LinkinMark has alerted me to a great interview with Mike and Chester from a London hotel, talking about "A Thousand Suns", the Moscow show and more. We usually don't post band interviews here but I liked this one a lot and I will post good ones, so here's this one conducted recently.

""When you come out of the gate with a record like Hybrid Theory, from a business point of view it's really dumb not to keep on doing that," Bennington says, all smiles, his big, black earrings and tattooed arms the only visual signs of his nu-metal past. "But we aren't a manufacturer. We are artists, and we've gone philosophically back to where we were writing music before we sold a record. When we were excited about a song, not because … "

Rapper and multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda butts in: " … This is going to be a hit!""

Check out the full interview here.

What do you think?

Great interview!

Very interesting, sincere and touching!

Thanks for the link

Wow, this was really interesting. I think, this is the first time I've seen a interview that goes into their past that much. Pretty intense.

really interesting

Cool interview! That went way deep, probably the first interview I read all the way through haha. It always worries me when Chester says he doesn't want to scream. I guess its the fact I feel like that's just him. At concerts when he yells its just like holy crap thats awesome. But I also realize he has an amazing voice.

Great interview!

best interview i read so far! its really really amazing

I loved this interview, one of the best I've read I think

Great interview, but... "That didn't help build bonds with the rest of the band – who were more into pot and booze, and had no idea their frontman would be sitting on the tour bus tripping."

I was unaware that the other members of the band smoked pot

I re-read that part few times, thinking that I misunderstood something there...

Great interview. It's one of the best in one line with the Kerrang one from 2008, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah that one was really good. That's where Chester went REALLY in depth with his past right? Second best LP interview I've read outside of that Kerrang one where Chester told all.

great interview!

Really interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

It took me mins to read, since i have a bad english. But WOW, an awesome interview.

tl;dr

Great interview.

Awesome interview.

Didn't know about some of that about the band's past....

Great interview!
I'm soo happy they memorized our flashmob! No matter whoever said whatever about it.

Quite an open interview. Very good reading.
Thanks for sharing the link

Loved the interview. Great job on the flash mob being noticed!

Do you have a link?

I fucking knew the band smoked pot. It sucks that they're older now and probably don't dabble as often (who knows though, they are from Cali ) but I've still got high hopes for a nice relaxing smoke out with the guys someday.

I would bet Mike, Pho, Chester where the ones who smoked, while brad and joe and rob drank heavly

I dunno. Brad has the build of a pot smoker. Dresses like one too.

It's a shame interviews like this probably go unnoticed to people who aren't hardcore fans. It would probably change their perspective on LP's change in direction. Too many people call it selling out, which is pretty ignorant of them.

the word selling out pisses me off because ignorant people use to it, to try to think they know what music is and try to be "hip"

You know, I can handle that they were into pot and even alcohol, in fact it doesn't surprise me even though I see these guys as saints (even though I know that's not true). But there is one OTHER "rockstar" stereotype I wonder about them.....And it makes me wondering. :/ But then I don't think I want to know...It wouldn't surprise for a past thing but I don't know about now. And I probably shouldn't be talking about it anyway.

There you go > http://www.lptimes.com/news2008/jan/news01272008.html

Wow. That was intense...

Thanks for the link.

Yeah, really intense...
No prob

http://streetdate.radio.com/2010/09/...thousand-suns/
I think this is a really good interview on a similar note as to the one posted in OP.
Especially the middle part of the first video. Love it

i'm not surprised about they use pot and booze, they are artists, and they toured with snoop dogg

Read the interview- still think the sold out to a certain extent. I understand changing; I do not understand completely abandoning your roots and original fanbase.

How can you possibly say that they sold out? Selling out would mean releasing Hybrid Theory every year cuz thats their most successful album! I think if they sold out their sales would have increased instead of decreasing

THIS

Is this some kind of mistake because seriously I didn't think they were the type.

The new metal sound was no longer popular after Meteora hence the change. What music are they making now, soft rock? I wonder why. Because it's now popular.

Lady Gaga, Bieber, Nicki Minaj and hip-hop is what's popular. I no longer listen to the radio anymore because the ones I get in clear are all the above mentioned and nothing else. I have heard Linkin Park only on rock-only stations - even ATS stuff.
Basically look at it like this:
Popular stuff, all those clubbers go out, hear those songs, and:


LP stuff, you'd have a hard time doing the same.


Wasn't it said in the interview about them working with Rick Rubin for album 5 that HT and Meteora were to get their name out there and lay the foundation, Minutes to Midnight was to start experimenting and discovering they can produce music different than the first two albums, and ATS was the first album after that transition, where they did what they wanted to do.


Soft rock is Eagles, etc. LP will always be that melting pot of different elements of music.

Chester actually says here that the band didn't smoke. XP http://www.lptimes.com/news2008/jan/kerrang_jan2008_09.jpg

Maybe, the band was afraid to come out and say that they did. Besides Chester, the rest of the band is very secretive and private with their lives, while Chester is very open. I'm not sure though. I know that Rob had a dark past with drugs and I know that Mike drinks, for sure. I read somewhere that Mike passed out drunk on stage once from drinking dixie cups full of beer. And I know that Rob did from many interviews about it.

when in fact they are anti- selling out

cause if they were sellouts they'd be making more money, but they are making less money so they are anti-sellouts.


(i just wish they weren't anti-sellouts though)


I hear WFTE on this one station that plays more pop music than any other genre

And sorry for double post

Nice interview !

Lately we had great interviews, that's awesome I hope it'll go on !

Thanks for the link, but it doesn't work for some reason.

I wouldn't say their stuff is soft rock. I would rather hear hard rock not soft rock. I hate almost all of today's rock because it is too soft, but if LP was then I would hate their new new stuff and I don't.

Hum, I'm not surprised the band used to smoke pot and I'm even sure some of them continue to do it from time to time. There is a video somewhere on youtube when you can see Mike hanging out with the GBC crew, and he looks so high! ahah

I wonder what drugs Chester did during the times MTM was being recorded then. Cuz I know he was an alcoholic and smoked weed, but judging by this interview, the rest of the band did as well. In the issue of Inked that he did an interview, he said he liked to do ecstasy, shrooms, cocaine and acid, maybe that's what he means when he was 'tripping' out while the rest of the band drank and smoked pot.