Linkin Park bassist Dave Farrell recently shared his thoughts on the band’s early struggles with record labels and criticisms of imitating other rap-rock acts during an appearance on The Mason Crosby Show.
He reflected on the difficulties they faced with rejections and comparisons to established artists like Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock during their formative years in the late 1990s.
“So we started the band roughly I’d say around 1997ish or whatever when we were in college. And me and Brad were at UCLA together and then Mike and Joe from the band were over at Art Center. We met Chester and Rob outside of that separately. But by the time we were finishing school in like 99, we just kind of like weasled our way into getting a record deal. Like we had been passed on 30 times,” Farrell said.
The bassist has explained how industry professionals were skeptical of their unique approach to the rap-rock genre.
“Nobody was kind of believing in what we were doing. Everyone was already kind of like, ‘Well, Limp Bizkit’s already doing a rap rock thing. Kid Rock is already doing a thing. What are you guys doing?’ And we were always like, ‘No, no, we’re not doing that. We’re doing our own separate thing,’” he continued.
Farrell has also reflected on how persistence eventually paid off when they secured their breakthrough deal.
“But, you know, you’re 21 years old and trying to convince people of that. And so we finally got in this like through a publishing deal we signed we got into a record deal with Warner Brothers. Thankfully then we just kind of like circled the wagons closed up the shop wrote a great record with ‘Hybrid Theory.’ And as soon as that came out just the momentum kind of built and built,” he said.
The musician emphasized how success came through gradual progress rather than a single defining moment.
“And at any stage like I feel like you never know. There’s not one thing where you know it worked or is working. It’s like this series of a thousand steps and some of them are missteps but it just grew and grew and gain momentum and became this monster. And it feels like a big part of that is just timing and luck. It kind of feels like winning the lottery to get to do something you love to do and do it with a great set of friends,” Farrell concluded.
