AmuZnet Interview

amuZnet Interview



It was that cohesive style and instantly memorable songs that attracted immediate attention to Linkin Park, starting with a publishing offer after the band's very first show at L.A.'s famed Whisky. After showcasing around town and eventually linking with Warner Bros., the band began work on their first album. The end result is an album that's as well-crafted and melodic as it is confrontational, with a strong lyrical message. amuZnet's Sabrina Soto had the chance to sit down with Linkin Park to talk about their future plans, life, love and a lot more. Check it out!

amuZnet: How did you guys get discovered?

Linkin Park (Chester talking): Well when the band started, it was about four and a half years ago, I've only been in the band about two years. They just started out playing for fun, getting a lot of attention from their friends, and just started playing. They went out and put a show together, and got signed to Zomba Music Publishing their first show. From there they just started working and labels weren't really catching on, so they made a few changes, brought me on board, and just really focused on the songwriting, and made demos out of our little home studio and pretty much just used our connections at Zomba to get the demos out to people who would listen to them. Warner Bros. eventually, after a buzz started building up in the label industry, came calling and it all worked out from there.

amuZnet: How did you meet the rest of the guys?

Linkin Park: We met through mutual friends in the industry. I 've been playing around for a long time locally and in Pheonix, and we did pretty well and had some offers. We met through our law firm Miniet, Phelps and Phelps, they pretty much hooked us up. They said, "We have a guy in Phoenix that might work out," and sent me a demo and sure enough it all worked out.

amuZnet: So you moved to LA?

Linkin Park: Yeah within about three days after I got the demo, I recorded it and I was in LA. I've been living there. My wife stayed in Phoenix for a little while, and then we finally signed the deal, and she actually moved out permanently in August of this year.

amuZnet: Your wife? Aren't you 22 or 23?

Linkin Park: I'm 24, I’ll be 25 in a couple months.

amuZnet: How old were you when you got married?

Linkin Park: 20

amuZnet: Why?

Linkin Park:‘Cause I love her.

amuZnet: No, that's great, it's just weird.

Linkin Park: I mean it wasn't something I was expecting to do, I wasn't like in any hurry to run out and get married, I just found the right person and it worked out.

amuZnet: Is it hard for you on tour? Does she go with you?

Linkin Park: We get some plane tickets and meet up every once in a while but it's been pretty packed quarters, we just now got a bus, it's been in RV's and stuff. It wouldn't be anything for a lady to be involved in.

amuZnet: What is the craziest thing that has happened to you guys?

Linkin Park: There hasn't been really anything crazy. It's been a lot of fun and stuff, we went on tour with Kottonmouth Kings last tour, that was a lot of fun. Our first tour was probably the hardest ‘cause we had a tour manager, we were on an RV, we didn't have any crew, and it was our first tour. We pretty much had to load everything, take turns driving, figure out where we were going in the country. Our RV broke down a couple of times so that was probably the hardest part of touring.

amuZnet: Are there any girls trying to sneak into the bus?

Linkin Park: There's wacky girls all over the place that try doing weird things, but we don't pay attention to them. We just kind of do our thing and hang out with the fans that are really important to us.

amuZnet: How does your band differentiate from bands that sound similar to you?

Linkin Park: Well, I think one of the biggest keys that makes us different is the fact that Mike and Brad and Rob have been playing together close to five years, and when they started doing that, really the only thing to draw from in this particular style of music were collaborations like Anthrax, Public Enemy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails did it with "Down In It," and Aerosmith and Run DMC, those were really the only things that were really out there to influence them. I think that's one of the key reasons why we're a little bit different. We're not biting off of somebody's sound, we didn't just, like, hear it and go, "We need to do that, that's the new thing." It's been something that's interested us for years, and I think that's what’s key in making us a little bit different.

amuZnet: What's the best thing about being a musician?

Linkin Park: The best thing about being a musician is playing live. Playing live is the best part and getting to see the reactions of the kids and having fun and seeing them sing along to songs. That's, like, definitely the best part.

amuZnet: What's the worst part?

Linkin Park: Being away from friends and family when you're on the road. That's the hardest, the road is fun and there are a lot of good things going on, but at the same time it's very difficult to leave your wife or even leaving the dogs behind can be difficult when you don't see them for a few months.

amuZnet: No kids though, right?

Linkin Park: No kids, no.

amuZnet: How does the songwriting work between you guys?

Linkin Park: We all collaborate on the songwriting, everybody is very involved in doing things. That's another reason why I think that the record came together so well, because everybody has a say, and knows things about songwriting. We're all pretty well educated in structure and what we want to hear and I think that's very important in writing our music.

amuZnet: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Linkin Park: In five years I see myself on the road.

amuZnet: Still?

Linkin Park: Supporting the fourth record.

amuZnet: The fourth?

Linkin Park: Sure, why not?

amuZnet: In five years?

Linkin Park: Yeah, I figure Ray Charles can release a record every year, why can't we shoot through these?

amuZnet: You can't, you just started out. Be easy on yourself.

Linkin Park: Okay, we'll go for our third record.

amuZnet: Yeah, let's change that. What's your biggest insecurity?

Linkin Park: I don't know, I'm pretty secure. I chew my fingernails a lot, I think that's my little nervous habit. That's one of my ways to relieve stress. If you see me chew my nails, I’m probably nervous about something. I just couldn't tell you really what it was.

amuZnet: Do you get nervous playing?

Linkin Park: No, I've been playing live since I was 14, and I was an actor before that and did a few plays and traveled the country. Playing in front of a crowd is pretty natural to me.