Hello again 311 community! I hope you all had great holidays, no matter which one you celebrated. It’s the last Monday of 2014 and that can only mean one thing…the last 311 fan spotlight of the year! It’s time to meet Greg “G-Dogg” Keiling!

Let us travel back to a time when record stores still existed. One particular store, which I’m sure some of us remember well, was Tower Records. It was in that store that Greg was exposed to 311 for the first time. “I was working in the loss prevention department in ’95 when I heard ‘Homebrew.’ Been hooked ever since.”

Almost twenty years later and Greg still loves them just as much as on day one. He’s seen the band live 22 times since then. Out of the 22, he says this past 311 Day in New Orleans was his favorite so far. “Made lots of new friends and saw the most epic 311 show ever.”

The song “Golden Sunlight” has special meaning to Greg since it reminds him of his friend Deora who sadly lost her life back in 2001. She was on United Flight 93 on September 11th – the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. “Deora too loved 311. I actually saw them perform 2 days before here in San Diego at Street Scene. At the time, Deora was visiting our friend Aly in Jersey, then boarded flight 93 on September 11 bound for San Francisco. She was returning to school. Anyhow, I get happy tears when I hear ‘Golden Sunlight’.” Since it’s his favorite song, it’s no surprise that one of his favorite lines comes from it. “There’s a door open to walk through, all I want it, just beyond.”

Greg was born near College Park, Maryland, and lived there and then Ohio before he settled down in Northern Virginia back in 1976. In ’95 he relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. Then in ’97 he made his way to San Diego and has been there ever since. He funds his 311 habit working as a case manager for kids with developmental disabilities and loves what he does! Greg also has full arm sleeves which he says makes him stand out, especially at work. “I have full tattoo sleeves with lots of colors and a variety of stuff!”  While his tattoos may be large and clearly visible, his fear is a bit smaller on the size scale. “I am absolutely terrified of ants.”

Guilty pleasure for Greg is a vice I know many 311 fans love – Jagermeister! His first musical love came at the age of four when he first heard KISS. “I am primarily a metalhead at heart i.e. Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Pantera, In Flames, and local San Diego metal.” Greg also has a really great sense of giving and arranges benefit concerts in his local area (he’s even done some in Arizona).  “I have done 14 Flight 93 benefit shows and have raised close to $11,000 towards completion of the Flight 93 National Memorial. I’ve also facilitated other shows for breast cancer (my mom is at stage 4 and currently kicking it’s ass).” Greg has also orchestrated shows to raise money for child abuse victims services, tornado victims, and for the Dimebag Darrell Foundation.

Greg’s message to the members of 311 is a simple one – “Thanks for making me smile when I need it.”

To the members of the 311 fan community – “Thank you for being so amazing. When I hang out, rock out and party with you guys, I see Deora living in all of you, which lets me still have her. And for that, I am forever grateful!”

——-

Well my friends, that officially wraps up the spotlights for the year 2014. I hope you enjoyed reading about Greg and getting to know yet another fellow fan! I’d just like to take a moment to thank each and every person who reads these spotlights. You are all amazing people, and I know that because we all love a stellar band that guides us down a path of positivity each and every day! So thank you again…and as long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing. Happy New Year all!

Much Love – The Runt

Welcome back friends! Happy Christmas week! As we round down the awesomeness of 2014, lets take the time to meet a new 311 fan! This week we feature Mr. Jeff Seipel!

1995 was the year Jeff was introduced to 311 when a coworker tried to have him listen to the blue album. At the time though, it wasn’t the style of music that Jeff was in to. About a year later, a friend told Jeff he had to check out a certain drummer and “his amazingly unique snare sound.”  His friend played the song “Random,” and from there Jeff was hooked.

At 67 shows and counting, Jeff says he keeps track for two reasons. One, he loves music and going to concerts, and never could have imagined seeing one band this much. “There are some people who won’t attend that many concerts in their life, so I feel blessed to be able to do it. The last 4 years have been a pretty crazy string of travel and shows.”  His second reason – he has a goal to eventually hear every song 311 had ever recorded live. “I believe it will happen one day. They’re the kind of band that doesn’t record filler on an album. Everything is a viable live song, and they’re not afraid to try it at some point. Hearing “Dreamland” and “Will the World” at 311 Day this year blew my mind. It just goes to show you that anything is possible with them.” Jeff is under 10 songs now that he has never heard live. When I asked him which of the 67 shows is his favorite, he said it was way too hard to choose. “That’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite kid. I can’t do it.”

Jeff isn’t a lyrics guy. Being a drummer, he focuses more on the music than the lyrics in the songs. There are songs that he knows all the words to due to repetition. But to pick one that has resonated with him, it’s not solely based on the words. “I think it would be “Time is Precious.” The live debut of that song at 311 Day 2012 came one month to the day after I lost my mom to cancer. I don’t know that the meaning of it applies to losing someone you love and I’ve never taken the time to actually read the lyrics, but that’s what I take from it.” And while not into learning the lyrics like most, Jeff says one line that stands out to him is from the song “Brodels,” simply because he thinks it’s hilarious and would never expect to hear it in a song. “I can’t hear you, like havin’ phone sex with a deaf girl.”

Columbus, Ohio is where Jeff was raised by his parents, and his father was a huge musical influence on him. “His record collection reached upwards of 4,000 at one point and his CD collection today easily tops 2,000 now.” Jeff likes to tell people he grew up on the “good stuff” – Beatles, Zeppelin, Zappa, The Doors, etc. “My parents were kinda sorta hippies. Not fully living the lifestyle, but definitely the musical and recreational aspects of it.”  He was taught not to just take what music is on the radio as what he had to listen to and he looked beyond it to find different bands. At age 5 he had a guitar in his hands, but it never really stuck with him. It was Jeff’s sophomore year that he discovered the drums. “I switched to drums when the guys I was jamming with realized I was a better drummer than any of the guys we were “auditioning” for our half-assed attempt to play the talent show.” Then in his senior year he ended up with a new group of guys and they had a 6 year run in a band. While they didn’t make much noise outside of Columbus, Jeff says they, “Progressed immensely during this time and I’m really proud of the music we created.”

In 2001, Jeff moved to Southern California with his previous girlfriend. He struggled out there during the first year, but eventually landed a job at a start-up ecommerce company in Aliso Viejo. “I never could’ve imagined staying with a company this long, but it’s been 12 plus years now. I’m very blessed to have the job I do.”  It’s this job that enables Jeff to travel as much as he does to all the shows. He not only has five weeks of vacation, but he can pretty much work remotely from any location and he has.  “Airplanes, airports, ski lifts, concerts, hospitals, you name it. If I have internet connection, I can be online and working.”

About 16 years ago, Jeff became involved in hobby collecting the lapel pins that are sold in the merchandise shops at the Hard Rock Cafe locations. It turned into him traveling worldwide visiting locations and accumulating a collection of close to 6,000 unique pins. He’s been to about 80 different locations around the globe. He even met his previous girlfriend through collecting. Jeff says the community of collectors is somewhat similar to the community of 311 fans, but much more spread out around the world. Jeff says the pin collecting is really the foundation of his efforts and why he’s able to do what he does for the groups regarding merchandise. “I already have a system for handling stuff in volume like this, it’s just changed from pins to t-shirts and posters.”

When Jeff was a kid he was a huge LEGO fan, and he still is now and then posts photos of sets he buys now and then builds. “I used to build all kinds of weird stuff, including life-sized guitars that I would string with kite string to make them look more realistic.” He was also really into video games as well. His parents bought an Atari 2600 not long after it debuted, so he’s been gaming most of his life. His guilty pleasure though he says is snowboarding. As a kid he was really into skateboarding but never transitioned into snowboarding because of his location in Ohio. It wasn’t until he moved to California that he had the opportunity with mountains nearby. “I had a coworker who went up to Mammoth all the time, but despite my best, subtle (or not so subtle) hints that I wanted to go, he never invited me up. Thankfully Gloria was a boarder and soon after we started dating, she took me up to the local mountains for my birthday. All it took was one trip and I was hooked.”

Apart from 311, Dream Theater is Jeff’s other long time favorite band. “I’ve been a fan of them since the fall of 1992 when “Images & Words” hit. Amazing musicians.” His other musical loves fall all over the map and include bands like The Urge, The Cure, Dirty Heads, Meshuggah, Faith No More, Breaking Benjamin, and Steve Vai, just to name a few. As Jeff says, “I could do this all day.”

Jeff has been lucky to meet 311 and say these simple words to them. “Thank you.”  He said it may sound cheesy and simple, but it’s all he can really say. “Their music has been a part of my life for almost 19 years now, and I have some incredible memories, people and experiences in my life because of it. I was an aspiring musician at one time and looking at the way they’ve done things over the years, the fan base they’ve built, the lengths they go to to give their fans an amazing live experience, etc. its the model I would love to follow to build a successful music career.”

Now to all the fans out there in the 311 community, Jeff’s words are this:

“I think it would definitely to not be afraid to ask for something you want, need or think of. Just go for it. The worst someone can say is no, right? So just ask. You never know, the answer just might be yes, or open an unexpected door. You never know whats on the other side…”

—

There you have Jeff’s story my friends! I trust it entertained you and truly thank you all for reading these week to week. If you celebrate it, Merry Christmas to you. I’m sending every one in this awesome community much love & positive vibes this holiday season.

Much love! – The Runt

Another week and another fan spotlight is upon us my excitable friends! I hope you all have your shopping done and can take the time to read this awesome new spotlight! It’s time to meet Mr. Dan Voehse!

Dan’s introduction to 311 came when many fans did – right as the Blue album came out and “Down” was getting a ton of airplay on the radio stations. “The video was getting played on MTV, back when you know, they still played videos, so it was kinda tough not to get into that song. I really liked ‘All Mixed Up’ when I first heard it.  It had, for me at the time, a really different sound to it, plus something about the funk/jazz aspects really got me.”  It was a few years later that Dan really ended up hooked on the band. He met some “super fans” through a girl he was dating and it was with them that he went to his first show back in 2000. Driving to the show they put on the “Music” album, and it sucked him in to the awesomeness of 311.  “Every song just got better and better and that was for sure the album that mad me say ok, it’s time to seriously go back and listen to this shit!” While his first show was a short radio station one, it got him listening to “Music” and watching ETSD 1. He also was getting first hand accounts from his friends of the 2000 311 Day, and in Dan’s words, “It just validated that I was missing out on something that I didn’t want to miss out on any longer.”

Recently Dan did a count of how many shows he’s attended. “I’ve been to 41 shows, including every 311 Day since ’02, all the cruises, and Pow Wow.”  The best show of those 41? “Cruise 1 sail away show, hands down. I have special memories and feelings from every event/show, but that one was the best. The whole cruise in general was amazing. Best trip ever. Through that trip I met so many amazing people a lot of whom have become really good friends.  At the time, we didn’t know if there was ever going to be another cruise so it felt like a once in lifetime trip for me anyway. That coupled with the fact that I’d never been on a cruise before and standing on the deck of that ship, leaving the port, feeling that pre-show buzz go through the crowd, getting ready to watch my favorite band?!? It was surreal.  Plus, when they opened with ‘Down’ everybody knew we were in for one hell of show!”

There are many songs that have a special meaning to Dan, but “Strong All Along” has been a stand out one to him. “It can always bring me out of a funk if I’m ever in one, plus it’s just an awesome track to jam driving around when the weather’s mild!”  Some of his favorite lyrics from the band come from the song as well. “Let your body go, just don’t follow the letter. Do what you feel, the more absurd the better.”  He also loves, “Can’t get enough, this is the stuff, life’s about and it trips me out” and “To all my friends, it’s not the end, the earth has not swallowed me yet.”

Venezuela is where Dan was born and he lived there until he was 3. Then shortly after his brother was born, the family moved to Germany where they are originally from. Dan’s extended family still lives there. He was in Germany until he was 7, then his dad took a job with his company in the states, which is how Dan ended up here. “We spent  a few years in New Jersey, but eventually settled just outside of Houston for the majority of my middle school years. Freshman year of high school we moved again to Plano, and I still call it home.”  To fund his 311 habit, Dan works for a family business that distributes a specialized mineral/plastic compound. There he runs the day to day operations.

Since his family hails from Germany, Dan can still speak fluent German! He’s also been playing music pretty much his whole life. “I started taking piano lessons in Germany at 5 years old and played all the way through 6th grade when I discovered the drums. I’ve been playing the drums now for close to 25 years now and can’t imagine ever putting down my sticks.  I’m playing in a band again with some great dudes and things are going really well for us here in Dallas.  We even got a plaque on the wall at Curtain Club (kind of like a local wall of fame) which is something that I’ve wanted since I was 16 and first saw the plaques on the wall.  Hope some readers go check us out! www.generationwasted.net.”  When not working or playing music, Dan can be found watching his guilty pleasure, “The Voice.”  “I’ve basically watched it since season one, but it’s the only talent competition show that I’ve ever liked. At the beginning more than now anyways, it felt like it had more integrity than Idol. I’ve always hated Idol lol.”

Since Dan has been into music from a young age, he loves a ton of different bands. “I’m a huge Tool fan and Maynard’s new project Puscifier. Puscifier is way different but I love it.”  He also really likes Chevelle and Volbeat for heavier stuff. He also really got into Rebelution as well as Bad Rabbits the past few years. Dan also loves 90’s alternative. “I’m a 90’s alternative kid so I love all of that stuff like Sublime, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Rage, etc.”

Given the opportunity to speak to the members of 311, Dan would like to say, “Thank you for making the kind of music that brings together the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”

To the awesome members of the 311 fan base:

“See everybody in Miami!!!!  I’m sooooo looking forward to the next cruise and throwing down at another massive pre-party for all my friends!!!  The show we played in NOLA was one of the best I’ve ever been a part of and this next one in Miami is going to be even better. “

———–

Now you’ve met yet another member of the Unity All-Stars! If you are headed to Miami or are cruising, make sure you check out their cruise anthem and see them live not only at a pre-party, but as they record the video for the cruise anthem on the boat! Check out these links for more:

http://youtu.be/1ctLvni8QUo

https://www.facebook.com/events/393071107517325/

That’s all for now my awesome, positive friends!! I thank you all for reading, and hope you have an amazing week! Until we meet again. Happy Chanukah to all those who celebrate it!

Much love – The Runt

Welcome back loyal excitable blog readers! I know, I missed a week and I’m sorry! But the return is here and we feature another awesome 311 fan this week! Time to read all about one of the Unity All-Stars, Brian aka Bizzy B!!

Brian’s story takes us back to when the video for “Down” premiered on MTV. It was around one in the morning when he saw it. “I immediately said to myself that this was my new favorite music. It had everything I loved about music ‘All Mixed Up’ together!”

His show tally is somewhere around the 20 mark and he feels it’s way too low. “I need more shows!”  He’ll get that when he heads to the next cruise in 2015. Of the shows he’s been to, the second cruise was hands down his favorite. “The best vacation of my life!! Between all the people and the entertainment and the beach shows and perfect weather and everything, it was perfect!”

There are many songs that mean a lot to Brian and they often change from time to time. Right now the song is “Omaha Stylee.”  “It means a lot because it’s always been one of my favorites, but when my friend Chrissy and I were walking into 311 Day 2012 Las Vegas, I was singing it and it was the first song they played! It really just made that experience so much better, and that’s hard to do! The song itself, talking about being from Omaha and just doing what they love regardless of surroundings or negativity, and what that has turned in to, is amazing to me and makes THAT even much more special.”

In a little town just north of Pittsburgh called DuBois is where Brian was born. His parents divorced when he was just 5 years old, and then at 8 he moved to Pittsburgh. “First time I saw 311 live was in a small club in The Burgh in 96.  It was amazing.”  Brian now lives near Hilton Head, South Carolina and runs an entertainment company called BizzyB Productions! “Music recording and production, video filming and editing, and even silent disco parties! I try to do it all!”  He travels as much as possible to see 311 and the family of fans he’s met, but he has to pay the bills so it may not be as often as he’d like. However he will be, “Cruisin’ to Jamaica, Mon! We will be filming a music video for the BizzyB & The Unity All-Stars cruise anthem during the cruise! Make sure you’re there!”

One attribute that makes BizzyB unique is his height! “I stand 6 feet 7 inches. I know there are people tall and taller, but it’s nice to be in the group of extra tall people.”  He says it has more advantages than disadvantages such as being able to stand anywhere at a show and see over everyone. He can also locate anyone in minutes in a crowded place as well as being found himself. “If I wanna hide I just sit or crouch down! I could go on about the greatness of giantdom but I won’t bore you.”

Brian was also a math tutor in high school, but he ended up not graduating because as he says, “I thought I was too cool for school I guess.”  He took his G.E.D. fourteen years later and without studying he scored in the top 5% of the whole state. “Shame I didn’t graduate legit, but it felt good knowing I still got it! Haha.”

Movies are Brian’s guilty pleasure. “I am a movie BUFF!! I watch way too many movies. The ones I really love I’ve seen way too many times. There isn’t just one particular type either, I love most movie styles – dumb, good, funny, serious, sad (not my fave though), cartoon, family – you name it, I’ll watch it!”

When not listening to 311, Brian says, “I love me some Dirty Heads! They are on my recent rotation but I really listen to a lot of everything.”  Some other bands he’s into are Yelawolf, Ritz, old school Metallica, Beastie Boys, Pantera, and Richard Cheese. That’s just to name a few. “That’s another one of the billion things I love about 311 fans, their music playlists are all over the place!”

When asked what he would say to 311 if he had the opportunity, Brian replied, “Do you have a lighter? If so, would you like to hit this?” Ha ha he was just kidding…kind of! His real message to them is this: “Through good music and positive vibes, you and the fan base you have created, which I now call family, have literally changed my outlook on humanity in the most positive way imaginable.”

Now for his message to all of the family out there:

“311 has brought me to you and now you have become my family. I don’t have to say much more because you know EXACTLY what I mean. People that don’t know are the ones I tell, if you knew you would understand…”

—-

That is BizzyB’s story my friends! If you are heading on the cruise, be sure to show up for the video shoot and see the Unity All-Stars! You won’t be disappointed, I promise!! (Check out the video for the cruise anthem here…http://youtu.be/1ctLvni8QUo  ) If you are heading on the cruise you can see Brian and the All-Stars at a pre-party the night before! See the event here – https://www.facebook.com/events/393071107517325/ As always, thank you for reading the fan spotlight. I leave you with Brian’s favorite lyrics – “The roots that grow underground are as big as the tree that you see, if not, it will fall down.”

Much love! -The Runt