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6 Degrees Entertainment

Hinder Hinder

'Welcome To My Nightmare!'

Multi-platinum selling rowdy Oklahoma rockers, Hinder (Austin Winkler, vocals; Mark King, guitar; Joe “Blower” Garvey, guitar; Mike Rodden, Bass; and Cody Hanson on drums), return with their third studio album, All American Nightmare, in stores now, via their longtime label Universal Republic.

First single, “All American Nightmare,” has already hit the charts as the #1 most added at rock radio debuting at #30 on both Active and Mainstream Rock charts, their top debut at both formats.

No strangers to conquering the Active Rock charts, Hinder have had five Top 5 Rock singles with “Get Stoned,” the multi-format #1 smash “Lips Of An Angel,” “How Long,” “Better Than Me,” and “Use Me.” All American Nightmare is available now at iTunes.

Co-produced by drummer Cody Hanson and Kevin Churko (At This Moment, Ozzy Osbourne), All American Nightmare continues to follow their living-life-to-the-fullest and sometimes biographical writing style with anthemic gems filled with their rich guitar sound such as “Red Tail Lights” to bluesy southern rock with “What Ya Gonna Do” and “Put That Record On,” to the harder edged lead single “All American Nightmare” and “Strip Tease.”

Guitarist MARK KING recently sat down with Exclusive Magazine to chat about the band, their music, and, of course, ... Penguins!.

Early Days:

Taking it from the top, and you joined Hinder two years after they had initially formed. Had you heard of the band prior to joining or were you simply rolling the dice of fate? "I had heard of the band, but I had never seen a full set. I actually caught the last minute of their set when they opened up for Better Than Ezra in '02. They had a different bass player and Austin played guitar back then."

And just what was it about the band that made you decide to join their musical ranks? "I was working in a studio mixing a Mariachi band when Cody called me. I was so frustrated because I had no idea how to mix this band. He asked me if I wanted to come jam with them and I did. They had a gig coming up in 3 weeks so I agreed to help out and play with them. At the time, I wasn't sure if I wanted to become a full time member or not. Once we hit the stage, though, I had so much fun that I knew it was my destiny to rock. And the rest, as they say, is history."

Extreme Behavior:

Almost immediately after you had joined, the band was offered many record deals with many companies, eventually signing with Universal in late 2005. The debut album that quickly followed, 'Extreme Behavior' reached triple-platinum for sales, but websites such as Allmusic called the album, "... one of 2005's worst ..."! But, with that many sales, and that many fans behind you, did Allmusic's comments still hurt you at the time? "Not at all. Maybe if we sold 3 albums and got that review it would have hurt. But selling that many and playing sold out shows makes us laugh that off. It's not uncommon for the five of us to gather around the computer and look for album reviews of us. It's kinda fun to be part of the band that everyone loves to hate!"

In 2007, Hinder was also inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. So, by now, you've just joined a band and soon thereafter have had three singles in the charts, one solid debut album, and have been inducted! What was your state of mind around this time with regard all this? "At the time, I thought that what was happening to us was how life as a signed band was supposed to be. I thought you get a record deal, you get a #1 single and sell a bunch of albums. Everything was happening so fast that none of us realized how big all of it was. Looking back, I know just how fortunate we were and how blessed we still are to get to do what we love."

Take It to the Limit:

Your follow-up album, 'Take It to the Limit' came out in 2008, and marked a change in style to your music - a more glam metal-influenced direction, shall we say. Why the change of musical direction for this sophomore album? "The five of us love the music of the 80's. We were tired of the "boring" rock of the 90's. We wanted to bring back the arena rock with gang vocals and huge guitar solos. Our goal was to bring the party back to rock n roll."

Was this second album as successful as you would have hoped or did the change in musical tone alienate some of the Hinder Army? "It's hard to say. The economy was down and that definitely took it's toll on album sales. Our live show was still going over great, though. We were getting an awesome response from the crowd still, so I hope we didn't alienate any fans."

All American Nightmare:

You recently released your third album, 'All American Nightmare,' but why did it come with that title attached? "I'm not sure who coined that title. Originally we were thinking about calling the album 'Two Sides of Me', but once 'AAN' was written we changed the title to that."

Now five years on since the release of the debut, how has Hinder's approach to creating an album changed over the years? "For the first two albums we recorded in Vancouver and only wrote the number of songs needed for the album. This time 70 songs were written and 50 or so were demoed. We also were able to record at home. We've learned a lot about the recording process since '05."

Indeed, how easy (or hard) is it to constantly create a new, vibrant, wanted-by-the-public sound that both builds on and surpasses the musical wonderment's/accomplishments/arrangements that preceded it within the industry? "Honestly, all we can do is record the music we want to record and the rest is up to the listener. We're one of the lucky bands that have had the chance to get our music out to the world and we don't take it for granted."

The Final Four!

And, having mentioned them before, knowing that your fan base is named the Hinder Army, who originated that title for them ... and why?! "We took that name from the KISS army. I believe our manager came up with the idea. If I had to guess, I bet he was a member of that army."

Hinder have toured relentlessly for years now, but has there been one stand-out tour, or actual tour date, that still to this day (for a good reason, or bad) sticks in your mind?! "There are several that stand out for good reason. For me, the day we got to open for Aerosmith was huge. Another one was our hometown show in Oklahoma City in '07 at the zoo amphitheater. The show holds the record for attendance there. There are a lot more, but those two dates were amazing."

Do you still incorporate a ProTools rig in the back of the tour bus to enable you to write and create pro-production for new songs, perhaps? "Absolutely. You never know when inspiration will hit you, so you gotta have the rig with you at all times or you might forget your ideas."

Lastly, and throwing you a non-musical curve ball, Exclusive Magazine love penguins ... do you?! "I've never met a penguin I didn't love!"

Interviewed by: Russell A. Trunk

www.hindermusic.com

So, if you would like to win an AUTOGRAPHED copy of their new CD, and you think you know all there is to know about the band, just answer this easy question: Austin Winkler and actress/model Jami Miller were married in 2008. Winkler met Miller while filming the music video for which song covered by Hinder?!

Send us your answers and if you're correct you'll be in the running to win one of these wonderful new AUTOGRAPHED CDs! Just send us an e:mail here before March 1st with your answer and the subject title CONTEST: HINDER SIGNED CDs to: exclusivemagazine@flash.net

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