tried something when something like this happens. Depression is a confused and hopeless state that drives people to desperate lengths. All I can say is don’t be afraid to talk about it and try to be open if others are trying to reach out. Musically, this song started as instrumental demo that Tim made called “Jerrybird.”
SEEMS UNCERTAIN
Pherrell of N.E.R.D. described “Seems Uncertain” as “the shit.” I played him a demo of it on our tour bus during the Liquid Mix tour. It’s not the first kind of song you’d expect a Neptune to like. It starts out with acoustic guitar in a Beatle-esque figure. Then melodic echoed vocals and 60’s mellotron keyboards come in with a hip hop beat grooving along. I think it should be a single because it has a message of unity. It’s about the uncertain state of humanity. Everybody is dividing up into teams and someone is going to have to give in.
STILL DREAMING
“Sometimes when I’m awake, I can’t tell if I’m still dreaming.” This song is a series of loosely connected images in the psychedelic style of Transistor. Chad wrote the music to this one and you can hear the characteristic heaviness to his riffs.
GIVE ME A CALL
This song is a light reggae jam that gets suddenly heavy at the pre-chorus. Lyrically, we’re pondering the hidden deep subtext of common seemingly mundane everyday sayings. It’s a love song and in this context “Give Me a Call” is way of saying you’re there for someone.
DON’T DWELL
“Don’t Dwell” started out with a wicked slap bassline that P-Nut had been working on. One day while tracking “Reconsider Everything” he played it between takes and I thought it was dope so I grabbed my mini recorder and had him play it. I took it home and built a chord progression around it on my home studio. The end result is a powerful hard rock song with a slap bass, distorted octaved guitars in a latin pattern, and a Smiths-ish vocal melody. Lyrically “Don’t Dwell” is about…well… not dwelling. It’s about breaking free of the mental loops we all get in. Not easy, but it can be done.
OTHER SIDE OF THINGS
Chad’s heavy riff writing starts this one off. The following sections are shuffled rock inverted power chords. In inverted power chords the fifth of the chord is played below the root instead of above making it more dense sounding. The lyrics are about taking a new point of view or looking at the “Other Side of Things.”
SOMETIMES JACKS RULE THE REALM
This one is probably the most acoustic song that’s been on a 311 album. It’s about how life can be sometimes unfair. The song started out as a mellow rant about fools being in charge or as Perry Farrell put it so well, “Idiots Rule.” After I wrote the first half of the song I took a new point of view. Instead of looking at others and pointing a finger I started examining my own thoughts. As in, “why am I saying this?…How do I know any better??”… etc. The lyrics at the end of the song conclude that enlightenment cannot come until a person comes to grips with the sometimes petty emotions that drive us.
CODA
At 5:22 or so of “Sometimes Jacks” there is a hidden track. We refer to it as the “Coda” or outro of the album. This is P-Nut’s creation. A nice mellow melody played up the neck of the bass. In the background you can hear me playing the vibraphone, but more notably the double bass harmonica. It’s a huge harmonica with a reedy sound that can play as low as a bass guitar.
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