If you think the aggressive, in-your-face refrain “Shut up when I'm talking to you” from Linkin Park's hit song “One Step Closer” is all that the band is about, listen again. There's a lot more to their blend of alternative, metal, hip-hop, and electronica than just singer Chester Bennington's high-energy vocals.
Mike Shinoda's deft MCing provides a streetwise counterpoint; guitarist Brad Delson's tuned-down power chords add a distorted backdrop; DJ Joe Hahn's tasty turntable scratches and sample work fill in the spaces; and drummer Rob Bourdon and bassist Phoenix contribute a thumping rhythm section.
Beyond musical prowess, Linkin Park's success is also built on a foundation of stellar songwriting. The tunefulness of the compositions on Hybrid Theory sets the band apart from many of their contemporaries. The band members also spend a great deal of time meticulously working out arrangements, which they re-create live with the aid of triggered samples and loops.
The guys in Linkin Park aren't just tight onstage; they're close on a personal level too. In fact, Shinoda, Bourdon, and Delson have been friends since their Southern California high school days. Their friendship has helped them persevere in the rough-and-tumble music world. “We all met as friends, and that's why we're still together as a band,” says Hahn. “We're all homies,” says Delson. Shinoda agrees: “We knew each other pretty well in school, but we definitely grew together this past year on the road. Knowing someone as well as I know Brad makes it as easy for me to say to him, ‘Hey, I don't like that guitar part,’ as it is to say, ‘Hey, bro, go take a shower.’”
During the past year, the band toured ceaselessly, and all the hard work has paid off in a big way. At the time of this writing, Hybrid Theory has been on the Billboard 200 album chart for almost a year, peaking at No. 7. The band participated in many of 2001's major tours (playing prominent supporting roles at Ozzfest and Family Values) and headlined their own excursions in the United States and Europe.
Linkin Park differs from many other bands in the degree of respect and attention that the members give their fans. The band regularly signs autographs and mixes with the crowd after a show, regardless of the venue's size. “It really doesn't matter,” says Shinoda, “as long as we get to go down into the crowd to sign stuff and hang out at some point after the show. That's arguably the most important part of the night.”
With a DVD project, a Hybrid Theory remix CD, and the next album planned for 2002, Linkin Park is poised for another busy year. And if they tour as much as they did in their rookie year — 325 days — they may single-handedly revive the slumping concert industry. I caught up with Shinoda, Hahn, and Delson just as Linkin Park was about to embark on a headlining tour of England, France, Germany, Holland, and Austria.
Does
Hybrid Theory's success surprise you guys?
Shinoda: I can't even imagine who all those people buying the album are.
Hahn: I'm amazed at how many people have received our music. We are very blessed to have been given the opportunity to expose our music to so many different people.
The production and mix on the album are top-notch. Was it hard to translate the songs from
Hybrid
to a live situation?
Delson: The main challenge was working out all of the samples so that Rob and Joe could play all of them live.
Shinoda: Re-creating the sampled sounds onstage was really difficult, especially in the beginning. We had to figure out where to store all these samples and keyboard sounds. A lot of samplers that we considered didn't do all the things we needed them to do.
What solution did you come up with?
Delson: Rather than run a DAT, Joe uses two turntables and [Akai] MPC2000 samplers, and Rob uses drum triggers to incorporate all the sampled elements from the record.
Shinoda: We want to do everything live. Hearing sounds that you can't see being performed during a show has always been something we've wanted to avoid.
Joe, I understand that you take some custom vinyl on the tour to scratch in some of the sounds from
Hybrid Theory.
Hahn: I custom-make my own sounds on vinyl so I can scratch exactly what I want. There's no limit to what sounds I can manipulate live. When we write songs, we're aware that we need to be able to perform live what's recorded.
Shinoda: Joe and I made an original record for him to scratch with certain key samples on it, and we pressed up 100 of them so that he can now scratch in certain samples from the record instead of just pressing them on a pad. There are some underlying looped materials, too, but all of the parts that grab your attention are played by hand. We recently upgraded to three samplers onstage, plus backups.
Anything else about your DJ rig you'd like to share, Joe?
Hahn: I use the Vestax PDX-2000 turntable because of its versatility. I run my records and manipulate guitar effects through a Rane mixer [see Fig. 1].
Brad, I have seen pictures of you wearing headphones while playing live. Are they for monitoring?
Delson: If I told you, I'd have to kill you.
Shinoda: Those are actually shooting-range headphones [for hearing protection] with sticker designs he has me do for him. Making the headphones is always a fun little thing for us, but we can get so serious about it.
Let's talk about sound checks. Different bands have varying approaches. How do you guys deal with them?
Shinoda: We know what it's like to get shafted by the headlining band and to battle with crappy sound during a show, so we try to be considerate and generally like to get offstage quickly.
Delson: We'll be using sound checks on the headline tour to work out some new and old material to incorporate into the set, songs like “My December” and “Carousel.”
What would you like to accomplish on the headlining European tour?
Delson: We are really excited about incorporating all of our new set and stage-production elements into the show. The band designed the new pieces with Michael Wetstone, who has worked with everyone from Korn to Eminem.
Shinoda: We all have a lot of pent-up aggression from the past few months, and we're planning to let it out. This upcoming tour includes some of the biggest venues we have played. We practically sold out London [Docklands] arena without announcing an opener, which is a first for us.
Will you be trying out new gear on the tour?
Delson: I'm using two extra Boss effects pedals, the Auto-Wah and the Phaser, to re-create the guitar sounds on another old song we'll be playing called “Step Up.”
What about new songs? Will you be adding anything to your repertoire?
Shinoda: We're planning to do some cool old songs, some songs that nobody's heard us play live before. We're going to play a couple of songs that aren't on Hybrid Theory — songs that can only be found online. You can find the MP3s if you ask around on the LinkinPark.com chat room or message board. We released 2,000 copies of a five-song demo made back when the band itself was actually named Hybrid Theory.
What was it like playing Ozzfest?
Delson: Ozzfest was like rock 'n' roll summer camp, but instead of eating lunch with the arts-and-crafts teacher, you're sitting there next to Ozzy Osbourne or the guys from Slipknot.
Shinoda: It was my first metal tour, so I wasn't that familiar with the mode of communication between the band and the crowd. Contrary to what I had believed, spit and middle fingers mean the crowd likes it, and I came home cursing more than I ever had in my life.
Did the number of bands create logistical difficulties?
Shinoda: As far as getting the gear onstage to play, Ozzfest was a nightmare. They used a turntable stage, and our guys had just 45 minutes to set up the entire stage. No sound check. It's like all the hassles of a radio promo show multiplied by two months. But everybody seemed to pull it off.
You guys tour a lot. Is it difficult being away from home so much?
Shinoda: The easiest way to get us in a bad mood is to start talking about being away from home a lot. We love being at home, so it's really hard — especially touring for 325 out of 365 days like we did last year. We do as much as we do with the fans because it helps remind us of what we're out there for. We're starting a fan club as a means of giving back. But not a normal fan club where you just get a T-shirt and newsletter.
How will it be different?
Shinoda: We're putting together an organization that will offer tons of exclusive stuff — like previews of new music, contests, chances to meet the band, and advance concert tickets. I can't even list all the things we want to do.
Life on the road can make even the most level-headed people do things they might not normally do, just to keep from going nuts. How about you guys?
Shinoda: We are generally very mellow, but when the crazy stuff happens we're like little 13-year-old pranksters.
How so?
Shinoda: I remember Chester mooning people up and down Bourbon Street, and Coby from Papa Roach jumping out of a bathroom and peeing on Phoenix [the bassist, not the town]. Joe convinced our bass tech to hang out in the hotel restaurant in his underwear once, and Chester and I have a thing for stealing golf carts.
Describe a typical day on the road.
Shinoda: Half the band sleeps later than one in the afternoon. Before they get up, the rest of us basically go off and do our own thing: eating, working out, shopping for records and knick-knacks. When I go out in the morning, I try to go sightseeing a little bit — even if that means just going to the local magazine store or mall. We have lunch together, then do some interviews, and usually meet with some fans. Then we drive to the venue, talk some more to the press, and then prepare for the show. After the show, we hang out with the fans for about an hour. Then there's usually a radio station meet-and-greet before we get back to the bus to watch movies, play video games, and record some music before we drive to the next city.
Talk about the next record.
Hahn: It'll be the next chapter in our growth as a band.
Shinoda: We all have criticisms about Hybrid Theory that will play a part in writing the next CD. I want to push the lyrics up a notch and make them a little more visual and challenging while combining some new, innovative electronic elements with our sound. The songwriting will still be tight, but you'll find a lot more complex writing going on. And Joe plans to say “fuck” all over it.
Do you guys ever jam or collaborate with other bands and musicians?
Delson: We're planning on releasing a remix CD in early 2002. We've brought out some of our favorite DJs, producers, and creative people to reinterpret and reconfigure songs from Hybrid Theory. [Artists such as] Jay Gordon from Orgy, Humble Brothers, Z-Trip, and DJ Crook from Team Sleep, to name a few.
Shinoda: There will be a lot of variety in the remix-CD lineup. Hopefully, the Crystal Method and Dilated Peoples will work with us too. We're not really into jamming, but collaborations outside the band happen occasionally. Joe and I did a track with X-Cutioners for Loud Records that I think will be out soon. It's a little more on the hip-hop side, but still has an aggressive, energetic feel to it.
Hahn: Chester just did a song with Cyclefly and also with DJ Lethal, and Mike and I just finished a track with the Visionaries too.
What music has influenced you, and what discs have been in your CD players lately?
Hahn: DJ-wise, I love the Invisibl Skratch Piklz and X-Cutioners. I also listen to DJ Shadow, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Tool, and Dr. Octagon.
Shinoda: I used to listen to a lot of Boogie Down Productions. KRS-One really grabbed me when I was just getting into hip-hop, partly because of the things he talked about and the stories he told. Right now I'm listening to System of a Down, Dilated Peoples, and the Start. There's so much music out there to like.
Delson: I have been listening to Dave Matthews, Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, the Roots, Coldplay, and Tribe lately.
All of you guys seem very connected to your families and community. For instance, Chester is selling his car and donating the money to the Take Me Home animal-protection group. Do you do benefit concerts?
Shinoda: We all want to make the most of the opportunity we've being given, and that includes giving time and energy to groups that we like. We played a show early this past year that benefited breast cancer research, and we hope to do more for AIDS research and prevention groups.
Recently you've been on the road almost constantly. Any break in sight?
Shinoda: Right now I'm taking my first real vacation this year, yet every day of it, I'm working on our new Web site designs, our new DVD and remix CD, and the next album. We all feel very lucky that our hard work has paid off, and we're going to keep on working hard in hopes of continuing this way.
Bus Tracks: Linkin Park's Mobile Recording Rig
Linkin Park loves to play live, but that energy is equally matched by the band members' desire to record. The band's early tracks were made in Mike Shinoda's tiny bedroom studio in 1996, long before the guys played their first live gig. Now, with such a grueling touring schedule, it's hard to find time to go into the studio. Instead, they bring the studio with them on the tour bus, where they recently have been recording tracks for their new album. Shinoda gives Onstage the lowdown on Linkin Park's mobile studio.
Describe the studio as well as the gear and how you're using it.
It all sits in the back lounge, which is about 8 feet wide, 12 feet long, and 7 feet tall. We have a dual-processor [Apple Macintosh] G4 with a flat-screen monitor running Digidesign Pro Tools 5.1 Mixplus, [which includes] a 24-bit 888/24 I/O box and a seven-slot Magma expansion chassis with one Mix Core card and two DSP Farm cards for all the plug-ins. We also have a Roland JV-1080 [synth module] with an Orchestral expansion card, an Emagic Unitor-8 [MIDI interface], a Glyph rack with three hot-swappable hard drives, and a VXA tape backup drive. I use Mackie HR824 powered monitors; I seem to get my best mixes with those and a pair of Sony headphones. We do the scratch vocal tracks with a Shure SM58.
How do you approach your recordings?
We're not a jam-oriented band, so we want to record everything — the samples, drums, guitars, bass, scratching, and vocals — as we're writing. We like to record lots of options for parts, if we can, and then pick from the best stuff. We generally record something as soon as we come up with it so that we don't end up playing it for weeks and getting stuck on it out of pure repetition. We want to like something because it's good, not because we've listened to it so much that it's stuck in our heads.
Does a computer-based recording system help a lot in the crowded confines of a bus?
It allows us to use plug-in software and make the most of our limited space. The plug-ins sound great and don't take up any space in the bus, either. The extra [DSP Farm] cards give us the kind of processing power we need to use plug-ins like [Line 6] Amp Farm and [Antares] Mic Modeler, among other digital effects.
Do you ever bring your studio gear into your hotel rooms?
Nope, we pack everything onto the bus in two cube racks and mount it all to the floor. We build the studio on day one of the tour and tear it down at the end. We manage to record pretty often while at a venue and even a little bit when the bus is moving. The only thing we can't record on the bus is the vocals, because of all the background noise.
Isn't it difficult to concentrate on recording with all those groupies hanging around?
[Laughs.] Yes. Our next album is going to be entirely about groupies. It's going to be called Who Is This Drunk Person Standing in the Front Lounge of Our Bus, and Who Forgot to Lock the Door?
