311 strays from rap-rock roots on new album

With 15 years under their belts, 311 are a veteran band. But singer/DJ SA Martinez sounds more like a musician just getting his first taste of success.

"I really think our writing . . . is really growing, and I think it’s something that is only going to get better," Martinez says. "I really think our best records are yet to come. I’m really liking the direction that we’re heading in."

That direction, which is taking 311 more toward a grooving melodic-rock sound and away from the rap-rock hybrid of the group’s early albums, hasn’t been embraced by some 311 fans, Martinez acknowledges.

"I know some of our fans think we’re becoming too melodic or we’re not doing enough rap or whatever," he says. "But honestly, we’re just doing what’s in our hearts and what wants to come out. I think that really makes us who we are."

LESS HARD-HITTING

In Martinez’s view, 311 reached a stylistic crossroads before making the 2001 CD "From Chaos." By that time, 311 had seen their commercial fortunes level off a bit.

Formed in 1990 in Lincoln, Neb., 311 self-released three albums before relocating to Los Angeles, where they landed a deal with Capricorn Records.

The band’s major label debut, "Music," arrived in 1993, but the real breakthrough came two albums later with the 1995 self-titled CD that’s commonly known as "the blue album." It yielded major radio hits in "Down" and "All Mixed Up" and sold more than 3 million copies.

But the next CD, "Transistor," which strayed from the group’s hard-hitting rock/rap/funk signature to fashion a more relaxed sound, sold only about 800,000 copies.

The follow-up CD, 1999’s "Soundsystem," did better, producing the hit "Come Original" while taking a step back toward the band’s harder sound.

But Martinez says by that point, the group members — Martinez, Nick Hexum (vocals/guitar), Chad Sexton (drums), Tim Mahoney (guitar) and P-Nut (bass) — felt they had reached an important point in their musical development.

BEST SONGS EVER?

"I think we were at a crossroads there where we were trying to recapture some of what we were known for early on, and then on the other side of that record we let ourselves go a little more," Martinez says of "From Chaos." "Some of the songs toward the end of that record were some of the best songs we’ve ever written.’’

With 2003’s "Evolver," 311 embraced melodic rock even more eagerly, and that shift continues with "Don’t Tread on Me," which is one of the band’s most focused and strongest CDs.

311, of course, is playing a number of songs from "Don’t Tread on Me" on the band’s current tour. With 311 coming off what Martinez feels are the band’s two best CDs, he’s confident about the group’s future.

"I think this really just gives us more life, even down the road," he said. "It deepens our catalog to the point where these songs, I think, are really going to grow on our fans."

- ALAN SCULLEY