In a new, wide-ranging interview, Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda has opened up about the band’s massive global comeback, calling the overwhelmingly positive fan response to their new music and new lineup “better than we could have ever imagined.” Speaking with Recitales Argentina, Shinoda described the band’s current run as “just a very exciting time” and a true “rebirth of the band.”
Linkin Park is currently in the midst of their “From Zero” world tour, supporting their 2024 comeback album of the same name. The album is the band’s first since the 2017 passing of iconic frontman Chester Bennington and features new singer Emily Armstrong and new drummer Colin Brittain.
“We’ve had a really busy year, so many of the biggest shows we’ve ever played,” Shinoda said of the tour. “I think everybody is still very excited about touring… We’ve got shows lined up until the middle of next year, so it’s a very aggressive and long tour for us — I think more shows than like any tour we’ve done for well over 10 years. Yeah, the new music, new album and everything, the reception from the fans has been better than we could have ever imagined. And we’re so excited to play these shows every night.”
Shinoda also offered new details on the “slow and organic” process that led to the band’s return, confirming that it was never a certainty.
“A few years ago, we found ourselves starting to talk again for the first time. And it was a very organic thing,” he explained. “It just started with getting breakfast, getting lunch, having a coffee, talking about ‘what if this’ or ‘what if that’.” He stressed that “we hoped we would end up here, but a lot of things had to go right in order for that to happen. And they did.”
The final pieces of the puzzle were the new members. Shinoda recalled meeting Brittain in a writing session for another artist. “All of a sudden he got behind the drum kit and I was, like, ‘Oh my God. He’s an amazing drummer,'” he said. This discovery proved to be “good luck” for the band, as their original drummer, Rob Bourdon, did not want to continue.
Armstrong‘s path to the band was even longer. Her name was originally submitted for the 2017 Chester Bennington tribute show, but it was “too late” as the lineup was already full. Shinoda had a session with her years later that was “just for fun,” but he remembered that “that girl was cool.” When the band began holding sessions again, her name came up, and a long, patient process began. “It might’ve been a couple of years,” Shinoda said, to go from those initial meetings to “realizing that she should be the singer.”
Shinoda acknowledged that Linkin Park‘s new direction won’t please everyone, but said the band has long made peace with that reality.
“Since the beginning, everything we put out, there’s always people that love it and people that don’t like it. That’s just part of being an artist,” he stated. He emphasized that the band’s only true metric for success is their own belief in the art. “The most important thing, first and foremost, is just that we love it and that we’re proud of what we’ve made.”
