By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
The last paragraph of Hinder’s biography, listed on the band’s Web site, talks about how life gets boring on the stretches of highway between tour stops. That’s when lead guitarist Joe “Blower” Garvey picks up his class clown act with painful stunts.
Bassist Mike Rodden said that’s not just talk. (Those who absolutely have to know the excruciating details can visit the band’s Web site.)
The rowdy Oklahomans will play a concert in their home state Saturday at Buffalo Run Casino. Comprised of Rodden, Garvey, singer Austin Winkler, guitarist Mark King and drummer Cody Hanson, the band got its start in Oklahoma City before breaking into the big time.
“This will be our first show in Oklahoma since 2007,” Rodden said. “We’re excited for it. It’s always fun when we get to play for a hometown crowd.”
The band is following the trail blazed by ’80s rock acts such as Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue and older rockers like Aerosmith and AC/DC. With loud guitar, driving beats and powerful vocals, they sing about the rock ’n’ roll life, complete with endless parties, plenty of women, gallons of alcohol and strained relationships.
Like many of the ’80s bands, it was a power ballad that helped make the band a household name. “Lips of an Angel,” released in 2006, helped 2005’s “Extreme Behavior” reach triple-platinum sales success.
That song’s ode to infidelity resonated with listeners, Rodden said, as well as other raw, brutally honest lyrics. For instance, “Get Stoned,” which is about a dysfunctional relationship: “Let’s go home and get stoned / We could end up making love instead of misery / Go home and get stoned / Cause the sex is so much better when you’re mad at me.”
“First and foremost, we write music that we like,” Rodden said. “And we write lyrics that people can relate to. They embrace that a lot more and latch on to it.”
Rodden said that those ballads are easier to write than the traditional rock songs. Though he states the obvious — girls like the ballads, and nothing but heavy, raunchy rock attracts nothing but guys — he said there’s something about the ballads that channels the best in the band.
“We are a rock band and we can write rock songs,” Rodden said. “But we are good at writing ballads. They come out easier. We don’t even set out to write them.”
From Oklahoma to bigtime
The band got its start in Oklahoma City when Winkler, Garvey and Hanson met through a fraternity party gig. After releasing the EP “Far From Home” in 2003, the band took out a loan for $45,000 and headed to Vancouver to record six different demos.
Those demos led to a bidding war and eventual signing by Universal Records, which published “Extreme Behavior.” The CD also led to the band’s touring, including its first shows outside of Oklahoma.
Though the band follows the same sort of path as the metal bands of the ’80s, it also knows where it leads, and refuses to recreate it. The era flamed out suddenly in the early ’90s, as bands such as Nirvana and Alice in Chains ushered in an era of gritty realism with what Rodden called a “stripped down and dirty” sound.
“All the bands that influenced us, they seemed real,” Rodden said. “But toward the end, as more and more of those bands came out, it looked like they were trying too hard. They were putting on more makeup than the chicks and their hair was bigger than their torsos. It got goofy and lame.”
The band also goes for a healthy dose of ’70s rock, such as AC/DC and Aerosmith. It covered Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” for NASCAR last year, and filled its second CD, “Take It to the Limit,” with a more melodic, anthemic sound than its predecessor.
“We matured as songwriters,” Rodden said. “We got to put out the record we wanted because of our early success. We were more in control.”
Though the band was pleased with multi-platinum success, the largest validation of its methods came when — out of nowhere — Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars said he wanted to work with the band. Mars’ playing is featured on the newest CD, and the band performed with him live during Cruefest.
“When we heard that he had called our management and said he wanted to work with us, we were floored,” Rodden said. “This was before we toured with (Crue). One of the guys who had influenced Blower, Mark and me was wanting to be a part of this.”
The fans’ response is also important, Rodden said. The band throws in a lot of audience interaction into each show. Aside from a set list, nothing is planned and everything is spontaneous, Rodden said.
“Every show that we play, we try to hang with the fans,” Rodden said. “A lot of them say that they have had problems and that our music helped them through. I think we’ve created some hardcore, die-hard fans, and I hope they are with us for a long time.”
Want to go?
Hinder will play Saturday at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla. Tickets: 918-542-7140, ext. 2200.
