The women of Hinds are moving a bit slowly this afternoon. After concluding a massive US tour in support of their sophomore album “I Don’t Run” last night, the Spanish garage-rock foursome had a moment to breathe, celebrate and reflect. But even with a great night out and a rare morning to sleep in, the pause is brief. In eight hours they’re on a flight to their home country and the start of another tour in Barcelona. “We’re never done,” said Ana Perrote, the band’s guitarist, shaking her head with a smile. While that might seem a bit far-fetched, Hinds has been on a perpetual tour since before they released their brash and fun debut album “Leave Me Alone” in 2016. They refer to themselves as “road dogs” with pride and wouldn’t change anything about it.
“I think I love everything, like even the bad moments,” said Amber Grimbergen (drums) in Los Angeles. “I think that they are great in the end.” Perrote jumps in to confirm: “Yeah, the thing is like, especially coming from this tour, it has been pretty critical, but then awesome at the same time. [There were] so many ups and downs — there’s no one in Hinds or in the crew in our van that didn’t cry at some point. It was really hard, but then the shows were so fucking good.” Rolling with the punches isn’t new for Hinds, which also includes Carlotta Cosials (guitar) and Ade Martin (bass), but the personal and professional growth they gained on this tour is.
After a crisis they describe as “music industry fun” shook their road bound group, Hinds knew they had to take control of their own destinies. “Everything got like really complicated, explains Perrote. “And I think that made us realize that this is our shit and we have to work for it, because in the first record we didn’t [because] we didn’t expect it … It was more like just doing it and not thinking about it, and now it’s like, ‘Okay, now I know what I have to do.’ Like I think we’re better at like playing at shows and answering an email [more than] ten minutes before about something that’s happening … and just more ready like do everything we can [to succeed] because of that shake up. It was like, ‘Oh my god, this could actually fall,’ you know? Something could go wrong and Hinds could end. Like we didn’t even have the time to think that could happen before.”
From that fear came a new era of Hinds — one with more creative control around their futures and, as Grimbergen says, more confidence. “In the end, it’s even better for everyone because no one understands our vision as much as we do. We always designed our merch and our backdrops — and we still do that and did it since the beginning — but now it’s to another level where the decisions are bigger and there are more things and more people working with us,” Perrote added. The girls look at each other with a smile. “I think we’re ready for it.”
On top of the group becoming more of their own bosses, Hinds is ready for more music. “Yes! We want to [release something]!” Perrote laughed. “Maybe not the next record yet, but we want to record at least a couple of songs and start writing again especially because we all had these heartbreaking experiences on this tour. I can’t fucking wait to write/vomit it out.” The pair look at each other and nod with a relieved sigh as Perrote continued, “It’s like, I don’t want to remember how I felt after that tour when it happened, but I know that now is when I’m feeling it [the most]. I need to write it down and then we’ll see when it will get released.”
Hinds’s clear vision of their future doesn’t lose one ounce of their endless positivity either. “I think [making it as a band] is scary because you never know what’s going to happen,” Grimbergen said. “You don’t have that much control over things that happen [with fame], but at the same time it’s so awesome being able to live off of playing and making music.” Everyone nods in agreement. The Hinds bond is strong.
BAILEY PENNICK 