Linkin Park singer/guitarist Mike Shinoda discussed writing music after Chester Bennington died in a new Kerrang interview, and how he had to write some bad grunge and rap songs before getting to better material.
“A week after Chester passed, the idea of the studio was scary,” Mike admits. “And it wasn’t just the idea of attempting to make a song and being overwhelmed by those memories. There’s another layer of fear for artists in this situation that is, ‘What if I can’t make anything good [without that person]?’ Those hurdles start to accumulate, whether that’s fear or depression or the chaos of the outside world, it creates an echo chamber of anxiety.
That was one of the things for me, I needed to make some stuff – whether it was usable or not didn’t matter. I was making bad 90’s grunge songs, making bad rap songs…and then I made something good. I’d make all these different things with no intention of putting them out, but just diving into some of the ideas that were already in my head.”
Shinoda recently released his Post Traumatic EP.
“The concepts of the songs and what they’re about was as fluid as the emotions of the day.”
“Some of them were rooted in something that’s happening specific to that moment. We did the tribute show back in October [the celebration show at LA’s Hollywood Bowl put on to honor Chester’s life], and while I was working on that set and show, I was also working on the song Over Again. The first verse of that was written and recorded the day of the Hollywood Bowl show. I wrote the second verse the day after.”
