Linkin Park | Mike Shinoda & Emily Armstrong, New Album "From Zero", Chester Bennington

[Music] I think it's been you know it's been a it's been a long time coming like you know 20 years of work and they finally got a shot the right the right hoodie the right jacket or whatever and the headphones do you find yourself fighting like things like that that are basic like quote unquote like famous person in a band type person necessity like styling I love that you're leading you you know I don't know you well but we know each other just enough that you know that that how ridiculous that is like right like

you know that I'm like so not that person like I will roll it I do not give a [ __ ] to like roll into an interview in my pajamas I'm really actually fine with that it's my fault so yes it's weird I it like the it elevates everyone like no I don't agree because when some get makeup you have to have something but part that's part of it is like Okay so we had this whole conversation about this um I think before the first what was like the fir did we do the the video

first of the photos so the album first which one came first was it emptiness machine or was it the photo the photo shoot and they and they they talked about oh yeah you're gonna you know this is kind of the setup of what what we're going to look like and you know our we worked with James mention a million times James is going to shoot it and then we started getting into like makeup and stuff which you know bands don't want you to know but they they all get like a little something like just to

cover up the pimples or the like sleep under your eye you know bags under your eye um but it's usually really almost nothing and um yeah so I was like I was saying the M like oh we need like proper hair and makeup now like how long do you take to do hair and what I don't know what you said well like live I do my own obviously like when we're on the road and stuff but it's just like times where it's like filmed I'm just like it's good to do a little in the morning

because yeah cuz it's like cameras and stuff they do they add something dude they do and they're like it's super high fidelity and they're seeing everything so it's like nice to get a little something um I'm speaking for her and cuz for me I was like no but yeah now I'm like oh she's going to like look great she's going to have like proper makeup done and if I'm not then all of a sudden I look like crazy yeah so everybody's got I don't want to look in like looking like wait can I can I

say unhoused like I'm say well you look very housed thank you by the way hi beautiful human I'm Zach that's Dan uh uh that's uh Mike and Emily are here Lincoln Parks the very house very I like that as a as a compliment like you're looking so housed today put together right like Studios too looks like your head yeah honestly the studios over time have been nicer and uh you came to one of our nicest Studios ever the first time we ever met was you that room was crazy like the one right down the the

last one at Amazon you came to and then you came right down the street one time the brick wall maybe you remember it was literally in Culver City yeah long long time ago did you like that room I I did it was bigger yeah had depth to it yeah it was you know I don't know we we're going to have a new studio the next time you guys I don't remember it well but I'm also like I've done enough interviews in I mean just in all kinds of different spaces I don't I don't have an

opinion I don't go in like critiquing the decor you what I'm saying like I don't care I don't care it's about the content not about the I do I look forward to your detailed review after this please and thank you you're welcome I'm so excited to have you guys here we I'm excited for you to have us here can we just talk like this is a different this is a fun energy yeah how did you all meet how did we mean do we tell the truth I mean I think yeah well I mean here's my

version of it was that I I believe it was actually our drummer raw but it could have been somebody else because I think a couple different people said uh that you should meet Emily um that she she's she's not horrible and uh I think you would get along and it wasn't through I don't think it was really at the time I don't think it was through the lens of you should meet her because I think she could be like the singer for Lincoln Park it was more just like she's cool she's a great singer singer

she's and and oh yeah at the time it was the when you when you reached out it was around the time of that yeah for the the Hollywood the the the celebration of life the Chester show and I I got a little like I was like oh I'd really like to do that and I was being vocal with friends and stuff and they're like why don't you ask and I was like oh right I mean but like okay they've got everybody I was like who the [ __ ] why why would they want me but

I asked but it was a little too late um and they got somebody got word of it at some point but it was just like yeah we already have it all I I almost and and when she had told me that later and I was like I at first I was like I don't remember that at all and then something jogged my memory that that that we were like literally it was like the week of or something like we had already we were already rehearsing all the songs so we we were just like had so

much on our plates to like get that show together that we didn't want to mess with what was what we were working with with that which actually in retrospect was a lucky I think it was lucky that it didn't work out that way because by not having Emily present in that um kind of space that later when we got together and started making new things and getting to know each other and stuff I think it was more of a blank slate can we talk about the first session like what was it like when you actually

started creating music together like I mean do you remember the first session because it started pre-co right yeah yeah yeah 2019 um I think it was you reached out because a couple people were like hey and you were like I I need to meet her she's got so many so many friends she's got a very she's like a Kevin Bacon no what is that is that right six degre yeah is six degrees it's like three degrees of Emily Armstrong to be fair you are also I mean you're on Hiatus now but like dude dead Sarah

is incredible and your performance style like the the genre of music there is alignment here and also like your presence is yeah it's really infectious and you've been writing songs since you were 15 right or 11 or super young younger yeah yeah but in the band around 15 I think she was 15 and I was like 17 when we started and you had also been signed to Warner so like there is like a lot of universe and connective tissue you have no idea exist the amount of like serendipitous moments were it's like I should have

written every one of them down but they've just continued to happen it still continues to happen in like the most like the smallest detail to like the big like you're talking about like with the Warner the more the more obvious ones but then there's like the ones that are like the under like the things that I would only notice you know things that I took snapshots of and then somehow it's just aligned in this way for I think both like for this band you know where they were and then where I was and then our

how our paths just like slowly but surely kind of really just came together it wasn't like a combustion or it wasn't like a hey like maybe like trying to get somebody to do something it was just like this nice slow coming togethers of like universes and it just became do you remember your first interaction with linga Park music of course yeah I mean I yeah hybri Theory absolutely One Step Closer was like everything you know um that scream in like or not scream but like you know shut up when I'm talking to you that was

like oh my God I found my my um I want to say motto but what is it like my like this is this is what like my angst as a you know pre-teen or teen I was maybe 12 and I was like this is it this is [ __ ] it like and then of course I I was so obsessed with that album and I was starting a band at the time and I was in a band and I was like this is what I want to do this is this is how I want to

sing I like I was like he could sing and scream like yeah cool you know and I didn't realize later that it's like yeah a lot of people can't do that it's an art form yeah but I've learned like at at that stage in my life I was like that's what I'm going to do so it was like I practiced in learned On My Own by listening to people like Lincoln Park you know what I mean and learned and was in a band and you know obviously trying every kind of genre for many many many

years but that album was everything at what point do you like no I have chills because it is it's like this really this thing that like something that's had so much influence on you as a human being now becomes something that you have this honor and I mean d like it's it is a weight it's a responsibility it's a bunch of things and by just a testament to what you've created right and well I always I also like just to to add on like Emily well we we looked at it like we know that there's

that that idea of like you know it's a important like the singer of this band is an important role that um if we were to keep going we'd have to like solve I I you know to to try and to try and make it not so heavy on ourselves I would call it like a math problem like CU that to math to me it takes the emotion out of it a little bit it makes it feel doable and I'd be like yeah we just we don't have the math like in years ago we just did

the math didn't work out we didn't have the things we would need in order to keep going so the idea was you know yeah you got to figure out then you got to figure out the equation like what is the what do we need and it turns out among other things at least the stuff that's tangible like the things that I can point my finger at and say that's important is like obviously the talent Emily's like Talent as a vocalist versatility um but there's also like the emotional aspect like the do when she sings do

you feel like it's just like pouring out of her soul like cuz that is such a thing it's such an important part of the band's sound is having somebody who emotes that way that it doesn't feel performative and then most importantly what what most people don't even think about is do we all get along really well and do we like want to spend time together because we're going to be spending a bunch of time together in the studio and then getting on the road and so on so forth and what I what when friends of

mine ask now they're like you know how's it how's everything been going like now you've been on the road together you've done all these shows and you're really getting into the thick of it um how is everything going and these are friends that I can like say anything to I could tell them if it sucked and I I was like yeah you know the best one of the best things I notice is that like we'll be done with the rehearsal let's say it's like I don't know it's like 4:30 um rehearsal ended at like 4:

and we're still just like hanging out like we'll just sit around and hang out and I not even notice we're doing I to me it's like I don't even notice we're there and then all of a sudden I'm like oh I got to go home like we've been just sitting around and talking it's always the one person that's like oh [ __ ] I got to go yeah somebody and then it kind of breaks up the party a little bit right but I feel like that's like if not for that we would totally just like

sit around and hang out forever yeah which is a great that's such a good sign right like it feel was really nice absolutely well you want to be vulnerable and create and also like take like pave this path with people that you want to be around like being in a band is very much like having an extension of your family you have to spend the most time with one another you should enjoy it yeah bands are like these days so most artists that you see like if you look at your stuff that you're listening to

on you know your little playlist or whatever I started to think like like solo Solo solo artist duet like this this is two people this is three people and then beyond that like bands at least in my playlist of like modern music bands are really rare these days like that are coming out now and I think that part of it is because it's hard it's harder the more people you put into that equation the more um chances for like just differing opinions about things not even the personal stuff not even like oh we don't we

got to fight about a thing it's more like oh I think the band should be like this or I think the sound should be like this or I think we should look like this on stage and when you've got more people then you've got more people pulling in different directions potentially so it's it's pretty special to have in our case six people who are all pointed in generally the same or at least a really similar Direction it's like art is subjective one's career vision for themselves is personal you know so for it all to align

is oh yeah and I love being in a band I mean again we were talking about dead Sarah I was in dead sah for 20 years you know like I love it you get it yeah yeah and it's a lot of you know personal and professional relationships yeah but it's like the purpose there is so much greater you know and what we love to do that it's easy to kind of talk about you know what we need to just to get along you know and you know as long as you have that that purpose there

or like you know what you're doing or like it's about the music it's about you know there's something there there's a connection it's quite easy you know and I'm always pushing people to be in bands and I have been forever and I'm always like high-fiving people like just started a band I'm like [ __ ] yeah there's anything I could do to help it's like it's the greatest it's it's the greatest reward when it works you mentioned like this idea of having to tackle this whole thing like a math problem because the only way to

do that is by putting emotions aside yeah be like is that like a part of grieving or what what is that I don't think I think I think that I just you know were for me like defining things certain way like Words matter right like I I choose words that like when we're writing lyrics like every little detail is important and for me like you know when I when I call it a math problem I think that's just like a self-defense mechanism so that it doesn't feel as like scary totally um because emotions math is

finite like right so like like it's that's that's very doable to me and as we were like getting through it I Fe I think like um I think like mem was saying you know it came it came into Focus really gradually and really organically it didn't like just we didn't go out go all right today starting today we're going to reform the band to starting today we're going to find a singer like that that's like that's like leaving your apartment and saying starting tonight I'm going to find a spouse just like you're going to do

what that's a crazy thing to don't do that like why don't you go out and like see who's out there and hang out with some people and meet somebody and see if you get along like that's way better and by the way I'm I I think I'm I'm riing off of this because because this was actually our base player Dave's um kind of his he said that at one point like he made that analogy he he he described that analogy and I just thought that was so funny and so real that that yeah you don't

like like keep the pressure off yourself a little bit and like we'll just we'll just make music and we'll meet people and eventually if it's meant to be like we'll connect with those things we'll connect the right music we'll connect with the right people and we'll figure it out so in 2019 when you guys started working together were those Lincoln Park sessions or what were you working on then no no no it was just like uh I think the first thing we worked on was something I already had right I think the it was one

song that I already had and then we did another day where we just made something from scratch and I actually I liked right yeah did we do three days or was it just the two I think it was two yeah I think so and it was my old my old studio um and it was they're good like I like those tracks they're not they weren't like right for this record um but maybe someday people will hear them I don't know it wasn't until we came back and started writing again it was like oh it changed

a lot the songs that you'll hear on the album like it was just like something thing like I was ready and I think they were ready like whether we knew it or not it it was just let the music kind of speak and just being like whatever this whatever is going to happen from this it's going to be cool how'd you know well I I was a little more like I told I I've I was a little more of a Believer earlier because I got the most I had the most I spent the most time

with Emily so I was like yeah she's good she's like in all of the things I just described earlier like she's good and I think the guys are going to like her but I wantan to I I don't want to be pushy about it like I want to just like present what I think I know and let them react and so we just started doing some sessions and um I played them I I even did I tell you I even made them made them like a little very very short dead Sarah playlist little medley I

made I it was like it was only like five or six songs cuz I was like if I had sent them an album and asked them to pick through that I was like that's just forget it yeah I feel like they they might but it's like there's something less intimidating about like no like here's like an EP that I put together but it was specific to like it's specific to like these are songs that I know have a connection to our songs that if you hear if you hear these and then you start thinking about

one step closer and waiting for the end and different songs with different that require a different kind of singing the all of the variety of the band you're going to listen to this and go huh I could see that maybe that does work and so I started just giving them different pieces and saying am I crazy or is this like cool you know and and and I want to know what songs those are I can show you I think I still have the playlist I think I think I still have the playlist um and then

the big I think the big one big Turning Point like there were checkpoints where it was like oh this this conversation just took a step up and then and one of the big ones was kind of out of nowhere Joe we were sitting there talking about the new music that we were writing and we had like over a dozen songs at that point that we liked and EM had sung I think lead on one or like like a part like a chorus on one or two of them and sung backgrounds on a couple and that

was it at that point and Joe said we were it was just me and Joe and Dave and Joe was like do you think we could have do you think Emily would just sing could we just have her sing all of the stuff and he wasn't like being silly he was like serious he's like do you think we could demo like her voice as the lead like on certain songs like just just her on the whole song just to hear what that sounds like and I heard him say that I was like this dude's a

Believer he he's he's cuz she's going to do if if I know she'll be down to do it I know he's going to hear it and he's going to like it I positive so then I was like okay this is this is the fact that he came to that conclusion before even I suggested anything was like really like that was a big deal how are you taking those songs on and embodying them and bringing them to life and feeling them fully in a way that seems like you talking about the new stuff I mean yeah

new stuff old stuff too but new stuff first yeah I mean there was some of the demo like most of them were demos uh some of them were completely done um and I think more of the demo H they all have different kind of every song has its own uh emotion and everything going on that you kind of have to just adapt to or try and figure out or make it your own right so it's and and I've never had it I've never been in a situation where it's like here are the songs pretty much

done and I'm like that's great like for me I'm like that's awesome cuz it's like I'm not I don't know like and he's such a good writer and and so it's like yes so that's already like the easy part where I'm like awesome I'm going to sing songs absolutely and I'm going to do my best to try and you know like he was saying put the emotion in it put put what does The Listener want want to hear what does how do I bring these lyrics to life in a way and and we were getting

to know each other um him as a producer and and pushing me in ways that I loved you know that I was never um or if I ever did have the chance to do that with with great writers and producers um I learned a lot so this was like I was in that seat like every day and I was just like okay so you find a rhythm in that and um you find you know the the flow of it and um taking you know suggestions and some things and just and you get into this whole

world of it you know and you get lost in like in the different songs and the in a great way you know you want to get there you want to be in that place and you feel safe and I always want to do the best I possibly can and sometimes I don't know what that is sometimes I think it's like in a completely different direction and I'm getting frustrated and he's just like Emily like here just take take a 10-minute break bre come back don't think at all and just sing it you know and I'm

like oh okay I think that part's common a lot of singers like will get in their head about yeah they'll get in their head about a thing because they've they've when you're recording you're repeating um a part over and over right and so that can be each other it could be a little like mind numbing your brain gets lost in the repetition of it and you don't know which version of the performance is good or bad at that point so that's super common I'm used to dealing with that with anybody that I've who's like vocal

I produced and I get it myself too when I sing sometimes but specifically like I remember when we were working on so over each other is is um that's a song that just came out actually and it it's the f one of the first ones where I remember I told you Joe said let's have am sing the whole song so that song we had written um it was we knew it was good we loved the track we loved the lyrics and the melody and we took the track we pitched it so that it was better

for her range her vocal range we had to pitch it higher because I was singing it originally so um pitched it up and got the track in good shape and then had Emily Sing it down and as she was going we played around with some new like we changed the Melodies a little bit in a couple spots just cuz she was singing these other things that sounded cool and that's to to me when she was talking about just now getting lost like in the process in a good way you're so in when when you're doing

that you you're at a point in the for me a point in the process where the song is already so good and it's you've like almost like there's this intangible like spiritual connection between you and the song and it's you're talking to each other and it's telling you what it wants like I don't know how El describe I know that sounds like some woo woo like crazy stuff but I I believe but I feel that way when I'm working on a song that I know is a standout like there's something special about the song I

feel connected to it and I feel like I can almost hear it asking for I'll hear melodies or she'll and she was doing that where she would instead of singing the thing she was supposed to sing she'd sing a different thing slightly and we'd be like oh that's better better that is better let's let's do that that's the new part now let's try some things like that so as we as we got through that process and arrived at the version that you hear on the album now that's out um today um the the the final

version of over each other is a is a like a result of all of that you know exploration and US figuring it out together and and by the way also Emily singing a thing that the band then went oh yeah I think she's I think she's really good like she might be our singer a lot of this album from zero which is it's incredible it's right it's so good yeah it's she's good she's very good calm down calm down the stories she's really good at taking a compliment complim I got to say brother the stories

you're telling in every song are so vivid so vivid and they come to life and you feel it oh it's like you feel this weird understanding but it's like oh it's great it's like the yeah it's fantastic is it about like it gives like stories of different relationships or one consistent relationship I I don't know where I TR on this on this record I was really trying to think about like where the lyrics were coming from because I I did lead well I think I Le I led the lyric process in a similar way to

our the albums um Mid career and earlier like as we got to the towards like one more light was we had more co-writers in the room but prior of that it was really it was really just me and Chester and and he loved for me to suggest him lyrics so I was a lot of that was like either me drawing from my personal experience or me knowing his experience so well that I was trying to help him tell his story if that makes sense 100 so he was he was he had all the good stories

and he had all these like really intense emotions um and he would tell he'd say them to me and I'd jot down stuff and like what about this what about that like is this what how you felt is this a right lyric oh yeah yeah yeah and then he'd riff off that and we'd go back and forth so we got into some of that like towards the end of the process I think we started to develop more of that got to know each other better and to be honest like I don't know we were so

deep in it that I don't know know what the lyricss are about like I know what they're about I do know where I was drawing from and like what we were talking about in the room but I'm still I think maybe for the best I they're not so concrete like they're a little loose in terms of that's me it's me that's why yeah it's just like it's my influence it doesn't need to be it doesn't need to be like super country music can be that a lot of times for for better and worse where it's

like this is the story this is the exact story I'm telling you there's only one version of it and this is how it goes and our music like if you go all the way back to Hybrid Theory it's a you and me and it's an core Nu nucleus of a emotion but like you might think it's about you and your mom you might think it's about a girlfriend someone else might think it's about some other thing right and that's what I like about the new record is it has this a little bit of like a

good ambiguity to it it's not coming from an ambiguous place it's coming from a very specific place but the way it reads is different how much of okay like how much of these songs are done before you bring them to people or are you just writing everything together what's the it's a little bit of both right yeah little bit of everything yeah how about the so so emptiness machine was a demo that I I think 80 90% of that I did it I sang it it was done I played it for people like two plus

years ago and they like that's good but the reaction I was this this actually surpris like this was something I thought of this week I was like oh wow I actually played a demo of that with my voice on it and the music was very almost the same I think the drums were were not the drums might have been like a plugin and not live drums but I remember playing for them and they're like oh that one's good that's good and the reaction was not holy crap this is going to be one of the biggest

songs of your career it was not and there were smart people who picked out they pick hits in the room and they were like oh that's good and so I know because of that I I was realizing oh we once we decided to put Emily on it like we CH we reconfigured it so that the second verse happens and she is introduced and that's a moment and we shaped the song to make the best of that it was like that was actually decisions like that can make such a big difference um so okay so but

like that you get into this whole like I know I'm on such a tangent you said you were talking about who wrote a thing right the thing that I wrote was like let's say 80 to 90% just to throw a number on it similar to the thing you hear on the record almost all the lyrics were there Brad and I did a rewrite later so he gets so creditwise think of like Brad gets credit for doing that lyric right with me um and then there was the other decision to put Emily in in verse two

have her go all the way to the chorus and it switches back to me for the beginning of the bridge and then we kind of take it out through the bridge together and she finishes a song with a with a big chorus that decision was a five minute decision like let's do it this way and then we did it executed it and it made the song go from a oh that's good to holy [ __ ] this is one of the biggest songs you've ever written that's and it is right I don't it's like one

little five minute conversation can mean that much of a difference gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be dude the lyrics are incredible it sounds like you're talking about the industry I'm not but I've had people in with emptiness machine and heavy as the crown we' had people um put their own like lyrical like they say oh I think the song is about this and I think that's cool I don't know we've never talked about this like what is it about do you feel do you feel like when when people would

talk about um dead Sarah lyrics like historically for you when people talk about like what are the lyrics what are the lyrics um do you like to like tell them exactly do you like to like let them figure it out on their own like do their own thing with it does it matter what do you think I it's very ambiguous my lyrics and that's what I was talking about it's like yeah was my right doing you're more of the the like Rick Ruben approach of like it can be a little intuitive so when people are

like oh my God I love the lyrics I'm like tell me why and so I want to see where they're coming from yeah and so that's usually and then I'll be like oh what inspired it was this and it turned out to be this that's usually the case yeah there's some songs where I'm like yes I had a full Story from beginning to end which I understand and a lot was just like this sounds cool I'm going to put it in right yeah but even the stuff that sounds cool just yeah it has a purpose

to the overall whether it's a story on of the song or the story of the album like it seres some purpose yeah to something I mean I love that kind Hendrick Chili Peppers uh some of like Nirvana for sure some bork Nirvana like there's so many great examples of things that are like first and foremost it sounds cool the lyrics are a mystery yeah maybe even to the singer but it sounds great I want to sing it I don't know what it means yeah you know what these songs mean though well I know where they

came from yeah for me emptiness machine is not about a person right it's more about a thing that is like it's like an abusive relationship with with something that's like just sucking the life out of you right that's to me if you read the lyrics on paper it's a it's really that and it I could you know I'll I'll stop there because I do like I do like the idea right now now I'm in I'm in a not going to tell you a period of time where I I like the idea that yeah I don't

want to talk about it too much cuz I like people having their own I noticed that so I never talked about it and was like he's never going there I'm like I'm not going to we talked to somebody yeah somebody we did one of the interviews and they were like it's about this right I was like I love that for you like that's a great concept okay noted art is meant to be up to the person right like it like everything is different it's based on like experience per ception who I am as a human

being and hopefully like a song can find common ground and mutual understanding between the person listening to it and the human being who created it oh this is this is as if you are you speak to musicians all the time and you know these core fundamental truths I think that's a true thing what you said 100% And by the way keeping it General and vague may be like what the universe beamed down to you and intended to come out but in doing that like I should be so lucky makes it the most relatable do you

not feel that in any way that like you know people describe a flow State when they make music yeah yeah yeah I'm I'm more I'm of that feel of that like at least right now like I'm of that belief that like the song is going to happen whether it's you or somebody else yeah someone will grab like so if you miss it somebody else might pick it up and be like oh I see the song and then they they put it out and it is you know good bad or indifferent it is the song the

song is their song now I mean has I ever ever like actually happened well that's I think that's yeah I think that's the reason why in in any period of time you'll see multiple songs with the same title the same lyric the same same yada yada yada like it's the reason you see those things is because that's the moment for that right I mean it's how else would you how else would you explain unless you're just a super conspiracy theorist and you're just like that person ripped it off from that person there are situations where

a song writer like there are connections between people oh they had an idea set it in the room that person somebody in the room was in a different room and that person used it in that room like yes that happens but I've I've I've had ideas for songs that I have not shared with people and I've said oh this would be a good song and I try to write it and it sucks and then three months later so basically the song was written at the same time the song comes out by somebody else and I'm

like oh that's actually a clever way of doing like they that's the same idea I had and I get to hear what somebody else I've had it before too there you go but there is something to like you having that idea but the idea not being meant for you yeah exactly that's very that's very Zen of you I I actually agree with that yeah and also like this idea that like you can create the right environment and also like it's whatever the universe beams down to you matched with like whatever you're going through and what's

been bottled up and that comined with like one's ability to make music at all all come into play you know it's like I feel like the universe or ideas flowing like that's just the someone can grab it but that idea of being menant for you makes it yours but also like I don't know genuinely it's you plus that inspiration you know so much of who you are as a human being makes it into art even if you like from imagination I also want to just say like m is very like she's um like humble about

her participation in taking those songs and like making them real it's you know I I get the idea that like okay this song is written and I'm not going to embarrass you um I know this idea of like oh yeah the lyrics got written and I like them and I don't want to change them and so I'm going to sing them the way they are but kind of like what I was saying before like you could do it wrong right like I could have a really great song and I know it's great and everybody agrees

it's great and you give it to somebody and they sing it and they're a good singer but then you listen to it and you're like yeah I don't get it's not there it's missing like everybody's great but this is the song is missing something and that was not happening the opposite was happening where we were like we know it's good then she sings it and we go it's better she didn't change a thing she just sang it and it's better because she sounds amazing and there's some tional intuitive like connection that happened when she delivered

the thing can I take the opposite side of that when you take songs like faint or paper cut and then you look at two fac or I'll give you everything I have I don't think anybody else could write and record those songs other than Lincoln Park maybe I don't know yeah I agree right yeah it's like where where where like I don't think we do we do our best where do those songs come from because I don't think if you would have passed up on those songs that somebody else would have eventually grabbed them but

do you do you remember where you were at when you actually wrote them was there a like do you feel like it was beamed down to you um our process you know how like a lot of a lot of people write like will write a song in a day like that's a lot of especially young people start at whatever time finish eight hours later and they've got a finished song that's not really my process like usually we'll do a bunch of that and have a bunch of seeds bunch of demos and then the good ones

get a lot of work a lot of craft a lot of tweaking a lot of changes give you everything I have sh it was the last maybe the last one to start last song to get started did you feel like it had a lot of versions yes a lot of versions right yeah called Villain at one point yeah I think it was just because it had so many versions in such a short amount of time I think that's why we're thinking about it because it was like the last one be on the the album and

we had to like [ __ ] race to get it done so it was like we had to really speed up the process and like all we were thinking about was that song so it felt like maybe the other ones did we weren juggling multiple songs we were just working on that one right that one does feel like a stand out but I believe that there we did the same thing with many of the songs yeah overflow overflow was like so many versions so many versions so so there wasn't one moment when it was like

oh the like the inspiration is now it's like that moment happened but it was just the vocal on the chorus or just the intro of the song and those were months apart they many moments yeah lots of little but that's the but that's the beauty of working on one song yeah over a longer period of time and not just like doing it in one day the the beauty of coming back to it and continuing to crack to like take cracks at it is that you give the opportunity for lots of lightning strikes mhm it's interesting

yeah like you kind of consistently get reinspach reconnect inspires you again yeah that's right that's interesting that's right um can we talk about Too Faced yeah the guitar is incredible sick thank you I'll tell Brad you said it he and I Brad and I uh wrote the guitar on that song are we like very selective as to like where those where it goes we don't care very much we kind of just do whatever it's not true not true Two Face caught in the middle um the dark's too Vivid the light's not fair line dark to

Vivid I don't remember which one of us that's you is that me yeah um oh I CAU in the middle I think that one I was just thinking of like who wrote the word that's you cuz we were we were just um I haven't mentioned Colin today Colin Britain is like he's he was like part of the process just as a writer and a co-producer like I just love working with colum I met Colin I met him in sessions and then was bringing him in to help with writing and production he's added a lot to

this band too and then eventually yeah and then eventually we were like hey dude like turns out we need somebody to play drums so like that's your I know that's his primary instrument so I was like is that something you would want to do it would mean stepping away from your like production career wasn't it the thing where it was like well we need somebody live so do you want to play guitar or do you want to do drums oh yeah originally it was like it was like we were kind of like that we didn't

know yeah cuz just like you know we knew Brad was gonna Brad is in case anybody doesn't understand the dynamic like our guitarist Brad is our guitarist he's in the band yeah but um he's he's realized that in terms of his like it's kind of like a mental health thing like he's he doesn't love the touring and the live show lifestyle um and so he's he is our guitarist but he's not playing live so he's chosen he found a guy uh named Alex who's spectacular really good guitarist and and they get a long grade and

um Brad chose Alex to play his Parts live so but at the time we hadn't met Alex and so we asked Colin I was like do you you know Brad needs somebody to play guitar and we need a drummer like you do both equally well what's your well would you want to do and he was just like kid in a candy store yeah just like I can't believe he I think he said I can't believe what you're asking me right now so excited but again like another Testament to what you've created and built right like

this desire then the instant like yes I'll drop every by the way a season producer a fantastic musician both of you like the idea that like yes I'm gonna Park my stuff and also like it's a collective thing now it's also the universe yeah yep absolutely that's right a lot of stuff falling into place well and and Colin and Emily like originally if you would talk to us in like 2019 like we were just looking for a singer right we were that was the role to fil and as things evolved it became what it is

and I realized after we launched like actually it was as the week of the launch show like a month a little over a month ago um the pressure was on everything was about to happen we had nothing had really leaked like crazy we were all like how did that happen we were all so nervous too and we were just like we have so much to get right don't like don't mess up anything don't miss a beat like let's just get it right and I watched Colin and Emily have each other's back like they were they

were like we're the new guys like we got it let's let's rehearse more let's get everything right and they they kind of went on their own and spent time together to like work stuff out that we knew because we've been doing it for 20 years and they I realized oh my God like we accidentally ended up in this wonderful Dynamic where they've got each other they can both go and like all like besides the playing like relate they can talk about it and be like can you believe we're sitting here doing this like this is

weird and they had those I've heard them have those conversations awesome it's the best you should talk about it cuz I should be talking no you're right I mean it's like one of those things I'm like I I couldn't have done this by myself like being the only like how it's like a blessing to have have had him have this whole process with me and I didn't realize until it started getting like the pressure was on and we were like oh my God like we have each other for this like this is again like it

was the universe like I don't think I would have taken it so much like as much grace as I have without him you know and because they're all seasoned in this so it's nice to have that person where it's like everything's so exciting and new just like you know and you know we're just like what the [ __ ] like what things that they're just like you know you know that's like anybody would look and be like [ __ ] Emily like how crazy is this I'm like yeah so that's basically how Colin and I

talk like what the [ __ ] Fu you know like his fans you know Emily when Mike first tells you you guys are going to do live shows like where do you start like do you just dive into the catalog or ask Mike for a set list like how do you where do you begin um it's a good question he definitely had like a this is what we usually do live you know these are the ones that go very well and it's like a very long list so I didn't really have to have something exact

you know I was just like well it got to get [ __ ] started you know like this is going to be a lot like Colin and I were you know practicing months before you know like in his studio and just going over going over and like just trying to get these songs to feel like mine you know and some of them were a lot harder to do because like the older ones were harder even though I knew the lay like when the song starts like I know how to sing it it was harder because

there's layers to it where it's like years I don't know why mental mental mental yeah and it's like there so much more to uncover with the song to like really get to like okay it's meant so much to me and it's meant so much to it's like solidified in like we're talking about the universe it's like it's solidified in the universe so now I have to somehow crack that and make that something that's relatable to me into you as a listener was that like so it's a lot more lay like num for example prob one

of them right in the end in the end yeah and you can't even think about it crawling yeah well crawling was funny cuz crawling was one of the okay but she says that but like we were playing around with these like just what ifs and we and we played an AC it was acoustic guitar and Emily singing crawling in my studio that just sat down like what about this and she like what key do we find do we sing it in she sat there and just like belted it out one time I was like yep

that's the [ __ ] song like that sounds awesome and what was great about it is you know for some people the fact that it sounds different they don't like that they're not they're not comfortable with that I I say yet because I think the more they get like a little bit of exposure to it some of them are going to come around and be like oh actually I get it now right but but for me I was already I already am like accustomed to her voice and I was ready to hear that and when

she sang it I went what I love about this is it sounds like the song it doesn't it doesn't sound like Chester singing the song it just sounds like the song it sounds great so I was so like it's the emotion in it it's the emotion that's the part she needed to connect I had to that's what anybody's going to connect to because when they hear that song it is the emotion obviously his voice is incredible and you know it does other things but like it's the emotion side of it that I had to and

it was easier for me for the emotion side because that album like we talked about was help for me the way you sing yes and how I wanted to emote as a singer you know and so just like what he was saying it's it's getting that like the layers you know like everybody's so used to hearing it a certain way as well that's like one of the layers you know and so having all that time with Colin and you know cuz he's a great producer so he was able to help me in ways that I

didn't even realize you see what I mean so it's like so many of these Great Moments where we're just like oh my God we needed each other you know and how it just like really came together like with the band like it's like one of those things again like where it's just all fell into place so beautifully it's really wild yeah well Mike on your side how good did it feel to finally perform these songs again I mean amazing yeah yeah like like part of it is like going from the band being uh like an

indefinite Hiatus or whatever it was like we didn't put names on it it was just like yeah we're not doing anything from it being that to like standing on a stage and doing it I think there was all there were all these weird little moments that were so surreal one of them just starting getting on a stage and doing it getting in a room and doing it for the first time felt so cool that was actually more stressful though for some reason like I felt like because it was so rough you know it was like

I hope we've set aside enough time for us to you know to get this right yeah there was that moment for sure then yeah but that's normal I went home and I was like oh I'm I'm stressed but I guess that's normal I I it' beir because you guys haven't played the songs in so long too so that's and we changed we were changing we were changing keys on songs that we' played for 20 years I had to rearn and Breaking the Habit from scratch practically you're welcome yeah well just cuz yeah cuz that had

to be a different key um but yeah I think the most important thing is that like for for me I can probably speak for you know the other guys too it's like you know having a thing that you felt like it was taken away and then have then being able to get it back like oh you can't play shows as Lincoln Park anymore even though Lincoln Park is like part of my de a it's like you know when you everybody's got like a um like a a core identity diagram that you like there's stuff like

when you draw your little like this is who I am like if you ask anybody like if you if you were to sit in a sit down with a piece of paper and like write down the things that make you you that's a crazy exercise if you think about it like [ __ ] like it's your it's your like the thing you to do your family like do you have kids you have love you have spouse whatever like the things that make you you and your beliefs and blah blah blah like really right in there

in the middle of it is Lincoln Park for me and that's um there are other things too there are many other things too but to have that one out was painful so to have it back in was like I mean there's nothing nothing like it there never will be anything like it and to be fair so many of the other things are connected to Lincoln Park so much of ones I identity life everything yeah and like your music like you for example that you have a 18inch Lincoln Park tattoo on your back I know what

a big fan like it's so meaningful to you that the band is playing these shows but the other thing too is it does matter to so many people right like there is magnitude to the art that you make like it it is true I've seen I've seen there's a there was it on our um YouTube page one of the First episodes of uh we have this thing called LP TV and one of the First episodes was about the um the first few shows La New York and there's a there's a fan who has all of

our this the Chester and Rob included the the original lineup our signatures on his he's has some tattooed on his arm and I think he has I think I don't remember how many shows he's been to over 50 Lincoln Park shows he's got tons and tons of Lincoln Park related tattoos among other things um and one of the things he said was like he's like yeah he's like I've got I've got two spaces about like right here this is where Emily and Colin are going to go and I was like wow that is a that's

a crazy way to start this tour yeah in that moment do you realize that linkoln Park is actually bigger than any group or one person it's like kind of a lifestyle and a it's it's a culture that yeah and and I say this with respect like how do you how does that feel is that I knew it was big like [ __ ] yeah like [ __ ] you know I mean you could you could easily make the case that it's bigger than you it's bigger than Rob it's bigger than that's that goes without saying

though because it's like we even when we were talking about the lyrics and people like coming up with their own like identifying with songs a different way we make a thing it goes out into the world and they connect with it on their terms and it that that part of it becomes I mean that half of it I don't know that part of it is their thing now so it's out of our hands and it's the it's the world's property right so it's it's lincol Park memes it's lincol Park tattoos it's animated music videos with

the people are editing Naruto with lincol Park stuff like I don't know people do all kinds of like they make crazy things that are there you know the way they're relating to the music they're having their experiences they're going on road trips listening to it they're playing it for their children and having an emotional moment a memory that they are creating that is completely a bubble that's their own bubble and that if they REM do you know what I'm saying like totally kids I watched a couple we were playing a show in LA and I

watched the dad and his daughter and she's probably she was like this was years ago though but it was like she was probably like 13 14 probably your first concert and she when we play the newer stuff she was elbowing him and going like this blah you could see her doing it and then we played like one step closer and he was like okay and he's like has his armor around he's like yeah she's like oh okay like this is what like she was like they were coming at it from a from a generational with

a generational Gap in between and they both love the same thing and they having this wonderful moment it was really sweet but I left there going like oh wow this is what it's all about now it changed like in the early days it was one thing but now it's this thing and I don't know where it's going to be 10 years from now mhm how does that thing influence from zero uh well I mean that's kind of part of what the name is about so the name is among other things one defin one one reason

I liked the name is that it it's being from scratch from a blank canvas right and the other thing is that our first band was called zero yeah was an X and it was x e r o and it was it started with me and my friend Mark we were like probably 17 and then we wrote some demos and eventually brought on Brad and Dave and Rob and Joe so this is uh that was the six and we we we got signed at that point like later yeah you know we did a bunch of showcases

we' tried to get signed nobody wanted to sign us eventually happened um when Mark left and Chester came on board and then we changed the name to Lincoln Park but the original band named Zero was was you know I mean in the beginning it was just me and Mark so it was there's an element of this album that like gets back to basics that way like it gets back to the we tried to get back to the purity of like doing making music just for the sake of making stuff that we thought was interesting making

stuff that we thought was cool how do you achieve that in the actual process expectations that's a good yeah yeah that's what we had keeping the expectations out a little bit that's something you only have when you're young really that's the thing and we talked about that yeah like we get to make our first album twice that's kind of what I thought with this album you know and it's a very definitive moment where it's like you could do anything and that is such a freedom to have in a band and especially For You Know Lincoln

Park being one of the biggest rock bands in the world you know and I think there's something very magical to First albums and we got to do this and it felt like a first album for us it was great like that energy interesting couldn't have said it better what are you thinking that's right I just want to know how you approach that scream on heavy as the crown it's a long one we have a video you want to cut to it I will I we'll we'll put that up we'll put that up soon yeah or

at some point soon I mean it was a fun I mean the first time that we did it that was first take by the way I was going to ask scream that's on there she did it a couple times but the the one that's on the record is the first one yeah she did that's impressive there's a video I don't know why it's not out we're we're gonna put it out I I we I forgot we had it when the song came out and now now I found it we'll put it up we put it'll

be on our socials at some point the intro of that song is really Majestic it's great feels different the the string thing yeah heavy as the CR starts like in a really different way I like it it's like uh yeah feels orchestral it feels I know I made I made it was quite a process to make that make that sample I I mean like it used to be a different timing too oh that's right yeah it used to be straight it used to be du no it's duh right it was on the down beats and

then we and Joe suggested Joe Joe and Mike Alando suggested we do something to make it a little I think they said groovier and I was like oh what is this like disco and then we moved that that little jog up and it made it almost feel like Bollywood which I liked yeah the scream on casualty crazy oh just like the ver the the courses yeah yeah yeah I felt like they were screaming at each other it was intense oh yeah that was like a thing where like let's do something different right let's do something

different I was like I have an idea for how I could do this verse but I it might suck like I'm not going to be able to do it that many times and then I did it and then Joe is like so I feel like we unlocked a thing that Mike needs to do a lot more often he's like can you do that all the time he really liked it how'd you get there um what do you think about anger yeah well I I grew up on there's a very specific type of like heavy it

falls into the category of of Hardcore like people think of like New York hardcore or like straight edge hardcore bands and if you're into that genre which I'm only I'm a I'm not a tourist but I'm not like super deep um but I do love I do love bands like Strife newer bands too like speed and gel and there's a band called well anyway super duper Rabbit Hole there's an aesthetic though of those types of bands and I and I think my Gateway into that was helmet do you know the band helmet I do so

we're actually Paige from helmet we asked him to sing on a song on our album The Hunting Party and I've always just been a big fan of them and they actually are going to open for us on our upcoming date in Dallas which is like such a nice moment like I I know that most of the fans don't know who they are their like biggest album was like 30 years ago like it's crazy so I just love this band and I love that type of music and stuff like that like I think when I tap

into you know we were talking about like going back to the roots and like being a young kid um doing a record for the first time that I think the this the yelling screaming part for me I don't really do a scream it's just like a it's like hardcore it's like that's what I that's what I was kind of thinking of you know so I never thought I could do that I think when I tried to I was younger and my voice was higher and it didn't sound good so now that my voice is like

older I thought it sounds cool now more Authority you tell them yeah what did you guys learn about yourselves for making this album oh God probably a lot probably I probably need to not talk about any of it in on in a recorded format for my therapist exactly how did you guys keep this a secret cuz when you were here in 2023 of last year you said nothing we were asking you little questions you played it off like nothing was happening yeah yeah it was tough I'm proud of myself yeah you did good I was

so tempted sometimes I don't remember here what whatever but I was like I was like there were some moments when people would ask a question and I'd be like oh if you only knew [ __ ] oh we were cuz we were in it like at that time when I put out um already over uh we were we had we were making Lincoln Park songs at that point like we weren't calling them Lincoln Park songs but every like we were involved you know we were getting we were getting busy and uh I think one of

the things that struck me is that um keeping it a secret like I a bunch of people knew they had to know because we were setting up things like we were having people com in and like right we're having people you know shoots yeah we're shooting things we were asking for we were talking to openers so that meant like other bands and management and stuff and the only thing that makes any sense to me logically is that the reason it didn't leak is be because people either liked us or respected us enough to not do

that and that so to me that's like was such a beautiful thing that's big yes right like I I I really I like my friends even more now absolutely cuz nobody went out and was like yo did you hear now like in moments like that you learn who the real ones are yeah that's right that's right Emily did you keep it to yourself or did a lot of your friends and family know no not a lot of people knew I mean I've I've we talked about this where I've just like I it was hard to

go hang out because I didn't want to say anything like I'm having a couple drinks and I get excited or a song comes on I was just like I'm gonna [ __ ] say something so I I stopped going out so much I kept a very low profile within that time I was also very busy too and I was just like very immersed in it and I just wanted to stay in that zone as well and just be like okay like it was very very exciting for me and especially in those moments of excitement I

wanted to tell people so that's when I knew I had to step back a little bit but when I started doing the work that's when it became easy where I didn't think too much to like have to tell people um but I definitely had to have like a what are you doing what's dead Sarah doing what's this like you're in the studio so cool you know like had to like just kind of yeah pre just writing just having fun yeah be very vague but yeah very vague has success been redefined at all with all of

this for you uh for me it always it gets redefined all the time what is it today um what success yeah I think I don't know I think part of it I think part of it is like is part of it is enjoying what you do to to to to enjoy what comes at you and to seek out stuff that you know you enjoy or at least might enjoy because sometimes those things you're like you're like uh you might do something that is challenging or uncomfortable but you're like okay I'm going to do it and

I know it might suck it might end up being bad but I'm going to have fun trying it um so because I think new experiences are are important so that's a thing and yeah we were talking about all the little the little weird new things like earlier we were joking about makeup like H you know having a woman in the band is a new thing like we there's little nuances to like oh we can't just have everybody in the band like getting dressed in the same room like running around in a towel we used to

just be like whatever I mean we weren't like naked dudes in a room we were both it was like a locker room right like and I was like okay so we got to set up our backstage a different way like em what's comfortable for you and how do we do that and also not keep us not be separated like we want to be together and like because it's fun but we also have to have some private space so stuff like that like you know it's that's it sounds stupid like it sounds like okay I just

figure it out but to me it's like it keeps this thing that we've done done for so long it like turns it on its side a little bit and you get to go oh that's that's going to be different that'll be interesting a new approach to something that you've gotten like that again like becomes just like muscle memory an extension of you yeah yeah what do you think what's your success what I'm still I'm still trying it on for size man this [ __ ] is like [ __ ] I'm you're a lot busier it's

a lot more work yeah but it's all worth it you know what I mean it's like it's so crazy I'm still trying to like figure it all out um but you know it's like after this tour I came back home and I was just like oh okay it's not like it's crazy was it too quiet did you have any moments where when you came home from tour you were like I got to get back out on the road again because it's too slow it's too quiet right now not for the first week um but once

we started getting in the studio again cuz I that I kind of like mentally was like okay we're going to be in the studio we're going to be together again and then when we started doing that I was like okay I'm ready to go on the road again like cool it like ignited that like ah and you get excited yeah um because it is like a high like it's it's a drug that you get used to yeah and it's it's everything I've dreamed of like let's let it's absolutely I'm so fortunate to be in this

position like it's it's crazy um but you know like I feel like I've been training to be in this position for a long time you know with the style that I sing and like being in a band for so long it's like I feel like you know it's like I've been training but then when I get into being in this position I'm like holy [ __ ] I have so much to learn still you know and I always want to do a really good job so I could be really hard on myself at the same

time so it's like there's moments where I really really enjoy like oh the sixs and stuff like that but I'm like don't [ __ ] it up you know there's like that voice and it's like keep going keep going I love that though that's that's like one of the great things about you one of the great things about everybody in the band is that like I think everybody takes that very seriously you know nobody's trying to just be like coasting everybody's like putting in the effort well and that's like what that's what like changes right

like you know well I mean but at this point you know even for us like 10 15 years ago I don't think I think that we even then were you know there was a potential for the band to be like a little bit jaded or a little bit like just like letting it ride a little bit I don't think we really do that we're just like I'm I'm for me I'm just too I need to be my mind needs to be occupied with stuff like I need to be doing stuff making things and uh you

produced 26 records over twitch over Co like that's I didn't know you didn't even know that but you did for people you met you you produce records for people you met on the internet that's true that's true I did that those were some of those were really good I don't man they just test them into the fact I don't know if they would have been better like Instagram reals than like songs but like still the more you know I don't know man I don't know I I yeah I I think I think part of it

is the other another thing that we didn't talk about in terms of like what's a you know a success is like community and making like connections with people like I I feel like one one of the things that's back for a lot of people is oh this band that I really enjoy is like active again and we get to share this experience or share this energy and we get to like do things like scavenger hunts online with them play with them right it's playful and I like to that's that's a thing besides music but related

to music that I like to do you know music cultivates the community yeah yeah I love that by the way you can listen to the album from zero it's waiting for you on Amazon music link below code on the screen what are you thinking I think we're going to wrap up in our ears no dude I know we I really you know you guys are really special we're going to get into like a track by track so you can listen to the album in a whole new way on Amazon music thank you for uh just

being here but also for making music and continuing to create it really is deeply deeply appreciated and thank you yeah the music is really special I don't I I I think our fans know at this point that I'm I'm like a little I become a little picky about who I want to talk to about our stuff do you know what I mean like it's it's I feel like I'm like I'm like becoming um Sam Elliot just like I'm getting too old for this [ __ ] I don't need to be talking to all these people

you're energies and you're I love talking to you guys about this stuff because I just feel like yeah there's a mutual I feel like there's a mutual respect I don't if you respect us you act like you do I respect what you do I enjoy the conversation so it's thank you man real recognize is real and I deeply do and I both of us our lives have been shaped by the art that you made and the art that comes to life so yeah right we've always loved Lincoln Park thank you appreciate it man forever forever

you guys no you're on you're on this side of the desk now you're yeah you say thank you you're good you're part of the thing what were you saying no I was saying like it's just like cool to have you like every time you guys come in it's just like they're actually like they're here like to me even though we have people every day I'm like it's still cool that's great thank you appreciate but also like you you know there's Timeless records there's like generational defining records there's genre defining records there's songs that create new

genres uh you literally off every box of what I just listed and you could do a thousand interviews and not actually cover all of it and it's really powerful and just thanks for coming in always it really means the world so true appreciate it Mike and Emily Lincoln Park everybody good job man [Music]