What drew you to explore the dark and heavy themes on “A Thousand Suns?”
Mike Shinoda: It turned out that all six of the guys felt like there was a universal fear that I think a lot of people these days do have: that fear, whether it be in the front of their mind or in the back of their mind, that humanity as a whole is and has been for a long time on the brink of destroying itself. Whether that be slowly or quickly, it’s just that a possibility exists in the world, and I think we’re all scared of it to some degree. So that’s kind of how we decided that…it was proper for it to be a part of the record.
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Q&A: Linkin Park
Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda talk about their dark new album and high-tech tour
By Tamara Palmer
Special to Metromix
January 18, 2011
Linkin Park is one of the country’s hottest selling rock bands, part of a rarified group of artists who have sold more than 10 million copies of a single album. Following a sold-out European tour, co-frontmen Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington held a press teleconference to share their excitement for their jaunt around the United States, which will feature live performances of songs from the band’s current album “A Thousand Suns,” as well as classic favorites from throughout Linkin Park’s career.
A free recording of each show will be available for ticket holders, and $1 of each ticket supports Music for Relief, the band’s non-profit organization benefiting victims of natural disasters around the world.
Feeling particularly energized more than a decade after Linkin Park’s debut, Shinoda and Bennington explained how exploring some uncomfortable and fear-filled themes musically on this album have made the band closer friends than ever before.
What drew you to explore the dark and heavy themes on “A Thousand Suns?”
Mike Shinoda: It turned out that all six of the guys felt like there was a universal fear that I think a lot of people these days do have: that fear, whether it be in the front of their mind or in the back of their mind, that humanity as a whole is and has been for a long time on the brink of destroying itself. Whether that be slowly or quickly, it’s just that a possibility exists in the world, and I think we’re all scared of it to some degree. So that’s kind of how we decided that…it was proper for it to be a part of the record.
Have you found over the years that your lyrics have challenged the rest of the guys in the band to write music equal to the words that are presented to them? And on the flip side, have the guys created music that in turn inspired either of you to write lyrics equal to what you were hearing from them?
Chester Bennington: That’s probably the most interesting question I’ve ever been asked about what we do. I think that our styles are different when we work individually…but when we get together, something really special happens. We're both working intimately on the lyrics, but then you have another person to come in and look at it and go, "You know, I'm not feeling this line. This seems a little obvious or cliché; let's find a better way of saying that." I think it works really well because we both do have to sing it and we both do have to feel it in a very real way and a very honest way.
Is new Linkin Park material coming together right now? Do you write on the road?
MS: We do and we’re always writing. I think we benefit from the fact that the music recording and writing technology has gotten so compact and so easy to carry around in your laptop. In the last couple weeks, I keep getting emails from guys in the band saying, “Hey, you want to get together and write some stuff? What are you up to? Are you bringing any gear on the road?” And I expect on this run, they’ll be knocking on my hotel door looking to collaborate on some ideas.
Did you write anything while you were on your recent European tour?
MS: Yeah, yeah, a couple ideas. The best things that I’ve come up with on the last couple legs of this tour were actually on my iPad. I use a couple different apps and, yeah, I’ve come up with stuff that I like.
What does your new show look like?
MS: Well, the look of the show has a lot to do with the [topics] of “A Thousand Suns”; a lot of the themes that are going on in the new record kind of take a central role in the visuals of the show. Our art team developed technology that’s new and specific to this show and it had a lot to do with the fact that in our show we don’t play the exact same thing every night. We play different set lists and then within those set lists we improvise, so we wanted a way for the look of the show to kind of ebb and flow with whatever we do with the music. So from night to night the music will be different and the visuals will be different as well. No two shows will be the same.
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned when you look back on more than a decade of work?
MS: So far, I feel like we’ve done a lot of things right. We’ve had a lot of luck. In 10 years, most people run the whole gamut, so for us it’s just a matter of trying to be the band that we want to be and learn from our mistakes and our successes. I definite like where we’re at right now. Creatively, I feel the band is really energized. “A Thousand Suns” was really an important record for us and not only on a creative level but actually also just as a group of friends. I think that things are really positive and so we’re looking forward to what the future holds.
Labels: interview, news: Linkin Park
