OKC band Hinder to perform for hometown crowd at Rocklahoma

BY JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Thursday, May 26, 2011
5/26/11 at 3:30 AM

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Well, this is a first for the party rockers who will do just about anything once.

They're playing Rocklahoma.

"This is a bigger production than a lot of what we do," said Mike King, rhythm guitarist for Hinder. "We get to have one huge rock 'n' roll party."

The band is still sponsored by Jagermeister and Monster energy drink, and "That's how we start each night's show."

"We party just like anyone else," King said. "We also work harder. ... If we weren't working our butts off on stage, we'd be going home."

Indeed, the band tours nearly nine months out of the year. Which might explain why they love coming home to Oklahoma.

"We're gone so much, nobody really recognizes us here," King said, then laughed. "I can walk right into a Walmart and say, 'Hey man, nice shirt,' to a kid wearing a Hinder shirt, and he won't even notice that he's wearing my picture on his chest."

Lead singer Austin Winkler's the only one out of the band who's moved to Los Angeles, he said. King grew up in Guymon and met his future band-mates through a mutual friend while he was working in Moore, doing studio work with a mariachi band, he said.

"The guys invited me to jam, and I just sort of never left," King said. That was in 2004. The band was signed to a major label, Universal, in 2005.

Their star has rocketed into space since then. In 2007, they were inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. They're loved and hated by critics (and some listeners), which always makes for good publicity.

Winkler, drummer Cody Hanson, bassist Mike Rodden and guitarists Joe "Blower" Garvey and King feel their infamy is well deserved.

Much like their idols, '80s metal rockers like Motley Crue, Whitesnake and Poison (all playing Rocklahoma, by the way), the band is known for its hard-work, hard-party ways and once toured as a headliner for Girls Gone Wild on tour. There also was a time when King and the gang had been on the road for so long, they were essentially homeless.

"I didn't have a home or a car," King admitted. "I'd just crash at my friends' houses when I was in town. People were like, 'Aren't you supposed to be rich and famous?' and I was like, 'Yeah, well, we kinda are.' "

Things have gotten better. Much better.

And, critics are being won over. Their third album, "All American Nightmare," was released late last year with a heavier - and, yes, a more mature - sound.

"We've all grown up a lot in the last five years or so," said King. They wrote more than 50 songs, and winnowed down the list after careful preparation and consideration, he said.

"We wrote and demoed on the road for a full year before we went into the studio to record," he said.

Original Print Headline: Hinder ready to party at festival

Jennifer Chancellor 918-581-8346
jennifer.chancellor@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

Oklahoma City rockers Hinder make one of their rare tour stops near home to play at Rocklahoma. "We're gone so much, nobody really recognizes us here," guitarist Mike King says with a laugh. Business Wire

Oklahoma City rock act Hinder was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Courtesy