Hello my friends in 311 nation! Hope you all have been well and are ready for the next fan spotlight. This week, let’s meet Adam Strachan!

For Adam, his 311 journey started with the song “Down” but it was really the song “Jack O’Lanterns Weather” that really hooked him. “It was 95, we go for the hive! The entire Blue album was such a cornucopia of styles, meshed together with catchy lyrics, that captured a wide variety of emotions. Since then, I’ve always been DOWN.”

In summer of 1996, Adam was working at Darien Lake theme park. He hasn’t been to many live shows at that young age, but when he saw 311 was going to be playing, he knew he had to be there. “Of course, they rocked my face off and afterwards I wouldn’t miss a show when they came within 100 miles of Buffalo. To this point I’ve been to 50+ shows, including 311 day twice, and 4 cruises.”

As for favorite show or event, the Soundsystem cruise is the one that he holds near and dear to his heart. “It was a Friday afternoon at precisely 3:11pm. The boat was docked at Ocho Rios. My wife and I exchanged vows in the Jamaican Jungle on one of the excursions. Fellow Excitibles witnessed our ceremony and we all celebrated afterwards to the band playing the “Sound System,” album in its entirety. Ironically they played “Friday Afternoon” and I still get goosebumps when I hear the lyrics, “going to our secret spot and no one else knows how to get there.”

As for favorite song, Adam said that their songs are fluid with his life and he finds that his “favorite bounces around like Excitables at shows.” If he had to choose just one that embodies his relationship with their music, he would pick “Inner Light Spectrum.” “When the kind consciousness, yes, comes unto you, you will know, and it won’t stop.”

Adam has always lived in the Western New York/Buffalo area. “I was raised in the sticks, on top of a hill, and we heated our home with a firewood stove. Every summer my father would task me with splitting blocks of wood, then stack wood in the early autumn. It would be no surprise that after high school I made it a point to get out of my parents house, and so I went to work.”

Adam tried many career paths and settled into working as a construction foreman for a Union glazing company. “Which means I work with glass, heights, and heavy lifting. I’m a Dad to 2 amazing children. My oldest, the boy, has now been to 3 shows with us and can pick out Nicks voice on any obscure track I play for him.”

Adam also plays music in a couple of bands local to Buffalo. “I playa da bass in, Idiots of Idealism, a grunge act that just released its first EP this year, “Stranded in Tomorrow,” streaming on all platforms. In the other band, Bighorn Sheep, I play guitar and drums. Bighorn Sheep has a 5 song EP that’s been out since 2018. It’s mostly a hobby, but we play out when we can and have even hosted our very own 3 day music festival outside the city of Buffalo.”

The local 311 family in the Buffalo area is a pretty big group and they make it a point to gather regularly. “Shout out to the WNY Excitible Crew, 😘 . 311 fans are some of my favorite people to be around. Them and Buffalo Bills fans, my mother sentenced me to life with this team. I have bled the red, white, and blue, since 88’. You will always now how to find me at a 311 show if you yell out a, “Hey Ey Ey Ey” 😉 It’s a Bills Mafia thing ha ha ha!”

Many people don’t know that Adam is a black belt martial artist. “Trained in American Kenpo Karate International (A.K.K.I.). It’s a ballistic fighting style focused on striking and self defense. I tested for my Black Belt in front of Grand Master Paul Mills in Las Vegas, NV. It was an absolute honor to meet one of Ed Parker’s (The father of American Kenpo), star pupils.”

Adam says something unique about him is that he’s a dreamer. “I always imagine grandiose scenarios with very little caution to the direction of the wind. Perhaps it isn’t a strength, but I have learned in life, that even the most trivial talents can lead to success.” He’s also been told he is a great writer. “I’ve even ghost written a story for a friend that he wasn’t too keen on writing. I don’t practice much anymore, but someday I hope to write my own book.”

When not listening to 311, there are a variety of musicians that Adam can be found tuning into. “I’m a sucker for a good lyricist. Anything that Maynard James Keenan has been a part of is in my catalog. I love Bumping Uglies (both the band and the action). 😈 My punk rock roots stem from Bad Religion, Zebrahead, and Sublime. All the 90’s grunge; Nirvana, NIN, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, The Offspring, Helmet, etc… The metal; Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Type O Negative, Megadeth, Korn. I could go on and on. I LOVE MUSIC and rarely am uninterested in absorbing a new album that someone suggests.”

As for words Adam would like to say to 311, he’s said it to them before and he will say it again: “Thank you for all the years of wonderful music and taking us on these incredible adventures. I am truly grateful for every moment.”

Now here is Adams message to all the other fans out there:

“To my fellow Excitibles: Keep shining like the star that you are! Half the reason I’ve continued to see 311 is because of the community. You all raise the vibration. To those I’ve touched, know that I have love for you. To those I have not, “if I ever didn’t thank you, then just let me do it now!”

---

Thank you so much Adam for sharing your story with all of us! As always. my eternal gratitude to all the readers each week. Hope you all have an amazing week!

Much Love – The Runt

Well hello again my friends in 311 nation! It’s that time of the week where we meet the next fan spotlight. This week we get to learn the story of Mike Walls!

Around 1994 is when some kids, who were a couple of years old than Mike, were playing the Blue album on a boombox at camp. “I stopped dead in my tracks as I was walking by, I had to know who it was. I had never heard anything like them before and I was instantly a fan. Being a musician myself since the age of 9, the thing that has always grabbed about their sound is their ability to blend so many different types of musical styles together in such a seamless way.”

Exact number of shows Mike has attended is hazy, but he believes he is around 37-38. First show for him was in 1997 at the Jones Beach Amphitheatre in Long Island, New York. As for favorite show, he chose the Halloween show in 2017 at the Paramount in Huntington, New York. “As the Halloween shows usually are, that night was magic for many reasons. They played so much stuff off of Transistor, it was amazing. On top of that, SA’s costume that night would eventually inspire his character in the 311 comic books, so that was a cool addition to the whole experience.”

There are a few songs that really resonate with Mike, but he said the one that really hit him was “Beyond the Gray Sky.” “That song has seen me through some tough times, and now that I’m past all that it fills me with a sense of gratitude for being able to push through and keep going every time I hear it.”

As for lyrics, Mike said there are way too many for him to list. “I’m in the cover band ‘Brodels – a 311 Tribute’ (shout out to my fellow Brodels – Jacob Ruhmann, Mike Vicious, zach McConnell, and Michael A Vidal). I do Nicks parts in the band so there’s A LOT of lyrics in the mental library, makes picking tough. But, one of their more recent lines that I’ve really liked ever since I heard it the first time is from Rolling Through off Voyager. “You always know that you gotta grow, so, honestly it’s best that you know, who you are as you go rolling through” Life can make it easy to lose sight of what’s important, it’s important to remember what you stand for when things get tough and those lines speaks to that.”

Long Island, New York, is where Mike was born and raised. He lived upstate for a few years and also in Connecticut for bit. He’s been an auto technician for about 10 years at a GMC dealer. “Do you have any idea how may oil changes I had to do to pay for the cruise? It was A LOT haha. Before that I was a home theater installer for almost 10 years.”

Mike was in the 4th grade when he started singing and playing guitar. Then he picked up being a DJ in college, so music has always been a pretty big part of his life. “In fact, pretty much all of my activities since my 20’s have centered around music in some way. It’s an integral part of me. No matter whether it’s in a club or on a stage I love putting smiles on faces with music. Besides that I’m just a fun loving goofy dude that likes going to shows with my friends. If you see me out, say hi! I have a big heart that I tend to wear it on my sleeve a lot. I’ll move mountains for the people I care about. I’m trying to be the best version of myself that I can be and working on living a happy life. All we can do right? SPALYL to all the excitables out there.”

Fun fact about Mike is that he won a poetry contest when he was in high school. Something that makes him unique is that he can do some really good impressions. “My Stewie Griffin and Kermit the frog are spot on.” Guilty pleasure for him is the movie “My Cousin Vinny.” “It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, if I happen across it on TV, best believe I’m dropping e everything and sitting down. My mom and I have been watching it together since I was a kid.”

As for other bands that Mike can be found listening to, he said this list is pretty long. “My music taste varies a lot. Besides guitar and singing I’ve also been a DJ for over 20 years, so I’m into a lot of different electronic stuff too. Lately I’ve been jamming Surfer Girl, Little Stranger, The Elovators, Enter Shikari, Twenty one pilots, Sleep Token, Jinjer, and then all of the DJ stuff from Europe.”

Words that Mike would like to say to 311 are these: “Thank you for being who you are and doing what you do. You have given all of us unforgettable experiences and life long friends and idk what my life would look like without this band.”

Now here are Mike’s words to all his fellow 311 fans out there:

“We don’t get much time in this life, try not to let negativity take up too much of it. its a waste of energy. With the time you have, hug the ones you love, do the things that make you happy, and go see some live music because it’ll prob make you happy lol.”

---

Thank you Mike for sharing your story with us all! My eternal gratitude, as always, to the readers of this little blog. May your week be filled with good vibes my friends. Until next time.

Much Love – The Runt

Welcome again readers & friends of the 311 Fan Spotlight! Here we have edition #407. Let’s meet Ben Witsen!

Fall of 1999 is when Ben’s 311 fandom started. His older cousin Ryan introduced him to MTV and was getting him in to popular bands of the time like Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Korn, etc. “I want to say it was October as I believe it was about a month shy of my 10th birthday that I came home to watch TRL as I did after school every day, and I watched the debut for the Come Original video. I was absolutely blown away. Nothing my cousin or anyone else had showed me had the mix of sounds and the energy that I caught from hearing it. Not long after I heard the Soundsystem album and thought how cool they were. Then, as kids do, I got distracted and basically only knew them casually for the next several years.”

Flash forward to summer of 2007 and Ben saw that Matisyahu was performing that night and he asked one of his closest friends, Johnny Blaze, to go to the show on about 2 hours notice. “311 is the headline act, I tell him, pretty much as an afterthought. We go to the show and had our lives changed from that day forth. From that day on I dove head first into the music and never looked back.”

For show count, Ben checked through the tour lists and he counted 64, with some of the dates being a bit hazy. First show was in Philly in 2007, which is the one mentioned previously. “My homie Jonny and I actually got backstage at our first show because we got friendly with some Matisyahu fans who had already gone backstage a few nights previously! After our little meet and greet we went back out and watched 311 take the stage and proceed to change our lives forever.”

Picking a favorite show or event is tough for Ben. There are some up in the top level like when he did a 7 show run in about two and a half weeks last Fall. ” I drove solo to and from my current home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to Pittsburgh, Atlantic City, New Haven, Burlington, and New York. The Music and Grassroots album shows in New York and the hijinks associated with them were just tremendous.” However Ben chose the 2017 cruise to Cozumel as his top event. “The three sets were terrific as always (ALL BANGERS NO MASH!), but what makes it the most special was the immersion I had into the 311 community. After a decade of hitting shows in the Philly regional area, it was my first major event after having to bail last minute on previous cruises or 311 Days and the like. My mainest man JP Chilicki, whom has been featured here before, got me into his cabin and started introducing me to people. I have always been a very outgoing and social person, but I had never really felt like I fully belonged or felt accepted until that cruise. The love, the positivity, the joy, the laughs, all rooted in the band that we all love so much. It was just magical. While in Cozumel the homies and I rented this little mopeds and zipped up the coast with the water on one side and dense jungle on the other and it was just fucking surreal. I was in a picturesque place with an incredible group of people and would later be seeing 311 on a fucking boat. Like, what could be better?”

Favorite song, if Ben narrowed it down to one, would be “Paradise.” “Following that amazing day I had in Cozumel we got Paradise during the 311 show that night and it really just hit me. Like, this *IS* Paradise to me! A handful of years later at 311 Day 2022 I was wearing my Paradise 311 Eagles jersey (GOOOOOO BIRDS) and I heard that opening chord it and looked at my friends and tossed them my bag and shot forward. The big homie Steve Plump from San Diego hoisted me onto his shoulder and spun me around and P-Nut caught it and gave me a nod and smile and I just lost it. I was full on bawling and it felt so good! The tears are welling up as I type this reflecting on that moment, and just how fucking happy I was.”

For lyrics, Ben has two that really resonate with him. The first one is, “Embedded in our souls, it breathes out of this band.” ” I think this single line from Omaha Stylee sums up all of it for me. This band is the embodiment of the love, the positivity, and the unity that we all share.” the second one he chose is, “I got a clique but it’s more like a family.” “For real! The people I’ve met and grown to know in this community truly are like family to me. We’ve shared ups, downs, and in-betweens. I have people in my life now that I will have forever, and that I would do anything for. There’s a reason this band of ragtags and misfits is called the Familia.”

Ben was born and raised in Philadelphia and bounced around the surrounding area. It 2016, he moved to Rehoboth Beach and has been there ever since. “I’m currently a bartender at a higher end mom-and-pop owned restaurant that largely caters to our locals and other service industry workers, so they’re mostly to thank for my 311 travel habits. I’m also an exceptional poker player and that has gone a long ways into aiding my 311 addiction as well. I’ve had a few occasions where a session has paid for a 311 Day trip or cruise in full. Some of the more degen people in my family taught me how to play different variations of poker games when I was five and I’ve made sure to put it to good use.”

For something unique about Ben, he said he has a strange phobia that involves a certain red condiment. “I’d rather eat cyanide than the stuff most people put on their hamburgers and hot dogs!” Fun fact about him is that he might be the most knowledgable person on Earth when it comes to Harry Potter trivia. “It may be nerdy and silly, but I know the books inside and out, cover to cover. I’m more than down for a challenge if anyone reading thinks they can hang!”

Guilty pleasure for Ben is that he is a HUGE fan of “The Challenge” on MTV. “The recent seasons have kinda sucked, but I go on Paramount+ and watch old seasons religiously. I can’t get enough of CT, Wes, Kenny, Tina, Coral, and the gang.”

As for other bands aside from 311 that Ben can be found listening to, he’s a huge Deadhead because of his parents. “My parents met on a Grateful Dead tour and I was brought to my first show at just a few months old, so I guess it kinda explains how I became who I did! My mom took me to a dozen or so shows from infancy until Jerry died, and when I was a teenager I picked the ball up and ran with it. I’m also a huge Warren Zevon fan and have his portrait tattooed on my leg.” Other than that, he said you are missing out if you aren’t listening to Little Stranger. “I’ve been friends with John Shields since middle school (gimme my Troy bootleg DVD back dawg!), and to see he and Kevin having worked their asses off to the point they are right now is just incredible. It makes me so happy when my friends succeed, and they were the talk of the boat this past cruise! Let’s fucking go boys!!!”

To 311, Ben has this message: “Thank you, for everything.”

And now here are his words to the other 311 fans out there:

“Thank you all for being you. The bonds I’ve built in this community mean more to me than I could ever put into words. I’ve celebrated life, mourned death, and built everlasting friendships with the best people I could ever ask to have around me. I love you all. Stay positive and love your lives!”

---

Thank you Ben for sharing your 311 story with us! As always, a big shout out to all the readers each week. Sending you all many good vibes. Enjoy your week!

Much Love – The Runt