A Conversation with Scott Hinds of The Royal Hounds

Scott thank you so much for talking to me. First, I’ve known you for years, but tell the rest of the world who you are.

Well, I’m Scott Hinds, lead singer of The Royal Hounds. I started out years ago doing improv comedy at The West Side Dinner Theater with you and Mark and a whole slew of other hilarious folks. I became a middle school English teacher and did that for nine years before getting the phone call that they wanted me in the Las Vegas production of a Broadway show called Million Dollar Quartet. I swung for the roles of Carl Perkins and Brother Jay (on upright bass). I did that for three years before opting to leave the show in order to tour with my own band I had started in 2011, The Royal Hounds. I made Nashville my homebase in late 2016 and have been playing music with The Royal Hounds full time ever since.

Exactly how many instruments do you play?

Mainly I play upright bass and guitar.

What got you started?

Well, I guess there are two ways to answer this. I started as a musician in middle school when I visited Mexico and came back wanting to play Spanish style guitar. From there I moved onto the blues and that gave me my love of all things roots music.
However, I consider myself a better performer than I am a musician. I was a natural performer all my life, but one day my mother saw an ad in the local paper for what she thought was a “learn how to do stand up comedy” class. It was actually an improv comedy class being given by Mark Hatmaker at The West Side Dinner Theater. From there, I really got a big love of entertaining audiences. I started doing plays there and eventually parlayed what I learned in comedic performing into my on-stage persona with The Royal Hounds.

Did you take lessons or are you self-taught?

I took guitar lessons and of course the classes Mark would offer: improv, stage stunts, comedic writing, etc. Because of this, I got a love for comedic writing which I worked into every college paper I wrote and now incorporate into my songwriting.

I love it too, but why rockabilly?  It's not common that I ask someone what music they listen to and that comes up.

Rockabilly strikes me as a fun, light-hearted kind of music. It’s funny, I don’t actually listen to it a ton on my own time. I long songwriters who are able to pull lyrics from deep within their souls, however I also recognize my talents and background, which is in comedy. I’ve tried to write serious stuff, but it comes off as false and insincere, so I go with what I’m better at. Plus, I think the world needs light-hearted, fun bands. Sometimes people just need to have a good time and those kinds of bands are a bit rare.

Where did you hear it, what do you love about it?

Ha, you know, it was your husband that first introduced me to rockabilly. I was in my first play at the dinner theater, playing a hot young rockabilly buck named “Vito” in Send Me No Flowers. Mark wanted me to play the part a bit like Johnny Bravo and my entrance music was “Lust and Love” by Stray Cats. I’d never heard rockabilly before and really liked that sound, so Mark made me a tape of some artists to listen to and showed me a few guitar licks. It just went on from there.

If you meet someone who said, “You know, I don’t really like rockabilly” what music would you point to and say “Oh, really? Have you heard this?”

You know, it funny, The Royal Hounds started out as a rockabilly band years ago, but I’ve purposely been moving us away from that sound in recent years. Rockabilly, like many genres of music, can tend to sound the same after a while. Add to that the fact that so many modern day rockabilly bands are all trying to recreate that same sound, you’re left with a sea of rockabilly bands that all sound exactly alike, are often devoid of creativity and rarely push the boundaries of the genre. And unfortunately, as much as I like rockabilly, there are a lot of bad rockabilly bands out there that give the good ones a bad name.

It’s really why I’ve been calling The Royal Hounds a rock and roll band. You say rockabilly, people get a preconceived idea about it and it’s not often a positive one. If you say rock and roll, they’re much more open minded. So if someone said they didn’t like rockabilly, I’d have them listen to bands who can run with that crowd, but have their own distinct sounds. Bands like Southern Culture on the Skids, Unknown Hinson, The Legendary Shack Shakers, or The Red Elvises.

If you want to mix it up and play something different, what would you play?

I’d play Latin music. I’d play Russian circus music. I’d play Gypsy Jazz. I’d play swamp funk. I’d play honky tonk. That’s the thing though. I already am. Too many rockabilly bands listen to rockabilly songs for inspiration and they end up sounding just like everybody else. I purposely avoid drawing inspiration from rockabilly because we already are a three piece with an upright bass. People are going to assume we’re rockabilly regardless. But if I write songs that are Latin, gypsy jazz, or inspired by traditional Russian folk songs, then all of a sudden we have a very original sound.

Who are your influences musical or otherwise?

Like I said, I look to tons of other genres for inspiration. I look to comedians and performers for inspiration as well. “How does so-and-so work a crowd? How do keep the momentum of their show moving?” I also do work on the side as an emcee for some festivals and I can apply it there as well.
I’m also a lover of the business side of music, which is a rarity in musicians. I look to other bands who have the same vibe as us for inspiration in how to market my own band.

If you could meet one artist that you haven't already met, past or present who would it be?

Conan O’Brien. It’s on my bucket list to play on his show. Not only do I think he’s funny, but he’s a fan of this style of music so I believe it would be a good fit. When I started the band, at the first rehearsal, we discussed what our ULTIMATE gig would be and I said Conan, so every step I take with this band is a conscious attempt towards achieving that goal.

What thoughts did you have right before going on stage for your first live performance?

I used to be nervous going on stage, but now it’s so second nature that my thoughts usually are about reading the audience and thinking of what the most effective songs to start with are. Most times we want to start off strong and grab their attention from the first moment. But sometimes we’re in front of a crowd and need to ease them into the insanity they’re about to experience.

What is your most embarrassing moment on stage?

I’m known for a lot of stage antics and stunts like standing on my bass. I had been standing on my bass for years (a way that uses one foot in the air, and one foot on the bass). I had seen someone trying a stance that put both feet on the bass and I thought I’d give it a try. But instead of practicing it at home, I decided the best place to try it would be at a gig...specifically as we played the headlining slot spot at the big Christmas tree lighting ceremony in downtown Knoxville...in front of several thousand people.

Well, I jumped up on top of that bass and one foot immediately slipped out from underneath me, kicking out the bridge of my bass in front of everyone. Strings went flying, the bass seemed to fall apart, and a loud thud rang out throughout the city. I’ve only fallen off my bass a handful of times, and when I have, I’ve done it so gracefully that no one noticed.

This time everyone noticed. Fortunately, I was able to piece my bass back together by the end of the next song and be up and running, but dangit if once every few years someone pops up and says, “Hey, I was there that night that you fell off your bass.”

Is there another unusual time you've had on stage?

There have been many many, many. Like the time a woman tried to be sexy by seductively putting dollar bills in her mouth and chewing them, before seductively pulling them back out and putting them in our tip jar. Or the time my band (which is lively and humorous) was asked to play the memorial service for fallen Roane county police officers. Or even the time when a drunk old lady stood in front of the stage and flashed everyone in the audience. Not a one person “wooo’d” for her exposed breasts. Everyone just gasped in horror and yelled, “Put your shirt back on!!!”

If I'm not mistaken, you went to college, established yourself as a school teacher and had your life in place and then…you uprooted from Knoxville Tennessee and moved across the country to Vegas.  What was that like?  How did you make your decision?

It started with me going up to New York on a whim to audition for Million Dollar Quartet, a Broadway show. I figured, “Who am I to be competing against Broadway actors for a role in this show. I’m just a teacher who only has experience in dinner theater when I was a teenager.” With that attitude, I figured I had nothing to lose and I might as well have fun with it.

I didn’t hear back from them for four months and by that time I had put it out of my mind. Then out of the blue I got a call asking me to join the Las Vegas production of the show. I confirmed with them that Monday and 20 minutes later, went in and resigned a nine year teaching career telling them, “I’m sorry you have to find a teacher mid-school year, but I’m moving to Vegas tomorrow.” The principal was supportive. I finished out the school day by throwing out my lesson plan and teaching about following your dreams and how much hard work and focus it takes. I didn’t tell my students that I was leaving because I didn’t want to detract from the lesson itself.

The next day I crammed everything I could fit into my SUV and started driving towards the greatest adventure of my life.

What advice do you have for others considering a big move to follow their passion?

1. Learn the business side of things, it will give you an edge on everyone else.
2. Remember, it’s your job, not party-time. Sure, have fun, but don’t let the party overtake your job, or you won’t have a job for long.
3. Make sure the product you’re presenting to the world is actually good. Make sure it looks professional.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies or interests?

In my Vegas years, I had a lot of free time, so I began learning more about design work, photography, and video editing. The business side of music has also been a hobby of mine as well.

What's one thing you haven't tried, but would like to?

I’m still working towards getting the band on Conan. We’ve taken steps recently towards that goal.

When you're building your audience and performing, you usually start out with small crowds or people that don't know who you are.  Those can often be pretty painful experiences.  Do you have an example of that to share?  What advice do you have for someone starting out to get through those moments?

When I was in Million Dollar Quartet, there were nights that had huge audiences and of course there were nights with small audiences. It always used to bug me when my cast-mates would get mad at an audience for being small, as if it’s their fault for being a small audience. That always really bothered me because those were the people that actually showed up to see you perform. They paid good money to come see you! They deserve the same amount of effort and enthusiasm you would give a large audience. They deserve you at 100%.

One of the most fun gigs I ever played was for an audience of one. It was the weekend of the big Dogwood Arts Festival and my band was playing at a little restaurant in West Knoxville. No one was at our show; everyone was at the festival. We had one person in that little lounge area and her name was Ann. We ended up joking around with her the whole time. We played “stump the band” where she would name ANY song and we would attempt to play it whether we knew it or not. At one point she got up and went to the restroom, so we lost our entire audience, so we unplugged our instruments and waited for her to come out of the restroom, where we proceeded to burst into song outside of the women’s room. We ended up becoming great friends with Ann and now she comes to all of our shows in Knoxville and invites us over for parties at her house. If we got mad at small audiences, we’d never make hardcore fans (and life-long friends) like Ann.

Where can we see or learn more about your music?

You can go to www.theroyalhounds.com, throw us a like or follow on any of your favorite social media sites, check out our album in iTunes, Amazon, or Spotify or best of all, come see us at a live show! 

One more question, this one is from Mark, and he says your friendship depends on it. Who’s prettier: Him or Mitch?

Mitch below the neck. Mark above the eyebrows. Both need work in between.

I lied, there is another question. I usually like to end with some advice from the expert, that being you, on something we can all do right now to get up and do something. What is something musically that we could all do right now?

Go support live music. Go support local music. Buy their albums. Wear their shirts. Tell your friends. And for the love of all things holy, tip the band!