When did Chester really join "Hybrid Theory"?

[Geki]

Chester joined in March 1999. There is no questioning it. Mike just doesn't know wtf he is talking about anymore.

[Numbrocker]

did you listen to the whole thing? because i skipped here and there.. and he didn't said nothing about the year or how old he was. i guess he joined in 1999, but i want to be 100% sure.

I did he said, "I joined Linkin Park in early 1999, and we released our album 2000" At 11:55.

 

It's really fantastic interview if you're a Chester fan.

[Skipees]

I did he said, "I joined Linkin Park in early 1999, and we released our album 2000" At 11:55.

 

It's really fantastic interview if you're a Chester fan.

ok, so this thing is a fact.

 

now we need to check when HTEP really released, LPU 1998 tracks (/how Mike mistake 3 times), and the thing with the 1998 show (which i don't really care, and everybody think (includes me) that it's just a mistake).

Edited May 31, 2013 by Skipees

[Geki]

ok, so this thing is a fact.

 

now we need to check when HTEP really released, LPU 1998 tracks (/how Mike mistake 3 times), and the thing with the 1998 show (which i don't really care, and everybody think (includes me) that it's just a mistake).

Mike probably just has it in his head that 1998 was the time for whatever reason. Notes for 'Slip' from LPU11 said ''One of the first songs we made when Chester joined the band'', so it was probably from like March or April of 1999. Mike just has his info wrong.

[lgr]

Chester joined the band in 1984.

it would certainly explain the Sweet Child O' Mine covers...

[[AndOne]]

Mike also said that And One was the first song they wrote together when Chester joined.

[Skipees]

Mike also said that And One was the first song they wrote together when Chester joined.

about Blue:

This song and "Slip" were done in sessions leading up to the recording of Hybrid Theory

about Slip:

It was in the first batch of songs (with "Blue") that we worked on together when Chester joined the band.

so Slip and Blue are from 1999.

 

 

but maybe Mike recorded his parts in 1998 (when they was without singer/with Mark), and when Chester joined he recorded his parts, and this is why they tagged as 1998?

 

Slip and Blue really sounds more Mark-ish than Chester-ish.

Edited June 1, 2013 by Skipees

[Astat]

about Blue:

about Slip:

 

so Slip and Blue are from 1999.

 

 

but maybe Mike recorded his parts in 1998 (when they was without singer/with Mark), and when Chester joined he recorded his parts, and this is why they tagged as 1998?

 

Slip and Blue really sounds more Mark-ish than Chester-ish.

Slip is actually credited to Mark Wakefield, so we know that one was written prior to Chester joining. I find it hard to believe that songs like that would essentially be Xero demos that Chester just put his vocals on later though, because all of the Hybrid Theory-era demos with Chester are pretty uniform in their sound quality, like they were all done at the same location with the same gear. Anything Xero recorded would have been way before they got a record deal, so it probably would've been done on Mike's 4-track cassette recorder at home like the Xero tape was. I know Coal sounds way better than the Xero demos, but that's also a song that could've easily been made entirely with a computer/sampler and wouldn't have needed to be tracked "live."

[Skipees]

I find it hard to believe that songs like that would essentially be Xero demos that Chester just put his vocals on later though, because all of the Hybrid Theory-era demos with Chester are pretty uniform in their sound quality, like they were all done at the same location with the same gear.

this doesn't contradict what i said, if Chester recorded his parts in the same studio. they were live in the same area before Chester joining and after, it's logical to think that they recorded at the same place.

 

---

 

i'm wondering about the time between Mark leaving to Chester Joining, what they did meanwhile? they wrote something? they recorded something? there are demos with another singer/s? (not Mark or Chester). but we don't have who to ask about it. maybe we should ask Rob.

Edited June 1, 2013 by Skipees

[[AndOne]]

Just like Astat said, that they recorded demos of those songs at home or whatever is much more likely than recording the songs in the studio and then go back again for Chester's vocals. Studio time is expensive, it sounds to me like that they scrapped all their money together to pay for the studio to record these songs (APFMH, Blue and Slip I assume).

[Skipees]

i didn't think about the money, i always assumed that some of them are from affluent families.

[onionmaster]

My theory is that So Far Away, Slip and Blue were recorded in 1998 whilst Wakefield was in the band but never released as a demo tape because Wakefield left. They instead would have used this material to shop around to potential singers, but struggled to find a singer until 1999.

 

It clearly wasn't the same Xero demo tape we all know because Chester mentions it had vocal tracks on one side and instrumental tracks on the other side. It might have been the same tracks and then instrumental versions of the same, but I kind of doubt they'd shop around year-old material.

 

In particular it sounds to me like Mark is on the chorus of Slip with Chester (Chester sings the high parts, Mark the low ones). I don't think Chester would go to the trouble of doubletracking his voice at that stage and it doesn't sound like Mike.

 

I mean that doesn't really explain the fact that Chester said he recorded his vocals onto the instrumental tracks, but maybe he tried it with the vocal tracks to see how his voice fit in?

 

It seems two months is an incredibly short amount of time to record an EP and other demos.

 

So basically I think these are 1998 Xero demos but the Chester vocals are 1999.

Edited November 29, 2013 by onionmaster

[Astat]

My theory is that So Far Away, Slip and Blue were recorded in 1998 whilst Wakefield was in the band but never released as a demo tape because Wakefield left. They instead would have used this material to shop around to potential singers, but struggled to find a singer until 1999.

 

It clearly wasn't the same Xero demo tape we all know because Chester mentions it had vocal tracks on one side and instrumental tracks on the other side. It might have been the same tracks and then instrumental versions of the same, but I kind of doubt they'd shop around year-old material.

 

In particular it sounds to me like Mark is on the chorus of Slip with Chester (Chester sings the high parts, Mark the low ones). I don't think Chester would go to the trouble of doubletracking his voice at that stage and it doesn't sound like Mike.

 

I mean that doesn't really explain the fact that Chester said he recorded his vocals onto the instrumental tracks, but maybe he tried it with the vocal tracks to see how his voice fit in?

 

It seems two months is an incredibly short amount of time to record an EP and other demos.

 

So basically I think these are 1998 Xero demos but the Chester vocals are 1999.

Mike has stated that Slip and Blue (as well as the LPU 11 version of Esaul) were recorded during the first studio session the band did after Chester joined. Mark's name in the songwriting credits only has significance in terms of when those songs were written, not when they were recorded. The low part in So Far Away is Mike, 100%. I don't believe Mark even has a writing credit on that one.

[onionmaster]

Mike has stated that Slip and Blue (as well as the LPU 11 version of Esaul) were recorded during the first studio session the band did after Chester joined. Mark's name in the songwriting credits only has significance in terms of when those songs were written, not when they were recorded. The low part in So Far Away is Mike, 100%. I don't believe Mark even has a writing credit on that one.

I figured it was possible for them to have been worked on during the 1999 session but not necessarily be entirely new recordings, perhaps for budget reasons. I know they often kept the programming, for example. It's not inconceivable that they took the Wakefield vocal versions and got Chester to record proper multitracked vocals during those sessions, which were as they put it, a 'warm up' for proper Hybrid Theory sessions.

 

I know it's Mike doing the low parts in So Far Away, but it sounds like Mark in Slip.

 

I can't imagine Mike would mistake Chester as joining the band in 1998 given how good his memory is. Similarly, I can't imagine Chester would remember what demo tape it was he actually received (unless it's been mentioned).

 

I mean if we go with the theory that they rewrote parts of "Blue" into "Crawling" and rewrote "So Far Away" into "Carousel" then the speed at which they recorded new tracks makes more sense.

 

Have asked Mike on Twitter, if he responds I'll update.

[Skipees]

I can't imagine Mike would mistake Chester as joining the band in 1998 given how good his memory is.

For Mike everything happened in 1998, they even released the Hybrid Theory and Meteora in 1998 lol.

 

Have asked Mike on Twitter, if he responds I'll update.

Read Astat signature.

[Astat]

I figured it was possible for them to have been worked on during the 1999 session but not necessarily be entirely new recordings, perhaps for budget reasons. I know they often kept the programming, for example. It's not inconceivable that they took the Wakefield vocal versions and got Chester to record proper multitracked vocals during those sessions, which were as they put it, a 'warm up' for proper Hybrid Theory sessions.

 

I know it's Mike doing the low parts in So Far Away, but it sounds like Mark in Slip.

 

I can't imagine Mike would mistake Chester as joining the band in 1998 given how good his memory is. Similarly, I can't imagine Chester would remember what demo tape it was he actually received (unless it's been mentioned).

 

I mean if we go with the theory that they rewrote parts of "Blue" into "Crawling" and rewrote "So Far Away" into "Carousel" then the speed at which they recorded new tracks makes more sense.

 

Have asked Mike on Twitter, if he responds I'll update.

Anything recorded during Mark's time in the band was done on Mike's Tascam 4-track recorder in his bedroom, which recorded directly to cassette. Save for programming done entirely on a computer/MPC samples, they wouldn't have had any means to transfer Xero's multitrack recordings into Pro Tools sessions later on. Other than stuff like Coal which consists entirely of samples and the LPU9 version of Stick and Move which is stripped down to just the beat and synth loop, anything leftover from the Xero era would have had to be re-recorded from scratch after Chester joined the band. It's basically impossible for a recording with both Mark and Chester's vocals on it to even exist. All of the singing vocals on Slip are definitely Chester.

 

Chester joined the band in the spring of 1999. He recorded his audition tape on his 23rd birthday: March 20th, 1999. Xero's last known show with Mark was on December 12th, 1998. The notion of Chester joining in 1998 literally did not exist until the LPU11 CD was released, which erroneously labeled Slip and Blue as having been recorded in 1998. If you were to look at any "LP History" summary on any website prior to like 2010, the story of Chester joining in 1999 was never brought into question whatsoever. This was all discussed and clarified in this thread: http://lplive.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=10025 As well as in this interview with Chester: http://lplive.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=9888 And from all of the Xero show flyers Anna Shinoda posted a few months ago: http://lplive.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=10028

 

This really doesn't need to be clarified any further. Chester joined in 1999, Mike is wrong when he says otherwise, and any demo with Chester's vocals on it that's labeled as being from 1998 is incorrectly titled. Also, So Far Away has nothing to do with Carousel (I've never even seen that idea mentioned before...it DOES have a drum loop that was reused for Soundtrack though).

[Justin]

I can't imagine Mike would mistake Chester as joining the band in 1998 given how good his memory is.

 

 

 

 

Is that sarcasm? lol

[thedamian58c]

"It's hard to remember, but I'll get to the bottom of it. I'll bet that 1999 is correct though!"

[[AndOne]]

Remember that he was still thinking that Chester joined in 1998 when those tracks made it on the LPU CD, as well as the wrong year on the HCT merch (lol). He had no reason to doubt his memory until someone pointed it out, if he had looked it up it would be probably right. Even official short biographies are simply wrong. The iTunes bio says 1998 for Chester and the good old 320 shows in 2001 myth, which is absolutely impossible.

[GlassCastles]

I think the "320 Shows in 2001" myth is badly worded. What they probably meant was that they were away from home or on tour for about 320 days.

[[AndOne]]

I think it all comes down to this statement here:

For the next 12 months, if you wanted to get in touch with members of Linkin Park, you would have to have scoured the globe for them. In the 365 days following the release of Hybrid Theory, Farrell estimates that the band played a shade over 300 gigs. “We were averaging about five or six shows a week and then travelling too. I think I only spent about 30 nights in my own bed that year.”

from http://www.tom-bryant.com/linkin-park-kerr...tom-bryant.html

 

so this is a purely estimated number by Phoenix. I don't know when exactly he said this, let's assume it was at the end of 2001, early 2002. Even if he spent only 30 nights in his own bed doesn't mean they played over 300 shows. This isn't bad wording on his part it's simply a wrong statement. They were doing really a lot of tour but 300 is way too much. 300 shows in 2001 is indeed bad wording and a changed quote, even within a year is not true either.

It's still used to this day, it's a very impressive statement for the extensive touring that they did back then but if you think about for just one moment it can possibly be true.

 

Just some quick math: A year has 365 days, 52 weeks. Let's say they did 6 shows week, which is unrealistic enough, makes it 312 shows.

Let's say 5 days a week which is still a lot! but possible and which they indeed did sometimes, would make it 260 shows.

And that is still without all the national holidays (christmas etc. when they were never touring) all the international traveling and the simple fact that you need some room to breath between tours.

It just can't be done.

 

While Phoenix estimates over 300, the itunes bio says over 320!

 

If you take the "365 days following the release" literally you get about 160 shows, which is the half lol.

 

I know I'm beating a dead horse here and I posted something similar before but I just felt like mentioning it again ^^

 

TL;DR: just like Mike, Phoenix has no idea what he's talking about

[hahninator]

Mike has stated that Slip and Blue (as well as the LPU 11 version of Esaul) were recorded during the first studio session the band did after Chester joined.

I hope this isn't a dumb question but is And One considered to be from that session too? Since they said it was the first song they wrote after Chester joined the band? Slip, Blue, Esaul and And One are the first four they wrote with Chester, right?

[Astat]

I hope this isn't a dumb question but is And One considered to be from that session too? Since they said it was the first song they wrote after Chester joined the band? Slip, Blue, Esaul and And One are the first four they wrote with Chester, right?

It's hard to say what order things went in in terms of writing vs. recording. Slip/Blue/Esaul were all originally written when Mark was still in the band, and I believe the first sessions they did with Chester would've simply been them recording/re-recording existing material with their new singer. Those demos were probably done within the first couple months after Chester joined, with the HTEP recording done shortly afterwards.

 

I've kind of split the early LP history into 5 phases, I'm not totally sure on all of the timeframes but I have a lot better idea of things now than I would have a year ago:

 

Phase 1: late 1996-1998, possibly VERY early 1999 - Xero with Mark. Xero demo tape recorded, first few shows performed, discovery by Jeff Blue and subsequent Zomba publishing deal.

 

Phase 2: March 1999-May 1999 (roughly) - Chester joins, band briefly still known as Xero. The LPUTV video "Perth Jam 1 - Xero Reborn" sheds some light on this, as Phoenix is playing a guitar part from an old Xero demo that Chester remembers singing on when they sent some early demo work to Don Gilmore. This basically confirms that Phoenix and Chester were in the band at the same time for a brief period before Phoenix left to tour with the Snax. Demos such as Slip, Blue, and Esaul recorded during this period.

 

Phase 3: June 1999-December 1999 - "HTEP era." Phoenix leaves the band and is temporarily replaced by Kyle Christner, band officially changes name to Hybrid Theory. HTEP recorded/released during this time period, as well as many additional demos. Band plays occasional live shows during this period, and is signed to Warner at some point before the end of the year.

 

Phase 4: January 2000-May 2000 - "HT recording era." Demos begin to transition into final album sessions. Band doesn't really have a bass player during this period, with Brad and session musicians handling bass tracks during recording sessions.

 

Phase 5: Late May/Early June 2000-Late October 2000 - The "Scott era." Band officially changes name to Linkin Park sometime between 5/27 and 6/9, Hybrid Theory album sessions finished by mid-July. Band starts touring with Scott Koziol on bass, until Phoenix returns sometime in late October (unknown exact date, sometime between 10/11 and 10/24, as Scott played with them in Springfield but Phoenix was with them on the day of Hybrid Theory's release when the band was in Seattle).

[onionmaster]

LP History

This is great.

 

I was wondering though, why do some demo CDs include demos of Carousel and Part Of Me as well as the usual And One, when they are supposed to date from after the HTEP was released?

[lpliveusername]

This is great.

 

I was wondering though, why do some demo CDs include demos of Carousel and Part Of Me as well as the usual And One, when they are supposed to date from after the HTEP was released?

I think the band wanted to include those songs on the debut album.