311’s Chad Sexton on Their New Album ‘Uplifter’

Chad Sexton is the drummer for 311, one of my favorite bands, and he’s on the other end of the telephone to discuss the band’s new album Uplifter, produced by the legendary Bob Rock. “It’s definitely more rock than our last two records were. We explored the sounds that we’ve done and a few new ones. Our reggae stuff is on there, our hard rock stuff, some funk going on,” said Sexton, calling in from Charleston, SC.

Did you decide to go with Bob Rock because you wanted to extend the hard rock aspects of your sound, or did it happen organically?
We knew we wanted to have some fun. By the end we had 18 songs, and we put 12 on the record. We really like the rock, and that thought carried us through the record, and we think our fans will love it.

Why was there such a long break in between the albums?
We came to the conclusion that we shouldn’t be on a schedule. Let’s get back to our roots and the reasons we want to play music. We love to play for people, so we decided that we’re going to go out there and let the record come to us in its own time. We waited for the inspiration.

What was the inspiration for this album?
It’s an overall inspiration to move on with our band and to grow. We always want to do well. We want to do our best and get outside the box we’ve been working in, and that’s why we chose Bob Rock. He came to the group, and he hasn’t worked with us before, but we were totally open to his suggestions and to letting him take care of the audio—making sure we’re doing the bridge, what parts should be in different keys, what lyrics work and what don’t—stuff like that. It was a great experience working with him.


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