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Band, Origins, The Album, and Touring
THE BAND
"The biggest misconception about us is that we're just a rock band," describes Linkin Park's guitarist Brad Delson. "We think our music is a cross-section of many genres; a hybrid of what the six of us have grown up on." The title of the band's debut album and its original band name, Hybrid Theory, describes both the six-piece's artistic goals and its approach to making music. Linkin Park's sound, a melting pot of heavy alternative rock, hip-hop, and electronic flourishes, is utterly their own, an accomplishment strengthened by the band's remarkably powerful, organic songwriting. But almost everything about Linkin Park has been unforced, including their Southern California origins.
ORIGINS
The band saw its beginnings in emcee/vocalist Mike Shinoda's small bedroom studio, where he and Delson recorded the band's first material in 1996. The two had attended high school together, where they met the band's drummer, Rob Bourdon. Shinoda hooked up with DJ Joseph Hahn while studying illustration at Art Center College in Pasadena. Meanwhile, attending UCLA, Delson shared an apartment with bassist Phoenix, who left the band after college and returned a year later. The final piece of the puzzle was singer Chester Bennington, a transplanted Arizona native who started making records when he was 16. "When I was two, I used to run around singing Foreigner songs--there's tapes of me doing that...Since I learned how to talk I've been telling everybody I was gonna grow up to be a singer." laughs Bennington.
THE ALBUM
The combination of Bennington's rich, mammoth vocal style with Shinoda's rapid-fire emceeing helps to define Linkin Park's sound. "I think one of Chester and Mike's goals is to be as integrated as possible," offers Phoenix. "Although the styles we're mixing can be very different, we want the combination to feel natural--that is a big part of our band's identity." Weaving influences as diverse as Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, Aphex Twin, and The Roots into a unified whole, Linkin Park "want everything to come together without feeling forced," explains Shinoda. "As part of the writing process, I record everyone directly into a computer to best integrate our digital and live elements. We spend countless hours mixing and matching parts until we get the right combinations and composition."
The band immersed itself in the writing process until the spring of 2000, when they inked with Warner Bros. Records and immediately went into the studio. To help record their work, they enlisted producer Don Gilmore (Pearl Jam, Apex Theory, Sugar Ray). "We met with a lot of people and had a very difficult time choosing a producer," says Bennington. "But Don, aside from making things sound good, stood out as someone who could really push us to work harder as songwriters." The end result is an album that is as well-crafted and melodic as it is confrontational, with a strong lyrical message. "Chester and I write about universal emotions, whether it's feeling insignificant, optimistic, or frustrated," Shinoda describes. "We write about everyday life, because sometimes it's good to know there are other people going through the same things that you are." These lyrics, along with the diverse instrumentation in which they are embedded, result in a powerful musical statement: Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory.
TOURING
Following the completion of Hybrid Theory and the return of Phoenix, the band has played incessantly, introducing crowds worldwide to their explosive live performance. "I've always wanted our show to be energetic," says Hahn. "We use drum pads, samplers, and turntables with original vinyl to perform all the sample parts live on stage, which I think brings an exciting uniqueness to the songs." The energy and tightness of the band's performance, on tours with Deftones, P.O.D., and Papa Roach, and as a headliner itself, has secured Linkin Park a strong foundation of dedicated fans worldwide, and helped propel the band's record sales into the millions.
When asked about the secret behind the Linkin Park's rapid success, Bourdon responds, "Ever since the beginning, we've always tried to maintain a strong relationship with our fans. From our close-knit street team family, to our videos, to designing quality merchandise, to our hands-on website activity with www.linkinpark.com, we stay involved in order to put our fans first." Linkin Park's reputation for being fan-oriented is best exemplified in their dedication to interacting with listeners at shows: the band obsessively sign hundreds of autographs at every concert. When asked about this phenomenon, Shinoda explains, "It's just a way of giving back. Our fans have helped us to realize a dream we didn't know was possible." It's taken Linkin Park five years to become an overnight success, and in the process, they've proven that a fresh combination of talent, unwavering dedication to craft, and pure artistic vision can, as Bennington describes, "get you through anything and help you realize your dreams."
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YOUR WEB STUFF!
Xero was formed in 1996 by Mike and Brad.
Xero was made up of: Mike, Brad, Joe, Rob, Phoenix and Mark.
Mark left the band before they were called "Hybrid Theory" because things didn't work out, but he has always been a really good friend of theirs.
Mark is now Taproot's manager.
The guys played around for fun and started getting attention from friends. So they set up a show at LA's Whisky and got signed to Zomba Music Publishing their 1st show. They were with the bands: System of a Down and SX-10.
They started getting serious from there but "labels weren't really catching on" so they changed a few things and were looking for a new singer. About 2 yrs later or so Chester joined the band. That's when they changed their name to "Hybrid Theory".
Chester had previously been in the band Grey Daze which had done pretty well and had some offers. He met Mike and the guys through mutual friends in the industry. They met through their law firm Miniet Phelps and Phelps.
The firm told "xero" that they had a guy in Phoenix (Chester) who might be good for the job and sent Chester a demo. He was asked to sing/make up something to the demo.
He really wanted the job so he went to a recording studio to do it professionally. Within 3 days he had finished recording it.The guys were surprised when Chester called and said he was done and would fly to S. California because it was his birthday. He supposedly left people at his party or birthday and worked on the tape. They asked to hear the tape over the phone first. Once they heard it,they were blown away and told him to fly over.
Once Chester was in the band, they focused on making demos and used their connections at Zomba to get their demos out to people who would listen.
Eventually after a buzz started, Warner Brothers was interested and signed them to their label. Then "Hybrid Theory" changed their name to "Linkin Park" to avoid legal hassles w/ another band who had the same name.
They chose "Linkin Park" because Chester used to drive by Lincoln Park in Santa Monica, CA (which was a middle class neighborhood where lots of homeless people hung out) after practice and it grabbed his attention & the guys in the band liked how it sounded. They changed the spelling so that they could buy the domain; lincolnpark.com was too expensive. They also think it's cool because there are so many Lincoln Parks that everywhere they play people think they are a local band.
Also while Phoenix was with the band when they were "Xero" he left the band at some point to tour with another band Snax. He is not the bassist on the Hybrid Theory ep, Kyle Christner was bass. Once Phoenix finished up with the Snax tour he came back as a permanent member of Linkin Park. Who knows what happened to Kyle..? So basically Phoenix was the bassist for "Xero", Kyle was the bassist for "Hybrid Theory" and Scott was just a temporary bassist for linkin park until Phoenix came back. (Scott can be seen in the 'One Step Closer' video).
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