Brent Hinds (ex-Mastodon) died last night.

When I first saw the news, with the recent back and forth between Brett and the other band members, I expected the worst for him. Not happy he died in an accident either but I was afraid he was going off the rails a little bit. RIP Brett!
 
Eazy-ESP said:
A lot of anti-motorbike sentiment. I’ve been on and around them since childhood. Known and even seen death. That said, I ride.

Not saying car drivers aren’t terrible. However, I find watching YouTube videos of bike riders, they are way worse. Own worst enemies. I ride quite aggressively, but I also ride to be out of the way and I never trust intersections.

I don’t want to cast aspersions, however Brent was known to drink and live a certain way. Someone I know got killed at an intersection by a driver that ran through. However, the someone I knew was also drinking all night, had 3 hours sleep and went riding.

All I’m saying, bikes can be fun. Having kids now though has even got me rethinking it.
Click to expand...

Yeah it is a double edged sword for motorcyclists. There are so many moron drivers out there, one little slip up and your dead. There are also a lot of horrible motorcyclists too.

I was on the I-90 here and going into Chicago. On the 90, you go 80 to 85 in the left lane, even during somewhat heavy traffic, just how it is. (And even then you have to move out of the way sometimes) There was a cyclist that passed everyone like we were standing still. 100 at least. He was weaving in and out of cars and traffic too. Just so risky, one slip up by him, any traffic hitch or quick move by a driver and you're just dead.

On the flip side, we were going to Yellowstone last year right around the time of Sturgis. All the cyclists going out that way on the highways were super good and chill riders.
 
Eazy-ESP said:
Anyway, Mastodon will never be Mastodon without Brent. Integral. I’m just glad we got what we got from them.

Absolutely hard to fathom his life being taken right in the middle of their breakup and him slagging them off. Going to be a lot of regrets and guilt, even though I suspect they aren’t the monsters he portrayed them as. It’s hard work dealing with hard living people.

Band of the modern era if you ask me. My generation missed the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, etc. There never seemed like those kind of bands for my era. Mastodon felt like that for me.
Click to expand...

There’s no way those guys aren’t walking around with the weight of guilt right now, despite it not being their fault, it’s all those “If we didn’t kick him out he might have been doing something different that night…” crap.

And as much as the last few albums have been Bill and Brann writing 95% of the material, I agree that it won’t be the same band ever again without Brent. He was basically sprinkling his fairy dust on the songs after they were written, but that was some impactful fairy dust.

Nick Johnston has been touring with them after Ben Eller did that one gig with them and while Nick’s a great player, I can’t stand listening to him turning the solos into shred wankfests. I do REALLY hope there’s some respect paid to Brent’s parts moving forward, but as good as Nick is, he plays like he’s never experienced a bad day in his entire life. Dude can play in minor keys all he wants, it still sounds happy.
 
SgtThump said:
i also ride, but not aggressively. I see the videos you're talking about of guys on bikes just being downright dumb. Alot of the think they own the road, which is strange considering one bump from a car and they lose.

I love riding, but I don't love other riders that much.
Click to expand...
Is that why I was driving down 270, and you pulled up next to me, popped a 1/4 mile wheelie and flicked a cigar into my passenger side window??
 
jeff5 said:
Yeah it is a double edged sword for motorcyclists. There are so many moron drivers out there, one little slip up and your dead. There are also a lot of horrible motorcyclists too.

I was on the I-90 here and going into Chicago. On the 90, you go 80 to 85 in the left lane, even during somewhat heavy traffic, just how it is. (And even then you have to move out of the way sometimes) There was a cyclist that passed everyone like we were standing still. 100 at least. He was weaving in and out of cars and traffic too. Just so risky, one slip up by him, any traffic hitch or quick move by a driver and you're just dead.

On the flip side, we were going to Yellowstone last year right around the time of Sturgis. All the cyclists going out that way on the highways were super good and chill riders.
Click to expand...
I’d love to go to Sturgis one year. (I’m in Australia).
 
DrewJD82 said:
There’s no way those guys aren’t walking around with the weight of guilt right now, despite it not being their fault, it’s all those “If we didn’t kick him out he might have been doing something different that night…” crap.

And as much as the last few albums have been Bill and Brann writing 95% of the material, I agree that it won’t be the same band ever again without Brent. He was basically sprinkling his fairy dust on the songs after they were written, but that was some impactful fairy dust.

Nick Johnston has been touring with them after Ben Eller did that one gig with them and while Nick’s a great player, I can’t stand listening to him turning the solos into shred wankfests. I do REALLY hope there’s some respect paid to Brent’s parts moving forward, but as good as Nick is, he plays like he’s never experienced a bad day in his entire life. Dude can play in minor keys all he wants, it still sounds happy.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Even though I love certain guitar virtuosos, there is more often than not a missing grit or soul or life experience to it.
 
Last edited:
I could be wrong, but it seems driving is getting even more dangerous everyday.
I do drive fast, but never trusted other drivers, so I don't take risks, and if I have to, I'll even slow down or even stop so a bad/risky driver can pass and move along, avoiding any kind of situation.
That being said, I've been seeing and avoiding situations that are typical of a "Worlds Dumbest Drivers" episode.
Bad left turns or U turns, people merging in front of you at almost stopping speed and txting and driving it's a daily thing here in the Nashville area. And the few times I've drove in Atlanta, it's not different. You must drive for you and everyone else. Almost impossible to keep up with all the people around you that puts your life in risk from the moment you leave your house till when you're back. Sometimes it's even impossible to avoid them, which seems to be what happens with Brent Hinds.
With all the technology around, one would think roads were going to be safer by now. But just like with the music industry, technology(using ProTools as comparison) just made us more lazy and confident, which is not a good combo for drivers at all.
Sad to think that ain't changing anytime soon.
 
SBlue said:
I could be wrong, but it seems driving is getting even more dangerous everyday.
I do drive fast, but never trusted other drivers, so I don't take risks, and if I have to, I'll even slow down or even stop so a bad/risky driver can pass and move along, avoiding any kind of situation.
That being said, I've been seeing and avoiding situations that are typical of a "Worlds Dumbest Drivers" episode.
Bad left turns or U turns, people merging in front of you at almost stopping speed and txting and driving it's a daily thing here in the Nashville area. And the few times I've drove in Atlanta, it's not different. You must drive for you and everyone else. Almost impossible to keep up with all the people around you that puts your life in risk from the moment you leave your house till when you're back. Sometimes it's even impossible to avoid them, which seems to be what happens with Brent Hinds.
With all the technology around, one would think roads were going to be safer by now. But just like with the music industry, technology(using ProTools as comparison) just made us more lazy and confident, which is not a good combo for drivers at all.
Sad to think that ain't changing anytime soon.
Click to expand...
I have never been in a wreck in my life, but I attribute it to my defensive and offensive driving skills being both very high level.
 
Life is so random. Here you have one of the more reckless and unpredictable dudes in the biz. Everyone knows about his problems, his mouth, and how he has been existing on trauma responses even before getting fired from the band he "didn't want to be in" anymore.

But this time, someone who may normally be a totally innocent, rule follower, JUST PLAIN FUCKED UP, and didn't see him or whatever and now you know their life is fucking ruined.

I have to admit, my first thought was "welp, Brent was wasted and became another fucking cliche", but that wasn't the case this time!

its just crazy how life works some times.

its like with Dimebags death.... just like Zakk said "Alcohol was supposed to kill Dime, not (so and so)..." i forgot the exact quote, but i know i have the first half right.

just to make this more about me and my views... Brent will be known forever to me as the guy that helped kill my "rock and roll dreams".
I had a friend who had already gotten cozy with Mastodon while they were still playing bars in the early 2000's and any time they came to town they met at a bar, or hung out after the show. So when Mastodon opened for Slayer at Harpos back in that era, i went to the gig at like 3pm with him and we hung out with Brent for a while that day. One thing i'll never forget, is standing behind harpos on clear summer day while Brent was changing the strings himself on that white V, sitting on the railing that stops cars from driving on the freeway overpass for pedestrians. He was talking about how he lost all of the money from the last tour he did by gambling in vegas at that stop on the last tour. He said he had to spend a few months doing roofing to get by between tours. I asked him about opening up for slayer and how its probably tough right??? he started telling me about the "luggie wars" with the crowd. he bragged about how in chicago last night, he kept getting shit from one guy, and he got him "real good" right in the face at the end of the set. As he spoke and told us all this candid shit, it made me realize how NOT cut out for touring life that i was, and i remember after that day, i had this profoud new sense of "fuck it, i'm just going to make music for me, and use it as "my thing for me" than try and set my sights of touring and what not. i know it seems like a "anti inspirational" story, but it was exactly what i needed to hear at the time.

Anyway, R.I.P, because i know he needs that peace.
 
Last edited:
I worked nights from 1989 until earlier this year. Driving in the dark through blizzards and severe thunderstorms was a walk in the park compared to the other bullshit I dealt with on a nightly basis: intoxicated distracted drivers drifting toward me, full on panic stops in front of me, drivers going the wrong way down a one way straight at me usually with their lights off, and of course left turns in front of me with no blinker when I had the right of way. The first few decades weren't bad, but things changed for the worse in the early 2000s, and at times seemed to get worse by the day.
 
JimAnsell said:
Life is so random. Here you have one of the more reckless and unpredictable dudes in the biz. Everyone knows about his problems, his mouth, and how he has been existing on trauma responses even before getting fired from the band he "didn't want to be in" anymore.

But this time, someone who may normally be a totally innocent, rule follower, JUST PLAIN FUCKED UP, and didn't see him or whatever and now you know their life is fucking ruined.

I have to admit, my first thought was "welp, Brent was wasted and became another fucking cliche", but that wasn't the case this time!

its just crazy how life works some times.

its like with Dimebags death.... just like Zakk said "Alcohol was supposed to kill Dime, not (so and so)..." i forgot the exact quote, but i know i have the first half right.

just to make this more about me and my views... Brent will be known forever to me as the guy that helped kill my "rock and roll dreams".
I had a friend who had already gotten cozy with Mastodon while they were still playing bars in the early 2000's and any time they came to town they met at a bar, or hung out after the show. So when Mastodon opened for Slayer at Harpos back in that era, Mastodon were one of the openers. i went to the gig at like 3pm with him and we hungout with Brent for a while that day. One thing i'll never forget, is standing behind harpos on clear summer day while Brent was changing the strings himself on that white V, sitting on the railing that stops cars from driving on the freeway overpass for pedestrians. He was talking about how he lost all of the money from the last tour he did by gambling in vegas at that stop on the last tour. He said he had to spend a few months doing roofing to get by between tours. I asked him about opening up for slayer and how its probaby tough right??? he started telling me about the "luggie wars" with the crowd. he bagged about how in chicago last night, he kept getting shit from one guy, and he got him "real good" right in the face at the end of the set. As he spoke and told us all this candid shit, it made me realize how NOT cut out for touring life that i was, and i remember after that day, i had this profoud new sense of "fuck it, i'm just going to make music for me, and use it as "my thing for me" than try and set my sights of touring and what not. i know it seems like a "anti inspirational" story, but it was exactly what i needed to hear at the time.

Anyway, R.I.P, because i know he needs that peace.
Click to expand...
True
Kordoba said:
I worked nights from 1989 until earlier this year. Driving in the dark through blizzards and severe thunderstorms was a walk in the park compared to the other bullshit I dealt with on a nightly basis: intoxicated distracted drivers drifting toward me, full on panic stops in front of me, drivers going the wrong way down a one way straight at me usually with their lights off, and of course left turns in front of me with no blinker when I had the right of way. The first few decades weren't bad, but things changed for the worse in the early 2000s, and at times seemed to get worse by the day.
Click to expand...
It seems to get worse by the day in the Nashville area.
 
SBlue said:
True

It seems to get worse by the day in the Nashville area.
Click to expand...
I left a Brent Hinds Terror at home when we did our amp fest at SIR I believe, or maybe I brought it and and forget. Can’t recall. With a 100ohm bias resistor instead of the stock 150, and some Ken Fischer approved Russian military 6n14n’s in half power mode, the thing oozes VH tone.

It’s a Marshall man’s Orange lunchbox amp for sure.

If anything, Brent had a love for rigs, not the talk. We all could stand to learn to play more than we tinker, most certainly myself.

Brent left his mark on music forever, making a solid, excellent contribution to the rock music Parthenon.

Let’s get those songs we’re sitting on out there. 🤘🏻

 
Last edited:
Eazy-ESP said:
Anyway, Mastodon will never be Mastodon without Brent. Integral. I’m just glad we got what we got from them.

Absolutely hard to fathom his life being taken right in the middle of their breakup and him slagging them off. Going to be a lot of regrets and guilt, even though I suspect they aren’t the monsters he portrayed them as. It’s hard work dealing with hard living people.

Band of the modern era if you ask me. My generation missed the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, etc. There never seemed like those kind of bands for my era. Mastodon felt like that for me.
Click to expand...
So true
 
bubbastain said:
Those are actually really cool amps. My favorite Orange amp.
Click to expand...
It is cool. I think Orange missed the boat not making him a 50 or 100 with a more elaborate clean to crunch channel.
They never pushed that amp. I think they resented it because he basically got them to make a Marshall in an Orange box.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top