Hinder’s Take It To the Limit is out in-stores November 04th (Election Day). Below is an edited teleconference call with the band.
I’m curious, Austin, where you see your growth as a songwriter.
Austin Winkler: t’s just something that comes with time and learning experiences and life experiences that you go through. With anything, with time, it just gets better. And I absolutely think that we’ve matured as songwriters, and this record is definitely a step up from the last one.
Can you point to anything in specific about the way you structure melodies, the way you structure lyrics, anything that you really point to in specific and say, “This is where I see improvement”?
AW: The melodies just kind of come to me. Cody’ll usually come up with the chord progression and then I’ll bat out a melody, and if it sounds catchy enough and hooky enough, we’ll keep it. If not, we’ll suggest something different, but there’s no kind of structured thing that we do. It just kind of happens.
The song “Use Me” was the first track leaked out for the new record, but then you’re saying that “Without You” is being released as the first single, so which one is it?
AW: Good question.
Cody Hanson: Yes. That is a very good question. I don’t know. If you ask us, we’d definitely say that “Use Me” is the first rock single. Why “Use Me” was thrown out there by Universal…“Without You” is the first single, I have no idea what that was about, but sorry to confuse everyone on that.
I was wondering if the election day release is purposeful at all or is that just the way things shook out for your fall release this year, and if it is purposeful, why that is?
AW: We just thought it was a very important day for our country and a very exciting day. We just thought it would be cool to jump on and give our fans something else to be excited about.
How are you guys planning to celebrate the launch of Take It to the Limit?
CH: We will be in Las Vegas. We’re doing a record release party at the Palms and having a big blowout and probably not waking up for a few days after that.
AW: It’s going to be pretty awesome. We rented out the Hugh Hefner suite, and we’ve got a bunch of girls from Playboy coming, and it’s going to be pretty insane. It’s going to be a great time.
How much of a hand did you guys have in the production of your CD?
CH: Quite a bit, actually. We’re always there in the room at all times, tossing out different ideas and we work really well with Brian Howes, our producer, so we’re kind of all involved in every aspect of it. From the beginning when we’re all writing songs and picking songs up to the end, until it’s done, even in the mixing process.
Do you have your own version of “Dead Heads?” Do you have “Hinder Heads?”
AW: Hinder heads? No.
Do you have people that follow you from show to show…super fans?
AW: Oh, absolutely. We have die hard fans, if you will, and sometimes they follow us to the gas station.
You’re kidding.
AW: No, I’m not joking. They’ll follow us for, like, 70 miles. It’s crazy.
Is there anything else about your fans besides them being slightly stalker-ish, is there anything else that characterizes them? Do they bring you gifts?
CH: Our fans run from a wide range, from like eight-year-old girls to 60-year-old men, and they’re all crazy. And they love us and we love them.
AW: I was going to say I think our fans like to party as much as we do, so that’s why we get along so well.
How come you guys won’t be hitting the Bay Area with your next tour?
CH: We’re not hitting the Bay Area?
No, you’re going to be in L.A. for a few shows, but you’re not hitting North California.
CH: Oh, that’s not good to hear. Are you sure? I thought we were doing Sacramento. Are we not doing Sacramento?
You’re just doing San Diego, Las Vegas, and Anaheim.
CH: Oh. Well, we’ll definitely get up there as soon as we can.
I see you guys are also doing some tours with Puddle of Mudd. I know if both you guys came down to the Bay Area, you’ve got a community of people looking forward to that.
AW: Absolutely. We’ll be touring for a long time, hopefully, with this record, and we will try our best to get up there ASAP.
Do you feel like the mainstream, Top 40 success of “Lips of an Angel” had any effect on the band or on your overall sound?
AW: I don’t think it’s had any effect. We know we’re a rock band, and if we put out a ballad that crosses over to Top 40, that’s just getting more listeners out there for our music, and it’s good for us.
Did the country remake have any effect on opening the doors for new people to discover your music?
AW: Absolutely, I’m sure. The country audience is a whole new audience and a very powerful genre in the music industry right now. And it’s great to be able to cross over to country.
How did the writing process for this album differ from Extreme Behavior. I know that, on this album, you spent two years on the road nonstop touring. Did that have an effect on the album? Did you write a lot on the road?
AW: Absolutely. We’re always writing and coming up with new ideas. We, Cody and I, usually we come up with the song and then we take it to the rest of the guys, but we went and had a writing session in Florida, and we also did a writing session in Whistler, Canada, where we also did Extreme Behavior as well, and one last one in Vancouver. And it was an amazing experience to go to all those places, and very inspiring.
Regarding touring, you guys opened up for a lot of great bands including – I’m from the Boston area – “The Bad Boys of Boston,” Aerosmith. What was it like touring with them? How do they compare to Theory of a Deadman? Do you think it showed your versatility as a band?
AW: Sorry. I just got to take a moment. That was like the first real dream come true kind of thing that I experienced with a band, and I’m sure all the other guys did as well. It’s kind of like going back to school and…we got a lot of work to do.
After the massive success of Extreme Behavior, did that make going into the studio to do the follow-up freeing or did it create additional pressure?
AW: You know, you always hear the term “sophomore jinx” or whatever. It’s scary coming back in with such success as Extreme Behavior had, but we didn’t really feel any pressure as far as the writing goes. And we definitely delivered the best record we could, and we only actually recorded 18 tracks and wrote 18 songs for this record, so we definitely know that we did all the good…
Is there one song that you would point to on this record as an example of something that you couldn’t have done two years ago, either as showing your growth as musicians or just kind of the freedom and the confidence that you got more of?
AW: Probably “The Best Is Yet to Come,” I would say. It’s a ballad track, and I think it’s not like a stretch for us, but I think it definitely shows the diversity of how much better we’ve gotten as far as the writing process goes.
Do you prefer the smaller venues or the larger arenas?
AW: I’d say both. They’re different, but we enjoy it either way. As long as the fans show up and they’re ready to have a good time and party with us, man. It’s cool either way.
How does the new album compare to Extreme Behavior?
AW: Sonically it sounds better. The songs are better. It’s just a step up.
Was there any pressure from the record label to produce another smash hit like “Lips of an Angel?”
AW: The label didn’t want “Lips of an Angel” on the first record, so we didn’t really feel any pressure at all because we know we would deliver. We would do our thing and deliver the best album we could and we did. Actually, the album artwork is…people don’t like it as much. They don’t want to print it because it’s too rock and roll, I guess. So we’re having a tough time with that just because we did, like, three versions, like a PG version, an R rated, and then an X rated, and they’re having a little tough time printing the X rated one because it’s got a couple naked girls in there.
How did you come up with the title Take It to the Limit?
AW: I know when we were in Whistler, Canada, we always just kept a piece of paper and spit out stupid names. Some names are dumb. I can’t even tell you what the other titles for the album were, but you just spit out stuff until something sounds right, for the record and for the songs and everything that we were doing.
Did you enjoy playing in Europe?
AW: Europe has a problem with ice.
Do they?
AW: You can’t get ice for your drinks. They’ve got it, it’s like gold over there. That’s the only one thing (that’s) wrong with Europe, but European fans are great, and once they commit to being a fan, they’ll be a fan for life, so that’s good.
What was it like when your song “Lips of an Angel” hit Number One on the Billboard charts? I mean, the album came out in 2005, and it took a little while, but the song was phenomenal, and it finally hit Billboard’s Number One.
AW: It’s pretty surreal, and it’s amazing, and it’s a good feat of accomplishment. I still can’t believe it. It’s crazy.
I noticed that, on Take It to the Limit, it features Mick Mars on guitar. Can you tell us how that came about?
AW: It was kind of funny. I guess Mick’s publisher called us awhile back and then wanted us to go up and do some writing with him. And, of course, we were like “Hell yes, man,” so we approached him with the song and just asked him if he wanted to play. And so we sent it to him and he liked it, so we went up to his big empty house up in the hills. It was a crazy, crazy experience, just to sit there and watch him rip a couple of solos to our track. It was unbelievable. He ripped it. Yes, he’s pretty bad-ass, dude. He’s awesome. He’s still got it, that’s for sure. And as frail as he looks, he’s still got a hot-ass little girlfriend too, so he’s a pimp.
But the house is still empty. That’s strange.
AW: It’s got Marshall Stacks, guitars, and plaques, and I think that’s it.
When you guys were younger, did you know what you wanted to be? Could you picture yourself right now or did you have different ideas of where you wanted your futures to go and this just ended up being the path you took?
CH: The first time I saw somebody play an acoustic guitar that was actually really good I just kind of knew that I wanted to do something with music and I wanted to play the guitar. And I was just very, very ambitious about it, and I haven’t stopped since.
AW: Well, I was in a cover band, actually, and I played a party that Cody and Blower were throwing, and that’s actually how we met.
Is there another genre that you would like to explore? If you ever figured you were done with hard rock, would it be country, or would you want to experiment with something else?
AW: I’d definitely experiment with country music.
CH: Oklahoma gangster rap. Just kidding.
What are your favorite songs from other artists?
AW: Mine would be “Under My Thumb,” Rolling Stones.
CH: I’m going to say “Shooting Star” by Bad Company.
You mentioned the country music connection, Brad Paisley in particular, he does a little slick country, but he’s a hell of a guitar player there. Did you kind of grow up with a honky tonk sound in Oklahoma? Rock and roll was obviously coming in too, but what’s kind of your foundational stuff, when you were picking up your guitars, maybe what you were listening to locally, any good radio or good live bands that we might not know but that really influenced you guys?
AW: A band called the Nixons from Oklahoma City, definitely. I used to do some covers whenever I was first learning guitar and stuff, so they definitely influenced myself and Cody as well.
So are any of you guys mama’s boys? How often do you talk to your parents now and keep in touch with your family, or is it really difficult, you don’t get to see them for long amounts of time? Or what’s it like since your career’s been progressing? How has that changed for you guys?
CH: I wouldn’t say we’re mama’s boys. Definitely not that, but I talk to my parents quite a bit. It’s kind of a cool thing. Our parents are very supportive of what we do and my dad actually builds our stage set-up, so…He’s kind of like our stage designer so that’s pretty cool.
Do they stay back at home most, or do they travel with you guys ever?
CH: No, they stay back at home. I don’t think they would approve of most of the things we do while on the road. We wouldn’t want to bring our moms and dads on the bus.
How do you feel about music free file sharing?
AW: That’s always a sticky question, man. It’s tough because it does take a lot of money away from us, but at the same time, it gets our music out there to more people, so it’s kind of a tough one. I think that, eventually, the music business will catch up and figure out a way to get musicians compensated, I guess we’ll figure it out eventually.
Do you no longer live in Oklahoma?
AW: I live in Hermosa Beach, and the rest of the guys still live in Oklahoma.
Has that changed the dichotomy of the band, the makeup of the band, to be kind of spread out?
AW: Absolutely not. Everything still works the same. I just fly home to a different place.
Do you ever put anything interesting on your tour rider?
AW: No, but I think you just gave us a good idea. We put stuff on there not to be funny, but most people would probably think that we are. Our bass player, Mike, slips Depends on there quite a bit. But yes, it’s not a joke. He just can’t control himself when he gets so hammered. It’s for real. I mean, it gets to a certain age where you can’t control your bladder anymore.
Do you have any pre-show tradition or ritual that you do as a band or individually?
AW: We make what we call “blombs” when Blower makes a shot of Jager and Red Bull, and they’re called “blombs.” And we turn up the music really loud, offensively loud, and party.
So you get that jolt of liquid adrenaline right before you go on stage.
AW: Absolutely.
Do you think there will be a lot of other bands who will be following the same direction as you guys?
AW: It’d be nice to have a few more bands out there that are real rock bands. There are some bands out there that are trying to just completely rip off what we do and kind of be us, I guess. You know, bands like Saving Abel that come out and…
CH: With songs that sound exactly like ours, and they’re trying to talk…in the press, and they think like us and party like us and, you know, people can spot the bull…a mile away. You know what I mean?
What do you most enjoy about making videos? And tell me a little bit about the concept for your latest video.
AW: “Use Me” was a very fun video to make, and it was just a big party, and it was all real. Everything you saw was real. It was pretty cool. We got some girls, Playboy Cyber Girls, to come up and party with us for the video, so that didn’t suck, that’s for sure.
Do you guys remember an experience or a piece of advice that really inspired you or maybe it made a difference when you were just getting started, just something that led you to your success and what you are today?
AW: Something that we did was we put all the money that we made whenever we were a local band right back into the band. That was a smart thing. I’d say just go out and do it yourself. Don’t sit around and try to play shows at home and wait on labels to come and discover you because it’s probably not going to happen that way. So just be your own label and go out and make it happen.
What are your expectations for this album? Is there more pressure having had your first album go multi platinum?
AW: You never know if it’s all good until the release date comes, but we don’t really feel any pressure. We know we delivered the best record we could and our fans are going to love it.
What’s the craziest thing you guys have done lately?
AW: I’ll tell you a story that happened last night. Blower passed out at the Rainbow in L.A. and we carried him back, but then we couldn’t go any further and so we couldn’t get him to his room. So we proceeded to drag him by his feet and tuck him into bed, and he woke up this morning with rug burns all over his chest.
