Interview: Linkin Park

American rockers Linkin Park have remained a dominant force in the popular music scene since their formation in 1996. Through constantly adapting to the changing musical landscape and continuing to sell millions of records, the six-pack is ready for their first full tour of China. The Beijinger spoke with LP’s Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda, and Joe Hahn about their latest album The Hunting Party and their first return to China since 2009. Make sure to catch them live on July 26 at Beijing Workers’ Stadium – that is, if you can still get a ticket.

It’s been six years since you last played in China and your third time here overall. Now, with a stadium level tour taking Linkin Park through five cities, what do you feel most excited about?

Joe Hahn (JH): I’m excited to play in front of people who have never seen us live ever and also for those fans who’ve been to our shows in previous years. Being Korean-American, China is a special place to me and I’m looking forward to meeting people, hopefully doing a little sightseeing, plus checking out the culture and art and all that fun stuff.

Chester Bennington (CB): I’m most excited to have the opportunity to see more of China and visit all of the great cities that I have only heard about or seen on TV. That is really exciting to me.

Your new album, The Hunting Party, is quite a departure from your previous records. What triggered the shift?

CB: It was a creative impulse from within the band. The trigger was when Mike switched gears about not wanting to write the songs that he’s been writing, but instead decided to write heavy, hard rock songs. We all went, “ok!”

Could you select a couple of your favorite songs from the new album and explain to Chinese fans why they are special?

CB: On this last record, we wrote together more as a band. Typically, we write in groups of two or individually and we don’t really sit and jam. But on this one there were more sessions with multiple guys than usual. We usually work more like a hip-hop production crew in the studio and behave more like a traditional band during post-production.

The new album is your first self-produced endeavor. How has the process of recording this album differed from previous experiences?

CB: We invited guests to play on this record. That was the main difference. We’ve never had guests on proper LP studio albums. This was a departure for us but it was really cool since it kept the inspiration going throughout the process of the record.

You guys have a Weibo account, and even a WeChat account now, too. That’s not very common for foreign celebrities in China. Can I assume you really value communicating with Chinese fans?

CB: Absolutely. We value communicating with our fans all over the world as much as possible. Social media is the easiest and most direct way of communicating with our fans so for us it is a natural thing to do.

We saw Linkin Park's official Weibo when you held up a piece of paper that said "what are you most excited about our tour?" Let us throw that question back at you, Mike, what are you most excited about this tour in China?

Mike Shinoda (MS): We are actually visiting a lot of cities that I've never seen before. This is a wonderful opportunity for me and my family to experience China. We wrote about it. This is the longest tour we have done in China and in the most cities. We will get there, meet the fans, experience the culture, eat the food, and go sightseeing. It is really an exciting trip for us.

Do you guys have a must-do list for this time’s visit to China? Anything you really want to explore?

JH: I’m looking forward to eating soup dumplings, checking out the art district, visiting the Great Wall, seeing what local life is in these places, plus checking out the cool skyscrapers that are being built.

CB: I’m going to explore as many different food options as possible. That’s what I look forward to most when I go somewhere new.

What's everyone's favorite food to order in Chinese restaurant?

JH: There are so many different types of Chinese food. I like dumplings, spicy food, and dandan noodles. There’s so much.

Interview by Kipp Whittaker