Mike Shinoda says new Linkin Park line-up has “easily the best culture we’ve had”
The band divided fans when they announced their comeback in September
by Liberty Dunworth · NMEMike Shinoda has spoken about the “culture” of the new Linkin Park line-up, and said it feels like the “best we’ve had”.
The band announced their comeback last month with a livestream event, where they revealed the addition of Emily Armstrong (formerly of Dead Sara) as their new co-vocalist. She came as the replacement for the late frontman, Chester Bennington.
Drummer Colin Brittain joined the band too, following the departure of founding member Rob Bourdon. Founding guitarist Brad Delson is also absent from the group’s comeback tour, but is still working with them behind the scenes – including participating in the creation of new music.
The announcement of the new vocalist became divisive among fans after it emerged that she seemingly had ties to Scientology and convicted rapist Danny Masterson. Armstrong has since issued a statement “to clear the air”.
Now, after playing a series of live shows with the new line-up and sharing a couple of new tracks, Mike Shinoda has spoken about how it feels to be part of the band in 2024, as well as the “culture” between the members.
“The dynamic of everybody in the band, but especially those of us that have the most history together, the dynamic is so good. It’s really good. To me, it’s easily the best culture we’ve had,” he began on the From Zero podcast, going on to clarify how that wasn’t a jab at any former members.
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“I’m not saying that as a knock on the old line-up. I’m saying that specifically about the growth of Brad and Joe [Hahn]and Dave [Farrell] and me. Everybody is in a really good place and part of that is maybe the gratitude of being able to do it again,” he added.
“What’s your favourite thing to do in the world, and now imagine you get that taken away. You can’t do it. It’s gone. And then living in that for a while and then coming back later and being like, ‘Ok, guess what? You can have it back.’ That’s a fucking crazy feeling.”
Later in the discussion, Shinoda took time to reflect on his relationship with Bennington – particularly the point when he realised just how well the two of them worked together.
“With Chester, I had another human being where I could feed him ideas and he could bring them to life like nobody else. It was amazing. And I didn’t know any better,” he explained. “I hadn’t had very much experience with anybody else so I was just like, ‘Oh this is just what it’s like to have a really good singer and be like what do you think about this?’ Here’s an idea and you both try it and then you go high five. That’s great.”
“When I started working with other people, I started to realise it’s harder to find. That’s unusual.”
As they first embarked on their recent run of live shows, Shinoda explained that this version of Linkin Park was “not about erasing the past”. “We are thrilled to be back out here… it is about starting this new chapter into the future, and coming out here for each and every one of you,” he said.
Around the same time, Bennington’s mother admitted she felt “betrayed” by the new line-up. This was something Bennington’s son Jaime echoed too, having hit out at Shinoda for “betraying the trust” of Linkin Park fans.
Meanwhile, Shinoda has spoken about why Linkin Park chose to keep their band name for the relaunched line-up. He then said he is “not sure” if they will make new recordings of older songs that feature Bennington – who died in 2017.
In a statement, he wrote: “We feel really empowered with this new line-up and the vibrant and energised new music we’ve made together. We’re weaving together the sonic touchpoints we’ve been known for and still exploring new ones.”
Bennington’s widow Talinda has expressed her approval of Armstrong joining the band.
Linkin Park’s comeback album ‘From Zero’ is set to arrive on November 15 and can be pre-ordered here.