Brent Hinds is nothing if not honest. He's been honest about hating heavy metal, much to the chagrin of Mastodon fans. He was probably too honest at the Grammys so he got kicked out.
Hinds was recently on theĀ Let There Be TalkĀ podcast and he echoed the sentiments of his bandmate, Bill Kelliher, that the music industry is taking everything they can from him and sucking his creativity dry. It's an interesting look at the life of a rock star – its not as glamorous as it seems.
Here is the transcription fromĀ Ultimate Guitar:
When are you guys going to work on a new album?
āWhat I really wanna do and what I hope people will let me do is take some fuckinā time off and let me breathe. Thatās how shitty the music industry is. Because youāve got to work your dick into the dirt before you can see any worms.
āThis is definitely the most brutal job Iāve ever had. I would definitely rather frame houses again. Like, no oneās looking at me. Itās like, āStop looking at me just because I fuckinā play a goddamn show on the stage.ā I donāt give a fuck. Honestly, I just donāt care. Never have cared.
āBut when the opportunityās there and you strike and it happens and then they milk youā¦ I feel like Iām being milked like a dry hyena titty. I have nothing left for anyone. Theyāve worked me to my fuckinā soul, it is almost gone.
āMy next thing thatās gonna happen for me is Iām not gonna play music for a year or two. I need to go regather myself.ā
After this tour?
āNever said that. I said thatās whatās next for me. As far as me, whatās next for me, is that.
āNow, whatās next for me in my job ā I couldnāt tell ya. They probably got tours booked up their fuckināā¦ Their bank accounts. I donāt know. They got me booked as long as they need to eat. Or as long as they need to shop. Or whatever they do with their money.
āI donāt care. All I care about is my peace of mind, which is leaving me. So I need to stop and recalculate myself. I need to decompress from all this and I need to press the restart button and just kind of reboot myself in a way.
āI just got married about a year or so ago. I gotta go down there and meet all her family. Iāve been on tour constantly. Itās just not healthy. My next thing to me is to go get healthy and just to get away from the music business for hopefully over a year.
āItās okay. Itāll be okay. I can still play music. If people want me to play good music they need to let me go for a year. If anyone that had a half of mind that was in charge of anything that I did would listen to what I say and not ignore what I say. Which happens a lot.ā
How do you write songs?
āI compileā¦ I donāt really write songs. I compile songs. It takes me a while to write a song. Or a song just comes at me and I write it overnight.
āIf I really want to do something impressive, I work on it for about a year and really put the pieces where I need them. I have different methods, of course. I have several methods. You donāt have enough time on this podcast.
āI do a lot of things that I donāt even really want to talk about, honestly. I roll dice and I name dice different chords. I do all kinds of weird things that Iāve taught myself how to do just from being a music teacher also. I teach guitar classes every day at 1:30 to some unassuming whoever. And then I just try to plow through the mud with them.ā
You teach online?
āNo. Only when Iām on tour. I donāt do anything online. I wake up, I have to give a guitar lesson at 1, and then the soundcheck starts, and then the interviews start, and then meet-and-greet starts, and then the doors open.
āWe even rarely have time to hang out with the people that youāve become very fond of in those parts of the world. Because they work you like a broke-dick dog because of how fucked the music industry is for rock ānā roll and heavy metal.
āAny kind of music that requires raw talent ā good luck.ā
Maybe it's for the best that Mastodon had to cancel their upcoming tour, even if the reason for cancelling wasn't the most positive one.
Maybe the recharge is exactly what Hinds needs. It seems like he and the rest of the band could use some time to decompress and hang out with family.