Mike Shinoda on Going Solo: There is Absolutely Some Building Up From Scratch

2018-05-22

Story by Cat Badra, photo by Anne Erickson

Mike Shinoda says his debut solo album has ‘an autobiographical story arc to it’

Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda is on the road in support of his upcoming, first-ever solo studio album. He’s no stranger to the stage, but Shinoda says it’s a whole different ballgame when he’s touring with his solo project verses with Linkin Park. In fact, he feels like a “debut artist.”

“The disadvantage is I’ve never gone out and done a tour under my own name,” he said in a new interview with Variety. “I’ve never put an album out under my own name. There is absolutely some building up from scratch — I think more so than a lot of fans or people would think.”

Shinoda’s debut album, “Post Traumatic,” will arrive on June 15. He wrote the album following the tragic death of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington of July of last year.

“The album kicks off in a really dark place and it evolves out of that,” Shinoda said. “That’s what happened in real life. I don’t want to call it a concept record, but it does definitely have an autobiographical story arc to it.”

He added, “I think the easy road would have been to jump into the studio with my band mates and make a new record, because I know we’d make something cool. But this (project) happened so organically and it felt like the right thing to do for me.”

So, what should fans expect from these solo shows? It’s a mix of everything, as Shinoda says, “at this point I’m doing a third of new stuff, a third Fort Minor and a third Linkin Park.”

Find Shinoda’s upcoming tour dates, which is a mix of headlining shows and festival appearances, at his official website.

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Cat Badra

Meet the expert - Cat Badra is a music writer for Audio Ink Radio and a range of other music, sports and lifestyle publications. She's a graduate of Michigan State University with a master's degree in theater and speech. Contact her at cat@audioinkradio.com.