“I f**king hate heavy metal, and I don't want to be in a heavy metal band!” Brent Hinds’ 2015 viral outburst revealed his love for Mastodon and the no-BS attitude that made him a true guitar hero

Journalists know that no matter how well you prepare for an interview, you can’t predict what will happen once the recorder starts running.

Former Guitar Player editor-in-chief Michael Molenda experienced that truth when he called the late Brent Hinds in 2015 to discuss Once More ‘Round the Sun, the then new album from Hinds’ group, Mastodon. Molenda had previously spoken with Hinds and his co-guitarist Bill Kelliher for their August 2009 cover story about Crack the Skye, Mastodon’s fourth album. The disc was the metal act’s most successful to date, combining electric and acoustic guitars in a progressive sonic stew that gave them the breakthrough they’d worked hard for. In that interview, Hinds sounded engaged and enthusiastic.

Six years later, Hinds — who died on August 20 after his motorcycle collided with an SUV — was less interested in talking when Molenda reached out to discuss Once More ‘Round the Sun. Having spoken separately with Kelliher, the editor connected with Hinds, who made no bones about his hatred for interviews and guitar magazines.

In his brief comments, the guitarist elaborated on his no-nonsense attitude toward gear with a candor that was bracingly direct.

But for most readers, and certainly the online community, the big takeaway from the story was Brent’s inflammatory comments about heavy metal, the very genre in which Mastodon had made their mark.

While they made for a click-worthy moment, Hinds’ eye-popping statements obscured his more relevant point: that Mastodon’s music was forged by its members in a “happy medium” where they could all find creative satisfaction, and that at its heart the band was a place where Hinds felt safe and loved, at least until his departure from Mastodon earlier this year.

But let’s let Hinds say it in his own words. Here, in his memory, is his interview in full:

GUITAR PLAYER: Regarding the new album...

BRENT HINDS: I let Bill work it out. There's not much of my DNA on that album. That's why it's not very epic.

I'm sorry, the cell reception broke up. Did you say "not very interesting?"

That word will also work.

I understand that Bill came up with a lot of the songs for this album. How did you determine how to add your own twists to the material?

I'm not really sure what you're trying to ask me. Should I go get the album so I don't have to micro-manage the process and explain shit that I've explained a hundred fucking thousand times?

I write songs and Bill writes songs, and then we get together and we jam with Brann [Dailor, drums] and Troy [Sanders, bass guitar] in a room. And then we go to a studio and record it.

Like I said, there's not much of my DNA on the album. I only wrote four songs. My songs are much more along the vein of Crack the Skye, so if you want to know anything about me in the future, I write more long cascading psychedelic epic stuff, and Bill and Brann write faster, snappier, lumbering heavy-metal type songs.

Is there anything about Once More 'Round the Sun you'd rather discuss?

It would be nice if magazines and all interviews would just go fall off the face of the earth along with all the cigarette smoke and all the other fucking things I hate in life.

I don't like doing interviews, I don't read interviews, I don't need to know how people go about doing things. It frustrates me to do interviews, because I have to talk about things I've talked about over and over and over and over again.

So, no, there's nothing that we can talk about that involved Mastodon that I'll get excited about. After 15 years of doing this every fucking day of my life, the last thing I want to do is talk about doing it.

Well, if you'd prefer, I can finish now and thank you for your time...

It's not your fault at all. Listen, I'm going to make it real simple for you: I have never changed my gear. I still use the same guitars and amps and pedals I used when Mastodon started in 1999. I'm set in my ways, and I was already set in my ways before any kind of success happened with Mastodon.

I was already satisfied with my sound and my playing. I didn't feel the need to change anything other than to play more. And through more playing came more nimbleness and more of an understanding of the guitar.

I'm very passionate about playing guitar — I’m just not the most passionate guy in the world about talking about any of it. I don't want your readers to think I'm a dick — it's just that I just want the readers to think that I'm a real person who has real emotions. Breaking details down and getting micro about what cable I plug into what pedal is, to me, a very unnecessary type of dialogue.

I understand you have readers that want to know that stuff, but they're not going to find out from me. My rig is very bare bones. It's definitely not rocket science. Bill has a much more complex rig going on, and he is constantly changing his sound. He's much more the guy to articulate his ongoing endeavor with every tone in the world. I guess he won't be satisfied until he has heard them all.

I knew what kind of guitar sound I wanted the first time I heard AC/DC when I was a kid. I said, "I want my guitar to sound like that!" That was my goal, I achieved it early in life, and I never changed it.

Interesting point. With gear, as with songwriting, perhaps some people get too fussy about details, and they kind of ruin themselves in the process.

Sure they do, but I don't care. I don't know what most people do, and I don't want to know what most people do with their rigs or songwriting. I don't even want to hear most people's songs. I can barely stomach listening to heavy metal. It makes me ill to hear it.

Is there a particular reason why?

I never really liked it in the first place. I came from Alabama playing country music, surf rock, rockabilly and stuff like that. I just went through a phase in my 20s where I thought it was rebellious to play heavy metal.

And then I met Brann and Bill, and they were really, really, really into heavy metal. And ever since then, I've been trying to get Mastodon to not be such a heavy metal band, because I fucking hate heavy metal, and I don't want to be in a heavy metal band.

Do you feel that creative tension can sometimes inspire awesome musical hybrids?

Okay, but listen — if there was creative tension, we would just part ways. We don't thrive on that. We are friends. Friends understand each other. If you have a friend who has a problem, and you're in an internal situation with him at your job, aren't you going to try to help your friend work through the problem, and all come to an agreement where everyone can be happy?

That's what Mastodon has done with my hatred of heavy metal. We just came to a happy medium where we're all happy with our music. I'm happy because it's not a real heavy metal band, Bill and Brann are happy because it's heavy enough, and Troy likes all kinds of music, so he was never an issue in that matter.

Our music didn't cause tension — it solved problems. I'm a very lucky man to have three other really talented men who are understanding, compassionate, loving, funny, enduring, and super kind.

Wonderful. Perhaps we should end on that note...

I apologize for my unfiltered honesty, but that's just how I operate.