A Taste:

Death Cab for Cutie, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Nickel Creek

311 is all about phases.

On Uplifter, every song goes through its own metamorphosis. Styles shift seamlessly from funk to reggae to alt rock to heavy metal. In the same fashion, singer Nick Hexum’s iPod is also constantly shifting. However, it’d have to be to inspire 311’s veritable musical melting pot!

“Music is all about unity,” he says. “I try to have that attitude in my day-to-day life. I’m the kind of guy who likes almost everything! If you open your mind, you can hear what any artist was aiming for and relate to it on some level.”

Nick opened up his iTunes for us and gave us an exclusive look at the music that’s “uplifting” him right now. Check out his playlist below and snag 311’s latest album, Uplifter on June 2nd!

Nick Hexum’s Playlist:

1. Death Cab for Cutie

I’m all over the place musically, but I recently went through a big Death Cab for Cutie phase. They’re amazing songwriters, and the singer’s great!

2. Slipknot

I workout to crazy, heavy stuff like Slipknot and Lamb of God.

3. Lamb of God

4. The Avett Brothers

I went through a bluegrass phase where I was listening to The Avett Brothers and Nickel Creek all the time.

5. Nickel Creek

—Rick Florino
05.26.09

A Taste:

Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, The Black Crowes

Lamb of God can certainly pummel with the best of them. However, lead guitarist Mark Morton really just wants to kick back and listen to the blues.

He laughs, “I spend so much time around heavy metal that it’s constantly floating around in my head. Personally, I find more inspiration in that soulful, finesse-y blues playing than I do in modern shredding. That’s not to take away from anything anybody’s doing because there’s a lot to be said for really fast licks. I work on some of that myself [Laughs]. For me, great blues players are who really give me goose bumps.”

Morton opened up his iTunes for us and gave us an exclusive look at the artists that truly inspire him. Check out his playlist below!

Mark Morton’s Playlist:

1. The Black Crowes — Warpaint

“This is probably not what a lot of people want to hear from me [Laughs]. But, I’m still really into the latest Black Crowes record. Luther Dickinson’s slide and lead work is really some of the more exciting guitar playing that I’ve heard lately.”

2. ZZ Top — ZZ Top’s First Album

“I’m still stuck on my old ZZ Top. I listen to ZZ Top’s first album a whole lot. That Billy Gibbons stuff is amazing. Most of my inspiration comes from real heavy blues playing. That’s where my head’s at.”

3. Led Zeppelin

“Jimmy Page is probably my all-time favorite guitar player.”

4. Fleetwood Mac

“Recently, I was looking into some of Peter Green’s stuff—his early work with Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood’s so famous for the Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham-era, but there’s a whole catalog of Top-40 stuff from before. During that time, they were really a heavy British blues band. There’s some great guitar playing there.”

5. The Yardbirds

“The Yardbirds were really ahead of their time.”

—Rick Florino
04.29.09