Laut.de (Mike, Rob)
27 hours 20 minutes flight time for the interview. Sometimes it is better to not calculate whether the effort is worthwhile for a specific action at all. But when you get the offer to interview Linkin Park, it's something you don't consider for long.
Some decisions just got easier to make and even though the chaos of this trip is relatively high, it's been almost smooth at the stage. So I'm sitting on a Wednesday afternoon in July at 14:00 (local time) in a hotel suite and get the chance to listen to six of the new songs from "A Thousand Suns".
Only the single "The Catalyst" has already been mastered, three more have not even a track title. But it quickly becomes clear that the new album will make for some surprises - and certainly also for some fans disappointment. For what matters, the inclusion of rock guitar is definitely not too much of a factor going by these numbers.
After two passes, I am finally invited to the next suite, where already seated are drummer Rob Bourdon & Mike Shinoda on the table and have just finished their lunch. Both seem in good spirits, Mike seems very interested and very polite. Soon comes into a good conversation, and in the end the journey has been worthwhile.
I just had the opportunity to listen to six songs twice. I'll tell it this way: things do not sound necessarily according to what I expected ...
Mike: Huh? You are now the first to say that.
What? Yeah ...
Mike: No, I'm just kidding (laughs). That says it all and I see it as a compliment. You have now heard six songs, but in order to give you a real picture of the disk, you need to actually have only heard it all. This is a real album and not just a collection of songs that are just randomly landed on the same CD. The album stands alone and works as a unit. The order of songs is not how they are ultimately disposed on the album. You have seen, in principle, something like the trailer for a movie. Since only a few, few scenes are shown from a movie and not necessarily in the correct order. You get a true impression of the film, but what will ultimately leave an impression on you, you know until you've heard the whole album.
The first two songs I ask myself has Rob even played drums at all here?
Rob: Yeah, but now not in the sense of a standard drum beat. Most are samples that I've played mainly on the toms and added a few things to it. The songs work primarily with percussion. How will this look live? Then again on the other hand, may well be that we will address the much more rock songs live. They differ much from the things we have done so far, and it was not easy, but interesting to play. Ultimately, I am focusing on a couple of toms, because a complete Rock drumset in this context is meaningless. This was a new experience for me and I will now also play old songs by us a little differently. The attraction of the new disk was an easy decision to make, something completely different and accordingly, I must also learn from my playing and approach things differently.
Mike: As soon as we have seen that we are working on something that we have already done the same or similar to before, this has somehow deterred us directly and we have rejected it immediately. This had no more charm for us, because it was too easy anyway.
Distorted guitars do not have any heaviness.
I just asked myself while listening constantly, is how these songs are supposed to work live. Have you already tried a few?
Mike: No, not yet, but I see no big problem. The thing is that when we start working on songs and writing, we will take this on simultaneously. Everything we do at the stage is also when the jams is pressed directly to tape, and so we are working later and seek out the best spots. I think we have our own unique writing style that is different from most other bands aswell, and that works for us pretty well. To outsiders, it's impossible to say which part of a song is by whom. Rob plays the piano and guitar as well as I do. Many of the guitar riffs on the disc are mine. But this way, only few people know this. For "Papercut" from the first album also provided the most guitars from me.
As for the live situation, Rob and I have just been talking about it. We do not consider that to listen to a song live should be the same as on CD. Since there are plenty of ways we can tackle the things on the stage, without the songs changing too much and we are playing in the right key. Since then, it is quite possible that Rob just plays the samples in his kit.
Nevertheless, I thought the six songs for the most part were calm and relaxed. Also in terms of singing. I was wondering what it was, because here is no longer angry about something? Everything looks very relaxed, calm feeling. I do not have much of an impression of the power coming through.
Mike: Really? Hm, I have the impression that you feel the song are gentle but instead just consider a song such as "wretches And Kings" I would describe this in no case to be gentle. Also "Blackout", because Chester was screaming bloody murder from here. This is not just soft (laughs). Maybe you come to see it because there are no heavy guitars?
The vocal lines are very quiet. The first song for example, just gave me a mental note of 'feelgood music notes'.
Mike: That would be probably "Waiting For The End". This is a really complex song and happens on many different levels. One can truly say that the song was written about several different phases. We have found that there are even two songs that connected to each other, because it just fit so well. But you're right when you say that when the songs are not experiencing the heaviness of the old discs. So are you, no? You are missing the guitars (smiles).
Yes, in some ways already. It doesn't have heavy crashes on all the songs, but a few riffs would have been nice.
Mike: I understand. Time will tell, when I make songs it's not about whether they are heavy, heaviness in my opinion is not necessarily only by a distorted guitar. The whole album is so complex, and if it sounds heavy for me, then this may well be alone in the track. This depends not only on guitar or no guitar. We had ideas that had a lot to do with fat guitars, but it sounded just like something that we have made for a long time. This was no longer particularly attractive to us. We want to make things simple but dynamic.
Rob, you see it the same as your colleague?
Rob: As Mike said, we did not want the disc to come out vicious heavy, if it means that we basically do the same stuff as before, we already have. Better to compromise in terms of heaviness, but a fresh album with new approaches and ideas. This is us on this album, I think, and we have succeeded very well - it acts primarily as a whole. You should really sit down with the disc and listen to it from beginning to end, before you judge allowed. The songs are much more powerful when they are combined with other sounds, the atmosphere gets a lot more power. But as I said, the results then from the context. In the songs that you hear, it's not a full drum set, I initially worked well with normal beats, but it quickly became clear that the songs do not work that way in the context of the album. That was for me then, a very big challenge, to completely differently address the sound as a drummer and work effectively to do so.
Mike: What I would now be interested to know: Which Linkin Park tracks do you like best?
Honestly? I liked the first two very much. I mean, look at me. I'm just the metalhead and like it when the guitars push a song forward.
Mike: (smiles) Yes, I thought. Super, that is exactly the kind of entertainment that I like, quite honestly! This is no easy matter, but of course we know that we have a lot of fans out there who are just like you, who have hoped that they get a plate with lots of hard rock guitars. But the matter is this: We have written "Hybrid Theory" for nearly twelve years. You remember how you were on it twelve years ago and everything that has happened in between. We really love our foundations, and above all, the debut disc is of course the most important for us. The fans of this disc still come to our shows and of course we play the appropriate songs and every time and are so determined never to stop. But these were and are just songs that we wrote at a particular time who were looking just to have the same effect the same way we came out.
Meanwhile, other things go in front of us now, has our song writing changed largely and has this allowed other songs to come out from us. When we wrote the stuff back then, it was something new for us and we wanted to do it. Then we released the disc, and the others thought: 'Hey, that's cool, I want to do that." This sound is then recreated more and more and eventually it is simply uninteresting. I've only recently heard a song from a band that sounded like an original number of our debut. And if 1,000 other bands can write such songs, how do you think how easy it was for us? We have actually made a few jokes about whether we want to record for old times sake "Hybrid Theory III". That would be ready in a few weeks. For us this would be not very exciting at all.
I am of an opinion that a song has to have a riff that grabs me by the balls, then that is cool for me, but If creating this is now what is similar to what you already have written before, I feel that the moment only needs to happen once. But I can understand if you think that direction is boring. When I heard six songs just for the first time, I was like, Ok, this is a damn bold step that they're doing.
Mike: Thank you, this statement alone has pleased me very much from someone like you to hear. I think it's that many of the fans that we have just discussed, this step might not be able to understood at first, dismissing the album after the first run, no second chance. That's what this record definitely needs. If you want to begin to understand what we're doing and WHY we do this, then you have to deal a little bit with the album. I expect no idea that the old fans will love this album like the first albums from us. I just hope they at least give this album a chance.
I appreciate the opportunity to talk with someone just like you, I appreciate it very much. Just because you represent a large fanbase of ours who will ask such questions and expect an answer. They have deserved it, that we declare ourselves at least, and try to make clear why we made this album, and why we want at least currently no more songs like on "Hybrid Theory Three". Finally, we write songs this way not because we want our fans of the4 first record, to not give a shit for once. But because we believe that the new songs sound cool, and that they have something special. We seek a dialogue with them and because it is very important, even people like you here to put such questions to us. Maybe we can succeed with the new songs so well, that the fans of the first album, will also achieve a positive reaction from it.
OK, before I am kicked out right from the room by the promoter of yours here, I have an entirely different question: Is there a book that you would recommend to our readers they may like?
Rob: What has impressed me recently, "Born To Run was" by Christopher McDougall. I've always hated running, and wanted to never start in life. The book has changed my opinion about it but it's very nice and I have to relate it prior to the coming tours a little. The book describes how people can push themselves to ever greater achievements and I was very impressed.
Mike: I was impressed last "Free" by Chris Anderson very much. Everyone who plays in a band and his material needs or wants to promote itself, should have read that. It is about how to use technology and especially the Internet for his own purposes. I am interested in such things always very much. For independent bands it's an absolute must!
