LINKIN-PARK‘S Michael Shinoda spoke with KROQ host Nicole Alvarez about yesterday’s (Thursday, September 5) announcement that Emily Armstrong the group DEAD SARA has joined him and his bandmates as co-singer in LINKIN-PARK.
LINKIN-PARK introduced his new line-up during a live performance, with Armstrong And Colin BrittainSongwriter and producer for GFLIP, ILLENIUM And AN OK ROCKaccession Shinoda, Brad Delson, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell And Joe Hahn. LINKIN-PARK also released a new single, “The Machine of Emptiness”and announced a new album “From zero”which will arrive on November 15th via WarnerIt will mark LINKIN-PARKThe first full-length album since 2017 “Another light”that was the last LINKIN-PARK Album before the lead singer’s death Chester Bennington.
Asked about the conscription process Armstrong to be LINKIN-PARK‘s new singer, microphone told KROQ (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Basically, the important thing to remember, what’s important here, is that we never had a moment where we said, ‘Hey, let’s get the band back together.’ We never had a moment where we said, ‘Let’s try singers.’ People suggested things like that – not so much as they said, ‘Hey, is this an idea you like?’ They suggested things to us. One of them, by the way, that I like the most, I talk about it all the time now, was a couple of people saying, ‘What if you did something like this?’ “American Idol”, ‘Agree’-type competition and the winner is the singer?’ That’s the opposite of what we wanted to do or the opposite of what we thought was right, because our band is based on natural chemistry and relationships. And that’s just very important.
“I think that probably (a few years ago) Dave And Joe and I started talking to each other more often and we asked ourselves: “What if we get together and start doing some things, making music? It doesn’t have to be that way, LINKIN-PARK. Let’s just get together, be creative and have fun,'” he continued. “And that’s what we did. So at that point it was more about just spending more time together. And the more time, the more songs it became and the songs evolved into, ‘Let’s invite some other people over and see how that feels.’ And eventually we got to the point where it was, ‘This girl, Emilythe things we do with her are special. I don’t know why they’re special. They just feel special. And even though the things we’ve done are good, I bet we could do great things with her if we just do it more often.’ We also met Colin who plays drums for us now, Colin is a writer and producer that I met at a chance meeting a few years ago and I hit it off with him right away. And when we all, when all six of us started meeting, Brad And Joe And Daveit was as if … it slowly became clearer.”
When asked what was the next most significant moment or turning point for all of them as this became more and more a reality, microphone said: “I bet everyone has a different answer to that. I might even have a different answer to that. I think for me the first thing that comes to mind is… Well, I mean, there were a couple of songs, and “The Machine of Emptiness” is one of them, there were a few songs where we did them in the form you hear them on the record, on “The Machine of Emptiness”for example if Emily sang on it. The song was pretty much written at that point. And we had been doing new songs with her from scratch, and we were like, “Oh, you know what? Are you going to sing on this one that we’ve already done, like just learning the words and stuff?” And she came in and rocked it. And we were like, “This is a LINKIN-PARK Song.’ You can’t listen to that song and say it’s anything else. At that point, we were also thinking, ‘Should we give the band a different name? Do we need a singer? Maybe have multiple people playing different roles and stuff.’ And when she sang on certain things, it sounded so much like the band to me that I just thought, ‘That feels good.’ I don’t know. I can’t be logical about it. It’s an illogical thing. It just feels good.”
Shinoda also discussed the examination Emily will be a replacement for an iconic singer like ChesterHe said: “We’ve all talked about it a million times with each other and with her, and we still talk about it. One difficult thing that people experience is just that they’ve heard LINKIN-PARK as long as Chester‘s voice and the idea of someone else playing that role, that feels really different. I know I love her in the context of the music that hasn’t been released yet. I think her voice is incredible. And the best thing for people who have such a strong connection to Chester knowing, just knowing about me, is the Chester was a unique person and a unique voice, and Emily is Also a unique person and a unique voice. She is not trying to be him. She is trying to herAnd I think the way she sings these songs sounds like LINKIN-PARK.”
Later this month LINKIN-PARK will embark on a six-day arena tour with stops in Los Angeles, New York, Hamburg, London, Seoul and Bogota.
Advance ticket sales for the “From zero” The tour will be available to LP Underground fan club members from September 6th, with general sales starting September 7th.
According to a press release Shinoda, Delson, Farrell And Faucet “have quietly started meeting again in recent years” and “instead of ‘trying to restart the band'”, they worked with numerous musicians and “found a special bond with Armstrong And Britain.”
As for the new line-up and the band’s future plans, Shinoda said in a statement: “Before LINKIN-PARKour first band name was XERO. This album title refers to both this humble beginning and the journey we are currently taking. Sonically and emotionally, it is about the past, present and future – with our signature sound, but new and full of life. It was created with deep appreciation for our new and long-standing bandmates, our friends, our family and our fans. We are proud of what LINKIN-PARK has become over the years and am excited about the journey ahead.”
“The Machine of Emptiness” is intended to “restore the DNA of LINKIN-PARK.” Shinoda said the band felt “really empowered with this new lineup and the vibrant and energetic new music we’ve made together,” adding that they “weave together the sonic touchpoints we’re known for and are still exploring new ones.”
Armstrong made her live debut with LINKIN-PARK on stage in a one-hour global livestream of a concert in Los Angeles on September 5th with performances by “The Machine of Emptiness” as well as the LP Hits “Somewhere I Belong”, “Stunning”, “Weak”, “Bleed it out”, “One step closer”, “What I did” And “At the end”.
Armstrong spoke in an interview with Apple Music‘S Zane Lowe on intervention for Bennington.
“Of course I want to make him proud because of the feelings and emotions involved,” she said.
On the task of singing LINKIN-PARK Classics with BenningtonShe said: “It’s never a thought like, ‘I have to make this song my own.’ It’s more like, ‘How can I use my voice to make this song have as much of an impact as possible?'”
“It was a huge leap of faith when we had to say, ‘I think she’s the right one'” Shinoda said in Apple Music Interview.
