The final interview of the late Mastodon co-founder and guitarist Brent Hinds has been published, revealing his deep passion for riding motorcycles. In the interview, shared by Revolver, Hinds, who passed away in 2025 following a motorcycle accident, discussed how riding served as his ultimate escape and therapy.
When asked what riding gives him that nothing else can, Hinds described the unique sense of freedom and peace he found on the road.
“The breeze on my knees, brother,” Hinds said. “Riding takes something from me and gives something to me. Sex might come close, maybe. I’ve ridden through pain, loss, wrecks, and bullshit — but the breeze never lied to me. That’s church. That’s therapy. You’ll never meet a motherf*cker like me that don’t give less of a shit about anything other than that breeze.”
The interview also touched on the broader life lessons he gathered from his time on two wheels. When asked about the greatest life lesson motorcycles taught him, Hinds emphasized the importance of pursuing one’s true passion.
“Find what you love in life — what makes your heart sing — and never let it go,” Hinds continued. “People think music is my life, but music’s my profession — it’s not my hobby. I ride motorcycles because I love it. It’s the only time I feel fully like myself. I don’t ride to look cool. I don’t ride for Instagram. I ride because it saves me. You want to understand who I am? Watch me on a bike. That’s the real Brent. Everything else is just noise.”
This final conversation offers a poignant look into the personal life of the musician, highlighting his dedication to riding until the very end.
The words carry added weight given the way Hinds spent his final years, both on stage and on the road. His story is not only one of a musician reflecting on his hobbies, but of a career that reshaped heavy metal and a life that ended on the machine he loved most.
Hinds died on August 20, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia, after the Harley-Davidson he was riding collided with a BMW SUV. Police said the driver of the SUV failed to give way while making a turn. He was 51 years old.
Hinds’ connection to motorcycles was not a late-in-life curiosity but a lifelong passion that ran parallel to his music career. He was killed in a motorcycle accident in his hometown of Atlanta, a detail that made the loss resonate even more deeply with those who knew how much riding meant to him.
His legacy in music, meanwhile, was already firmly established long before that final ride. Hinds was a co-founder of Mastodon and helped shape the band across its major albums, including Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain, Crack the Skye, and Hushed and Grim. His unconventional playing style became a defining element of the group’s sound.
Following his death, tributes poured in from across the metal world. Figures including Queens of the Stone Age, Tool, Slash, Zakk Wylde, and Alice in Chains’ William DuVall shared public condolences. Mastodon’s own Brann Dailor also honored him during the band’s first performance after his passing.
“We lost somebody very special to us yesterday,” Dailor told the crowd in Alaska. For Hinds, the interview now stands as a final statement on the thing that mattered to him beyond music. He said it himself: the breeze never lied to him.
