LINKIN PARK's MIKE SHINODA Wanted To Thank Fans For The Way They Were Celebrating CHESTER BENNINGTON
December 30, 2018Cane and Kevan Kenney of ALT 92.3 conducted an interview with LINKIN PARK's Mike Shinoda before his performance at ALT 92.3's "Not So Silent Night" on December 6 at Brooklyn, New York's Barclays Center. You can now watch the chat below.
Speaking about how his solo concerts honor the memory of LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington, Mike said: "My solo record, 'Post Traumatic', came out earlier this year. And in the process of making that record and deciding to start that, I had to really think about the next steps and the steps after those. So, in other words, like, 'Okay, I wrote a bunch of songs. Should I put out an album? If I put out an album, people are gonna ask me about what the songs mean. If I do that, I probably should go out on tour. I will see fans who will cry. I will see fans who will tell me their personal stories and their personal… not only just their connections to Chester and to the band, and probably bring up stuff that makes me uncomfortable or makes me sad, or whatever, but also tell me stories about their own lives that are hard to listen to. And can I listen to potentially lots of those every single night I go out?' And I realized, after I'd done a few… I did a few things — I did a few signings, I did a few little things — and I realized, 'You know what? I'm okay with this.'"
He continued: "My perspective on it is that I was out there to thank the fans for their support and thank them for the way they were celebrating Chester. It's the way that I would want them to. And also go out there and kind of guide that and let people know I wanna see people remembering… Remember your favorite songs, remember how great his voice was, remember all the wonderful things he did with things like charity and they way he was talking to people. He was a wonderful guy. He was one of my best friends, obviously. And I wanted the fans to remember that and I wanted to have those moments… I felt like I was comfortable having those moments in the shows."
Some of "Post Traumatic" was inspired by the death more than a year ago of Bennington. The singer was found dead in his Los Angeles-area home in July 2017 after hanging himself.
LINKIN PARK headlined an all-star tribute concert for Bennington in October 2017 in Los Angeles but has not announced any future plans for recording or touring.
Shinoda recently told The Orange County Register that he will be heading into the studio with a few different artists after he completes his currently scheduled run of solo shows.
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