2000-Troy SandersBass, vocals2000-
Brent HindsGuitar, vocals2000-2025
Bill KelliherGuitar, vocals2000-
Brann DailorDrums, vocals2000-
Eric SanerVocals2000
The members of Mastodon met at a High on Fire show in Atlanta, Georgia. They decided to get together for a jam, but according to guitarist Bill Kelliher, guitar player Brent Hinds showed up so drunk to their first practice that he couldn't play.
Film director Jimmy Hayward was such a big fan of Mastodon that he wanted to work with the band on a new project. In 2010, Mastodon wrote the score for Hayward's film Jonah Hex. All of the songs were instrumentals and Mastodon released them as an EP entitled Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly in June 2010.
Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds absolutely loves Soundgarden but was unimpressed by singer Chris Cornell. In an interview with Clash, Hinds says he "could listen to Soundgarden all day long" but also says Cornell was a "douche bag" for not talking to him or shaking his hand when he was just trying to say hello.
In 2009, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher was hospitalized after a night of heavy drinking. Kelliher admitted that he had drank every day for the last 15 years up until that point. Kelliher has tried to stay sober since the incident, stating "Waking up with a hangover is like being in heaven."
Every Mastodon album has a concept and it's usually drummer Brann Dailor that comes up with the ideas for stories. Guitarist Bill Kelliher told Pitchfork that Dailor is a huge Genesis and Peter Gabriel fan and that he's into writing "crazy ideas."
Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor had a sister named Skye who committed suicide at age 14. Her death inspired the title of the band's fourth album, Crack the Skye.
After his sister Skye's death at a young age, Mastodon's Brann Dailor fell heavily into drugs. He later went to a mental hospital to deal with the grief and guilt that came with his sister's death. In 2009, Dailor told Metal Hammer that he was still dealing Skye's passing 20 years later.
Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds learned to play music by playing the banjo. His single style of fast hybrid picking and banjo emulating can be heard on many of the band's songs.
Brann Dailor shares vocal duties as well as being the band's drummer. Asked during a Reddit AMA how difficult it is to sing live while concentrating on his complex drumming, he replied:
"The guys in my band liked how my voice sounded when I sang on '
Oblivion,' so that's when I opened that can of worms. It's challenging, like singing on an exercise machine, I do ok, I'm getting better at it, I practice all the time. I don't want to disappoint anyone, especially myself."
Brent Hinds became the last Mastodon band member to tie the knot when he married his girlfriend Raísa Moreno less than a month after proposing to her onstage during the band's April 28, 2017 concert in Birmingham, Alabama. The low-key wedding was attended by Raísa's mother and Hinds' best man, Tom Cheshire.
Mastodon contributed a track titled "
White Walker" towards the
Game of Thrones: Catch the Throne Vol. 2 mixtape to promote the fifth season of the HBO TV series
Game of Thrones. Dailor, Hinds, and Kelliher also appeared in season five's episode "Hardhome," as wildlings who were slaughtered by White Walkers and wights, and then were re-animated into wights themselves.
Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders has long been a fixture at his local Florida Little League, serving as league president, coach, and umpire for his son's team. In January 2024, Sanders was named the Positive Coaching Alliance's 2024 Regional Baseball Coach of the Year. The heavy metal musician, along with 35 other regional winners, was selected from a pool of over 500 nominated coaches across the country.
In March 2025, Mastodon announced that Brent Hinds was leaving the band "by mutual decision" after 25 years together. Hinds challenged that version of events on social media, claiming he'd been kicked out because he was "embarrassing them for being who I am," and taking pointed shots at his former bandmates' musicianship and personalities.
While members like guitarist Bill Kelliher have kept their remarks diplomatic - highlighting the band's legacy and wishing Hinds well - Hinds insists there was nothing mutual about the split.
On August 20, 2025, just five months after the split, Brent Hinds was killed in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta. He was riding his Harley-Davidson when a BMW SUV failed to yield at an intersection and struck him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
