All five members of 311 grew up in the 1970’s in Omaha, Nebraska. Nick Hexum and Chad Sexton lived on the West side of town and went to Westside High School together. P-nut and S.A. Martines lived on the South side of town and went to Bryan High School together. During high school, Nick and Tim (a high school friend) played in a rock band together called The Eds.

       At seventeen, Nick graduated early from high school and moved to downtown Los Angeles in hopes of starting a music career. When Nick returned to Omaha for Chad and Tim’s graduation, the three of them jammed and realized they had a special “musical chemistry”. They soon added a keyboardist named Ward Bones to the band they formed named Unity. In late 1988, Nick, Chad and Ward moved to Los Angeles and made an unsuccessful attempt at getting a record contract.

       Not satisfied with the L.A. scene, Chad moved back to Omaha and began jamming with P-nut and a guitarist named Jim Watson. Months later, Chad talked Nick into moving back to Omaha to join them. They played their first gig opening for Fugazi on June 10, 1990. In 1991, they parted ways with Jim Watson and added Tim Mahoney as lead guitarist. At the same time, S.A. Martines started to make guest appearances with the band and was soon added permanently to the group. 311 was finally complete.

       In 1990 and 1991 the band released three independent records called; Dimmitt, Hydroponics, and Unity. With these records and their awesome live shows, they quickly gathered a following in the Midwest and then set out for the west coast.

       The band rented a small house in Van Nuys, California and moved in together. These where tough times for the band and right before falling into total poverty, they were signed to Capricorn Records. 311’s first CD “Music”, was released in February of ’93. Shortly after, the band hit the road in support of the record, but were temporarily set back when their touring R.V. caught fire and exploded on the shoulder of the freeway. The fire destroyed all their equipment, clothes, money and personal possessions. Luckily, the band escaped the blaze with minor burns and injuries. Despite losing everything, the band only cancelled one show before returning to the stage. All the support and equipment was donated by fans and friends who heard about the fire.

       In July of ’94, they released their second CD Grassroots. By this time, they were touring the U.S. nonstop.  As a result they moved out of the house in Van Nuys, put their belongings into storage and lived on the road. They put all their energy into their live shows.

       In July of ’95, they released their third CD “311” and once again set out on tour. By ’96, the shows and fan base had grown and the media that had basically ignored 311 began to pay attention. In September of ’96, the song “Down” hit the airwaves and became an across the board success at radio and MTV. “Down” went to number when on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart and the follow-up single “All Mixed Up” went to number two.

       After releasing a home video called “Enlarged to Show Detail”, 311 went back to the studio to record their fourth CD, “Transistor”. Transistor was at number four on the Billboard Top 200 and is now platinum. 311’s tour to support Transistor drew an average of 10,000 people per night in the U.S.

       In 2001 the band released “From Chaos” which was number 10 on the Billboard Top 200 Sales Chart. 311 toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe in support of “From Chaos”.