By Jennifer Williams
Bands begin in mysterious ways, many of them starting as a group of friends just jamming in basements and garages. Sometimes, a small-time frat party can turn into something big. Hinder began after the boys in the band met up at a party and kept running into each other and jamming. They wrote a song, went over it about 75 times, and then recorded it, and that was their big break. Austin Winkler is on the vocals, Joe “Blower” Garvey and Mark Kiing rock the guitar, Mike Rodden plays bass, while Cory Hanson beats the drums.

After recording that song in Oklahoma City, the boys decided to take out a $45,000 loan and chase their dream of stardom. They traveled North to Vancouver where they met with Brian Howes, a producer who became a future collaborator when it comes to writing the wicked lyrics Hinder is known for.

Hinder rocks the stage like the big hair bands of the 1980s. Their songs use sweet riffs, and Hinder parties like rockstars. Hinder is bringing back partying to the max because of stardom. They party as hard as Guns’N’Roses, Motley Crüe, AC/DC, and KISS. Hinder takes partying up a notch, mingling with Hugh Hefner’s playmates in their music video. Taking shots of Jager on stage and urging the audience to “Get Stoned,” aren’t things common for every band.

Their big break came with the single “Lips of an Angel.” They worked hard to get past playing on crowded ships and in clubs with faulty sprinklers. The single helped sell their 2005 disk Extreme Behavior. Hinder’s single gave the music audience an 80s ballad with honest lyrics and a style that draws attention to the problems people still live through today. “Lips of an Angel” helped Hinder develop their Myspace site, which now generates nearly 30 million visits. The other single on the disk, “Get Stoned” gave the audience a new view of Hinder letting their partying rocker side take the stage. It’s not every band that encourages the audience to, “. . .go home, and get stoned....”

Extreme Behavior was the first produced album form the Midwest natives of Oklahoma. The album gave them a chance to tour and play gigs in bigger venues with fellow rockers. Even today, four years later, “Lips of an Angel” and “Get Stoned” are still crowd favorites at concerts.

In 2008, Hinder followed up Extreme Behavior with Take It To The Limit. The singles of the album include “Use Me” and “Far From Home.” On this album, they accepted a bit of help from their idol, Mick Mars of Motley Crüe, helped shred some guitar riffs on the title track, “Take It To The Limit.”

Hinder is bringing back old school riffs with new sounds to create ballads that draw in lots of attention from a younger generation. Hinder strives to help bring up the tricky situations that they’ve seen. “Far From Home,” off their 2nd album, gives the story of a long distance relationship and how it’s not easy. The boys write songs about real-life situations. Many fans accept their songs because they have lived through similar situations. That’s part of their success.

Don’t miss the chance to see Hinder Friday, November 20th at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena. They will be playing a show with the Veer Union and Faktion. The show starts at 7PM with tickets on sale now at ticketmaster.com as well as at the Tyson Events Center Box Office. Go check out their show and get a feel for the 80s style mixed with ideals of today. (Nov. 19)