Rehearsals for reggae-rock band 311 [ tickets ]'s forthcoming tour were no easy feat. Instead of hammering out 15 or so songs for a standard nightly set, the group studied 12 to 14 different songs each week so it can vary its material throughout the trek.

The Nebraska quintet's setlists will include songs from the its recently released eighth album, "Don't Tread on Me," for which vocalist S.A. Martinez contributed more feverishly than in the past. The album was produced by longtime knob-turner Ron Saint Germain (Tool, Soundgarden), who also was at the helm for the triple platinum "311" and the platinum "From Chaos" albums.

"I'm sure we'll throw some [new songs] in just to get our fans interested and keep the new songs alive and fresh," Martinez said. "We typically tend to balance things out, and I know we're going to again make an effort to change the set up every night."

Last year, 311--which also includes vocalist, guitarist Nick Hexum, guitarist Tim Mahoney, bassist P-Nut and drummer Chad Sexton--celebrated its 15-year anniversary. Martinez talked to liveDaily.com about his band's forthcoming tour, his musical tastes and his contributions to "Don't Tread on Me."

Are you looking forward to your tour?

Yeah, it's right around the corner. We've been really busy just getting things together gear-wise and figuring all that out. Soon enough we'll be on the road.

That has to be tough to change up your set every night.

Yeah, it is. It goes both ways. I just saw Willie Nelson not too long ago. Of course, he played all the hits and it was such a great show. Then I just read something about him and Bob Dylan did a tour together. Willie did all his hits and Bob is doing a few hits and mostly obscure songs or whatever. It can go both ways. I'm a casual Willie Nelson fan. I had a great time at that show because I knew all those songs. I'm not so sure how much fun I'd have if I went to a show and I wasn't familiar with any of the songs. [Laughs]
I think it's important that [bands play hits because] you can't expect everyone to be a hardcore fan. I think you've got to throw in what they're used to and what they know.

Who produced your new album?

We had Ron Saint Germain produce it again, but we did work with Dave Kahne, who did two of our songs on our greatest-hits records and he helped with some of the pre-production writing. Unfortunately, because of a conflict of scheduling, we couldn't work with him throughout the whole project as far as even recording goes. Hopefully next time we can do that. He's a really talented songwriter, and he's got such a great ear for the small little details that will make a song stand out. Fortunately, we were able to work with him on some songs, but everything is left up to us in the end. We really put a strong record together, and as always it's really great working with Ron. As far as the engineering and recording goes, I don't know of anyone who can record us any better than he can.

Do you still learn a lot from Ron Saint Germain considering you've worked with him for so long?

Oh, you learn immensely. He's one of those types of guys who's been doing this forever. The way we record, we're still recording to tape. So he knows the best way to capture that sound on tape. Every time, we never fail to learn something from him. Chad, our drummer, has really come into his own as a mixer and an engineer. He's really absorbed a lot of knowledge from Ron over the years. It only makes us stronger. At some point in the future, who knows if Ron will be able to work with us or whatever. It's great to glean all that that you can off someone who's been doing it for so long.

How do you feel your new album fits in with your catalog?

I think it fits in great. No. 1, it's really strong melodically. People always describe us--well, they tend to describe us as a rap-rock band, which is partially true. Still, we're writing more melodies. It has more hooks. And it's just something we're continuing to explore and get into. Really, it's just doing things differently. For example, I had a lot of contributions on this record musically, as far as laying a foundation for these songs. That's something that's different for this record than in the past. It's something I'm going to want to continue to do and have fun with. I think it's a great direction we're going in, and it's just another step.

What made you contribute musically to this record. Is this the first time you did that?

No, I've contributed a little bit in the past. How we normally do it is, whoever comes up with a song musically ... let's say for example Chad comes up with this song and he'll present it to the band. I'll listen to it and come up with a great melody on the top of it. But the way we ascribe credit, it's the foundation that gets [the writing credit for] the music. A melody wouldn't really be considered as the music, but the lyrics, obviously, I would get credit for. It's kind of like a weird thing how we do it, but it's how we've always done it. I've done it in the past, but before this record started, I really wanted to get a set up at my home, as far as a Pro Tools rig and some music software and some guitars, you name it. I wanted to get something proper together, and something that I would go into my room and want to make some music. That turned out to be the case. I had a lot of fun doing it too. It's something I'm going to continue to work on and hopefully get better with.

Did you contribute musically or lyrically?

Both. I always contribute lyrically and melodically, but I never really come to the band and say, "Here's a song." This time I did. It's something I've always been wanting to do, but I never took the time to sit down and do it. Like I said, somebody comes up with something that they need lyrics for and I'm predominately a lyricist for the band. My time was focused on writing for someone else's song as opposed to working on something I might want to try.

Are you surprised at how well your cover of The Cure's "Love Song," from the soundtrack of "50 First Dates," did?

Um, yeah I guess so. I like how it turned out. I thought it would do well, as far as getting some airplay. But I think it struck a chord with a lot of people. That was a pleasant surprise. [Laughs]

It must have served as a good segue between albums too.

That's the thing: We were caught between our record "Evolver" and the soundtrack single, but we knew how strong it was and we thought it was just a smart move to put it out. So we did kind of abandon that record for that single. But that's kind of the way things had to play out.

What did you do in between records?

Well, we toured. Let's see, we did "Evolver," we toured for that. We did the "Love Song" single on the road. Then we put out a greatest-hits package with two new songs on that. And I guess we toured for that too. I can't remember now. Either we're on the road, or you're not and you're working on a record. Sometimes you have time off. You're always working on something or you're getting ready to do something or there's something on the horizon, it seems.

Do you guys write on the road?

It ebbs and flows. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't so much. I think this past year on the road we did one song that ended up making the record, a song called "Waiting." It's a really cool song. It has a classic reggae bounce, kind of like an old school Bob Marley song. But that was like the only song that I think we did on the road.

That was an interesting bill with you guys and Papa Roach.

We played with those guys a few times in Europe. But we had never toured with them. I wasn't all that familiar with the kind of fans that they draw. But it was a good mix.