In a newly surfaced interview, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher offered a stunningly candid assessment of the band’s new lineup, stating that the addition of guitarist Nick Johnston has resulted in the “strongest band we’ve ever been” and comparing the feeling to ending a bad relationship and getting a “new wife.”
The interview, which was just released to the public, is made all the more poignant and significant by its timing: it was conducted on August 15, 2025, just five days before the tragic passing of former Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds.
Speaking on the “Sixty Scales And The Truth” podcast, Kelliher did not mince words when describing the revitalized energy within the band, a change he said was “all for the good.”
“We are the strongest band we’ve ever been right now. And this is on every level — writing, touring, performing, just being friends and hanging out,” Kelliher stated (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). He then used a powerful analogy to describe the feeling of moving on after 25 years with Hinds.
“Honestly, it’s like being in a relationship with someone for so long that was not really something you were that stoked about anymore. Relationships get old — it happens — and you get a new wife maybe or a new girlfriend or something. That’s the only way I can really relate it to, but it’s a genesis of just a new band,” he explained. “We are just all firing on the same level finally. And it’s the band I’ve always wanted to be in, and it’s finally here. So we’re just taking full advantage of it.”
A major component of that new energy is Johnston, the Canadian guitar virtuoso who replaced Hinds earlier this year. Kelliher praised his new bandmate’s talent and, just as importantly, his attitude.
“He is fr*cking good. And more importantly, he’s just very humble and he is very extremely excited to be where he is with us. And he fits right in with us,” Kelliher said. “At first it was weird, honestly, it was different, ’cause he’s not the guy that’s been there for 25 years, but he’s quickly adapting to fit right in with us.”
He added that Johnston‘s enthusiasm is infectious: “He’s like a kid in a candy store when he goes on stage. He’s, like, ‘Yeah, I can’t wait to get out there and grab the candy.'”
In the interview, Kelliher also touched on the difficult split with Hinds, describing it as an overdue separation.
“People go in separate paths. And sometimes you’re doing something for the wrong reasons,” he said. “It’s just like being in a relationship with someone. You wanna get divorced, but you don’t know how to do it. You don’t know how to tell them. It’s kind of similar.”
In a comment now laden with tragedy, Kelliher expressed his hope for his former bandmate’s future. “I honestly just wish the best for that guy. I just hope he can find what he likes to do, and we’re gonna keep on doing what we like to do,” he said.
This newfound creative freedom and positive energy has directly impacted the band’s writing for the follow-up to 2021’s Hushed And Grim. Kelliher confirmed Johnston is already contributing new songs, in addition to adding his flavor to over 20 existing ideas.
“I just feel like we’ve been given a booster shot of adrenaline, like, ‘Kaboom!’ It’s kind of a clean slate,” Kelliher said, clearly excited. “Now we can really open our minds and really just kind of write whatever we feel like writing without worrying about what another person’s gonna think. Because that was a real challenge for a long time, and now I feel like it’s just like a new, fresh start… Everything that we’ve been demoing is incredible.”
The interview’s release provides a powerful, if heartbreaking, historical document. Just five days after Kelliher shared these thoughts, Brent Hinds was killed in a motorcycle crash in Atlanta on August 20 after an SUV failed to yield at an intersection. His death came five months after Mastodon announced the two parties had “mutually decided to part ways,” a statement Hinds later disputed.
