“I’m not a very good golfer and the beer may alter my swing,” he laughs. “I just like to come out and spend the time with my family and friends and get away from it all.”
But it seems no matter where Winkler goes he can’t escape his fans. While he was taking a swing at the ball, his very excited father grabbed the phone and used the opportunity to sing his son’s praise.
“Hi there, it’s Austin’s Dad,” he says. “He gets all his talent from his mother. He’s still the same great kid—and he’s just hit a great shot.”
While Winkler misses the day to day of being surrounded by his family and friends, he says he wouldn’t change his life at all. “It’s definitely surreal. Every day I wake up and think I’m dreaming. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world,” he says. “It’s definitely a dream for me that I have had since I was 14 when I got my first guitar. We don’t take it for granted. We’re definitely very blessed to be where we are and we definitely know we’ve worked very hard to be where we’re at.”
But if Internet rumors have been anything to go by, Winkler doesn’t actually exist. Apparently he died a while ago from a drug overdose. “Yeah, the rumors are true. I did die, last year. I’m still recovering from that—I’m just a corpse now,” he laughs. “I have no idea how that came about. I wouldn’t believe any of the stuff you read on the Internet, that’s for sure.”
What you can believe is that Hinder’s new offering will see the band soar higher than they’ve even been. Whether you’re a Hinder fan or not, their new material is guaranteed to win you over so make sure you catch their headlining show on the current Jagermeister tour and grab hold of their new record because it will totally blow you away.
“I’m so thrilled and so excited to get our album out and in our fans’ hands, I can’t stand it. I think we nailed it on the head and I think they’re going to eat it up and I just want them to have it. I want them to hear it and connect with it like I know they’re going to.”
Take It To The Limit is available now. Catch Hinder on Nov. 16 at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ, on Nov. 19 at the Nokia Theatre in NYC and on Nov. 20 at the House Of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ, as part of the Jagermeister tour. For more info, visit hindermusic.com.
Photo Credit: Florian Schneider
