Vocalist Mike Shinoda says Linkin Park reunion 'possible'

The vocalist of the band has been playing his first solo shows since frontman Chester Bennington's shocking death


Entertainment Desk July 18, 2018
PHOTO: BLABBER MOUTH

Mike Shinoda, the second vocalist for acclaimed US rock band Linkin Park, spoke to France's United Rock Nations about his recently released solo album Post Traumatic - one of his few interviews after Chester Bennington's shocking suicide last year.

But when asked if he will only be playing shows under his own name going forward, Shinoda was double-minded. "I don't know. I'm just taking it one step at a time and keeping my mind open to the possibilities, whether it's doing things under my name or working with other artists or producing tracks for somebody else," he said. "Or if the guys are at a point where they wanna play Linkin Park shows... I'm sure that any of those things are possibilities and I'm just open to whatever happens."

PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: FILE

"Right now, honestly, the thing I'm most excited about and I'm focused on most is getting the [solo] live show together and making it the best it can be," he added. "It's at a good place. I've been doing a one-man show, but I think there's a lot of room to grow and develop it, and I'm excited about continuing to do that."

Shinoda went on to say, "Part of this is gauging the fan base and the shows, seeing how this goes, and if it goes well, or we learn anything about how to do the shows, then going forward, that'll be good information to have."

 Members of rock band Linkin Park pose backstage with the best alternative rock band award at the 40th American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California November 18, 2012. PHOTO : REUTERS Members of rock band Linkin Park pose backstage with the best alternative rock band award at the 40th American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California November 18, 2012. PHOTO : REUTERS

The musician divulged further details of his solo career. "Right now, some of the shows are during the day, some are at night, some are indoor, some are outdoor, some are really big, some are small, so there's a lot of variety," said the 41-year-old. "And as we go, I'm figuring out the best presentation and everything. It's nice, because, having played onstage for so long, I already know a lot about how I like to do things but the amount of variety and types of shows that I'm doing makes me really excited to get out there and do this."

PHOTO: OK MAGAZINE DENMARK PHOTO: OK MAGAZINE DENMARK


Back in March, Shinoda told Vulture that he still talks to the other guys from Linkin Park pretty regularly. "We check in all the time," he had said. "We've gotten together and hung out a lot. Once in a while, we play a little bit of music, but there's also a lot of uncertainty there about what to do."

Shinoda has been playing his first solo shows since Bennington's death. In LA, he mashed up some Linkin Park songs along with his solo material, singing some of Chester Bennington's parts from songs like Bleed It Out.

He played In The End on piano and let the fans sing most of Chester's vocal parts, though at times he came in and sang them himself.

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