May 26, 2007
Stuff Magazine, June 2007

Typed up by Michele

Linkin Park MC Mike Shinoda spits the truth about their new album, Minutes to Midnight, and the Linkin Park diet.

On the band’s silence the last couple of years
“We were resting after five years of incessant touring, then a good portion of the times was spent writing. This album has taken more than 12 months to write and record. Our joke was that it was turning into our Chinese Democracy, but a good portion of that was coming up with the new evolution of our sound.”

On whether the new album will alienate old fans?
“I don’t think it will; we’re still the same six guys. Over time it’s grown into a really diverse audience, where we’ve got kids who listen to Lupe Fiasco coming to the shows, and we’ve got kids who listen to My Chemical Romance coming to the shows. I think when the record comes out it will definitely change what that looks like, but I don’t know. If you’re looking at numbers, nobody sells as many albums as they used to, but that doesn’t mean the fans aren’t there. We’re trying to keep our expectations low, because as the industry changes, you never know.”

On the theme of the new album
“There are definitely themes of separation and death, plus a few political themes. If you expected a beachy, summer-fun album from us, you are mistaken. We’re all getting a little bit older, a little bit more mature, I hope, and I think the lyrics reflect that.”

On avoiding the typical rock-star clichés?
“I don’t know they we avoid them as much as it’s just that a lot of that stuff doesn’t interest us. That’s not a knock on people who get excited about strip clubs and getting drunk every single day. As stupid as it sounds, one of our techs was like, ‘Yeah man, I wanted to lose weight, and getting wasted every night wasn’t helping. As soon as I had 10 beers in me, half a pizza didn’t sound like a bad idea.’ The moral of the story was that he was glad to be going back out on the road with us, because he could keep his weight down.”