Welcome my friends in 311 nation! Hope everyone is staying healthy and well. Shall we start the week off properly with a new fan spotlight? I say yes! Let’s kick things into gear here, time to meet Tim Fisher!
Tim was working at a pizza shop where a coworker of his was really into 311 and got Tim listening to the band. He didn’t fully become a fan until years later when a friend convinced him to go see them live and that hooked him! “The energy in that first show really opened me up to wanting to listen to all of their albums, and I started to go see them whenever they were in town. The energy of the band mixed with the energy of the crowd, really reminded me of the Grateful Dead and their following (Which I had been a HUGE fan of for years) and it really got me to check out all of 311’s older albums and other recorded live shows.”
Show count for Tim is at 43, he and his wife just went through the show archive to calculate the number. They’ve been to 40 shows together and 3 apart. “I’ve been to four 311 days, and four cruises so far, and have traveled to multiple cities to see them play. My first show was at The Woodlands Pavilion, September 9, 2005. They played with Papa Roach and Unwritten Law and it was the show that really got my into the band. I had heard their music before, but the live show really made me get into them.”
To pick a favorite show or event is hard for most fans, so it was no different for Tim because a lot of the shows he’s attended have big significance to his life. “My favorite event overall are the cruises, as being on a large boat with so many excitables all there for the same reason is really hard to explain to other people without sounding like I’m in a cult, haha. I proposed to my girlfriend on the 2015 cruise trip, and we got married in New Orleans for 311 day 2016 which was an extra special trip for us. It was perfect getting to marry my beautiful wife, and then go see my favorite band 3 hours later with 15 of my friends/family from the wedding and all my 311 excitable friends. I CAN say my favorite set list so far has to be the first set on the 2019 Cruise. I lost my voice for 2 days after from screaming and jamming out that night.”
As for songs that Tim loves, his favorite jamming out song is “Homebrew.” “It always reminds me what it’s like to be young again. I sometimes get carried away rocking out to it that I forget I’m not 20 anymore but it’s just one of those songs you can’t help it.” Regarding song lyrics, Tim says there is one line in every song that is a favorite of his. The one he chose to share is this: “Shit like that now scares me, but I’d like to do it again.” “Now that I’m older that definitely resonates with me. I can’t party or rock out as hard as I used to no matter how much I would like to, but the memories are always a fun thing to think about.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Tim has always had a love for baseball and all things regarding the Chicago Cubs. Music was also a big influence in his life as his parents were passionate about their music. “You would wake up EVERY Saturday morning to some Janis on the stereo while my mom cleaned house. Whether you wanted to sleep in or not.” Tim learned to be a mechanic in high school and loves working on anything with an engine. “Chicago is infamous for its awful winters so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one day it took me 2 hours to dig a piece of equipment out of the snow, and I said screw It, i’m going somewhere warm. So I ended up transferring to Houston Texas which is where I live today.” He’s been in the Houston area for the last 16 years. “Really enjoying living farther out in the country where I can jam some tunes and not have to worry about the neighbors.”
Being really into sports since he was young, Tim has collected a lot of unique items from the teams he loves. “My favorite thing I have in my collection is a metal printing sheet from the Chicago Tribune that was used to print all the newspapers announcing the Cubs winning the world series in 2016.” We know he became a mechanic, but Tim has loved taking things apart and putting them back together since he was a child. “When I was 2 I got a hold of a screwdriver and took all the cabinet doors off the kitchen cabinets. I had taken everything apart so much, they had to hire someone to come and replace everything back to how it was. I love to build lego sets, especially the Star Wars themed ones, and tinkering around on all my garage toys. I have a 2011 z06 Corvette that is my baby, and I love to take her out on the weekends for a drive and take care of all the maintenance on it.”
When not listening to the tunes of 311, Tim can be found listening to The Grateful Dead as they were one of his favorite bands since he was younger. “I got to see them once before Jerry died, and have had the chance to see the Dead and Company a couple times over the years. I love to go to live music shows, and some of my other favorites are The Dirty Heads, Passafire, Chevelle, Guns n Roses, Motley Crue, and all the old 70’s and 80’s artists I can still get a chance to go see.” Guilty pleasure for Tim is Taylor Swift. “My wife has dragged me out to 3 Taylor Swift shows, and I surprisingly had a really good time. She puts on a really good show, and she’s very talented-not to mention nice to look at (it’s my eye candy vs my wife’s pleasure to yell at Nick to take his shirt off).”
Words Tim would like to say to 311: “Thank you for the awesome music for the last 30 years! Your music can always put me in a good mood, and I love the fan base y’all have created! It has brought me so many good friends, and memories over the years and I hope to have many more in the future!”
Words for all his fellow 311 fans:
“Right now with everything going on in the world, music and unity is what we really need to get through this. Like the band says “stay positive and love your life” is a phrase that can really help us when the world is looking so bleak. I look forward to the future shows where we can all rock out to our favorite tunes and have a great time together again.”
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Great story Tim! Thanks for sharing it with everyone. Lots of love going out to all the fans who read this each week. Tim is right, music and unity are what we need right now to get through these crazy times. Stay positive, love each other, and when we all gather together again it’s going to be one hell of a party! Keep smiling all!
Much Love – The Runt