ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Nick Hexum, vocalist and guitarist of platinum-selling rock band 311, had worked with a wide spectrum of artists and genres on his new label/music platform, SKP, when, he said the idea came to him.
Hexum said he sees SKP as "a way to help artists — a platform to help artists without a label" have digital distribution and promotional support while staying independent.
Nick Hexum, with Water Tower, 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, brings him to Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $45 general admission standing, remain available at www.archermusichall.com.Archer Music Hall
"And I realized that I could easily put out as much music as I wanted," Hexum said in a call from New York on a solo tour that at 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, brings him to Allentown's Archer Music Hall.
"And then combine that with the fact that I started to get really inspired by more unusual-for-me influences — listening to a lot of bluegrass, alt-country, artists like k.d. lang and a younger artist, Faye Webster.
"And just realizing that I would like to make some very intimate and emotionally honest, up-close-and-personal kind of songs as a way to process different things and work with new styles and people.”
The result of that realization was three EPs this year — "Waxing Nostaglic," "Full Memories" and "Waning Time" — that have the frontman for reggae-rockers 311 now playing Americana and alt-country music.
Sunday's show in Archer Music Hall's Arrow room will have him playing songs from those discs while backed by bluegrass/punk band Water Tower.
Also at the show, a vinyl LP collecting all those songs, "Phases of Hope and Hollow,” as well as offering two new songs will be available for the first time. Hexum said it's his first-ever vinyl release.
Tickets to the show remain available at $45 for standing room only at the venue website.
'Letting the muse bring me wherever'
Hexum said that when he realized he had the freedom to do whatever kind of music he wanted, and to do it himself, was "a real confidence builder."
"It’s the first time that I’ve done everything myself — producing engineering, mixing, mastering ... to realize I could do that stuff myself.
“And I think people have really been enjoying the fact that I’m being raw and honest, talking about difficult issues — talking about sobriety, talking about family stuff, talking about a monologue of self-doubt.
"I try to make it very, very relatable, I think."
Hexum said it also was a plus to decide when to release the music.
“I think that I wanted to have that freedom to, like, finish a song and put it out a week or two later," he said. "So that’s why I did the every-other-month release.
“I also think it’s a more modern way of releasing music, that you don’t have to have the whole 12 songs, a collection. I can do smaller chunks as a way of kind of stoking the fans’ interest.”
Playing the songs live with Water Tower has pushed him even more, Hexum said.
“Coming out with Water Tower, the songs have evolved a whole new twist, because having a whole new instrumentation — banjo and mandolin and fiddle and slide guitar — they perform a little bit differently.
"And I’m really enjoying the process and the freedoms, letting the muse bring me wherever it wants.”
That's the case with the two new songs on the vinyl LP: “One Breath at a Time” and a cover of the 1969 Grammy Award-winning song "Everybody's Talkin'."
"I have a bunch of songs left over. Solo songs that I can release.”Nick Hexum, singer/guitarist of 311
Hexum said "One Breath at a Time" is “a little less Americana-sounding; it’s more like pop-rock compared to the other songs. I wanted to put it out" alone.
He said a lot of the songs on the new discs were collaborations, but “One Breath at a Time” "was written completely by me alone."
“And the cover of ‘Everybody’s Talking’ — I’ve always loved that song, and did it in kind of an ambient way, with lots of reverb and kind of trippy delays on the vocals," he said.
"The lyrics of the song — ‘only the echoes of my mind’ — I wanted music that really represented what the song was about.”
Hexum said you can expect future solo releases from him.
"I have a bunch of songs left over," he said. "Solo songs that I can release.”
30 years of 311
But 311 still is very much alive, he said.
The group, in a career of more than 30 years, has released 14 studio albums — nine of which reached the Top 10, and six of which sold gold or platinum.
The group had three platinum hits in the late 1990s — "Down," "All Mixed Up" and "Beautiful Disaster."
"We know that we’ve had a lifespan much longer than we hoped for. But fortunately, we’re still hungry and excited. And it is a trip looking back for 30 years.”Nick Hexum, singer/guitarist for 311
In fact, the group just last year released its most recent album, "Full Bloom," on Hexum's SKP platform.
“With that album, I think we really had a way to update our sound and make a step forward with new arrangements and production ideas," Hexum said.
"And I think it’s just like a real nice step forward. So it’s been a really good experience, and the lead single, 'You're Gonna Get It,' has become a fan favorite.”
Also, 311 is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its self-titled 1995 disc, known as the “Blue” album, which went triple-platinum and included both "Down" and "All Mixed Up."
"That was our breakthrough album,” Hexum said.
And after 30 years, he said, “you know, fortunately, we’re still fired up and inspired."
"We know that we’ve had a lifespan much longer than we hoped for," he said. "But fortunately, we’re still hungry and excited. And it is a trip looking back for 30 years.”
He said his solo show may even include some 311 songs.
“We do a couple of reworked versions of some 311 songs, so there’ll be some nice surprises,” he said.
