In a recent interview with KROQ‘s Kevan Kenney, LINKIN PARK‘s Mike Shinoda discussed the emotions and experiences involved in navigating the release of the band’s latest album, From Zero.
From Zero is LINKIN PARK‘s first full-length album since 2017’s One More Light, the final release before the passing of lead vocalist Chester Bennington.
During a September 5th global livestream concert in Los Angeles, LINKIN PARK introduced new members Emily Armstrong (vocals) and Colin Brittain (drums). They joined returning members Mike Shinoda, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, Joe Hahn, and Brad Delson (though Alex Feder filled in for Delson on guitar that night and will continue touring with the band in his place for the foreseeable future).
“It’s really complicated,” Shinoda now said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “For me, two years ago it was very overwhelming, and I think the best thing that we did was to just basically let things happen in the order and at the timeline that they were gonna happen, let things happen organically and not push too hard. And I feel like what ended up evolving was we just naturally kind of found each other, we found this new lineup, we found Emily and Colin in particular, and the music just kind of came into focus based on what we were having the most fun doing.”
When Kenney remarked that From Zero “feels almost like a return to [LINKIN PARK‘s] roots,” Shinoda responded: “I love that there’s such a strong LINKIN PARK DNA in the record. It does really feel like LINKIN PARK, but I think there’s a part of it that’s the old sound and part of that’s every era of the band, to me, on the record.”
Farrell added: “I don’t know if I know well what the LINKIN PARK DNA is. It’s kind of like when you’re too close to something, you just do it and then other people tell you. They almost interpret it and then you kind of say, ‘Okay, cool. I’m glad that came across.’ But I think in any and all of that creation of an album or working on new music or new stuff or when there’s — I don’t know — interstitials or whatever you might wanna call it, for me those things are just like us doing us and figuring that out and moving forward. And in this process, one of the things that was so fun and rewarding and cool and energizing was just how when we started gradually integrating Emily and Colin, it felt like LINKIN PARK. It just felt like it fit for me and for us. And those were the coolest moments in the entire process, was just feeling like things were kind of jelling and coming together and we were having a blast doing it the whole time. So at this stage being ready to finally have the album out, having people be excited about it, that feels great.”
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.