Linkin Park guitarist disliked metal’s bro culture
In an interview with The Guardian, Mike Shinoda reflected on the early days of Linkin Park when they toured with metal bands. Unlike the group’s new singer Emily Armstrong, who told the publication she finds the sound of early 2000s metal and nu-metal to be nostalgic, Shinoda wasn’t as fond of it all.
Specifically, the Linkin Park co-founder took issue with the culture surrounding the genre at the time.
“[In the early 2000s, Linkin Park did] a bunch of metal tours and played with Metallica – the energy there was very masculine, bro energy,” Shinoda said. “We were immersed in a culture where it was like an arms race for who could make the most macho music.”
Shinoda went on to explain how Linkin Park’s approach to songwriting was different from their contemporaries.
“Chester [Bennington] connected with it a little more than the rest of us did, but not by much,” he continued. “My band featured more lyrics that were introspective. It wasn’t like: ‘Hey, I’m gonna kick your *ss.’ It was like: ‘Somebody kicked my *ss and I’m so frustrated.’ In high school, I wasn’t kicking anybody’s *ss. That was not happening.”
The musician acknowledges, though, that the genre has definitely evolved away from its more aggressive beginnings. “Genres are so blended and music is so all over the place, I don’t hate nu-metal any more,” Shinoda admitted.
