SHINODA When you show me that you know how to use that, I'll let you have it back. I'm going to take it away from all of them!
Even MGMT was like, "Fuck that-we're not gonna touch that shit any more!" īENNINGTON And seriously, guys-chill the fuck out with the goddamn reverb, already. And there's all this faceless indie stuff that's like a mash-up between M-83 and Phoenix… Ever since that first MGMT record came out, people have been trying to do that same thing over and over again. it's so safe, and so OK to listen to with mommy and daddy. SHINODA When I listen to rock radio these days, I feel like I'm listening to a lot of stuff that sits somewhere between a car commercial and Nick Jr. And the same thing is happening now, where there's all this stuff that feels like the soundtrack to 'Friends' or 'The Wizards of Waverly Place.' back in those days.īENNINGTON Bands like the Refreshments and the Rembrandts, that music fucking angers me to this day. SHINODA I was getting into Corrosion of Conformity, S.O.D. I wouldn't be caught dead listening to pop music.īENNINGTON I would have killed anyone who put on any kind of pop in my presence. Not everyone is like that, but I know that Brad was that way, and I know that I was that way. When we're young, we define ourselves by the music we listen to and what we wear-the stuff we can face out to the rest of the world and say, "This is what I'm about." But once it becomes mainstreamy or waters itself down, you want to move on to something that's more underground or more cutting edge. And if the band became too popular, I wouldn't listen to them. Would that kid back then like what you do now? Are you making music that would make that kid want to become a guitar player, or even want to listen to your music?" My favorite groups were the ones that my parents wouldn't buy me, or wouldn't let me listen to-and if I heard the football team and cheerleaders listening to it, I'd probably disown that group or that rapper or whatever. I said, "Think about what you liked when you were 15 years old-and think about what you did not like, what you wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. I think it's important, and here's a million reasons why." I've known him since we were like 12 or 13, and he walked around with a Metallica shirt every day. I went to him and said, "Look, this is what we need to do. He played a little bit of guitar, but not anything focal or featured. He wanted to do other things and write songs in a different way. There's two reasons for that-1) I'm playing all of that guitar, and 2) Brad was just not wanting to play. SHINODA If you've listened to our last few records, you know that the guitar has kind of taken a backseat in a lot of ways. Why go so heavy, and so guitar- and riff-focused? 'The Hunting Party' has a renewed aggression to it. We're able to have a lot more fun with our music now, because we have a lot more stuff. It's gone! Now we're doing fun things like medleys, where we're mixing together a few of those tracks, rather than bringing the show down for 15 minutes, it's like, let's do that in five. But now, over the last couple of records, we're like, "Let's write songs that will be fun to play live and that are good songs!" So between 'Living Things 'and 'The Hunting Party,' we've just replaced the whole lull. REVOLVER The new album, 'The Hunting Party,' seems like it will translate very well to your live show.ĬHESTER BENNINGTON What's cool about this record is that, I know for us, we have a lot of singles that have done really well, but when you put them in the set, like "Shadow of the Day" and "Iridescent," "Powerless"… we love those songs and they're great songs, but you put 'em in the set and it's like, and then you're working the rest of the set to get the energy back up for the finale.
For that story, plus features on Avenged Sevenfold, Judas Priest, Suicide Silence, Every Time I Die, Body Count, King 810, and a lot more, check out the issue. In celebration, we're sharing extended outtakes from our interview with Linkin Park's Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda for the cover story. Today, the all-new August/September 2014 issue of Revolver, hit newsstands everywhere!