Interview with Mike Rodden and Joe "Blower" Garvey of Hinder.
January 23, 2024
Oklahoma based rockers, Hinder, kicked off their Winter Tour last week in Salt Lake City with a stop at The Depot. We had a chance to sit down with Mike Rodden and Joe “Blower” Garvey and talk about the upcoming tour and look back on their 20 plus years in the business.
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Paul: Thanks for taking time out of your day to speak with me.
Mike Rodden: Yeah man.
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Paul: So, winter tour kicks off tonight, how are you guys feeling about that?
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Mike: We were just talking about how our booking agent always schedules us tours in the winter in the north or cold places and then we tour the south in the summer. It seems like it would be the opposite. We’re going to be in Wyoming and Montana in a few days and it’s going to be ridiculous.
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Blower: We’re still excited, there’s actually quite a bit of casino dates on this run. We’ll be able to get off and have some room and it’ll be good though. We’re about as prepared as we can be right now.
Paul: Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Extreme Behavior, how are you looking forward to that.
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Mike: Very much so. That album changed our lives and careers. The fact that it’s 20 years old makes us feel kind of old. We might do some special stuff with it. Not sure what we’re going to do but we’ll do something for sure.
Paul: A lot of fans are looking forward to it. I know you all just did the Rock the Locks festival up in Oregon. We had a poll for the fans that were there in attendance and from everyone that answered you all came in the top 3 favorite bands that played there. A lot of the fans have been expressing hope that you all will come back up there sometime. It’s got to make you guys feel good that 20 years from your debut album people still love you guys and that you’re one of the favorites from these festivals.
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Mike: First off, it’s great that we’re still doing it 20 years later from the first record. A lot of bands don’t get to continue to do it that long. You get your time and then it’s over and then you kind of move on. The fact that we’ve gotten to keep going and playing shows and releasing music for 20 years, we’re grateful for that and feel very lucky. You know the fact that a lot of people were saying they were excited to see us is pretty flattering. We'd love to go back sometime.
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Paul: I read that you guys are planning on putting out new music. Your single “Bring Me Back to Life” was about that, it was about what do you have to say after 20 years and having said it all on your albums. How’s that going? Is there still anything in the works?
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Blower: Yeah so, we have a full album done. We’re just feeling the politics side. Trying to get it all figured out, when to release it and we’re hoping soon because we’re going to start having a busy spring and summer time. We’re excited though, how many years has it been since new music has come out?
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Mike: 2017. That’s crazy. Yeah, well you know we’ve had music it’s not like we haven’t not written music for all that time. We’ve had music you know, but we just haven’t had the right management until recently. The whole situation wasn’t good for us to put the music out but now they are finishing up mastering the last few songs, so it’s done. We just shot a video for the first single which isn’t “Bring Me Back to Life” it’s a different song. So, it’s coming and now we can actually feel the butterflies coming out again and feel new energy into the whole camp. It’s going to be awesome.
Paul: I know I’m looking forward to it along with a bunch of other people. How’s it been having Justin touring with you guys. He’s been touring with you all for a few years now.
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Mike: Well, he’s been out on the road with us forever, tech wise or stepping in when one of us couldn’t make a show. He knows all of the music and he could fill in at the drop of a hat, so he’s been around. We’ve known him most of the 20 years and he’s been out on the road with us for a lot of it. Mark needed to do his own thing and with his family he wasn’t feeling the touring side of it anymore so when that happened, we knew Shipleys been with us forever so he was the obvious person to fill that role and since he’s been in it’s been great.
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Blower: We’ve been good friends with him back at home for many, many years so it was the right choice.
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Paul: What keeps you guys motivated to keep making new music and touring.
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Mike: I think it’s just this is what we do. I don’t know what any of us would do if weren’t doing this. The fact that we get to make a living from playing music is, I don’t really think there’s any better job really. We’re gonna do it as long as we can still get up on the stage and as long as people watch.
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Paul: So, in a couple of days, it will be Marshall’s nine-year anniversary of being in the band.
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Blower: Yeah, nine years. Pretty crazy. We’ve known Marshall since I guess 05 when we started touring. He was in another band. He’s been a crucial part of our writing and he’s also an amazing guitar player. He’s brought all kinds of stuff to the table for us and helped us a ton in the studio, he’s even gone as far as teching for us at one point. To be able to make that switch over to him it made sense and he’s just an all-around talented guy to have.
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Paul: Speaking of songwriting, you guys have worked with everyone across all genres over your career including country artists and writers like Ryan Hurd. How has it been working with people outside of your genre like that and everyone you guys have worked with.
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Mike: It’s been pretty awesome. You know, if you don’t work with other people, you kind of get stuck in a rut and you keep doing the same thing over and over. Fresh perspective from other songwriters and other artists, it gives your product a little bit of a boost you know. Something that people haven’t heard before. Any time we get the chance to write or record or anything with another person, even someone coming up on stage singing or whatever. I think it gives the fans something interesting and new. It helps the other artists and vice versa.
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Paul: With it being the opening night of the tour, are we going to hear any new music tonight for the first time that you haven’t played before.
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Blower: Not tonight. We’re still trying to get it all together basically. No but for sure later in the year we’ll have some for sure.
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Paul: Well, we look forward to hearing the set that you have ready for us tonight. I don’t want to take up too much of your time. Thank you all so much for taking time out of your day to speak with me.
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Mike: Yeah.
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Blower: Thanks so much.