Cut Hinder and they bleed chicks, booze, and rock and roll.
“Absolutely!” said Joe “Blower” Garvey, founding member and lead guitarist for the Oklahoma City-based rock band.
See and hear for yourself on Jan. 24 when Hinder opens for fellow million-selling rockers 3 Doors Down at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn.
Hinder rocks with one guitar rooted in the 1980s and another tuned to today. They draw from such influences as Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses, in their music and in their antics.
For example, Garvey was recently featured in Hustler magazine. That’s an adult men’s mag, in case you don’t know.
“Crazy. I guess I’m an official male entertainer now because I showed part of my anatomy in there,” Garvey said with a laugh by phone on Tuesday afternoon from his home in Oklahoma City, Okla. “So, my parents are, um, pretty proud of that.”
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Perhaps not that, but chances are his parents couldn’t be happier for their son’s success. Hinder formed about eight years ago from the remnants of a covers band. They recorded an EP, which didn’t sell.
“We’ve progressed from our early demos,” Garvey said. “Some of our fans have them, but we’re trying to track the demos down and nuke them in a microwave.”
Yeah, that was not exactly Hinder’s best work.
However, as time passed and the five-man band found their sound, high-placed record industry ears popped in to hear them.
They signed with mighty Universal Records in 2005. Their first album, “Extreme Behavior,” followed, which to date has sold more than three million copies.
So imagine the pressure in trying to follow that. Hinder’s second album, “Take it to the Limit,” hit economically crunched store shelves in November. And it sold, debuting at number four on Billboard magazine’s album chart.
“Obviously, it was a kind of a pressure to record that album, but we had a lot of time to write the album,” Garvey said. “We had 16 or 17 songs, and had to come up with 11 for the album.”
As on “Extreme Behaviour,” Hinder’s new disc rocks to a steady rhythm. It goes something like this. Rocker, rocker, rocker, ballad. Rocker, rocker, rocker, ballad.
“We want to have ballads for the [women],” Garvey said, “and big rockers for the guys.”
Pure rock and roll fun, that’s Hinder. They are not trying to reinvent Bob Dylan or U2, but they sure seem to have taken a few pages from Kiss.
For example, Hinder loves women. So does Kiss, who for years sent several fellows into the crowds of their concerts to, ahem, find women for them.
Now comes Hinder.
“We do assign a few guys to go out with purpose to round them up,” Garvey said, laughing. “If the venue is right, we’ll have a party room and have a big party.”
Use your imagination on the rest. Oh, and women in attendance in Johnson City, be on the lookout.
Meanwhile, get these interactions with some of their more avid fans.
“We’ve had fans who did portfolios of nude pictures of themselves, and send them to us,” Garvey said. “One girl took out her implants and had us sign them.”
Think that’s crazy?
“One guy threw his prosthetic leg up on stage, wanting us to sign it,” Garvey said. “I poured in some Jägermeister [herbal liqueur], and took a drink out of the guy’s leg.”
To borrow from the Rolling Stones, it’s only rock and roll, and Hinder really likes it.
“It’s all about having a good time and bringing the fun back into rock and roll, man,” Garvey said. “We’re just some down-to-earth Southern guys from Oklahoma having a good time.”
IF YOU GO
Who: 3 Doors Down and Hinder
When: Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Freedom Hall, 1320 Pactolas Road, Johnson City, Tenn.
Admission: $42 floor, $37.50 balcony
Info: (423) 461-4884
Web: www.hindermusic.com
Audio: www.myspace.com/hindermusic
TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.