“This is as Linkin Park an album as we could make” – Mike Shinoda shares his creative process

A new interview with Chicago’s Q101 radio station’s Brian Haddad and Kenzie Roman by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda discussed the decision to resurrect the band with a new lineup that included Joe Hahn, Brad Delson, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, drummer Colin Brittain, and singer Emily Armstrong.

In the middle of the process, we were open to, like, maybe the lineup is like a moving lineup, maybe there’s multiple vocalists, maybe it’s a different name, stuff like that. And then as the music came into focus, we were, like, ‘This is as Linkin Park an album as we could make. It’s so Linkin Park that if we call it something else, then we are idiots.’ Because it would be like misrepresentation. It’d be silly. And when people hear more of the album, they will understand that.

He also shared the meaning behind the album title.

Our original band name was Xero back in ’99 — ’98, ’99. And originally it was me and my friend Mark. And then we added Brad and Dave and Joe and Xero turned into Hybrid Theory, which turned into Linkin Park. So the name of the album is a double entendre. It’s us starting over, but it’s also us kind of being in touch with the things we loved back then. It’s an energetic record. It’s a lot of guitars. It’s gonna be so, so fun to play live. I cannot wait for people to hear these songs live. But yeah, really, that’s the reason for that.

Unfortunately, many have compared new vocalist Emily Armstrong to the late Chester Bennington.

Everybody, they kind of have to say things like Emily ‘stepping into Chester’s shoes’ and blah, blah, blah. I don’t love that phrasing because I get that she is filling a space in the visual lineup of the band, but I also feel like Chester was one of a kind; he’s only Chester. And Emily’s also one of a kind; she’s only Emily. When I hear her sing, she doesn’t sound like him to me; she sounds like her. And that’s what I like. What I like about her voice is that it’s very unique and it sounds — I don’t know how else to explain it. When she sings on the songs, they sound like Linkin Park songs. And that’s just my gut. That’s just how I feel.

In addition, Linkin Park has dropped a brand-new song called “The Emptiness Machine” and revealed that their album “From Zero” will be available via Warner on November 15. It will be the first full-length release from Linkin Park since “One More Light” in 2017.