311 haven't done a lot of rising and falling over the past few decades. They've pretty much been on an even keel since the '90s, when they first found their way to mass popularity. But band frontman and Midwest prince Nick Hexum knows something about moving from the hinterlands to Los Angeles. 311 got their start in Omaha. Perhaps paradoxically, that might be the most quintessentially LA thing about them. Maybe that's why Hexum just covered Chappell Roan's "California," a power ballad about leaving your hometown behind and feeling weird about it.
This website doesn't exactly cover every move that Nick Hexum makes, but he shows up here every once in a while -- like when he posted a video of himself playing an acoustic Turnstile cover in 2020, or when he drops the occasional track with vaporwave producer George Clanton. In February, Hexum released a solo EP called Waxing Nostalgic. It's the first in a planned series of six EPs that he'll drop this year. The second, Full Memories is out today, and it features Hexum's take on "California." Hexum's version basically sounds like bedroom-pop, and he switches in the word "Omaha" once or twice. Hear Hexum's cover and Chappell Roan's original below.
And if you're curious, here's the full Nick Hexum EP stream.
The Full Memories EP is out now on SKP. Read our 2017 Nick Hexum interview here.
