Mastodon
Latest about Mastodon

Bill Kelliher opens up on Brent Hinds’ surprise Mastodon departure
By Phil Weller published
News of Hinds’ shock exit was shared just days before the band’s set at the Tool in the Sand festival

Mastodon recruit YouTuber for first show following Brent Hinds’ shock departure
By Phil Weller published
The band mutually parted ways with their founding guitarist just days before they were due to play at the Tool in the Sand festival – and it seems the YouTuber wasn’t given much time to learn the material

Mastodon part ways with Brent Hinds
By Jackson Maxwell published
Hinds co-founded the band with guitarist Bill Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders, and drummer Brann Dailor in 2000

Bill Kelliher and Mark Morton on how Leviathan and Ashes of the Wake changed everything
By Gregory Adams published
With two classic albums, both released on the same day, Lamb of God and Mastodon's fates have long been connected and now they're touring together, Kelliher and Morton reflect on a turning point for both bands

Mastodon's Bill Kelliher on how meeting his guitar heroes pushed him to improve his craft
By Janelle Borg published
Mastodon's Bill Kelliher also credits Slayer's Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman for changing his previously nonchalant attitude to warming up before a show

“As the bass player in a guitar-driven band, I don’t need to be in the spotlight. I don’t need to do any more than just rock out”: Troy Sanders on the perils and pleasures of playing bass in Mastodon
By Joel McIver published
According to Troy Sanders, when it comes to laying down the bass parts in Mastodon, restraint is the key

“It’s heavy, thick and unique. It feels great, and the neck is incredible. And it’s heavy; but that’s okay because the weight of a guitar is very important to me. The thicker the better”: If you pick up Bill Kelliher’s new ESP guitar, you’ll know about it
By Andrew Daly published
The Mastodon guitarist – who aims to write simpler songs for the band's next album – had his favorite 9-string mapped and mutated into the LTD Silver Sunburst Royal Shiva

“I tried SGs and Flying Vs, and they might look cool, but it's like playing a piece of Styrofoam”: Bill Kelliher explains why he prefers his guitars to be as heavy as possible
By Matt Owen published
Since around 2020, the Mastodon maestro has been wielding an extraordinarily thick ESP Custom Shop model, which was recently reissued as the LTD Royal Shiva – and both closely follow Kelliher’s ethos of “the thicker, the better”

NAMM 2024: “It's heavy, thick, and unique. It feels great”: ESP brings Bill Kelliher’s long-awaited double-cut custom model to the masses with LTD Royal Shiva signature guitar
By Matt Owen published
The Mastodon riff lord's latest signature model is based on his beastly Silver Sunburst six-string that was built in 2020, and receives an official release after much anticipation

“My dad didn’t believe in distortion”: Bill Kelliher took us through his unlikely guitar tone journey – while he cooked us lunch
By Matt Owen published
We asked the Mastodon maestro to tell us about his lifelong search for perfect guitar tone, so he did – and gave us a killer culinary class while doing so
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!