Hinder is an American rock band from Oklahoma that was formed in 2001 by drummer Cody Hanson, guitarist Joe Garvey, and singer Austin Winkler.

History

Before starting Hinder, Winkler (b. October 25, 1981) played in a cover band. He wrote his own songs and the band refused to play them. He then formed Hinder with Cody Hanson. Winkler and Hanson wrote the band's song "Lips of an Angel", with music producer Brian Howes, which peaked at #3 on Billboard Hot 100. He continues to write the bulk of the band's music with Brian Howes and Cody Hanson.

In April 2003, before making it big, Hinder entered the March Bandness contest for Oklahoma City radio station KHBZ-FM (94.7). They made it to the Final Four out of a field of thirty-two, ultimately losing to the OKC group Falcon Five-O. They released their first EP titled Far from Close in 2003 on an independent record label, Brickden Records. It sold about 5,000 copies. The three members then began working on new material in 2004 for their next independent release. These demos caught the attention of several major record labels.

Extreme Behavior: 2005–2008

After being offered record deals by Atlantic, Roadrunner, and Universal Records, Hinder signed with Universal Records in 2005. Although Allmusic called Extreme Behavior one of the year's worst albums , throughout 2005 the album was heavily anticipated, and Hinder won the monthly Launch "Who's Next" contest for emerging bands.Fact: date=April 2007 The Brian Howes produced album, Extreme Behavior, was then set for release in the United States.

Hinder entered the rock scene with their debut single "Get Stoned." The band then toured in support of their album, Extreme Behavior. The band's second single, "Lips of an Angel," did far better on the charts, hitting #1 on several, and garnered international attention. The band's third single,"How Long" continues to receive airplay on several radio stations throughout the U.S.

Extreme Behavior's track "Shoulda" was originally written and recorded by Canadian band Social Code for their A Year At the Movies album, but was scrapped when finalizing the album. Social Code did, however, perform the song multiple times, including at The Mod Club in Toronto, Ontario on May 24, 2007 under the name Shoulda Woulda Coulda Hinder re-wrote portions of the song to fit their sound and style and decided to use it on the album.

As a Christmas gift to their fanclub, the Hinder Army, the band recorded "A Little Drummer Boy" and released it on their fanclub website.

In 2006, the song Lips of an Angel entered the New Zealand charts and lasted for 41 weeks with 2 weeks at number 1.

Their second song to be released in New Zealand was Better Than Me, which didn't fare as well on the NZ charts, only lasting 3 weeks and peaked at number 16.