Hello again to all out there in 311 nation! How’s everybody feeling? Hopefully good and ready to take on a new week. Let’s start it off and meet the next 311 fan spotlight, Mr. Matt Brill!
The love for 311 began for Matt when he was around the age of 13 or 14. He can remember the precise moment like it was yesterday. “I was hanging out with my best friend back then, John Mock. We’re in his basement. He turns on his stereo to ridiculously loud proportions. It was the song “Down” rattling his entire house. From that very moment I fell in love with 311.” Matt ran out and bought the blue album, then shortly after he found Grassroots. “I can’t really determine what drew me to them back in those days but it happened effortlessly. I instantly fell in love. 311, along with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, are the two groups that brought me into music and became the styles I love to this day.”
Show count is uncertain for Matt. He stopped counting when he reached the 40’s and that was four years ago. His estimate is somewhere in the 60’s now. “My first show was back in 1999 in Madison, Wisconsin at the Exhibition Hall. Madison being Nick Hexum’s city of birth!” Favorite event so far was the second cruise. “I got front row for the first night show, the Lido deck show. I remember running full speed up many levels of stairways with my buddy Jermaine to get that position. Spending multiple days, on a boat, with some of my best friends was surreal. And it was just us 311 fans. No cars, no traffic, no news, no TV, no cellphones. It was beautiful! That was an amazing overall experience. And the island show. Wow! To see 311 play on a Caribbean island!”
There isn’t just one song that means the most to Matt out of 311’s catalog. “There’s so many, collectively, that have different meanings for me depending on my current life situations.” One lyric that Matt loves though is, “The fish who keeps on swimming is the first to chill upstream.” He said it reminds him of his entire life’s journey. “Never giving up no matter what. And with much sacrifice now, comes much better things in the future.”
Janesville, Wisconsin, is where Matt was born and he lived there for his first 32 years on this planet. He and his sister were raised by their single mother and his grandfather was his father figure who taught him how to be a man. In 2015 Matt moved to Detroit, Michigan, to be near his mother, stepdad, and two little brothers, and also for a job working at Ford Motor Company. “My 311 habit is funded by my job at Ford and investments. Back in Wisconsin it was very much funded by “WGTH” sales.”
Interesting fact that Matt says most don’t know about him? “In my younger days I did jail time for stealing a Glock 40, bulletproof vest, and hundreds of hollow point rounds off of a S.W.A.T. team officer. Oops!” Something that makes him special is his frugality. “I know how to get rich by living like I’m poor. I have an exceptional ability to find the best deals and values in every aspect of my life. Sacrifice!” Guilty pleasure for Matt is The Walking Dead. “I love that show! I attend the conventions, meet the actors, know all of their real names, etc.”
Mentioned earlier, another musical talent that Matt loves is Bones Thugs-N-Harmony. He also loves Pink Floyd to name another one. “I fell in love with BTNH right about the same time as I got into 311. From what I remember, the videos for “Tha Crossroads” and “Down” were on MTV at the same time. I fell in love with Pink Floyd my senior year of high school. My friends and I used to drive around the countrysides of Wisconsin, smoking herb, and Pink Floyd always was the perfect background music to those adventures.”
Matt’s message to 311 is simple yet powerful: “THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE.”
His message to all his fellow 311 fans is just as simple and powerful:
“Be different.”
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Thank you Matt Brill for sharing your story of your love for 311! It was a pleasure to learn more about Matt and I hope everyone reading enjoyed his tale. Thank you of course for reading each week, and being part of this amazing group of fans. Until we meet again, stay positive and love your life!
Much love – The Runt