Yahoo Interview

This is a transcription of an online chat conducted with Linkin Park on 11/30/2000 in the Yahoo! chat room by hob.com

Mike Shinoda: Hey, this is Mike and Brad from Linkin Park.

Question: What are you guys going as for Halloween?

Brad Delson: That's a really good question, because we're playing a big Halloween show tomorrow night and everyone's going in costume, and I have about 24 hours to figure it out. So I'll be taking suggestions online today.

Mike: I'm pretty much on the same page. I had a bunch of ideas, but I don't think I'm quite at the stage where I could actually share them with people.

Brad: He's still in development.

Question: Do you guys feel like you've got some pretty big shoes to fill with all the Limp Bizkits and Korns out there in today's music scene?

Brad: Well, I'm not that tall - I actually wear a size 11 [shoe] - and we're actually getting stuff for free now. I just got a pair of Converse, so in terms of filling shoes I don't have any complaints.

Mike: Filling shoes? Wouldn't that mean that those bands are gone? I don't think any of those bands have left the scene. We're all playing music together at this point.

Brad: That was a very adept answer.

Mike: Thank you, Brad. Brad's so kind. He's here for my moral support. Without Brad I think I'd be pretty bummed out on tour, because he's the only one who gives me any moral support. Everyone else makes fun of me - especially Mr. Hahn.

Question: How long have you guys been a band?

Mike: About four years. Going on five, actually. Brad and I have been friends since 7th grade, and everybody else we kind of picked up along the way.

Question: Who directed your video for "One Step Closer"?

Linkin Park: Gregory Dark

Brad: He's actually an ex-porn director turned video director/superstar. The response to "One Step Closer" has been really overwhelming in a good way. We hear stories all the time of people who seem to have been really moved by the song, and in that regard I think it was an excellent choice for us to meet the world. Even better would be for people to actually get our full record - because even though "OSC" is a really solid singular track, if people listen to the entire record they will get an idea of what we're trying to do musically and creatively. And that's just starting to happen. We're just starting to get feedback from people who have heard the whole thing.

Mike: When kids are picking up the album it seems to me that they're at this point, by listening to all the tracks, really starting to get to know the whole band and the different types of music that inspire us - what we like to listen to - and that's important to us because we have pretty diverse tastes and hope to draw a diverse crowd when we play.

Question: Who are your biggest influences?

Brad: My tastes are pretty varied. I listen to everything from groups like the Roots and Blackeyed Peas, maybe even JaRule on a good day, to harder and more alternative sounding rock bands like the Deftones, Sunny Day Real Estate... and then electronic sounding stuff like Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails. Dido. I'm all over the place.

Mike: Same here.

Question: Have you guys ever been arrested? If so, why and when?

Brad: That would be a very exciting question if we weren't really unexciting guys. I think I got in trouble in 8th grade once for talking out of turn in class. I spent some time in detention.

Mike: I remember getting in trouble in third grade for trading Garbage Pail Kids in class, and we weren't supposed to do that until recess or lunch. But the teacher didn't actually find my stash of cards, so she couldn't take them away.

Question: What band would you most love to be on tour with?

Brad: That's a great question. I said to my manager once, when he asked me that, that our goal as a band has always been to be as far-reaching as possible - in the sense that we would like to tour with as many different types of bands as possible. Our last tour with the Union Underground was pretty much a rock based tour. And currently, with the Cottonmouth Kings, the shows are more rap/hip-hop influenced.

Mike: But we would like to push even further in the hip-hop direction someday and possibly tour with groups like the Roots and Blackeyed Peas and De La Soul, just as we would hope to push in the electronic direction and tour with groups that do more electronic based music.

Question: Why did you change your name from Hybrid Theory to Linkin Park?

Mike: It was basically a legal decision, but we definitely wanted to come up with a new name that was powerful and had the right tone or vibe, and Linkin Park just stood out to us. But the main reason we chose that [spelling of the] name is that we wanted the website, and obviously the presidential spelling would be pretty expensive, so we went with our more fun version. We've found that it's a great place on the web for people to get in touch and find out about the band and keep current with what we're up to.

Brad: And just so it's clear, that website is www.linkinpark.com and we update it as much as possible. We have all our show dates there, we're going to have merchandise available soon for purchase right from the site. We've got a message board where you can leave a message for the band - we read almost all our messages - also bios, lyrics, all kinds of cool stuff. Next year we'll have journal entries from the tour where you can hear directly from the band about what things have been most exciting on the tour.

Question: What was it like going on tour the The Kottonmouth Kings?

Mike: Before the tour we didn't know them very well. We had never met them in person before and it turns out that we all get along extremely well. The entire tour has been a lot of fun. We're currently on tour with a group called Rehab as well. They start the show. After that Dogboy and Gypsy from Cottonmouth play an acoustic set from their Too Rude project, then we play, then Corporate Avenger, then Cottonmouth. Most of these groups have a lot of members, so the tour is just a big party all the time. And the kids get pretty riled up. Some shows are like riots.

Question: For Halloween, you should go as a Priest and one of the other guys should go as a pregnant nun.

Brad: We can have a third guy go as the DNA lab guy to test the paternity.

Mike: I don't think that Halloween costume is going to impress our friends from POD, who we're touring with next month, and I don't want to offend them.

Question: Is there any female influence in particular to any of your songs?

Mike: Musically, I'm a big fan of Dido. I also like a ton of female groups from Kitty to Madonna to Sneaker Pimps. Portishead. If you ask Brad, he'll tell you he loves his Britney Spears.

Brad: I love Britney Spears.

Mike: She's a big influence on his guitar playing, especially.

Brad: She drives me crazy.

Question: Are you gonna do a video for "In The End" and/or "Pushing Me Away," because those songs just kick ass!!!

Brad: It's probably the most popular question we get, what our next single's going to be. We have no clue but we definitely love making videos, so look forward to more creative visual candy from Mr. Hahn and our visual production team of choice. I'm glad you like those two songs. Our approach to this record was to make each song a potential single, in the sense that each song is strong and stands on its own but also works within the context of the entire album. We wanted it to tell a story from beginning to end.

Question: Why does Brad wear headphones in concert?

Brad: Brad cannot reveal his inspiration.

Mike: When Brad's being mysterious he speaks in the third person.

Mike: When Mike speaks in the third person he makes himself crazy.

Brad: Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich.

Question: What was the hardest part about making the album?

Mike: Sitting in the same room with Brad for two months. But then we got on tour and it just got worse.

Brad: I didn't shower a lot then.

Mike: He showers less now.

Question: Do you plan on touring a lot? Or being in the studio more?

Brad: We plan on touring extensively for probably the next year before we go back into the studio. We like touring.

Question: What's the wildest thing a fan has ever done to get your attention. Also, what's the most outrageous gift you have gotten from a fan?

Mike: As far as gifts, we (Brad and I) have collected a pretty large grouping of bracelets and little jewelry and gifts like that, and usually at the shows we'll wear some of them for fun. We enjoy stuff like that.

Brad: I'm wearing two now and they're jingling.

Mike: As far as getting our attention, actually, at our last show in Arizona there was a big painting of our album cover and our name by some of the kids who worked at Tower Records. They took the time to paint up a version of our album cover on a six foot tall piece of wood. That probably took a lot of time. I was really impressed.

Brad: We've also gotten a lot of cool fan art via the web.

Mike: And we hope to get more.

Question: Where were you the first time you heard your song on the radio?

Mike: I was in Arizona. Brad, was that the first time you heard it too?

Brad: It wasn't the full song, it was a clip of the song on a radio spot, and we were all in the van together. It was a pretty exciting feeling. I still haven't seen the video yet on MTV.

Mike: Neither have I.

Brad: And I think it'll be a big kick... that expression makes it sound like I'm 48.

Mike: Most of the things you say make you sound like you're 48.

Question: Brad, be a big-ass Gumby for Halloween.

Brad: Actually, that would be good idea, but before Mike had red hair he actually once had green hair and he looked like Gumby, so that would be more appropriate for him.

Mike: I have red hair now that can work around it.

Question: Is it weird to have fans in L.A. that call you at breakfast in Seattle, or that you're definitely starting to get recognized?

Brad: We were at a restaurant in Seattle and one of the hosts asked who we are, because we're extremely conspicuous anywhere other than L.A. We look like a band. They asked what band we were, we said Linkin Park. About 5 minutes later a waiter came by and asked if Chester wouldn't mind speaking to his friend back home. Word had gotten around that we were there, and the staff had called their friends and there was a call that came in from someone who called in for Chester. And since the only people who know about [the call] are the band and the person who called, I'm guessing that the person that called asked the question. So, what's up!?

Question: Is the song "Pushing Me Away" about anyone specific?

Mike: In general, when we write a song we write it from the inspiration of whatever emotion we're trying to capture and put it in a way that somebody else can take it and relate their own story to it. I definitely wanted to give somebody a starting point that was descriptive but not overwhelming.

Question: You should go as Fat Fred Durst and the other guys can go dressed up like the Bizkit chicks. But then everyone would hate you!!