Watch 311’s Nick Hexum Cover Turnstile
When the Baltimore band Turnstile first emerged onto the DIY hardcore scene about a decade ago, certain old heads got a bit confused. Here was this new band who were immediately huge within their world and who were driving kids into mosh frenzies and who brought insane amounts of energy, but who also sounded a bit like… 311? Was that possible? At this point, Turnstile might be the biggest hardcore band in the world, and most of us old heads have learned to love the way they bring the ’90s alt-rock-radio hooks into their attack. And now the actual guy from 311 has noticed, and he’s into it.
311 frontman Nick Hexum has been on Stereogum a fair amount in recent months, as he’s made a bunch of great songs with the vaporwave producer George Clanton. And now, as Brooklyn Vegan notes, Hexum has posted an Instagram video of himself playing an acoustic cover of “Blue By You,” a song from Turnstile’s 2015 LP Nonstop Feeling, in some lush and verdant outdoor location. In the caption, Hexum says that Turnstile are his “new favorite band,” which is amazing and also great.
The original “Blue By You is only 78 seconds long, but it’s got a big honking bittersweet melody, and it makes its own kind of sense as an acoustic Nick Hexum song. Watch Hexum’s cover and listen to the original below.
Nick Hexum seems cool as hell? If you want to read Stereogum’s 2017 interview with him, it’s here.