{"id":835826,"date":"2025-03-21T16:13:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T21:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/21\/im-as-serious-as-a-heart-attack-with-mastodon-im-not-ready-to-give-it-up-yet-so-were-going-to-keep-looking-bill-kelliher-is-searching-far-and-wide-for\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T16:13:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T21:13:38","slug":"im-as-serious-as-a-heart-attack-with-mastodon-im-not-ready-to-give-it-up-yet-so-were-going-to-keep-looking-bill-kelliher-is-searching-far-and-wide-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/21\/im-as-serious-as-a-heart-attack-with-mastodon-im-not-ready-to-give-it-up-yet-so-were-going-to-keep-looking-bill-kelliher-is-searching-far-and-wide-for\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m as serious as a heart attack with Mastodon. I\u2019m not ready to give it up yet. So, we\u2019re going to keep looking\u201d: Bill Kelliher is searching far and wide for Mastodon’s next guitarist \u2013 here’s what the band is looking for"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s been a rollercoaster week for Mastodon fans. Last Friday, right before the metal stalwart\u2019s set at the Tool in the Sand Festival, it was announced that Brent Hinds had left the band<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Esteemed YouTuber and Mastodon mega-fan Ben Eller was drafted to replace the band\u2019s co-founding guitarist of 25 years to play the gig<\/a>, but at the time of writing it is still unclear whether Eller\u2019s appointment is temporary or permanent.<\/p>\n

In a new interview with Guitar World<\/em><\/a>, Mastodon\u2019s remaining electric guitar<\/a> player Bill Kelliher stays coy on that particular topic, but he does offer some key insights into what the band will be looking for when it comes to selecting Hinds\u2019 full-time successor.<\/p>\n

It sounds simple enough, really: \u201cSomeone who is easy to get along with, and who really has a desire to play \u2013 and can play well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Expanding on his point, Kelliher goes on, \u201cObviously, you gotta be somebody who we all get along with and can stand the true test of time. Like, living together in a little tour bus on the road for fucking days and months at a time, it\u2019s got to be someone who can do all that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s another variable,\u201d he adds. \u201cLike, \u2018Oh, this person is a great guitar player, why don\u2019t you hire them?\u2019 It\u2019s like, \u2018Well, they gotta stand the test of time.\u2019 We\u2019ve got to be able to sit down and have a beer with them, go out to dinner with them, you know, feel them out, and make sure they\u2019re Mastodon material.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, can they hang, for sure, but it\u2019s got to be someone who has a unique style, and is very serious about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

Ultimately, it sounds as though the search for Hinds\u2019 successor will come down to a few key points: how good they are as a guitar player, how good they are as a person, and how seriously they are ready to commit themselves to the Mastodon way of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m as serious as a heart attack with Mastodon,\u201d Kelliher says. \u201cIt\u2019s my life. It\u2019s all I really know. I\u2019ve got all my eggs in this basket \u2013 and I\u2019m not ready to give it up yet. So, we\u2019re going to keep looking, and who knows? We\u2019ll find the right person when the time is right and ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether that will be Eller or someone else, Kelliher remains tight-lipped: \u201cWe do have some more shows coming up. We have a tour with Coheed and Cambria coming up in May, which, you know, we\u2019re still going to fulfil that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to finish up our new record; I\u2019m not sure what our future is with Ben or if we\u2019ll try a couple of other people out. Not really sure yet; it\u2019s too early to say.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a rollercoaster week for Mastodon fans. Last Friday, right before the metal stalwart\u2019s set at the Tool in the Sand Festival, it was announced that Brent Hinds had left the band. Esteemed YouTuber and Mastodon mega-fan Ben Eller was drafted to replace the band\u2019s co-founding guitarist of 25 years to play the gig, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":835827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[720,37025],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-835826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-serious","8":"category-im"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}