It’s somewhat after midday on a Monday in July, and the UFC Fitness center in North Brunswick, New Jersey, is uncharacteristically quiet. In walks 6-foot-3 Nick Hexum, the 54-year-old lead singer of 311, duffel bag in hand. He’s bought a smile on his face, however his eyes inform a unique story: The dude is drained.
Traditional rockstar, proper? Partying all evening, then rolling straight right into a photoshoot. Nope, that’s not Hexum’s type. He’s been sober for practically 20 years and counting, which displays his dedication to prioritizing his well being and “specializing in the present, making music, and household—the highest issues in life,” he stated.
“Full sobriety is the place it’s at for me,” he defined. “To every his personal, however many of the guys within the band have sort of progressed out of that part. You’ll be able to’t sow your wild oats perpetually.”
Zach Timberlake
This explicit bout of exhaustion? It was a mixture of a late-night gig and journey problems. The earlier evening, 311 rocked a Maryland amphitheater. Then, a string of flight delays pressured him to ditch the aircraft, hire a automotive, and hit the street for a three-hour-plus drive for his “FLEX” photoshoot and interview.
“Oh boy,” I believed, a knot of hysteria forming in my abdomen. I’ve handled my share of artists, musicians, and actors who flip into high-maintenance divas after dealing with far fewer hiccups. Certain, Hexum sings about “Amber” and overcoming “Stunning Disasters,” however he’s nonetheless human. And I do know firsthand how sleep deprivation and battling Jersey Turnpike visitors can flip anybody right into a full-blown stress grenade.
However as he surveyed the huge 28,000-square-foot facility, he didn’t explode. As a substitute, he stated, “I’m excited. Slightly out of my aspect, however able to work.”
He would possibly think about himself out of his aspect, nevertheless it doesn’t present. The following few hours of interviews, portrait photographs, workouts, and selfies, Hexum was participating and cooperative, with out a single grievance.
Erica Schultz
How Nick Hexum Features At Full Throttle
A number of extra sled pushes? Certain. One other set of field jumps? Why not? Regulate the shape to get higher lighting even when it feels barely awkward? Not an issue.
Nick Hexum understands that well being and health lengthen far past aesthetics. “Train is a big a part of my life to remain centered and comfortable,” he defined. “I really feel that working in your bodily well being, your psychological well being follows.”
It’s a near-perfect solution to sum up one of many quite a few advantages of train. Actually, if I had a shred of musical expertise, I’d attempt to seize it in a track. To save lots of myself the embarrassment, I believe I’ll go away the lyrics to the professional.
Since their breakthrough within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, 311 has been a driving power within the music world, crafting a signature sound that seamlessly blends rock, reggae, funk, and hip-hop. With 13 studio albums underneath their belt — and a brand new one slated for launch this fall — the band’s discography boasts 34 singles. A number of singles reached the highest 10 on the choice songs chart, together with hits just like the aforementioned “Amber,” in addition to “Come Unique,” “Don’t Tread on Me,” and “Hey You.” On Spotify alone, the band has amassed over 3.6 million month-to-month listeners and racked up billions of performs throughout platforms.
And people successes had been hard-earned. From Nebraska, the band formally shaped in 1990. The band’s preliminary makes an attempt in Los Angeles had been unsuccessful, main them again to Omaha to construct a loyal fanbase. After securing a take care of Capricorn Information, their first album acquired little consideration, and their touring RV caught hearth, destroying their tools.
Regardless of these setbacks, 311 persevered. Their mainstream breakthrough arrived with the songs ‘Down’ and ‘All Combined Up’ from their self-titled third album, propelling the file to triple-platinum standing. Successes continued, with 4 albums launched between 2005 and 2014, reaching the High 10 on the Billboard 200.
311’s longevity and artistic evolution are a testomony to their relentless work ethic, mirroring Hexum’s method to health and life. Identical to within the gymnasium, there aren’t any shortcuts to success. You must put within the work.
“We’re 34 years into being a band,” Hexum stated. “It hasn’t all the time been straightforward. We’ve had our share of setbacks, however we’ve all the time persevered. I simply keep an angle of gratitude. I’m doing precisely what I all the time wished to do with my life. So why not be in temper?”
Erica Schultz
Nick Hexum’s Health Philosophy: Consistency
Within the health media world, not each celeb is genuinely into it. Some are simply enjoying a job. Hexum’s physique is streamlined and vascular, a results of years of dedication, not crash diets.
“Once I first began, I did it as a result of I seen I might really feel much less loopy,” he stated about his preliminary motivations.
When requested about his health philosophy, Hexum emphasised the significance of regularity. “I imagine in consistency,” he stated. “I don’t go to the gymnasium for 2 hours. Sometimes, I begin the day with 15 or 20 minutes of cardio simply to clear my head.”
“That works for me; you present up, you don’t should set something up, and it’s completely different each time.” When touring, he sticks to a separate routine, beginning with cardio and a guided core exercise. Then, he mixes it up with basic seaside muscle routines at some point and full-body exercises the following, all the time studying new workouts.
Being a musician, Hexum’s exercises have a singular rhythm, syncing his reps with the beat of his music. He’s additionally experimented with completely different diets, however no single method labored long-term. “I went vegan for some time, did keto for 10 months, however I felt like I wanted loads of naps,” he stated. “And now I’m again to extra of a full spectrum food regimen.”
Evaluate shirtless stage photographs or journal profiles from 2019 to now, and also you’ll discover that ditching keto resulted in a fuller physique. Nevertheless, he nonetheless maintains vascularity and visual abs.
Above all, Hexum’s method serves as a reminder that there is no such thing as a one-size fits-all. For him, it’s about longevity, power, and wellbeing.
Erica Schultz
Nick Hexum is Leaving a Legacy of Empowerment
Whereas Hexum’s major focus stays on music and health, his entrepreneurial spirit led him to discover new ventures within the business. Collectively along with his bandmates, spouse, and others, they launched SKP — which stands for “escape” — aiming to liberate impartial artists and musicians from the customarily unfair and exploitative conventional music label system.
“We wish to go away a legacy of empowerment,” he defined. “We’re making a platform to assist youthful artists navigate the business, to allow them to retain their very own fairness and management over their work.”
Hexum envisions SKP (skp.io) as “a system the place artists can hold their very own fairness and nonetheless get the promotion {that a} label would.” This imaginative and prescient extends past music, tapping into “the good democratization of tradition” the place creators construct careers by selfmade content material.
On SKP’s web site, they define their mission: to create an ecosystem “that empowers and helps our community of musicians, artists and artisans, actors, managers, and technicians.” “We’re additionally increasing into movie in order that extra individuals on the forged and crew will be concerned and take part within the fairness of a mission,” he defined.
He contrasts this with the normal mannequin: “Earlier than, it’s simply been principally like one particular person owns it and everyone simply works for a examine. After which, even when they make it an enormous success, they don’t get something for it. Identical with labels, like I by no means bought any curiosity within the file labels that we had been supporting.”
Erica Schultz
Nick Hexum’s “Sure To Life” Method
As we wrap up the session, one thing from our dialogue sticks with me. Throughout the previous few seconds of our interview, I requested the manufacturing crew, “So, what’s subsequent?” Nick chimed in, “No matter it’s, sure! Sure to life.”
I’m fairly certain it was an informal line to say he’s down for the rest we would want, however, whether or not he meant it to land or not, it didn’t find yourself being a throwaway line; the phrase caught with me as a message to embrace alternatives and method life with an open and optimistic mindset — lots of the themes discovered woven into 311’s music.
This “Sure to Life” outlook organically connects to numerous elements of Hexum’s existence and is clear in 311’s numerous, genre-blending music. It’s in his method to health, the place he seeks new routines and adapts his food regimen. And it shines by in his entrepreneurial ventures with SKP, the place he’s trying to reshape how creatives are valued. This angle is about being constant, exhibiting up, exhausted or not, placing within the work, and staying optimistic when it’s the very last thing you are feeling like doing.
After the shoot, Hexum is dealing with one other five-hour, traffic-filled trek to Boston; a mere pitstop earlier than 311’s subsequent present in New Hampshire. But, the 311 frontman’s optimistic outlook remained unwavering.
As we stated our goodbyes and I packed up with the crew, I mirrored on the right way to carry extra of that “Sure to Life” vitality into my very own world. This affirmative angle has fueled a 34-year profession within the tumultuous music business and, at 54, it continues to maintain his vitality and power, which could simply be the key ingredient we’re all on the lookout for.
