People can argue that 311 was one of the first bands to pioneer the rock/rap music style with the release of “Music” in 1993.

Some can argue that 311 has some of the strongest individual musicians in the music business with members like drummer Chad Sexton, guitarist Tim Mahoney and bass player P-Nut.

But something that is not arguable, at least according to Mahoney, is that 311 loves playing live music for its fans.

March 11, known as 311 Day to many fans across the world, is a special day for the band and fans alike as 311 plays songs from its six studio albums and more until they nearly collapse.

“We played almost four hours, we did like 58 songs and it was cool covering everything from songs we used to play back in Omaha before we moved and un-released stuff,” Mahoney says of the most recent 311 Day.

Mahoney, one of the most excitable members of 311, talks from Chicago about fantasy plans for future 311 Days.

“We’re hoping, since the following 2003 March 11 falls on a Tuesday, we were thinking it would be great to release a record and have a show and have a big full blowout,” Mahoney says.

Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, buddy.

311 is in the midst of a support tour for “From Chaos,” released last June. As it has with nearly every album, 311 toured the United States, went overseas to tour and will wrap up this U.S. tour before taking a break.

When the band first started putting out records, there was a release every year up until after the self-titled “blue album” was released in 1995.

“We kind of got out of the pattern of recording an album every year; we did it for our first three, so we’re trying to get back in that,” Mahoney says. “Hopefully we’ll get another record recorded this year.”

That is something for the band to think about when the current tour ends in Los Angeles, the band’s current stomping ground, on April 15. But there might be a few other things to worry about when the tour ends.

“By the time this tour is over it will be just about a year that we’ve been traveling,” Mahoney says. “And P-Nut is married; he got married and then we left town for a year. So we’ll take a little time to write some songs the next couple months.”

Touring is like eating and sleeping for 311; it’s just a part of life. The band members try hard to not take their lives for granted, attempting to love every minute of being out on the road.

“It’s just fun every night playing, we really do enjoy it,” Mahoney says. “It’s always a challenge every night, and we like that challenge.”

With a band full of song-writers, which also includes vocalist/guitarist Nick Hexum and vocalist/turntablist S.A. Martinez, the song-writing process can vary from song to song.

“Generally speaking, the music comes first,” Mahoney says. “We get that down and get it arranged in a song and then Nick and S.A. will take it and put vocals on it and then it evolves from there.”

Along with rock/rap, 311 mixes in an array of styles such as reggae and funk, and with two versatile vocalists, 311 songs can be anywhere from two rappers battling back and forth to a melodic and beautiful song.

“Each record we make, we hope that we evolve as song-writers, as individual players, as playing as a band and getting good sounds on tape,” Mahoney says. “Each record, we feel good about that.”

The singles that have emerged off “From Chaos” wrap up the 311 sound with a variety of flavor. The latest, a softer reggae-influenced song called “Amber,” has a video that was directed by the Malloys, who have worked with the likes of Blink-182 and the Foo Fighters.

311 have done 13 videos over the years, with only a handful getting major airplay on MTV. But MTV2, along with other stations such as Much Music, spins 311 frequently.

The pop music staple show “Total Request Live” has seen 311 grace the countdown only a few times, and Mahoney isn’t so sure that is a bad thing.

“We’re just trying to make a cool video that goes along with the song,” Mahoney says. “Anymore when I see `TRL’, the kids seem so young. And I know I’m getting older and shit, it just seems what’s going on there isn’t what is happening with us.”

With the majority of the band nearing that 30-something range, getting older is something Mahoney and the rest of the band are dealing with, whether they like it or not.

“I trip out because we’re getting older, going down the timeline. It’s like `Wow, those kids are young,'” Mahoney says of the MTV crowd. “You get older and start having different tastes, more refined taste in music.”

With the reality of getting older, what will become of 311?

“Hopefully we’ll just keep playing. Everyone has enough freedom within the band to express themselves however they want to,” Mahoney says.

“It will be interesting to see what happens. We enjoy each other’s song-writing and playing together, so hopefully we’ll always exist.”

Fans can count on them to exist Tuesday, as the band hits Des Moines with Hoobastank.

“It’s going good, we’re having a lot of fun,” Mahoney says of this leg of the tour. “Hoobastank guys are really cool people. They seem to be rocking [the crowd] out every night.”