Will Brent Hinds of Mastodon Confront His Attacker Again?

My guess is YES, and it will be ugly.

In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Brent Hinds says this about the guy, William Hudson, who attacked him in 2007 — putting him in a coma for three days, close to death:

If I ever see that dude, I will have to spend some time in prison.

On the night of the MTV VMAs, after a full-on drinking game with Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and others, the Mastodon frontman got assaulted by System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian and/or Shavo’s buddy, Hudson. It seems Hinds was drunk, swinging around a wet t-shirt, and, I guess, appeared to be dangerous.

All reports differ, of course.

Initial news reports told this story:

… Hinds’ hospitalization might have resulted from an unprovoked attack, possibly by one or more strangers, prompting harsh reactions from Mastodon supporters. “The dude who jumped Brent is a violent and stupid motherf–ker and was probably stoned too. I hope he gets raped and killed by giant birchmen,” one fan posted to the band’s official website forum.

And then, according to later sources, a Vegas police report explained that the singer bumped into Odadjian and Hudson in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino valet area. And Hinds made the initial attack. Hinds took off his shirt and hit Odadjian with it, then struck Hudson in both the face and chest, prompting Odadjian to tell Hinds “to relax,” to no avail. So:

“… both Odadjian and Hudson punched Hinds in the face, knocking him to the ground. An unidentified friend of Hinds, who reportedly witnessed the event, rushed to the musician’s aid and apologized to Odadjian and Hudson, saying Hinds was ‘just drunk’.”

Also, security cameras seem to make Hinds the instigator.

As well as suffering the brain injury Hinds received a broken nose and two black eyes, reports the Las Vegas Weekly. The police report listed Odadjian as a ‘witness’ and “Hudson as a suspect, facing a possible charge of battery with substantial bodily harm.” Friend Josh Homme claimed Hinds, “doesn’t recall much.”

Finally, Shavo Odadjian told his account to SPIN, stating that Hinds had intermittently harassed him throughout that night:

“He ran up and tackled me. I know Brent meant no harm. He was just somewhere else mentally, He kept saying, ‘I love you. I love your bass playing,’ and then coming at me.”

Then Hinds takes a swing at Hudson, and Hudson swings back.

“All of a sudden, I see Brent fall and hit his head on the curb.”

And Brent told his own account to Revolver:

As Hinds walked down the sidewalk in an inebriated state, System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian and singer-songwriter Rev. William Hudson trailed closely behind. According to Hinds, when he removed his wet T-shirt and triumphantly swung it over his head, he accidentally hit Hudson, who then struck the Mastodon guitarist in the face. Hinds suffered a broken nose, two black eyes, and a brain haemorrhage as a result of hitting his head on the concrete. Brent described the blow in this statement: “Shavo said it sounded like someone had hit a homerun^.”

Grant it, Hinds is a loose cannon at times. Let’s look at some examples:

a) Hinds once clocked the singer King Khan over an apparent beer-pouring. Hinds recently told Revolver that he “hit him (Khan) so hard he’s got a cleft lip for the rest of his life.”

b) In 1997, Hinds confronted a writer who gave his then band, Fiend Without a Face, a bad review and, according to Hinds himself, “head-butted him so hard it split his forehead to his nose like a vagina.”

Even with this history of brawling, I have to defend Hinds. I just don’t understand why Shavo and Hudson did not try to subdue Hinds — or take the towel out of his hands — if he really was a threat — instead of punching him that lethally. If you can get close enough to punch someone into oblivion, you can get close enough to subdue them and calm them down.

But who is this William Hudson anyway?

Well, he’s not guitarist Bill Hudson (Cellador). This is the wrong Hudson, and he received threatening hate emails shortly after the incident.

Revolver lists him as “singer-songwriter Rev. William Hudson.”
The black gospel singer?!
No.

Only Spin Magazine got the true identity. His real name is William Hudson. But he is the rapper Reverend William Burke, who is a musical collaborator with Shavo.

And when Hinds sees him again, I’m sure, it will be ugly.

Hinds leaves REVOLVER with this:

“When anyone pisses me off nowadays, all I do is start thinking of (Hudson) and hurt the next person twice as bad. Any time anyone gets in my face now, I’m just like, Dude, uhuh. I’m not getting destroyed again. I’m looking around me going, Where’s your friend? Where’s your fuckin friend that’s gonna hit me out of nowhere? I’m really paranoid, and it’s made me a much better fighter.”