Hinder took the time to sit down and talk about the recording of the new album, the album release party at the Palms in Vegas, and how the road has changed them. Take a look at the interview in its entirety.

LiveScope.co: I know there’s been a little bit of talk coming into this album that, really from both you and Cody, about feeling that there’s been some growth in the songwriting in this band and just the songwriting ability and the kind of things you’re turning out, and I’m curious, Austin, where you see your growth as a songwriter.

A. Winkler – It’s just something that comes with time and learning experiences and life experiences that you go through, and like, you know, with anything, with time, it just gets better. And I absolutely think that we’ve matured as songwriters, and this record is definitely a step up from the last one.

LiveScope.co: Can you point to anything, I don’t know, just in specific about the way you structure melodies, the way you structure lyrics, anything that you really point to in specific and say, “Yes, this is where I see improvement?”

A. Winkler I don’t know if I can say as far as, the melodies just kind of come to me like Cody’ll usually come up with the chord progression and then I’ll bat out a melody, and if it sounds catchy enough and hooky enough, we’ll keep it. If not, we’ll suggest something different, but there’s no kind of structured thing that we do. It just kind of happens.

LiveScope.co: Okay. This is for all the guys, I guess. My question is, the song “Use Me” was like the first track leaked out for the new record, but then you’re saying that “Without You” is being released as the first single, so which one is it?

A. Winkler Good question.

C. Hanson Yes. That is a very good question. This is Cody.

C. Hanson I don’t know. If you ask us, we’d definitely say that “Use Me” is the first rock single. Why it was thrown out there that, by Universal, that “Without You” is the first single, I have no idea what that was about, but sorry to confuse everyone on that.

LiveScope.co: The song “Use Me” sounds a lot like a Guns N’ Roses track. In fact, I’ve had people tell me, “Oh, did you hear the new Guns N’ Roses song, ‘Use Me?’” and I’m like, “I think that’s Hinder.” Is there a Guns N’ Roses element when you started putting that song together, especially the guitar sounds?

M Yes. I mean, I think so. I think, on this record, we just let our influences show a little more, and as a collective whole, Guns N’ Roses is probably our biggest influence as a band, so we got a chance to make the record that we wanted to make this time and, like I said, let our influences show a little more.

LiveScope.co: Hello, guys. I was wondering if the election day release is purposeful at all or is that just the way things shook out for your fall release this year, and if it is purposeful, why that is?

M We just thought it was a very important day for our country and a very exciting day, and I don’t know. We just thought it would be cool to jump on and give our fans something else to be excited about. You know what I mean? It’s just, I don’t know, a cool day to do it, I think.

LiveScope.co: Well, whether we’re happy or unhappy by the results, we can go home and take it as sort of a comfort food, I guess, huh?

A. Winkler That’ll work.

LiveScope.co: I was just wondering how you guys plan to celebrate the launch of Take It to the Limit.

C. Hanson We will actually—this is awesome—we will be in Las Vegas. We’re doing a records release party at the Palms there and having a big blowout and probably not waking up for a few days after that.

A. Winkler It’s going to be pretty awesome. We rented out the Hugh Hefner suite, and we’ve got a bunch of girls from Playboy coming, and it’s going to be pretty insane. It’s going to be a great time.

LiveScope.co: How much hand did you guys have in the production of your CD?

C. Hanson Quite a bit, actually. I mean, you know, we’re always there in the room, like, at all times, tossing out different ideas and we work really well with Brian Howes, our producer, so we’re kind of all involved in every aspect of it, from the beginning when we’re all writing songs and picking songs up to the end, until it’s done, even in the mixing process.

LiveScope.co: I was just wondering, do you have your own version of “Dead heads?” Do you have “Hinder heads?”

A. Winkler Hinder heads? No.

LiveScope.co: Do you have people that follow you from show to show and, you know, super fans?

A. Winkler Oh, okay. Absolutely. We have die hard fans, if you will, and sometimes they follow us to the gas station.

LiveScope.co: Is there anything else about your fans that, you know, besides them being slightly stalkerish, is there anything else that characterizes them? Do they bring you gifts?

C. Hanson You know, our fans run from a wide range, from like eight-year-old girls to 60-year-old men, and they’re all crazy. And they love us and we love them.

A. Winkler I was going to say I think our fans like to party as much as we do, so that’s why we get along so well.

LiveScope.co: I was just wondering if you feel like the mainstream top 40 success of “Lips of an Angel” had any effect on the band or on your overall sound.

A. Winkler This is Austin. I don’t think it’s had any effect. Like, we know we’re a rock band, and if we put out a ballad that crosses to top 40, that’s just getting more listeners out there for our music, and it’s good for us.

LiveScope.co: On that same note, did the country remake have any effect on opening the doors for new people to discover your music, do you think?

A. Winkler Absolutely, I’m sure. The country audience is a whole new audience and a very powerful genre in the music industry right now. And it’s great to be able to cross over to country.

LiveScope.co: Hello, guys. This question’s for Austin. I was wondering about the writing process for this album and how it differed from Extreme Behavior. I know, on this album, you guys spent like two years on the road nonstop touring. Did that have an effect on the album? Did you write a lot on the road?

A. Winkler Absolutely. We’re always writing and coming up with new ideas. We did, Cody and I, usually we come up with the song and then we take it to the rest of the guys, but we went and had a writing session in Florida, and we also did a writing session in Whistler, Canada, which is, we also did on Extreme Behavior as well, and one last one in Vancouver. And it was an amazing experience to go to all those places, and it’s very inspiring.