Cody Hanson was born in Plano, Texas, but moved to Jones / Oklahoma City. Hanson got his first drum set for x-mas when he was 12 years old. Recalls Cody Hanson: "It was an old, beat up, 7 piece, fiberglass kit. It sounded like shit, but I loved that thing."



Over the next couple of years Cody Hanson taught himself how to play. He started a little band while he was in middle school with a couple of friends: "It was probably the most horrible sounding shit that anyone has ever heard, but it was a good time. In high school, I slowly started to lose my interest in drums and picked up guitar."



Cody Hanson probably didn't pick up a pair of drum sticks for over two years, until the day that Hinder began. That was the day that life pretty much changed. Says the drummer: "We knew it was going to happen right away. We recorded that first practice with one microphone and a karaoke machine. For the next week, I let everyone I knew listen to that tape. I think everyone that heard it knew that Hinder was going to be something great." For the next few years, Hanson continued to go to school at the University of Central Oklahoma so he could learn as much about music business as possible.