Nick Hexum: No Rockstar Perspective, Simply Sweat and Gratitude

It’s a bit of 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 obtained a smile on his face, however his eyes inform a unique story: The dude is drained.

Traditional rockstar, proper? Partying all night time, then rolling straight right into a photoshoot. Nope, that’s not Hexum’s model. 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 form of progressed out of that section. You possibly can’t sow your wild oats endlessly.”

This explicit bout of exhaustion? It was a mix of a late-night gig and journey problems. The earlier night time, 311 rocked a Maryland amphitheater. Then, a string of flight delays compelled him to ditch the aircraft, hire a automobile, and hit the highway for a three-hour-plus drive for his “FLEX” photoshoot and interview.

“Oh boy,” I assumed, 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 going through far fewer hiccups. Positive, Hexum sings about “Amber” and overcoming “Lovely Disasters,” however he’s nonetheless human. And I do know firsthand how sleep deprivation and battling Jersey Turnpike site 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. A bit out of my factor, however able to work.”

He may take into account himself out of his factor, but it surely doesn’t present. The following few hours of interviews, portrait pictures, workouts, and selfies, Hexum was partaking and cooperative, and not using a single grievance.

How Nick Hexum Features At Full Throttle

Just a few extra sled pushes? Positive. One other set of field jumps? Why not? Modify 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 large a part of my life to remain centered and blissful,” he defined. “I really feel that working in your bodily well being, your psychological well being follows.”

It’s a near-perfect option 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 tune. To save lots of myself the embarrassment, I feel I’ll depart the lyrics to the professional.

Since their breakthrough within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, 311 has been a driving drive within the music world, crafting a signature sound that seamlessly blends rock, reggae, funk, and hip-hop. With 13 studio albums beneath 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 Authentic,” “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 fashioned 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 cope with Capricorn Information, their first album acquired little consideration, and their touring RV caught fireplace, destroying their tools.

Regardless of these setbacks, 311 persevered. Their mainstream breakthrough arrived with the songs ‘Down’ and ‘All Blended Up’ from their self-titled third album, propelling the report to triple-platinum standing. Successes continued, with 4 albums launched between 2005 and 2014, reaching the Prime 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 health club, there are not any shortcuts to success. You must put within the work.

“We’re 34 years into being a band,” Hexum stated. “It hasn’t at all times been simple. We’ve had our share of setbacks, however we’ve at all times persevered. I simply keep an perspective of gratitude. I’m doing precisely what I at all times wished to do with my life. So why not be in a superb temper?”

Nick Hexum’s Health Philosophy: Consistency

Within the health media world, not each celeb is genuinely into it. Some are simply taking part in a task. 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 observed 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 health club for 2 hours. Sometimes, I begin the day with 15 or 20 minutes of cardio simply to clear my head.”

Off the highway, he’s a daily at F45, a high-intensity group health routine.

“That works for me; you present up, you don’t should set something up, and it’s totally 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 traditional seashore muscle routines at some point and full-body exercises the following, at all times studying new workouts.

Being a musician, Hexum’s exercises have a novel rhythm, syncing his reps with the beat of his music. He’s additionally experimented with totally 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 quite a lot of naps,” he stated. “And now I’m again to extra of a full spectrum food regimen.”

Evaluate shirtless stage pictures or journal profiles from 2019 to now, and also you’ll discover that ditching keto resulted in a fuller physique. Nonetheless, 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, energy, and wellbeing.

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 usually unfair and exploitative conventional music label system.

“We wish to depart 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 nice democratization of tradition” the place creators construct careers via 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 folks on the solid and crew could be concerned and take part within the fairness of a undertaking,” he defined.

He contrasts this with the standard mannequin: “Earlier than, it’s simply been principally like one individual owns it and everyone simply works for a verify. 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 obtained any curiosity within the report labels that we had been supporting.”

Nick Hexum’s “Sure To Life” Strategy

As we wrap up the session, one thing from our dialogue sticks with me. Throughout the previous couple of 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 positive it was an informal line to say he’s down for anything we’d 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 components of Hexum’s existence and is obvious 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 via in his entrepreneurial ventures with SKP, the place he’s seeking to reshape how creatives are valued. This perspective is about being constant, displaying 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 going through 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 how you can carry extra of that “Sure to Life” power into my very own world. This affirmative perspective has fueled a 34-year profession within the tumultuous music business and, at 54, it continues to maintain his vitality and energy, which could simply be the key ingredient we’re all searching for.