Nick Hexum

Nicholas Lofton "Nick" Hexum (born April 12, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter and rapper, currently the vocalist and guitarist for the multi-platinum alternative rock band 311 and The Nick Hexum Quintet.

Early life
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, to father Dr. Terry Hexum and mother Pat, Hexum went to Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska. There he played in the school's concert jazz band, and played in several local bands like "The Extras", "The Eds", "The Right Profile", and "Unity". In the late 1980s, Nick moved to Los Angeles to pursue music, but found his opportunity back home in Omaha just a couple years later. His friend and future bandmate Chad Sexton convinced him to move back to Omaha to start a band with friends Aaron Wills and Jim Watson; this band would eventually take the name 311.

Hexum has two siblings: brother Zack, also a musician, and sister Angela. His parents are divorced.

311
311 began playing together in 1988. In 1990, Hexum realized the only way for 311 to gain recognition was to release albums, so he started his own record company called "What Have You Records" and used it to begin releasing 311 titles. The band released three albums, Dammit!, Unity, and Hydroponic, as well as one EP, Downstairs EP, before signing to Capricorn Records in 1992.

311 has sold over 9 million albums in the US. They have had seven albums in the Top 10 on Billboard's US Top 200 Sales Chart, and nine singles in the Top 10 on Billboard's US Alternative Chart (including three #1 singles). 311 has headlined amphitheaters in the US for the past 11 consecutive summers.

Personal life and other projects
Hexum produced the gold-selling soundtrack to the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore film 50 First Dates, including songs for Seal & Mikey Dread, Dryden Mitchell and Jason Mraz.

Hexum appeared on the Joe Strummer track "It's a Rockin' World", from Chef Aid: The South Park Album alongside Flea and Tom Morello. Hexum contributed vocals for the track "Age of Consent" on the Neverending White Lights CD in 2006. Neverending White Lights is fronted by Daniel Victor and features various notable artists mainly from Canada and the United States.

Hexum collaborated with The Urge on Jump Right In for the 1998 album Master of Styles, was featured on "Stay On" from Sugar Ray's 2001 self-titled album and has done reggae/hip-hop remixes for Lenny Kravitz and No Doubt. Throughout 2010, Nick had several different solo performances outside of 311.

Hexum created a nonprofit organization supporting various environmental causes called Liberal Hexum, which focuses on global warming. Nick completed the Los Angeles Marathon as his first charity event; accepting per mile pledges to be donated to his PAC.

"Ginsing Clothing" (presumably a musical-reference spelling variant of "ginseng") is a clothing line owned and operated by Nick, started in the late 1990s.

During the 2004 presidential election, Nick hit the road with his brother, Zack Hexum, who is also a musician in support of John Kerry. They covered some of their favorites from bands like The Clash, XTC, Bob Marley, The Beatles, Coldplay, Radiohead. and others, as well as playing some of their own songs.

Nick still uses his label, What Have You Records, to produce other artists such as Pepper, The Matches, and Zack Hexum, his younger brother. Nick met Nicole Scherzinger, of the Pussycat Dolls, backstage at a Days of the New concert around 2000 or 2001. They dated and later became engaged, but broke off the engagement in 2004.

Nick married Nikki, a writer and painter who had worked with Val Kilmer and Robert Evans for years, on New Year's Eve 2008. Their daughter, Echo Love Hexum, was born in a home birth on August 29, 2009. Their second daughter, Maxine, was born May 1, 2011, also Nikki's birthday. Due to the absence of his family's midwife, Nick performed the delivery. Nick's third daughter Harlow was born at home on September 16, 2014.

In August 2013, Hexum announced The Nick Hexum Quintet - a side-project featuring Nick Hexum, Zack Hexum, Gary Novak, Luke Miller and Andres Rebellon. The debut album from The Nick Hexum Quintet, titled "My Shadow Pages" was released on October 1, 2013, on What Have You Records via a partnership with INgrooves and Fontana. The album was produced, recorded and mixed by Jim Scott (Wilco, Jason Mraz, Tom Petty and Sting). Stylistically the album is a bit of a departure from Hexum's work with 311; mixing elements of funk, jazz, pop, rock, soul, reggae, and blues. In a press release for the album, Hexum said "311 is and always will be my main priority. We just launched our annual summer tour and we'll have a new 311 album coming in 2014. But The Nick Hexum Quintet album is something I've wanted to do for a long time. It's a passion project that allows me to spread my wings as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist. I'm really excited for people to hear it."

Hexum has contributed to the charity collaboration Band of Merrymakers.

with 311

 * Dammit! (1990)
 * Unity (1991)
 * Hydroponic EP (1992)
 * Music (1993)
 * Grassroots (1994)
 * 311 (1995)
 * Transistor (1997)
 * Soundsystem (1999)
 * From Chaos (2001)
 * Evolver (2003)
 * Don't Tread on Me (2005)
 * Uplifter (2009)
 * Universal Pulse (2011)
 * Stereolithic (2014)
 * Mosaic (2017)

with The Nick Hexum Quintet

 * My Shadow Pages (2013)

Guest appearances

 * The Urge - Master of Styles (1998, vocals on "Jump Right In")
 * Goldfinger - The Knife (2017, vocals on "Liftoff")