Austin Winkler is the lead vocalist for Oklahoma City rock act Hinder, and claims individual musical influence from rock frontmen like Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil, and Buckcherry's Josh Todd. He picked up the guitar when he was 15 years old, teaching himself by playing along to songs on the radio. Following graduation from high school, Winkler joined a cover band as its singer, but he began to write his own material on the side when he got bored solely singing other people's songs. He eventually parted ways with the group when the other bandmembers would not incorporate his original songs into their repertoire. Winkler then met drummer Cody Hanson at a college party, and in no time the two, along with guitarist Joe Blower Garvey, were jamming together, officially birthing Hinder in 2001. Hinder became a solid quintet in 2004, scored a quick record deal with Universal, and released their debut full-length, Extreme Behavior, in the fall of 2005. ~ Corey Apar, Rovi