We play as mixed-up of a setlist as we can, we play songs weвЂ™ve never played before - the few that still exist - and we have a ton of fun with it. The fans in 2000, or before 2000, while we were setting up the show in New Orleans, were like, вЂњYou guys need to do a special show on 3/11!вЂќ They were doing their own gathering independently all over the country, and we figured it was a good idea to have the band play a special show, especially in one of our favorite cities like New Orleans. How did the tradition start and what was this yearвЂ™s celebration like? Q: Every year the band celebrates вЂњ311 DayвЂќ on March 11 as a tradition. We started playing together in вЂ89, maybe early вЂ90, and had our first show June 10, 1990, opening up for a band from D.C. Chad came home from California after (vocalist) Nick Hexum and ChadвЂ™s old band Unity fell apart, and heвЂ™s like вЂњDo you know a bass player?вЂќ And heвЂ™s like вЂњYeah, I know a bass player, but heвЂ™s a kidвЂќ вЂ“вЂ“ and like 15 (years old) вЂ“вЂ“ and heвЂ™s like вЂњI donвЂ™t care!вЂќ We linked up and started playing together, and then Nick came home from Germany where he was trying to get a band together. SA said, вЂњYou gotta meet this kid,вЂќ to Chad. My brotherвЂ™s wife and SA were in the high-school choir together, so he was always around and always super cool, and actually ended up being (drummer) Chad SextonвЂ™s roommate in college, which actually is the link for me through the whole thing. I met вЂњSAвЂќ (vocalist Doug Martinez) (when I was) 12 or 13.

What was on there was so diverse and so different and grabbing from all these different genres, and all this keyboard-heavy stuff, (and) whether I liked it or not, it had a gigantic influence on what I like now. I moved over to bass at (age) 11, and I wanted to just play the music that really reflected what I was listening to, and I was listening to a lot of metal and a lot of everything that was on MTV because there wasnвЂ™t much. I started playing violin at age seven in elementary school, probably more out of boredom than anything else. Q: How long have you been playing music вЂ“ both with 311 and on your own? I got the nickname P-Nut from my elongated cranium when I was a teenager, rockinвЂ™ out and playing the bass. And rock and roll has always been a giant mish-mash of ideas and influences, so that kind of covers the gamut. It doesnвЂ™t seem so much anymore, soвЂ¦ I mean, itвЂ™s rock and roll.

ItвЂ™s pretty cool вЂ“вЂ“ I think we had a little generational help in spreading out that ever-changing web of interests from people, and where music is now so diverse that everything is in this hybrid world, but back in the day when I heard that said the first time, maybe in вЂ95 or вЂ96, it was profound to me. WeвЂ™re kind of a hybrid, but so is everything nowadays, so itвЂ™s kind of hard to make that stand out in this really diversified world where people are grabbing from every genre, using every instrument, using every trick in the book. The first time I heard the Japanese talk about вЂњhybrid music,вЂќ вЂ“вЂ“ I credit it to them вЂ“вЂ“ I thought that was a cool way to put it. Martinez, guitarist Tim Mahoney and bassist P-NUT. (Left to right) Drummer Chad Sexton, vocalist and guitarist Nick Hexum, vocalist, S.A.

311 album covers