It seemed clear that Hinds was no longer enjoying touring or writing with them, the three remaining original members of Mastodon told me separately. His dissatisfaction will manifest itself in the oppressed anger of the friend who was once so funny. Delir suggests that he seemed to be stuck in a constant hangover. Hinds would talk a lot to his fellow Mastodon members about other bands he had joined, how excited he was to work or tour with them, such as his gentle country group West End Motel or raunchy and funny faceless devil. He would miss Mastodon practice, staying up until dawn to play with other friends. He still loved making music, just maybe not in Mastodon.
“He wanted it to be short,” admits Delores. “There was less pressure in those other bands, because it was a bar show for maybe a hundred people. There were no expectations. He could just play guitar.”
Over the past decade, Deyler, Kelliher and Sanders say they often offered Hinds out during endless band meetings. His behavior would change temporarily after those sit-ins, and there were also two-week dry spells during recent races, such as the 2023 tour with Gojira, where he stopped drinking after feeling pain in his side or seeing blood in his urine.
“He was a completely different person. He would get up early. He wanted to talk about the band, talk about Mastodon in a favorable way,” recalls DeLore. “Every day of those positive conversations, we would say to her out loud, ‘I really appreciate you having this time.'”
This is the person Hinds’ ex-wife Moreno also tells me about. In a letter, she writes that the vigorous version of Hinds that people saw on stage or at the bar was not the only one, how he could also focus so intensely on building a deck, cooking ribs, or simply being a partner. She says, “I got to know a boy who was so sweet to his mother, grandmother, friends and family; who absolutely loved animals; who made me and others feel special; and who cared about people more than I ever expected.” “He was basically a hyperactive little country kid with severe ADHD. He was extremely anarchic, extremely funny, incredibly creative and somehow always managed to turn an ordinary day into an adventure. Being around him made life feel bigger.”
However, with Mastodon, that feeling may no longer last. In November 2022, Mastodon met for contract negotiations with Loma Vista, the label launched by Tom Whaley, who was the CEO of Warner Bros. Records when Mastodon signed to Warner’s Reprise imprint. Hinds became so out of his mind that Kelliher began to worry that it would end the band’s career. They told him he needed help, then set new ground rules. He went to rehab. “He emerged a different person, worse,” sighs Kelliher. “He blamed us for his new addictions. We couldn’t help him.”
In the summer of 2024, Mastodon joined Lamb of God on a massive tour of arenas and amphitheaters, both playing albums that had been successful two decades earlier – for Mastodon, leviathan. Three years had already passed before the 2021 expansion calm and seriousSo they took a mobile recording studio with them, capturing ideas in various locker rooms across the continent. “We’ve been up since 10 in the morning, working. Brent would come in at 4 and throw his bags down,” remembers Delores. “We’d stop, because he was going to be annoying. We were walking on eggshells.”
