| |Sound System |
Soundsystem
Tracks
1.Flowing
2.Sever
3.Eons
4.Large In The Margin
5.Mindspin
6.Can't Fade Me
7.Come Original
8.Freeze Time
9.Livin' & Rockin'
10.Life's Not a Race.
11.Hazy
Release Date
October 12, 1999
| |Press Release |
entitled Soundsystem on October 12, 1999. While the album will feature
311's trademark mix of rock, hip-hop, funk and reggae, frontman Nick Hexum
says "Soundsystem is more rock-based and live-oriented, and it is definitely
a solid step into the future for 311."
Soundsystem was produced and engineered by veteran producer Hugh Padgham
(The Police, David Bowie, XTC) and 311's longtime producer/live sound
engineer Scotch Ralston at the band's own Hive Studios in Burbank, Calif.
Ralston is mixing the album at NRG Studios in nearby Hollywood.
After touring at an exhausting pace and releasing five LP's in just six
years, 311 made a conscious effort to avoid rushing the production of
Soundsystem. "We decided to really take our time in order to make the best
record possible - so we built our own studio and we didn't set any real
deadlines. We spent a lot of time rehearsing the new songs live before
recording them, to make sure that they would measure up to our live show.
We just didn't want to limit ourselves in any way," says Hexum.
The album's title was inspired in part by a trip that Hexum and DJ/vocalist
SA Martinez took to Jamaica. They attended some block-parties where
soundsystems with towering stacks of speakers were set up outside where
people would gather and dance. Hexum likened these parties to "a 311 tour,
which in essence is a massive traveling soundsystem."
The October release of Soundsystem will coincide with the first leg of 311's
U.S. tour. 311 plan to return to their roots for a special club and theater
tour which will run throughout 1999. "Playing small, intimate shows is just
a great way for us to get back in touch with our hardcore fans," Hexum says,
"I can't wait to feel that crazy tangible energy of a live 311 show. I am
really looking forward to playing some smaller venues with a pit and the
heat of the old days."
The band recently met with Jane Fonda to discuss playing a benefit show in
Atlanta for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention
(G-CAPP), a non-profit organization which she founded in 1995. G-CAPP works
to ensure that all children are entitled to a safe and healthy adolescence.
The band hopes to work this benefit into their '99 tour schedule. The band
also hopes to bring a special traveling exhibit from L.A.'s Museum of
Tolerance on the road with them to spread the spirit of tolerance. "We're
on a mission of positivity," says Hexum, "We want to do our part to balance
out all the bad vibes and bad news in the world."
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