Interview with Hinder frontman Austin Winkler

From straight out of the deep south of the United States comes the no nonsense rock band known as Hinder. These guys have been making major strides towards stardom ever since they jumped on the scene with their hit single “Get Stoned” last year. The guys have also more recently enjoyed another hit with the ballad “Lips of an Angel.” The band has been touring like crazy over the last year, playing shows with the likes of Nickelback, Theory of a Deadman, and Buckcherry. Fortunately enough for PGA, we were able to score an interview with this up and coming band.

Hinder has only been around for a little over four years now, but how exactly did the band come together in the first place? Who were the first two members to meet?
Austin: Cody and Blower met in college, they threw a house party and hired a few cover bands to play. Austin was the singer of one of the cover bands. Cody heard his voice and was amazed. Cody, Blower, and Austin got together and started jamming. They went to Vancouver and recorded demos, when they got back from recording they picked up Mike and Mark.

On your official website it states that one of the main goals of Hinder as a band is to bring back the days of classic rock bands like Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones when sex, drugs and rock & roll ruled. From this objective, can we assume that you think that today’s rock scene is stagnant or dull?
Austin: I would say that the rock scene is completely fucking lame. The industry within the last ten years has pushed all of this trendy shit onto everyone. They are always trying to do the “cool” thing instead of putting out music that is good. There are no rock stars anymore. All the bands want to do these days is sit in their buses and play video games.

Your debut record is called Extreme Behavior and it was produced by Brian Howes who has also done work for Closure and DDT. How did you end up meeting Brian and what led you to believe that he was the right man to produce your debut LP?
Austin: We met Brian when we went to do the demos for the album. We were very excited to work with him because we were big Closure fans. He has such an amazing ear and we knew that he was a great songwriter. That played a major role in our decision because we knew that if there was something wrong with the writing part that he would be able to contribute.

Let’s briefly talk about the song writing process within the band. Does each member write on his own and bring ideas to the studio or do you guys write your songs by jamming together as a band?
Austin: Cody and Austin write the core of the song and then they take it to the other members who throw their own twists on it.

In what time period were the songs on Extreme Behavior written? Were all the songs written specifically for this album or are some of them the product of past writing sessions?
Austin: The songs for the album were all written over the course of a year. We wrote the first half while we were doing the demos in the studio and wrote the second half back at home while we were taking them to labels. So they were all written specifically for Extreme Behavior.

Many of Hinder’s songs deal with issues of regret, forgetting the past and moving on. Where do you get inspiration from when writing your music?
Austin: These are all real life experiences. Inspiration comes from the things that we have all been through, that is why our fans can relate to our music and the issues that we sing about.

You guys have just embarked on a month long tour opening for Hoobastank, Nickelback and Chevelle. How did you end up being added to such a huge tour and how’s it been so far?
Austin: We have been friends with the Nickelback guys for a long time. Now with the recent success that we are seeing with our album, we needed a big tour and they needed a band on the tour that would keep the audience entertained and having fun… It just fit.

I read that Hinder could be considered a real party band that could out drink any band, but which member would you say can party the hardest?
Austin: Wow, that’s probably one of the toughest questions that anyone has asked us. It’s really hard to say. We’ve never really had a drinking contest and we all have our days/nights/mornings. I can’t really answer that.

Recently, a DJ named DJ Kingpin produced a mashup album on MySpace of Hinder songs mixed up with the likes of Disturbed and the Gorillaz. Have you heard the mashup album and if so, what is your opinion on it?
Austin: No we have not….but I am gonna look it up right now.

Although of course you’re from Oklahoma, Hinder has a strong connection with the country of Canada as you recorded Extreme Behavior in Vancouver, B.C. and you’ve also toured with popular Canadian bands Nickelback and Theory of a Deadman. What has the reaction been like towards your music in Canada compared to the U.S.?
Austin: Things are going very well for us in Canada. This summer we did a Canadian tour with Godsmack and now we are going back and doing some radio shows for some Canadian radio stations. Things are really picking up there.

The immediate future seems to be looking very positive for Hinder, but what does the band have planned for the rest of 2006 and into 2007?
Austin: After the Nickelback tour, we are going out with Staind, 3 Days Grace, and Black Stone Cherry for a few weeks. Then we start our headlining tour with 18 Visions and Lynam as support. We are very excited about the rest of the year.