September 17, 2025 • 56 mins
Back in 2004 Steve Baltin went on tour with Linkin Park to do a book with them. So when guitarist Brad Delson and bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell sat down with Baltin in separate interviews for In Service Of it felt very much like old friends catching up. Now you can sit in on the conversations on the season one wrap up of In Service Of.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi, It's Steve Balton, and today we wrap up season
one of In Service Up with a very special episode.
Twenty years ago went on the road with Lincoln Park
and did a book with them. We've stayed friends all
this time, and so when I spoke in separate interviews
with Brad Delson, guitarist for Lincoln Park, and Phoenix, the bassist,
(00:30):
it was like catching up with old friends, as you
hear in the special hour long episode.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
And what a perfect way to wrap up season what.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We'll be back to the beginning of November with a
crazy schedule of guests. So we will see you soon
and hope you enjoy the season as much.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
As we did.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
You know, it's so funny like that we're talking about
this because you know so many musicians I've talked to
over the years. Part of it is, again, your tastes
evolved as you get older and you want to explore
in different things. That It's funny because growing up I
was obsessed with Randy Rhodes. That was one of my
favorite guitars. Yeah, Ozzie and I have talked about this
many times, you know, and Randy was gonna leave the band,
(01:26):
you know, because he wanted to do different stuff. Now
you haven't left Lincoln, but you know, not touring with them,
does it allow you the freedom to do stuff that
you would not otherwise do.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I don't look at it that way. I look at it.
I mean, I look at it as really focusing on
the aspects of the band that are the most energizing
for me, which, like in this chapter, really is the
creative stuff, the stuff in the studio, even like the
show itself, like the conceptual design behind the show, which
(02:01):
which I worked on, that to me is like the
most fun thing to do in this moment. And so
I think, Steve, one of the benefits of like having
taken time off from making new stuff is we all
had we all gained cult, you know, gain the ability
(02:24):
to look at the creative opportunity of the band with
fresh eyes and like not just two things because we've
done them in the past, but really like opting into
what is fun and what we love and that's kind
of like an ethos I think for the whole band.
And I think, actually that's like one of the reasons
that we've worked together so well in this chapter together
and we've had you know, success creatively together, is that openness. Yeah,
(02:51):
and maybe some of it is some maturity, you know,
and just experience of having done things, you know, a
certain way and now having the gift of being able
to approach approach things with a new perspective.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Well, you know, it's interesting and I hadn't thought about this,
but you say that you now. I mean, look, unfortunately,
you reach a certain age. We've all gone through way
too much fucking loss, and it gives you a lot
of perspective. And you know, during that time when you're
thinking about stuff, does it also allowed you to think of, Hey,
you know, you gain perspective on like what you want
and what you don't want. And you know, as you
(03:26):
say at the time, off allowed you to rethink things.
But I imagine as well, and also, you know, dealing with loss,
it gave you time to think about, hey, let's too short.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I don't want to be on the road doing all this.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
And I commend that one hundred percent because I've been
friends with a lot of musicians who probably honestly would
be alive today if they hadn't been on the road.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Wow, I think yeah, I think one of the best too. Unfortunately,
I think one of the benefits of of experience is
just having more self awareness of like having more self
(04:06):
awareness of knowing what you know, what makes us tick,
what fills our cup, what gives us energy, how we
can be most contributive because you know, when when we're
like as humans, when we're when we're happy, it's easier
to like fill someone else's cup right than when we're
(04:28):
you know, So like for me, yeah, just like moving
toward what feels energizing and really excited about this chapter,
like just the way it's all come together, the album itself,
Like for me, that's the most important thing to me
are the relationships and then the art and so the
album itself. Like we've always been hyper intentional, as you know,
(04:53):
about anything we put out, including an incredible an incredible
coffee table book that very prominent, prestigious writer helped us
create back in the day. We never want to put
out anything that we don't like, put all our love
and care into and really believe in. And this album
(05:14):
is no exception. Like even the fact that there's only
ten songs on the album, like, there was a lot
of music written and in kind of an explore creative exploration,
and so we'dling it down to its most essential parts
was really like a privilege. And even with the Deluxe,
like there are only three there are three new songs
(05:34):
on the Deluxe, and each of them felt like an
important song to share for for different reasons. So like,
we take our compact with our fan base really seriously,
and we want to share stuff that like we believe
in and that we love and that's served us well
in the past. And that's something I love participating in.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Well for you as it's really fun as well, because
it say, you get to focus on the stuff that
invigorates you, you know, And so like I mean, I
imagine as well, look as I say, I know a
lot of musicians who love the road, and there's another
ones who don't. But for the ones who don't, you know,
or who got tired of it or who just needed
to break whatever, you know, it's like it becomes exhausting.
(06:21):
So I imagine in this phase you have a lot
of energy and you get to focus.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, they're invigoratid.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Going, you know, yeah, yeah, super energize. And then when stuff,
other stuff, creative stuff comes up behind the scenes, I'm
like I'm fresh, you know, like I can be helpful
versus like yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
So for you, what's been your favorite parts of it?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Then?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Then in terms of being able to be creative beyond me,
because I imagine you have time to focus, so like
you said, you focus on the art, you can focus
on other stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Yeah, like the I mean, I love all of Like
our whole ecosystem is really, as you know, quite elaborate.
Like the band is creatively prolific and ambitious, and we
love making things and sharing things with our with our supporters,
(07:13):
and whether it's like the zine that we're putting out,
whether it's the LPU, whether it's the tour and the
production of the tour, whether it's the merge, whether it's
little pop ups that we've been doing, whether it's online
stuff online. We just like putting care. We like putting
(07:34):
care into it, and the lot goes into all of it.
So it's been fun to focus on some of that stuff.
And uh yeah, just being creative, like working on working
on song ideas and supporting everything that's going on. So yeah,
very privileged to be a part of it all. Very
(07:55):
stoked and really grateful that our fan base continues to
evolve and has embraced this new chapter with so much passion.
I mean that's ultimately like the dream of any artist
is to share what they love with other people and
then get some kind of like connection back. And as
(08:21):
it doesn't always you know, work that way. Like someone
can make something and then think it's great and then
not get that not get the response that they envisage,
and then sometimes rarely things like look with the Emptiness
Machine for example, things just go, you know, and they
exceed even one's wildest imagination. So when that happens, it's
(08:47):
not something that you know, it's not something we take
for granted. And yeah, we just want to keep giving
back to our fan base, and the band is focused
on playing great shows, making great music, and being really
intentional about what we're able to do as musicians and
his artists.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, do you know, it's interesting something you just said
struck me.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You know, Gerard from Mike Ham as a friend, and
I know you know him well because having been on
tour together and Grey Ded and we talked about it,
you know, and it was so weird how that band
went from playing We talked about this, you know, for
the Anthems book, which you know great Guitars contributed to,
and you know, it's funny because he was saying that
that was the man who went from doing the shrine.
(09:27):
So all of a sudden, they're headlining fucking stadiums and
it's like time just evolves and it's kind and you
know for certain bands, and you know, it seems like
for you guys as well, there's been that hunger of
people who both missed you and then also of course
there's a new generation.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
He didn't get to experience it.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah, I mean when we put out Lost, which we made,
that was like the song that we held off of
is Meteora right? Is that right?
Speaker 4 (10:00):
And that's cry? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I remember it was with Andy Wallace in New York
and we intentionally held that one off and then to
release it like over twenty years later, and it was
like number one that year, the number one song at
rock and alternative. It signaled to us, yeah, that there
really is a very hungry appetite for the music and
(10:27):
really cool to see, like at shows, like I've been
hearing feedback of fans that have supported the band since
our early history, standing next to people who it's their
first time seeing Lincoln Park. And I've even heard anecdotally
(10:48):
like kids, you know, like when I started playing guitar,
like my favorite band was like led Zeppelin, and I
had the whole songbook and I tried to learn all
the songs, and like you know of fourteen year olds today,
sixteen year olds like learning guitar and and you know,
I've heard you know that our band is the one
(11:10):
you know that they're learning all the songs of. So
that was always our goal, was like to make timeless music.
And you know, it's it's like an ambitious thing to say,
and it's it's it's a pretty surreal thing when actually happens.
And there's also this really interesting juxtaposition right of like
(11:31):
the early history having like a recurring impact on culture
today and then the new stuff like right along with it.
So I think that's really exciting about the show is
like you're getting these kind of classic songs and then
you've got like Heavy used the Crown or Up from
the Bottom or Emptiness Machine or you know whatever, and
(11:54):
it's like those songs are brand new. So it's like
all this weird, like kind of pastiche of moments that
emerge at different junctures throughout our career all coming together
for this really amazing celebration that's moving around the world
on stage in front of our fans.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Still funny that you used Zeppelin reference because I first
grew up on Zeppelin as well. They were my favorite
fan raise. Yet I remember when I ran on the
road with you guys. That was sort of the analogy
I used, was that you guys were this like for
a lot of kids you didn't grow up on that.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
That was what looking part was that.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It's funny because you guys have kind of settled into
that role in a weird way of like, you know,
now there's like twenty five years of people who listen
to the music, you know, and now you probably get
I imagine I know because I talk to people fathers
and sons, you know, and.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Like, yeah, that and thumb it's amazing, it's amazing. It's
hard to wrap once head around. I guess my question
for you is, like, yeah, like when you were I mean,
there was a lot of there, It was a lot
of like, there was a lot of excitement probably in
the moment that you were on the bus with us
(13:09):
traveling around, especially those earliest albums. But did you I
guess I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't ask this question
because I might get an answer I don't want, But like,
did you have a sense of like at the time,
is it interesting? Like what's your sense like now twenty
years later that it's still like a thing, either the
(13:30):
old stuff or the new stuff. Like at the time,
at the time when you were with us, did you
think it would did you did you have any sense
that it might have the kind of more timeless residents
that these songs have. What did you think? That's my
question And the.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Reason I knew it was because of the fans stuff
you gave me, and I saw how deeply the fans
connected with it with Yeah, I was given letters, I
was given the bags of the gifts and all that.
So seeing the deep connection that fans felt with it,
and read the letters from people said like to save
my life and all of that. Yes, that's all I
(14:08):
knew it would last was because fans felt it's so deeply.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Is there a tone to some of those letters because
you've been out with other artists and you've seen that stuff,
like so are you saying you've there was like a
different tone because I don't only have I only have
the limited experience of you know, being out with my
bit right with my band. You've spent time with lots
of artists. Are you saying there was a unique tone
that you were seeing in those letters specifically with this
(14:35):
with with Lincoln Park.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, there wasn't a unique tone.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
But I think for any band that gets that kind
of connection there is you're going to have that you know, sustainability.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Okay, yeah, like I mean.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Because not every band gets that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
You're saying some artists you're saying, there are some other
artists that do. And if artists do get that, that's
a sign that there's a really substantive connection happening.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Time, like if you look.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
At like a nine inch nails, if you look at
like a when you feel a connection with an artist,
when you go back to like Queen or Zeppelin, when
you feel that, like when you feel like you leave
the music you know, and not only on the all
time great bands have that, then you're gonna have that connection.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Yep. Yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. It's
really interesting to hear.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Yeah, No, it's true because I mean again, you know,
it's interesting thing because a lot of times to it's
funny because sometimes that could be a double edged sword.
You know I'm doing good story right now in the
Times with the Doors on their sixteenth anniversary. Wow, I
was so attached to Did Morrison it becomes difficult. And
it's funny for me because like Emily was long before
(15:46):
she ever joined your band, she was a good friend.
I actually did the first Rolling Stone story with her
for Dead Sarah. Wow, you got to basketball games together.
Tell her by the way she sucks because now she's
a big rock star. She hasn't text back, but you know,
so like I had a connection with both of them.
So it was very interesting for me to see. And
it is like it is cool that people have been
(16:09):
willing to accept her and embrace her because you know,
there is that thing of like people when they feel
a connection, they feel proprietary towards the band.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah. Well, I think what's amazing about her integration into
like our creative DNA is like she's clearly her own
She's clearly her own ingredient, right, Like it's Emily. It's
not like Emily trying to be somebody else. It's just
(16:41):
Emily being herself. That's what I felt, Like, That's what
really stuck out to me, even when we were hanging
out like at East West, just like her presence, her energy,
like even without her singing, just something about her energy
felt right to me, like it meaning like it's just
felt like a natural fit. And then I would say yeah.
(17:03):
And then when you add in all like the the
intangible gifts of being able to like perform all these
different parts and then bring her own just like aesthetically
what she loves, it just naturally it naturally like integrates
with what we love. And so that's what's so beautiful
(17:25):
about like her, about Emily being Emily is like she
doesn't she only gets to be Emily like she isn't
like she'd be doing everyone into service by by trying
to be anything other than Emily like she she only
has to be herself, and it naturally works like that.
That's I think why it was. It was like made
(17:47):
sense for us, and then why it's resonating outwardly kind
of in what you're describing similarly, Well, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Yeah, Now she's very much her own person. She's very
much a badass, you know, she's just person. But it's funny,
I imagine for you there is like going back to
the creativity. You know, there's probably like some fun excitement
you know of like as a guitarist, you know, and
as a writer and his producer, as someone who works
(18:15):
in all these fields, you know, being able to sort
of you know, make music that fits a different voice
or that works with a different voice, because it's like,
brings a new energy to what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
It brings a new Yeah, for sure, brings a new energy.
And Emily and Colin, it brought a lot of a
lot of energy. And it also like, because there was
something inevitably new in this chapter, we also like gave
ourselves the permission to return to what was familiar about
the earliest kind of sonic inspiration that kind of started
(18:53):
us off, which which we had really iterated away from
on subsequent out right because there was a commitment not
to repeat ourselves, which I think was really healthy. I think,
what when you bring in new all of a sudden,
it gave us the permission to go back and tap
back into the old. And so that's something that's I'm
(19:14):
really proud of with this album is it's obviously surprising
and yet at the same time it feels really familiar.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, wait, we're gonna have fund for a second, because
I won't ask you this is funny mentioned the Doors
story and you know, so one of the things I
talked I talked to I'm talking to different artists about
how their music.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Affects them and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
But one of the things was I interviewed a paleontologist
who was a jazz drummer who now is a pal intologists,
and he was telling me a story about being the
Patagonia and excavating dinosaur bones, listening to the doors and
having horses literally drag dinosaur bones through the forest while
listening to writers on the store and that new favorite story.
(19:58):
So my question for you, where's the coolest place you've
heard of your music being listened to by the crazy
It's like Zach the black Key's this right, And they
told me a story about actually that the pilots you
went in on the big laden ripe were listening to
howling for you. So some amazing stories come out. So
where's the coolest place that you've heard of Lincoln Park
(20:19):
music being listened to?
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I mean coolests, I mean I think that, like I
think that something that we're really proud of. Steve is
and you know this because you were with us during
this period. It is like we did so much touring
early on all around the world that it's almost like
(20:48):
we establish ourselves as a local band pretty much everywhere,
like anywhere you could you could reasonably go and play.
We not only did we like go to other continents
and countries to play, like one time, we went like
every album cycle. So and from the beginning, Steve So,
those artists didn't, sorry, those fans didn't experience our band
(21:12):
as like an American band coming to share, you know,
our American music. They I it felt to me like
those fans felt like we were their band too, and
so in our case, like it really doesn't. It does
(21:33):
not surprise like people send me. I think it surprises
people other people who don't know all of the time
and energy spent building relationships with supporters all around the world,
Like family members will be on trips and they'll see
some Lincoln Park thing and they'll send it to me
and they'll just be like, I'm in you know, I'm
in India, or I'm in Africa or you know, wherever,
(21:54):
like someplace far from here, and they're like shocked that
the band had some presence there. And for me, I
know that we do because I've physically been to most
of those places multiple multiple times, and I know the
commitment level of like even China, Mainland China. We were
(22:15):
i think the first band to do a stadium Rockmann
to do a state multi city stadium tour in China
or something. That's correct. I'm also just giving the quick
fighting no, I love that, thank you. So yeah, we
spent like an unreasonable amount of time touring in other
(22:35):
countries and it really is like part of the deep
essential lifeblood of who we are and we're incredibly grateful
to like have that support that isn't like ephemeral, right,
Like it's you're talking about the letters like you were saying,
maybe like that was a foreshadowing that the support is
(22:58):
something deeper. I feel like, yeah, like actually going to
all these places and sharing the music live with our
fans created like a real relationship and it's not ephemeral.
It's not like there's pop artists who like live and
(23:18):
die by the success of like a song on the
radio and if they don't have it like poof, you know,
we really feel like we have this kind of like
like consistent dedication from our fan base around the world,
and it really gives us a lot of creative freedom too, Steve,
(23:40):
because it's never like we're never chasing Oh what do
we this song has to perform? Or what do we
think or it's always we always better on ourselves creatively
and have the courage to really ask do we love this?
Does this feel authentic? Does this feel worthy of sharing
with the world world? And can we take risks? And
(24:04):
when the answers are yes, then we have the privilege
of sharing this stuff. And when it if it goes okay,
like it's you know, the fans are still there for us.
And when it goes great, it's like it's gravy, right
Like the the velocity of the Emptiness Machine was just
(24:25):
like staggering, right like when that took off, like it
was beyond our willness imagination and we're just riding the
wave and grateful for it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Well, no, we got to wrap up in a minute.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
But it's interesting because you know, when I was talking
about fans earlier that had that, you know, Sam sustainability,
one band that mentioned was Nine Inch Nails and I
remember talking on the road with you guys, you know,
and that was a band that definitely came up and
it's funny because their band I think that is you know,
it's so trend to being the artist that is successfully
(24:59):
inventive himself.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
And we and you know, been able to.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Evolve and when you look at the next level of
Lincoln Park, you know, it's funny. As you mentioned that
always the benchmarked for that evolution.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
To me is David Bowie. But are the artists for
you that you.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Really admire for the way that they were able to
do that and that you guys kind of look to
now as like, Okay, you started off as this like
insane success.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Hybrid Theory was like the biggest selling rock album in
the century.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
And now though to be able to do that, the
only other person I know who's done that, and I
fucking love her is Atlantis, who had like the juggernaut
of an album and then was able to turn that
into a twenty year career.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
What's the question that you really look to for the
way that you're able to evolve.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Yeah, I don't even think it has to be like
specific to music. I think it's like like thinking about
writers or filmmakers or painters, Like the artists who are
the most interesting are obsessed with trying to share truth
(26:20):
in our case, emotional. I think it's emotional, always been
emotional truth, and so that's the like, that's the that's
the no past goes like if you're not saying something
emotionally essential. And I think where it gets playful is
(26:46):
in the is, in the is, in the context, is
in the form, right, And that's where like, like, you
have to have substance and then if you're if you're able,
if you're able to be a student of form and
take risks and experiment and you know where, yeah, create
(27:12):
different mechanisms through which to receive the meaning. Then I
think that's where it gets really interesting. And we're still uh,
we're still on the journey. It's like it's a never
ending privilege of exploration and so it never gets old.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, yesterday, and it's interesting. You know, of course he's
choosing nots to or for you. Did you find him
with something you missed? Because he and I talked about
it like a during you know, the unexpected hiatus. You know,
each of you guys decide, Okay, this is where I want,
(28:07):
this is what I don't want.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yeah, I think I think it was definitely something I missed.
I've always like music for me has been a big
part of my life since I was really little. And
I was still able to obviously enjoy so many of
the different aspects of that that I've always loved. You know,
I could, I could still listen to music, I could
still go to shows with my wife and kids, you know,
(28:34):
still experience that connection that I've always loved and had
with it. But I definitely missed not being able to
play and share that experience and feeling with fans and
with the crowd. And I think, like, yes, definitely what
there was a chance to say, to zoom out a
little bit and kind of look at what we had
(28:56):
done and how we had done it, and say this
aspects I loved, this aspects of it, I'd like to
change and kind of approach the whole process with that
new new framework.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Well, I see, and I talked about yesterday as well.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
I mean, look, unfortunately, lost is one of those things
that shapes you immensely, you know, and so you never
planned on the break, but it's one of those things
during that time off of course, you know you're going
to readjust everything. It's just perspective of like you've lost
a brother.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Yeah, you know, no, you don't get to choose. I
feel like you don't get to choose if you're going
to suffer or not. In life, you're going to suffer,
but you do get to choose how you try to
navigate it, and you do get to choose, you know what,
what you do with it, and how you try to
(29:49):
move forward. And this was this was putting that mentality
to the test for me and just kind of taking
the punches and then kind of saying, okay, like how
do we how do we move forward from here? How
do we want to what feels good? What doesn't you know? What?
(30:11):
Where do you go? And so a big part of
that process too was even taking a first step when
it came to the band. I was pretty paralyzed early
on with the mentality that I needed to figure out
everything before I even was able to take a step,
like questions like are we going to do a new album?
(30:33):
Are we just going to do a new single?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Like?
Speaker 4 (30:35):
And then if we do play shows, are we going
to play old stuff or is it just going to
be new stuff? And then what's the band going to
look like? And who's going to sing the new stuff
and who's going to sing the old stuff? And what
is how does that work? And then at a certain
point I was like I can do that, Like I
can create these crazy questions to try to figure out
(30:55):
or I could just get in a room with Mike
and Joe and say like let's make steps and see
if we even like it, you know, and that's let's
just take a step and then see what the next
step may or may not be. And it was so
freeing when I finally realized that I got to that
space because it it just took so much pressure off
(31:18):
of the whole thing that is you know, Lincoln Park,
and it just let it be like let's pursue what
we enjoy about this, and let's not have any preconceived
ideas of where it's going or what it needs to be,
but let's just see if we even like it. Right, Like,
there was a moment when I didn't know if we
(31:42):
would still write music that I liked, as weird as
that might sound to some people. A lot of stuff
you know that you do sometimes you get it to
a place and you're like this is this isn't working
for me, Like I'm not connecting with it. And similarly,
like I didn't know if I would want to go
(32:03):
out and play the old songs, like I didn't know
what that might feel like. I didn't know if it
would hurt too much, you know, And so it was
just a process of let's just take each little step
and see what that opens up for the next step,
and then fast forward here we are.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Well, it's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Did you find like when you started with writing with
Mike and Joe, was it something that you like you
said you weren't sure how you were gonna feel about
it was like you know, physically shave writing and bicycle.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
No, it was more, you know, for a long time,
like a period of months, I would say, we'd have
time scheduled to be together where you know, we were
in a studio or in a space where we could
be creative, but we ended up just kind of more
than anything, just talking, enjoying hanging out with each other
(33:02):
in like like a chunk of time. And it was
kind of funny because we'd work on music for maybe
an hour, but we'd be together for eight hours and
it was just like eat lunch, talk about a bunch
of stuff, talk about what we might do, talk about
what that is. Then before you know it now like okay,
(33:24):
we're gonna eat dinner, and then it's like, oh, let's
just mess around on some guitar riffs and then like okay, cool,
see you tomorrow. We did that, like versions of that
in different ways for a long time, and even in
the early phases of it, it was kind of like,
this is a great excuse just for us to get
together and be friends and hang out and have a
scheduled reason for that. And we didn't know if it
(33:48):
was even gonna be Like like I said, we didn't
know if we were gonna like what we were doing,
but we didn't know also if it was even going
to be Lincoln Park. We didn't know if it would
feel like that or be that or fit for that.
And even when we started bringing in other people to
write with and to you know, play with, we were
(34:11):
very intentional about telling them we're just getting together to
work on music and enjoy it and have fun, like,
but this is not Lincoln Park, Like, that's not what
we are writing for, but that's not what we're working
on exactly. So even super early in the process with
Colin first and then you know, with Emily, it was
(34:32):
just an opportunity for us to to get together and
hang out with people, write music, play music. And eventually
those two were just like not only obviously talented and
extremely talented, but just so fun to be around and
so enjoyable to spend time with. But it just grew
into like, okay, this is a thing, Like I don't
(34:55):
what that is or where that goes. We don't know,
but we want to now pour more time, energy, effort
into whatever this group is and see what this can do.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
So that's really interesting to me because, as you say,
it's not something I had thought of, but you know,
the idea of you guys just reconnecting as friends, because again,
when you go through a tragedy, you know, it kind
of you know, it's natural to kind of pull away,
separate through your own things.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Mike and I talked during that time a couple of
times while he was working on his own stuff, you know,
And so was it something when you got back together
that it was just simply like again, it was important too,
because you guys have gone through so much to you know,
sort of reclaim the friendship lack of better word, because
you're always friends. But again, it's different when you spend
time with someone.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Yeah, and it's kind of like, at least for me,
I have different groups of friends that I do different
things with, you know, like some of like some of
my friends are friends that my wife and I go
out to dinner with them, you know. Where some of
my friends are like friends that I play golf with
or are interested in soccer, or are whatever. Friends that
(36:05):
I grew up with. Lincoln Park is a group of
my closest friends. But we do what we do together
is play and make music. And so when we're in
periods of time when we're not playing or making music,
we we're still close, but where we don't have that
same connection or reason that's pulling us together, especially not
all together. And so when you like with Chester passing,
(36:32):
it kind of felt like, you know, all us we
lost Chester, but we also lost this thing that we
get to do together. And so a part of the
the journey of the whole thing has been us kind
of saying what do we do now, Like when we
get together, what does that look like? How does that work?
(36:53):
You know? What is what's our new relationship going to be?
Are we still doing these together? Like we're obviously still
friends and I've shared so much life experience together that
we're gonna be friends and we're going to be in
each other's lives if we're not doing music, but it's different,
you know that that relationship has changed if we're no
longer doing music and together, but rediscovering that, you know,
(37:18):
initially with with Mike and Joe and then adding Brad
in the mix down the road, that was kind of
like a new pathway to having these relationships that are
just so special and awesome for me. And you know,
having it then work in a scale with the fans
(37:39):
and having it then be able to that's all like
that's literally icing on the cake. So that's the cherry
on the Sunday for me, is that it came together
and people have enjoyed it and it's been meaningful for
them in some way or another also, but even before
even before that, for me, it was our just such
(38:00):
a huge win. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Yeah, one hundred percent, because again it's like you know,
like I said, in a way, it's reclaiming the friendship.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
It's yeah, yeah, that's a good way to put it,
I think, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
And it's funny because you mentioned the fans style and
like you know, as I say, I talked to Brad yesterday.
But you have a very different experience because you're on
the road, so you see it. And one of the
things we talked about was, you know, there's this like
generational thing now of like, you know, there were the
people who were there two thousand, two thousand and one,
two thousand and two, and now of course there's fans
(38:36):
coming who were like, shit, we never got Sea Lincoln Park.
So I imagine, you know, not only that it's funny, I
was selling Brad. I did the first Rolling Stone story
with Emily when she was in Dead's Ara, so we.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Used to get a basketball game together. We've been friends forever.
I love her now. So she's great.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
So she brings a new energy, and of course Falling,
who I don't know, does as well. But then you
have this new generation of fancying and so I imagine it
feels in a way like a very different thing.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
Yeah, it's it kind of. It's there's a push pull
in that it feels new and different and fresh and exciting,
and it also it still contains all of these special
aspects and components to it that have always been there
and been a core of what it is that I love.
And one of the things I kind of realized, and
(39:28):
I've been talking about it a little bit, was like
I went. It must have been a month or two
ago now, but I went and saw the Deaftones and
with my oldest daughter. She's eighteen and she's a huge fan.
And I remember me and Brad when we were at
UCLA together going and seeing the Deaftones play at you know,
clubs in Hollywood because we loved that band. And now
(39:51):
I'm getting to see that experience. I'm still loving to
see them play and getting to see that experience through
my daughter's eyes, and what a cool thing that is,
you know, as a dad to have that with her.
And then I'm seeing that same thing at our shows.
You know, I'm seeing parents bring their teenage or you know,
twenty something year old kids to Lincoln Park shows and
(40:12):
sharing in that experience of you know, they both like
the band or they both love the music or whatever
that is, and that's that's so cool, And that was
something that like we weren't seeing ten years ago. Necessarily
was like two generations of Lincoln Park fans coming together
and like having that experience together, and that I know,
(40:32):
I know, I appreciate that just because I appreciate it
so much for me to go to that show with
my daughter, and so I think that's been like a
really cool special thing for me to also then see
in our crowd.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Yeah, I know, it makes to all sense.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
And again it becomes like, as he and I were
talking about, that's like that generational thing that you can't
really control.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
And it's funny.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
I was telling him, you know, I'm friends with Gerard
from Vikam and they took years off and then you know,
they go and playing the Shrine six thousand seeds to
fucking stadiums. Yeah, it's not something you control. Well, it's
just that thing where it's like people either miss it
or they don't. And did you find that during that
time that it was something that like it takes on
(41:16):
a life of its own.
Speaker 4 (41:20):
Yeah. And it's also for me, I just felt like
there's no guarantee with anything you do in music. You know,
you you might love a record and put it out
and it doesn't land for whatever reason, people don't connect
with it. You just don't know, you don't know how
(41:40):
it's going to be received. And it's also like we
were already lucky enough for lack of a smarter word.
But we're already lucky enough to have so much great
success and have things connect in such an amazing way
with with Lincoln Park that the idea of having at
work a second time that feels to me even more
(42:04):
like preposterous. It feels like, you know, it feels like
you've gambled on rolette, you've played, you've bet the green zero,
and you've hit it, and now you think like, oh,
I'm gonna do it again because this is what I
do as I just hit zero green zero every time
(42:24):
and they're you know what I mean. It's like it's
not a good bat, but somehow, somehow it has worked again,
And it's just in that mindset for me, I'm like,
I do not take it for granted that fans are
coming out to shows and that they're singing the new songs.
And it's like when we play Emptiness Machine, there's a
(42:46):
pop off the crowd. It's one step closer and in
the end faint and numb, like yes, those songs, like
people are enjoying and participating in and those are the
ones that they've loved forcades, and there's also a pop
with the new stuff. And I'm like this is crazy, Like,
this is so cool that there's stuff that we've released
(43:09):
in this past year that people are still kind of
like connecting with the way that we connect with it,
Like I don't take that for granted, and I think
that that's like that's really special, really cool.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
Well, you know, we're talking about the Deluxe which comes
out next week, and so now you have three new
songs to play, But for you, what are the favorite
new songs to do live? And you know it's funny
is you say, well, you put on a record, you
never know if it's gonna not.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
You know, you put it out and you have no control.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
And the other thing for us it's interesting with it
as part of that is you put on a record
and you're like, it's my favorite song on the record,
and people are like eh. And then there's another song
to put on the record that you're like, well, we'll
just throwing on there because you know, we need the track,
and people are like, oh my god, this is the
greatest fucking thing I've ever heard. You have literally what
people respond to. So have you been surprised by certain
(43:59):
songs that people love reallyspun you? Positively?
Speaker 4 (44:03):
I've been surprised I mean, I was excited about the
whole album. You know. I feel like in some respects,
I've always it's a part of linking, part that we
all have to kind of sign off and like each
track on a record, and this is from zero is
no different. But I'm shocked in such a positive way
(44:25):
that people have liked the whole album. You know, in
this day and age, especially streaming and everything else where,
it's just like, what even is an album? Right? Like,
is it forty tracks that artists just released just to
see what gets any traction or what might work, or
is that just like a band is doing one or
(44:46):
two songs and that's like it, and then they're going
to go tour with the two new songs. Who knows
what an album even kind of means in that world
and in that space. But I feel like our fans
have digested the whole thing, and now with three new tracks,
hopefully they're going to be doing that as well with
the newer songs additionally. But and then they've had their
(45:08):
own opinions on like this is the ranking of my favorites,
but they've gotten into the whole album, you know, They've
they've taken it and received it kind of how we
wanted to give it, which is like this is, please
listen to the whole thing and just digest. Didn't see
what we think of the whole work, Like, don't just
cherry pick one or two things, throw them on a
(45:30):
playlist and then let the others sit on the side.
And with with the three new tracks as well, there
was there were basically three songs that two of them
we'd been working on for a while, but it just
took more time versus when the deadline was to turn
it in. We knew they had potential, but we they
weren't quite ready yet when we turned in the proper album.
(45:52):
And then Up from the Bottom was something that Mike
had just started working on in that space of the
album's already turned in, and you know, we know we're
going to try to finish a couple more songs and
see if that's going to make sense. And so that
one came together really quickly, whereas the other two were
just you know, they were tracks that we were still
in the process of figuring out what our best way
(46:15):
to present them might be. But yeah, you'd ask too
about playing stuff live whatever. Overflow for example, as a song,
(46:36):
it's a track that's a bit different from zero from
everything else where it sits, and like that song live.
I think maybe because the feeling and vibe of it
sits a little bit differently, has turned into like, that's
like probably my favorite song to play in our entire
set right now. It just has this cool kind of
(46:58):
eerie different and feel and vibe too. And then when
you get to the end of it, it's instrumental but
kind of explodes, and in the live setting it's so fun,
so fun to play.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
You know, it's interesting because I you know, had thought
about this for a second, but you know, obviously, of
course there are several years where you didn't get to
play live. And you know, as I talk about with
already Sa all the time, your relationship to me is
changes because you know, you're older, Like you said, you know,
now when you go see the downtownes, you're taking your daughter,
so you're seeing it through her eyes. So you know,
(47:30):
are there older link in Park songs that you either
really misplaying or you're like you just you hear them
differently now because you didn't get to play them for
almost a decade or over a decade.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
Yeah. Yeah, And there's some that like there's some old songs,
for example Lost that were released later, but it is
a super old song that got released I think on
like the twentieth anniversary of Mediora or her. Yeah, that
(48:03):
song is from like two thousand and two or whatever
when we wrote it, and we'd never played it and
in any version live until this year. So that's kind
of a that's like a fun different undertaking to do
something like that. But then additionally, like with Emily coming
in to the band and with us figuring out what
(48:26):
what are the best keys for her vocally, like where
does her vocal registers sit? In the process of preparing
the set for her as a vocalist, we actually kind
of went through and changed a handful of the old keys.
And it's funny what that does as a guitarist as
a bass player, because it just reinvents how you're approaching
(48:48):
a song. Like in the end, you know you've played
I've played the song for twenty however many years in
one framework in a live setting, and now we've moved
the key. We've changed changed, you know in that regard,
I've changed like the tuning or how I'm playing in
my bass, the approach to playing that in a live
setting is different and so that it re energizes the
(49:09):
song in a different way. It makes like your brain
work in a different way, makes it fresh and kind
of like a new challenge. And that's across the board
in our set, Like that was like an interesting hurdle
for me to kind of like look at was you know,
I'm learning these new songs. And oddly, really quickly the
(49:32):
new songs became easier to play in a live setting
because I didn't have to unwrite all this different kind
of like history of how I had played it, you know,
in the catalog songs. I kind of had to like
relearn a lot of those. So you're trying in a
live setting at that point to not go into an
(49:52):
autopilot mode with playing your guitar. You're you're having to
stay engaged with like this is the new progression of
what that looks or feels like, you know on bass.
So it's just it's it's changed up in a weird way.
It's changed up that focus that you need to have
a in a live environment and kind of refreshed the
(50:15):
old stuff as well as the refreshing aspect of having
new songs to play. Also you know.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
It's interesting though, I imagine in a way that you know,
that keeps the songs fresh for you and rather than
just going back and like saying, Okay, cool, I know
how to do this. It's like probably you know, getting
a new challenge with it probably makes it more fun
in a way.
Speaker 4 (50:37):
Yeah, yeah, it does. It just brings new a new
need for interest or attention on a lot of stuff.
It was. It was also you know, early on in
our process of getting prepared to play shows, Emily and
Colin kind of had to go through and you know,
learn forty songs or whatever and that we might be
(50:58):
playing or picking from the in a live set. And
seeing them work through that process too was pretty awesome
and inspiring. They're just like, all right, we need to
we need to hunker down because it's like we might
be playing a two hour set, but they need in
a weird way, they need to have three hours worth
the material that we're going to be picking from to
(51:20):
be kind of swapping the sets around. And that's crazy,
like if you are at a space where you need
to now suddenly be ready to be prepared to play
three hours of material in an arena or whatever, on
that kind of setting that's a weird, crazy amount of pressure,
and nobody ever does that right. Like, if you're a
(51:41):
band and you're starting out, your first sets that you're
gonna play are twenty minutes, and you're gonna play your
You're gonna play your four songs that you've known or
that you've written, and then maybe a cover and then
that's it. So you spend all this time rehearsing your
twenty or thirty minute set, getting that tight it is
what it is, and then you're down and then you're
adding to that as you grow as a band, and
(52:02):
then you're adding you know, maybe you're twenty years old
and you're figuring that out. And then by the time
or whatever, you're stressed because you've got to play a
headline set. It's an hour. And for us, like our
first headline set that we had to play, all we
have out is hybrid Theory and maybe the album that's
like maybe forty minutes. We've got to play an hour,
so we're like, how do we fill an hour? You
(52:22):
got to start getting creative. For Colin and Emily coming
into the band, it's kind of like, here's your three
hour linkin part set. You need to be able to
be prepared to play and like ps, there's no learning curve.
We're just we're going to hit the ground running and
we're going to be playing in front of tens of
thousands of people, like be ready to go here it
(52:43):
is And so they just took that and like ran
with it, and for me seeing that too, I was
kind of like, Okay, I need to I know I
need to put in a lot of my own work
into this. I know I need to know the new
stuff really well. I know I wanted to come across great,
but I also need to go through the entire catalog
and like restructure and refigure out how I want to
play it and put in the work you know, which
(53:05):
was which is a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
Well, it's funny though, because I don't know, right see
really quickly to jump in we should probably try and wrap.
Speaker 4 (53:13):
If you have maybe one more thing you want to
want to touch on, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:16):
Yeah, I need two more, but we'll make it really quick.
Speaker 1 (53:18):
But it's fun because, as I say, you know, I
don't know Colin, but I've known Emily since the first
fucking show she played, and she's a fucking star. She
like I literally saw her dive off like amplifiers at
a New York show opening for the US. Yeah, you guys,
you know, I mean, were you surprised by how quickly
(53:39):
she stepped into that environment of being able to open
for or being able to play for, because it is not.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
Easy to play for twenty thousand people.
Speaker 3 (53:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (53:50):
I I was not surprised that Emily was able and
is able to do that, but only because I got
to know her well enough to to know this is
her this is her lane, you know, like she's this
is what she is built to do, Like this is
what she's made for. I consider myself, you know, as
(54:12):
a as a guitarist, so lucky to have gotten a
chance to work with two just absolute generational talents, both
in Chester and then now at Emily. That when you
see someone who's made for it, you're like, this is
this is like I just need to put you in
(54:33):
that position, and this is what you are made to do,
you know, And that's that's a rare thing. That's a
super super rare thing. I've seen that a ton when
it comes to musicians, or comes to vocalist, when it
comes to anything. But she's got it, you know, she's
got that thing like she's a she's a special, special talent,
(54:55):
and she's an amazing person on top of that. But
I just knew and kind of like I was saying,
Colin is similar where he's not he's not new or
green to music. And there's so many people that are
so talented you know that you just they just end
(55:15):
up landing in different areas or you're not. Everybody gets
to be in a band that is as lucky and
fortunate as us to have been able to connect for
whatever reason the way that we have. But Colin, similarly,
I'm just like, this guy is a natural at what
he's doing. You put him in that space like he's
the guy, you know. And so I was really really
(55:38):
confident in that regard with the set of people that
we had, and I think that I think that they're great.
Speaker 2 (55:49):
Well, well, since we obviously have to wrap up, who
do you want to have that I ask you about.
Speaker 4 (55:55):
I think we kind of covered it Other than that.
I mean, I just say, play in a lot of
spaces we've we haven't played in a long time, coming
up here in the US and abroad, and we're at
we're at a spot where we're really, we're loving what
we're doing, and we're we're very thankful to have this
chance to do it again. And it's been a blast
(56:16):
already just to kind of see and reconnect with with
so many people. So we're looking forward to continuing that
and kind of just going where it all leads.
Speaker 1 (56:29):
H h
Speaker 4 (56:34):
H
Hi, It's Steve Balton, and today we wrap up season
one of In Service Up with a very special episode.
Twenty years ago went on the road with Lincoln Park
and did a book with them. We've stayed friends all
this time, and so when I spoke in separate interviews
with Brad Delson, guitarist for Lincoln Park, and Phoenix, the bassist,
(00:30):
it was like catching up with old friends, as you
hear in the special hour long episode.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
And what a perfect way to wrap up season what.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We'll be back to the beginning of November with a
crazy schedule of guests. So we will see you soon
and hope you enjoy the season as much.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
As we did.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
You know, it's so funny like that we're talking about
this because you know so many musicians I've talked to
over the years. Part of it is, again, your tastes
evolved as you get older and you want to explore
in different things. That It's funny because growing up I
was obsessed with Randy Rhodes. That was one of my
favorite guitars. Yeah, Ozzie and I have talked about this
many times, you know, and Randy was gonna leave the band,
(01:26):
you know, because he wanted to do different stuff. Now
you haven't left Lincoln, but you know, not touring with them,
does it allow you the freedom to do stuff that
you would not otherwise do.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I don't look at it that way. I look at it.
I mean, I look at it as really focusing on
the aspects of the band that are the most energizing
for me, which, like in this chapter, really is the
creative stuff, the stuff in the studio, even like the
show itself, like the conceptual design behind the show, which
(02:01):
which I worked on, that to me is like the
most fun thing to do in this moment. And so
I think, Steve, one of the benefits of like having
taken time off from making new stuff is we all
had we all gained cult, you know, gain the ability
(02:24):
to look at the creative opportunity of the band with
fresh eyes and like not just two things because we've
done them in the past, but really like opting into
what is fun and what we love and that's kind
of like an ethos I think for the whole band.
And I think, actually that's like one of the reasons
that we've worked together so well in this chapter together
and we've had you know, success creatively together, is that openness. Yeah,
(02:51):
and maybe some of it is some maturity, you know,
and just experience of having done things, you know, a
certain way and now having the gift of being able
to approach approach things with a new perspective.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Well, you know, it's interesting and I hadn't thought about this,
but you say that you now. I mean, look, unfortunately,
you reach a certain age. We've all gone through way
too much fucking loss, and it gives you a lot
of perspective. And you know, during that time when you're
thinking about stuff, does it also allowed you to think of, Hey,
you know, you gain perspective on like what you want
and what you don't want. And you know, as you
(03:26):
say at the time, off allowed you to rethink things.
But I imagine as well, and also, you know, dealing with loss,
it gave you time to think about, hey, let's too short.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I don't want to be on the road doing all this.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
And I commend that one hundred percent because I've been
friends with a lot of musicians who probably honestly would
be alive today if they hadn't been on the road.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Wow, I think yeah, I think one of the best too. Unfortunately,
I think one of the benefits of of experience is
just having more self awareness of like having more self
(04:06):
awareness of knowing what you know, what makes us tick,
what fills our cup, what gives us energy, how we
can be most contributive because you know, when when we're
like as humans, when we're when we're happy, it's easier
to like fill someone else's cup right than when we're
(04:28):
you know, So like for me, yeah, just like moving
toward what feels energizing and really excited about this chapter,
like just the way it's all come together, the album itself,
Like for me, that's the most important thing to me
are the relationships and then the art and so the
album itself. Like we've always been hyper intentional, as you know,
(04:53):
about anything we put out, including an incredible an incredible
coffee table book that very prominent, prestigious writer helped us
create back in the day. We never want to put
out anything that we don't like, put all our love
and care into and really believe in. And this album
(05:14):
is no exception. Like even the fact that there's only
ten songs on the album, like, there was a lot
of music written and in kind of an explore creative exploration,
and so we'dling it down to its most essential parts
was really like a privilege. And even with the Deluxe,
like there are only three there are three new songs
(05:34):
on the Deluxe, and each of them felt like an
important song to share for for different reasons. So like,
we take our compact with our fan base really seriously,
and we want to share stuff that like we believe
in and that we love and that's served us well
in the past. And that's something I love participating in.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Well for you as it's really fun as well, because
it say, you get to focus on the stuff that
invigorates you, you know, And so like I mean, I
imagine as well, look as I say, I know a
lot of musicians who love the road, and there's another
ones who don't. But for the ones who don't, you know,
or who got tired of it or who just needed
to break whatever, you know, it's like it becomes exhausting.
(06:21):
So I imagine in this phase you have a lot
of energy and you get to focus.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, they're invigoratid.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Going, you know, yeah, yeah, super energize. And then when stuff,
other stuff, creative stuff comes up behind the scenes, I'm
like I'm fresh, you know, like I can be helpful
versus like yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
So for you, what's been your favorite parts of it?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Then?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Then in terms of being able to be creative beyond me,
because I imagine you have time to focus, so like
you said, you focus on the art, you can focus
on other stuff.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Yeah, like the I mean, I love all of Like
our whole ecosystem is really, as you know, quite elaborate.
Like the band is creatively prolific and ambitious, and we
love making things and sharing things with our with our supporters,
(07:13):
and whether it's like the zine that we're putting out,
whether it's the LPU, whether it's the tour and the
production of the tour, whether it's the merge, whether it's
little pop ups that we've been doing, whether it's online
stuff online. We just like putting care. We like putting
(07:34):
care into it, and the lot goes into all of it.
So it's been fun to focus on some of that stuff.
And uh yeah, just being creative, like working on working
on song ideas and supporting everything that's going on. So yeah,
very privileged to be a part of it all. Very
(07:55):
stoked and really grateful that our fan base continues to
evolve and has embraced this new chapter with so much passion.
I mean that's ultimately like the dream of any artist
is to share what they love with other people and
then get some kind of like connection back. And as
(08:21):
it doesn't always you know, work that way. Like someone
can make something and then think it's great and then
not get that not get the response that they envisage,
and then sometimes rarely things like look with the Emptiness
Machine for example, things just go, you know, and they
exceed even one's wildest imagination. So when that happens, it's
(08:47):
not something that you know, it's not something we take
for granted. And yeah, we just want to keep giving
back to our fan base, and the band is focused
on playing great shows, making great music, and being really
intentional about what we're able to do as musicians and
his artists.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, do you know, it's interesting something you just said
struck me.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You know, Gerard from Mike Ham as a friend, and
I know you know him well because having been on
tour together and Grey Ded and we talked about it,
you know, and it was so weird how that band
went from playing We talked about this, you know, for
the Anthems book, which you know great Guitars contributed to,
and you know, it's funny because he was saying that
that was the man who went from doing the shrine.
(09:27):
So all of a sudden, they're headlining fucking stadiums and
it's like time just evolves and it's kind and you
know for certain bands, and you know, it seems like
for you guys as well, there's been that hunger of
people who both missed you and then also of course
there's a new generation.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
He didn't get to experience it.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah, I mean when we put out Lost, which we made,
that was like the song that we held off of
is Meteora right? Is that right?
Speaker 4 (10:00):
And that's cry? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I remember it was with Andy Wallace in New York
and we intentionally held that one off and then to
release it like over twenty years later, and it was
like number one that year, the number one song at
rock and alternative. It signaled to us, yeah, that there
really is a very hungry appetite for the music and
(10:27):
really cool to see, like at shows, like I've been
hearing feedback of fans that have supported the band since
our early history, standing next to people who it's their
first time seeing Lincoln Park. And I've even heard anecdotally
(10:48):
like kids, you know, like when I started playing guitar,
like my favorite band was like led Zeppelin, and I
had the whole songbook and I tried to learn all
the songs, and like you know of fourteen year olds today,
sixteen year olds like learning guitar and and you know,
I've heard you know that our band is the one
(11:10):
you know that they're learning all the songs of. So
that was always our goal, was like to make timeless music.
And you know, it's it's like an ambitious thing to say,
and it's it's it's a pretty surreal thing when actually happens.
And there's also this really interesting juxtaposition right of like
(11:31):
the early history having like a recurring impact on culture
today and then the new stuff like right along with it.
So I think that's really exciting about the show is
like you're getting these kind of classic songs and then
you've got like Heavy used the Crown or Up from
the Bottom or Emptiness Machine or you know whatever, and
(11:54):
it's like those songs are brand new. So it's like
all this weird, like kind of pastiche of moments that
emerge at different junctures throughout our career all coming together
for this really amazing celebration that's moving around the world
on stage in front of our fans.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Still funny that you used Zeppelin reference because I first
grew up on Zeppelin as well. They were my favorite
fan raise. Yet I remember when I ran on the
road with you guys. That was sort of the analogy
I used, was that you guys were this like for
a lot of kids you didn't grow up on that.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
That was what looking part was that.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It's funny because you guys have kind of settled into
that role in a weird way of like, you know,
now there's like twenty five years of people who listen
to the music, you know, and now you probably get
I imagine I know because I talk to people fathers
and sons, you know, and.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Like, yeah, that and thumb it's amazing, it's amazing. It's
hard to wrap once head around. I guess my question
for you is, like, yeah, like when you were I mean,
there was a lot of there, It was a lot
of like, there was a lot of excitement probably in
the moment that you were on the bus with us
(13:09):
traveling around, especially those earliest albums. But did you I
guess I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't ask this question
because I might get an answer I don't want, But like,
did you have a sense of like at the time,
is it interesting? Like what's your sense like now twenty
years later that it's still like a thing, either the
(13:30):
old stuff or the new stuff. Like at the time,
at the time when you were with us, did you
think it would did you did you have any sense
that it might have the kind of more timeless residents
that these songs have. What did you think? That's my
question And the.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Reason I knew it was because of the fans stuff
you gave me, and I saw how deeply the fans
connected with it with Yeah, I was given letters, I
was given the bags of the gifts and all that.
So seeing the deep connection that fans felt with it,
and read the letters from people said like to save
my life and all of that. Yes, that's all I
(14:08):
knew it would last was because fans felt it's so deeply.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Is there a tone to some of those letters because
you've been out with other artists and you've seen that stuff,
like so are you saying you've there was like a
different tone because I don't only have I only have
the limited experience of you know, being out with my
bit right with my band. You've spent time with lots
of artists. Are you saying there was a unique tone
that you were seeing in those letters specifically with this
(14:35):
with with Lincoln Park.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, there wasn't a unique tone.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
But I think for any band that gets that kind
of connection there is you're going to have that you know, sustainability.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Okay, yeah, like I mean.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Because not every band gets that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
You're saying some artists you're saying, there are some other
artists that do. And if artists do get that, that's
a sign that there's a really substantive connection happening.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Time, like if you look.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
At like a nine inch nails, if you look at
like a when you feel a connection with an artist,
when you go back to like Queen or Zeppelin, when
you feel that, like when you feel like you leave
the music you know, and not only on the all
time great bands have that, then you're gonna have that connection.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Yep. Yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. It's
really interesting to hear.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Yeah, No, it's true because I mean again, you know,
it's interesting thing because a lot of times to it's
funny because sometimes that could be a double edged sword.
You know I'm doing good story right now in the
Times with the Doors on their sixteenth anniversary. Wow, I
was so attached to Did Morrison it becomes difficult. And
it's funny for me because like Emily was long before
(15:46):
she ever joined your band, she was a good friend.
I actually did the first Rolling Stone story with her
for Dead Sarah. Wow, you got to basketball games together.
Tell her by the way she sucks because now she's
a big rock star. She hasn't text back, but you know,
so like I had a connection with both of them.
So it was very interesting for me to see. And
it is like it is cool that people have been
(16:09):
willing to accept her and embrace her because you know,
there is that thing of like people when they feel
a connection, they feel proprietary towards the band.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah. Well, I think what's amazing about her integration into
like our creative DNA is like she's clearly her own
She's clearly her own ingredient, right, Like it's Emily. It's
not like Emily trying to be somebody else. It's just
(16:41):
Emily being herself. That's what I felt, Like, That's what
really stuck out to me, even when we were hanging
out like at East West, just like her presence, her energy,
like even without her singing, just something about her energy
felt right to me, like it meaning like it's just
felt like a natural fit. And then I would say yeah.
(17:03):
And then when you add in all like the the
intangible gifts of being able to like perform all these
different parts and then bring her own just like aesthetically
what she loves, it just naturally it naturally like integrates
with what we love. And so that's what's so beautiful
(17:25):
about like her, about Emily being Emily is like she
doesn't she only gets to be Emily like she isn't
like she'd be doing everyone into service by by trying
to be anything other than Emily like she she only
has to be herself, and it naturally works like that.
That's I think why it was. It was like made
(17:47):
sense for us, and then why it's resonating outwardly kind
of in what you're describing similarly, Well, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Yeah, Now she's very much her own person. She's very
much a badass, you know, she's just person. But it's funny,
I imagine for you there is like going back to
the creativity. You know, there's probably like some fun excitement
you know of like as a guitarist, you know, and
as a writer and his producer, as someone who works
(18:15):
in all these fields, you know, being able to sort
of you know, make music that fits a different voice
or that works with a different voice, because it's like,
brings a new energy to what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
It brings a new Yeah, for sure, brings a new energy.
And Emily and Colin, it brought a lot of a
lot of energy. And it also like, because there was
something inevitably new in this chapter, we also like gave
ourselves the permission to return to what was familiar about
the earliest kind of sonic inspiration that kind of started
(18:53):
us off, which which we had really iterated away from
on subsequent out right because there was a commitment not
to repeat ourselves, which I think was really healthy. I think,
what when you bring in new all of a sudden,
it gave us the permission to go back and tap
back into the old. And so that's something that's I'm
(19:14):
really proud of with this album is it's obviously surprising
and yet at the same time it feels really familiar.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, wait, we're gonna have fund for a second, because
I won't ask you this is funny mentioned the Doors
story and you know, so one of the things I
talked I talked to I'm talking to different artists about
how their music.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Affects them and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
But one of the things was I interviewed a paleontologist
who was a jazz drummer who now is a pal intologists,
and he was telling me a story about being the
Patagonia and excavating dinosaur bones, listening to the doors and
having horses literally drag dinosaur bones through the forest while
listening to writers on the store and that new favorite story.
(19:58):
So my question for you, where's the coolest place you've
heard of your music being listened to by the crazy
It's like Zach the black Key's this right, And they
told me a story about actually that the pilots you
went in on the big laden ripe were listening to
howling for you. So some amazing stories come out. So
where's the coolest place that you've heard of Lincoln Park
(20:19):
music being listened to?
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I mean coolests, I mean I think that, like I
think that something that we're really proud of. Steve is
and you know this because you were with us during
this period. It is like we did so much touring
early on all around the world that it's almost like
(20:48):
we establish ourselves as a local band pretty much everywhere,
like anywhere you could you could reasonably go and play.
We not only did we like go to other continents
and countries to play, like one time, we went like
every album cycle. So and from the beginning, Steve So,
those artists didn't, sorry, those fans didn't experience our band
(21:12):
as like an American band coming to share, you know,
our American music. They I it felt to me like
those fans felt like we were their band too, and
so in our case, like it really doesn't. It does
(21:33):
not surprise like people send me. I think it surprises
people other people who don't know all of the time
and energy spent building relationships with supporters all around the world,
Like family members will be on trips and they'll see
some Lincoln Park thing and they'll send it to me
and they'll just be like, I'm in you know, I'm
in India, or I'm in Africa or you know, wherever,
(21:54):
like someplace far from here, and they're like shocked that
the band had some presence there. And for me, I
know that we do because I've physically been to most
of those places multiple multiple times, and I know the
commitment level of like even China, Mainland China. We were
(22:15):
i think the first band to do a stadium Rockmann
to do a state multi city stadium tour in China
or something. That's correct. I'm also just giving the quick
fighting no, I love that, thank you. So yeah, we
spent like an unreasonable amount of time touring in other
(22:35):
countries and it really is like part of the deep
essential lifeblood of who we are and we're incredibly grateful
to like have that support that isn't like ephemeral, right,
Like it's you're talking about the letters like you were saying,
maybe like that was a foreshadowing that the support is
(22:58):
something deeper. I feel like, yeah, like actually going to
all these places and sharing the music live with our
fans created like a real relationship and it's not ephemeral.
It's not like there's pop artists who like live and
(23:18):
die by the success of like a song on the
radio and if they don't have it like poof, you know,
we really feel like we have this kind of like
like consistent dedication from our fan base around the world,
and it really gives us a lot of creative freedom too, Steve,
(23:40):
because it's never like we're never chasing Oh what do
we this song has to perform? Or what do we
think or it's always we always better on ourselves creatively
and have the courage to really ask do we love this?
Does this feel authentic? Does this feel worthy of sharing
with the world world? And can we take risks? And
(24:04):
when the answers are yes, then we have the privilege
of sharing this stuff. And when it if it goes okay,
like it's you know, the fans are still there for us.
And when it goes great, it's like it's gravy, right
Like the the velocity of the Emptiness Machine was just
(24:25):
like staggering, right like when that took off, like it
was beyond our willness imagination and we're just riding the
wave and grateful for it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Well, no, we got to wrap up in a minute.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
But it's interesting because you know, when I was talking
about fans earlier that had that, you know, Sam sustainability,
one band that mentioned was Nine Inch Nails and I
remember talking on the road with you guys, you know,
and that was a band that definitely came up and
it's funny because their band I think that is you know,
it's so trend to being the artist that is successfully
(24:59):
inventive himself.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
And we and you know, been able to.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Evolve and when you look at the next level of
Lincoln Park, you know, it's funny. As you mentioned that
always the benchmarked for that evolution.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
To me is David Bowie. But are the artists for
you that you.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Really admire for the way that they were able to
do that and that you guys kind of look to
now as like, Okay, you started off as this like
insane success.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Hybrid Theory was like the biggest selling rock album in
the century.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
And now though to be able to do that, the
only other person I know who's done that, and I
fucking love her is Atlantis, who had like the juggernaut
of an album and then was able to turn that
into a twenty year career.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
What's the question that you really look to for the
way that you're able to evolve.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Yeah, I don't even think it has to be like
specific to music. I think it's like like thinking about
writers or filmmakers or painters, Like the artists who are
the most interesting are obsessed with trying to share truth
(26:20):
in our case, emotional. I think it's emotional, always been
emotional truth, and so that's the like, that's the that's
the no past goes like if you're not saying something
emotionally essential. And I think where it gets playful is
(26:46):
in the is, in the is, in the context, is
in the form, right, And that's where like, like, you
have to have substance and then if you're if you're able,
if you're able to be a student of form and
take risks and experiment and you know where, yeah, create
(27:12):
different mechanisms through which to receive the meaning. Then I
think that's where it gets really interesting. And we're still uh,
we're still on the journey. It's like it's a never
ending privilege of exploration and so it never gets old.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, yesterday, and it's interesting. You know, of course he's
choosing nots to or for you. Did you find him
with something you missed? Because he and I talked about
it like a during you know, the unexpected hiatus. You know,
each of you guys decide, Okay, this is where I want,
(28:07):
this is what I don't want.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yeah, I think I think it was definitely something I missed.
I've always like music for me has been a big
part of my life since I was really little. And
I was still able to obviously enjoy so many of
the different aspects of that that I've always loved. You know,
I could, I could still listen to music, I could
still go to shows with my wife and kids, you know,
(28:34):
still experience that connection that I've always loved and had
with it. But I definitely missed not being able to
play and share that experience and feeling with fans and
with the crowd. And I think, like, yes, definitely what
there was a chance to say, to zoom out a
little bit and kind of look at what we had
(28:56):
done and how we had done it, and say this
aspects I loved, this aspects of it, I'd like to
change and kind of approach the whole process with that
new new framework.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Well, I see, and I talked about yesterday as well.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
I mean, look, unfortunately, lost is one of those things
that shapes you immensely, you know, and so you never
planned on the break, but it's one of those things
during that time off of course, you know you're going
to readjust everything. It's just perspective of like you've lost
a brother.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Yeah, you know, no, you don't get to choose. I
feel like you don't get to choose if you're going
to suffer or not. In life, you're going to suffer,
but you do get to choose how you try to
navigate it, and you do get to choose, you know what,
what you do with it, and how you try to
(29:49):
move forward. And this was this was putting that mentality
to the test for me and just kind of taking
the punches and then kind of saying, okay, like how
do we how do we move forward from here? How
do we want to what feels good? What doesn't you know? What?
(30:11):
Where do you go? And so a big part of
that process too was even taking a first step when
it came to the band. I was pretty paralyzed early
on with the mentality that I needed to figure out
everything before I even was able to take a step,
like questions like are we going to do a new album?
(30:33):
Are we just going to do a new single?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Like?
Speaker 4 (30:35):
And then if we do play shows, are we going
to play old stuff or is it just going to
be new stuff? And then what's the band going to
look like? And who's going to sing the new stuff
and who's going to sing the old stuff? And what
is how does that work? And then at a certain
point I was like I can do that, Like I
can create these crazy questions to try to figure out
(30:55):
or I could just get in a room with Mike
and Joe and say like let's make steps and see
if we even like it, you know, and that's let's
just take a step and then see what the next
step may or may not be. And it was so
freeing when I finally realized that I got to that
space because it it just took so much pressure off
(31:18):
of the whole thing that is you know, Lincoln Park,
and it just let it be like let's pursue what
we enjoy about this, and let's not have any preconceived
ideas of where it's going or what it needs to be,
but let's just see if we even like it. Right, Like,
there was a moment when I didn't know if we
(31:42):
would still write music that I liked, as weird as
that might sound to some people. A lot of stuff
you know that you do sometimes you get it to
a place and you're like this is this isn't working
for me, Like I'm not connecting with it. And similarly,
like I didn't know if I would want to go
(32:03):
out and play the old songs, like I didn't know
what that might feel like. I didn't know if it
would hurt too much, you know, And so it was
just a process of let's just take each little step
and see what that opens up for the next step,
and then fast forward here we are.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Well, it's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Did you find like when you started with writing with
Mike and Joe, was it something that you like you
said you weren't sure how you were gonna feel about
it was like you know, physically shave writing and bicycle.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
No, it was more, you know, for a long time,
like a period of months, I would say, we'd have
time scheduled to be together where you know, we were
in a studio or in a space where we could
be creative, but we ended up just kind of more
than anything, just talking, enjoying hanging out with each other
(33:02):
in like like a chunk of time. And it was
kind of funny because we'd work on music for maybe
an hour, but we'd be together for eight hours and
it was just like eat lunch, talk about a bunch
of stuff, talk about what we might do, talk about
what that is. Then before you know it now like okay,
(33:24):
we're gonna eat dinner, and then it's like, oh, let's
just mess around on some guitar riffs and then like okay, cool,
see you tomorrow. We did that, like versions of that
in different ways for a long time, and even in
the early phases of it, it was kind of like,
this is a great excuse just for us to get
together and be friends and hang out and have a
scheduled reason for that. And we didn't know if it
(33:48):
was even gonna be Like like I said, we didn't
know if we were gonna like what we were doing,
but we didn't know also if it was even going
to be Lincoln Park. We didn't know if it would
feel like that or be that or fit for that.
And even when we started bringing in other people to
write with and to you know, play with, we were
(34:11):
very intentional about telling them we're just getting together to
work on music and enjoy it and have fun, like,
but this is not Lincoln Park, Like, that's not what
we are writing for, but that's not what we're working
on exactly. So even super early in the process with
Colin first and then you know, with Emily, it was
(34:32):
just an opportunity for us to to get together and
hang out with people, write music, play music. And eventually
those two were just like not only obviously talented and
extremely talented, but just so fun to be around and
so enjoyable to spend time with. But it just grew
into like, okay, this is a thing, Like I don't
(34:55):
what that is or where that goes. We don't know,
but we want to now pour more time, energy, effort
into whatever this group is and see what this can do.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
So that's really interesting to me because, as you say,
it's not something I had thought of, but you know,
the idea of you guys just reconnecting as friends, because again,
when you go through a tragedy, you know, it kind
of you know, it's natural to kind of pull away,
separate through your own things.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Mike and I talked during that time a couple of
times while he was working on his own stuff, you know,
And so was it something when you got back together
that it was just simply like again, it was important too,
because you guys have gone through so much to you know,
sort of reclaim the friendship lack of better word, because
you're always friends. But again, it's different when you spend
time with someone.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Yeah, and it's kind of like, at least for me,
I have different groups of friends that I do different
things with, you know, like some of like some of
my friends are friends that my wife and I go
out to dinner with them, you know. Where some of
my friends are like friends that I play golf with
or are interested in soccer, or are whatever. Friends that
(36:05):
I grew up with. Lincoln Park is a group of
my closest friends. But we do what we do together
is play and make music. And so when we're in
periods of time when we're not playing or making music,
we we're still close, but where we don't have that
same connection or reason that's pulling us together, especially not
all together. And so when you like with Chester passing,
(36:32):
it kind of felt like, you know, all us we
lost Chester, but we also lost this thing that we
get to do together. And so a part of the
the journey of the whole thing has been us kind
of saying what do we do now, Like when we
get together, what does that look like? How does that work?
(36:53):
You know? What is what's our new relationship going to be?
Are we still doing these together? Like we're obviously still
friends and I've shared so much life experience together that
we're gonna be friends and we're going to be in
each other's lives if we're not doing music, but it's different,
you know that that relationship has changed if we're no
longer doing music and together, but rediscovering that, you know,
(37:18):
initially with with Mike and Joe and then adding Brad
in the mix down the road, that was kind of
like a new pathway to having these relationships that are
just so special and awesome for me. And you know,
having it then work in a scale with the fans
(37:39):
and having it then be able to that's all like
that's literally icing on the cake. So that's the cherry
on the Sunday for me, is that it came together
and people have enjoyed it and it's been meaningful for
them in some way or another also, but even before
even before that, for me, it was our just such
(38:00):
a huge win. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Yeah, one hundred percent, because again it's like you know,
like I said, in a way, it's reclaiming the friendship.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
It's yeah, yeah, that's a good way to put it,
I think, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
And it's funny because you mentioned the fans style and
like you know, as I say, I talked to Brad yesterday.
But you have a very different experience because you're on
the road, so you see it. And one of the
things we talked about was, you know, there's this like
generational thing now of like, you know, there were the
people who were there two thousand, two thousand and one,
two thousand and two, and now of course there's fans
(38:36):
coming who were like, shit, we never got Sea Lincoln Park.
So I imagine, you know, not only that it's funny, I
was selling Brad. I did the first Rolling Stone story
with Emily when she was in Dead's Ara, so we.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Used to get a basketball game together. We've been friends forever.
I love her now. So she's great.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
So she brings a new energy, and of course Falling,
who I don't know, does as well. But then you
have this new generation of fancying and so I imagine it
feels in a way like a very different thing.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
Yeah, it's it kind of. It's there's a push pull
in that it feels new and different and fresh and exciting,
and it also it still contains all of these special
aspects and components to it that have always been there
and been a core of what it is that I love.
And one of the things I kind of realized, and
(39:28):
I've been talking about it a little bit, was like
I went. It must have been a month or two
ago now, but I went and saw the Deaftones and
with my oldest daughter. She's eighteen and she's a huge fan.
And I remember me and Brad when we were at
UCLA together going and seeing the Deaftones play at you know,
clubs in Hollywood because we loved that band. And now
(39:51):
I'm getting to see that experience. I'm still loving to
see them play and getting to see that experience through
my daughter's eyes, and what a cool thing that is,
you know, as a dad to have that with her.
And then I'm seeing that same thing at our shows.
You know, I'm seeing parents bring their teenage or you know,
twenty something year old kids to Lincoln Park shows and
(40:12):
sharing in that experience of you know, they both like
the band or they both love the music or whatever
that is, and that's that's so cool, And that was
something that like we weren't seeing ten years ago. Necessarily
was like two generations of Lincoln Park fans coming together
and like having that experience together, and that I know,
(40:32):
I know, I appreciate that just because I appreciate it
so much for me to go to that show with
my daughter, and so I think that's been like a
really cool special thing for me to also then see
in our crowd.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Yeah, I know, it makes to all sense.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
And again it becomes like, as he and I were
talking about, that's like that generational thing that you can't
really control.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
And it's funny.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
I was telling him, you know, I'm friends with Gerard
from Vikam and they took years off and then you know,
they go and playing the Shrine six thousand seeds to
fucking stadiums. Yeah, it's not something you control. Well, it's
just that thing where it's like people either miss it
or they don't. And did you find that during that
time that it was something that like it takes on
(41:16):
a life of its own.
Speaker 4 (41:20):
Yeah. And it's also for me, I just felt like
there's no guarantee with anything you do in music. You know,
you you might love a record and put it out
and it doesn't land for whatever reason, people don't connect
with it. You just don't know, you don't know how
(41:40):
it's going to be received. And it's also like we
were already lucky enough for lack of a smarter word.
But we're already lucky enough to have so much great
success and have things connect in such an amazing way
with with Lincoln Park that the idea of having at
work a second time that feels to me even more
(42:04):
like preposterous. It feels like, you know, it feels like
you've gambled on rolette, you've played, you've bet the green zero,
and you've hit it, and now you think like, oh,
I'm gonna do it again because this is what I
do as I just hit zero green zero every time
(42:24):
and they're you know what I mean. It's like it's
not a good bat, but somehow, somehow it has worked again,
And it's just in that mindset for me, I'm like,
I do not take it for granted that fans are
coming out to shows and that they're singing the new songs.
And it's like when we play Emptiness Machine, there's a
(42:46):
pop off the crowd. It's one step closer and in
the end faint and numb, like yes, those songs, like
people are enjoying and participating in and those are the
ones that they've loved forcades, and there's also a pop
with the new stuff. And I'm like this is crazy, Like,
this is so cool that there's stuff that we've released
(43:09):
in this past year that people are still kind of
like connecting with the way that we connect with it,
Like I don't take that for granted, and I think
that that's like that's really special, really cool.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
Well, you know, we're talking about the Deluxe which comes
out next week, and so now you have three new
songs to play, But for you, what are the favorite
new songs to do live? And you know it's funny
is you say, well, you put on a record, you
never know if it's gonna not.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
You know, you put it out and you have no control.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
And the other thing for us it's interesting with it
as part of that is you put on a record
and you're like, it's my favorite song on the record,
and people are like eh. And then there's another song
to put on the record that you're like, well, we'll
just throwing on there because you know, we need the track,
and people are like, oh my god, this is the
greatest fucking thing I've ever heard. You have literally what
people respond to. So have you been surprised by certain
(43:59):
songs that people love reallyspun you? Positively?
Speaker 4 (44:03):
I've been surprised I mean, I was excited about the
whole album. You know. I feel like in some respects,
I've always it's a part of linking, part that we
all have to kind of sign off and like each
track on a record, and this is from zero is
no different. But I'm shocked in such a positive way
(44:25):
that people have liked the whole album. You know, in
this day and age, especially streaming and everything else where,
it's just like, what even is an album? Right? Like,
is it forty tracks that artists just released just to
see what gets any traction or what might work, or
is that just like a band is doing one or
(44:46):
two songs and that's like it, and then they're going
to go tour with the two new songs. Who knows
what an album even kind of means in that world
and in that space. But I feel like our fans
have digested the whole thing, and now with three new tracks,
hopefully they're going to be doing that as well with
the newer songs additionally. But and then they've had their
(45:08):
own opinions on like this is the ranking of my favorites,
but they've gotten into the whole album, you know, They've
they've taken it and received it kind of how we
wanted to give it, which is like this is, please
listen to the whole thing and just digest. Didn't see
what we think of the whole work, Like, don't just
cherry pick one or two things, throw them on a
(45:30):
playlist and then let the others sit on the side.
And with with the three new tracks as well, there
was there were basically three songs that two of them
we'd been working on for a while, but it just
took more time versus when the deadline was to turn
it in. We knew they had potential, but we they
weren't quite ready yet when we turned in the proper album.
(45:52):
And then Up from the Bottom was something that Mike
had just started working on in that space of the
album's already turned in, and you know, we know we're
going to try to finish a couple more songs and
see if that's going to make sense. And so that
one came together really quickly, whereas the other two were
just you know, they were tracks that we were still
in the process of figuring out what our best way
(46:15):
to present them might be. But yeah, you'd ask too
about playing stuff live whatever. Overflow for example, as a song,
(46:36):
it's a track that's a bit different from zero from
everything else where it sits, and like that song live.
I think maybe because the feeling and vibe of it
sits a little bit differently, has turned into like, that's
like probably my favorite song to play in our entire
set right now. It just has this cool kind of
(46:58):
eerie different and feel and vibe too. And then when
you get to the end of it, it's instrumental but
kind of explodes, and in the live setting it's so fun,
so fun to play.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
You know, it's interesting because I you know, had thought
about this for a second, but you know, obviously, of
course there are several years where you didn't get to
play live. And you know, as I talk about with
already Sa all the time, your relationship to me is
changes because you know, you're older, Like you said, you know,
now when you go see the downtownes, you're taking your daughter,
so you're seeing it through her eyes. So you know,
(47:30):
are there older link in Park songs that you either
really misplaying or you're like you just you hear them
differently now because you didn't get to play them for
almost a decade or over a decade.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
Yeah. Yeah, And there's some that like there's some old songs,
for example Lost that were released later, but it is
a super old song that got released I think on
like the twentieth anniversary of Mediora or her. Yeah, that
(48:03):
song is from like two thousand and two or whatever
when we wrote it, and we'd never played it and
in any version live until this year. So that's kind
of a that's like a fun different undertaking to do
something like that. But then additionally, like with Emily coming
in to the band and with us figuring out what
(48:26):
what are the best keys for her vocally, like where
does her vocal registers sit? In the process of preparing
the set for her as a vocalist, we actually kind
of went through and changed a handful of the old keys.
And it's funny what that does as a guitarist as
a bass player, because it just reinvents how you're approaching
(48:48):
a song. Like in the end, you know you've played
I've played the song for twenty however many years in
one framework in a live setting, and now we've moved
the key. We've changed changed, you know in that regard,
I've changed like the tuning or how I'm playing in
my bass, the approach to playing that in a live
setting is different and so that it re energizes the
(49:09):
song in a different way. It makes like your brain
work in a different way, makes it fresh and kind
of like a new challenge. And that's across the board
in our set, Like that was like an interesting hurdle
for me to kind of like look at was you know,
I'm learning these new songs. And oddly, really quickly the
(49:32):
new songs became easier to play in a live setting
because I didn't have to unwrite all this different kind
of like history of how I had played it, you know,
in the catalog songs. I kind of had to like
relearn a lot of those. So you're trying in a
live setting at that point to not go into an
(49:52):
autopilot mode with playing your guitar. You're you're having to
stay engaged with like this is the new progression of
what that looks or feels like, you know on bass.
So it's just it's it's changed up in a weird way.
It's changed up that focus that you need to have
a in a live environment and kind of refreshed the
(50:15):
old stuff as well as the refreshing aspect of having
new songs to play. Also you know.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
It's interesting though, I imagine in a way that you know,
that keeps the songs fresh for you and rather than
just going back and like saying, Okay, cool, I know
how to do this. It's like probably you know, getting
a new challenge with it probably makes it more fun
in a way.
Speaker 4 (50:37):
Yeah, yeah, it does. It just brings new a new
need for interest or attention on a lot of stuff.
It was. It was also you know, early on in
our process of getting prepared to play shows, Emily and
Colin kind of had to go through and you know,
learn forty songs or whatever and that we might be
(50:58):
playing or picking from the in a live set. And
seeing them work through that process too was pretty awesome
and inspiring. They're just like, all right, we need to
we need to hunker down because it's like we might
be playing a two hour set, but they need in
a weird way, they need to have three hours worth
the material that we're going to be picking from to
(51:20):
be kind of swapping the sets around. And that's crazy,
like if you are at a space where you need
to now suddenly be ready to be prepared to play
three hours of material in an arena or whatever, on
that kind of setting that's a weird, crazy amount of pressure,
and nobody ever does that right. Like, if you're a
(51:41):
band and you're starting out, your first sets that you're
gonna play are twenty minutes, and you're gonna play your
You're gonna play your four songs that you've known or
that you've written, and then maybe a cover and then
that's it. So you spend all this time rehearsing your
twenty or thirty minute set, getting that tight it is
what it is, and then you're down and then you're
adding to that as you grow as a band, and
(52:02):
then you're adding you know, maybe you're twenty years old
and you're figuring that out. And then by the time
or whatever, you're stressed because you've got to play a
headline set. It's an hour. And for us, like our
first headline set that we had to play, all we
have out is hybrid Theory and maybe the album that's
like maybe forty minutes. We've got to play an hour,
so we're like, how do we fill an hour? You
(52:22):
got to start getting creative. For Colin and Emily coming
into the band, it's kind of like, here's your three
hour linkin part set. You need to be able to
be prepared to play and like ps, there's no learning curve.
We're just we're going to hit the ground running and
we're going to be playing in front of tens of
thousands of people, like be ready to go here it
(52:43):
is And so they just took that and like ran
with it, and for me seeing that too, I was
kind of like, Okay, I need to I know I
need to put in a lot of my own work
into this. I know I need to know the new
stuff really well. I know I wanted to come across great,
but I also need to go through the entire catalog
and like restructure and refigure out how I want to
play it and put in the work you know, which
(53:05):
was which is a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
Well, it's funny though, because I don't know, right see
really quickly to jump in we should probably try and wrap.
Speaker 4 (53:13):
If you have maybe one more thing you want to
want to touch on, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:16):
Yeah, I need two more, but we'll make it really quick.
Speaker 1 (53:18):
But it's fun because, as I say, you know, I
don't know Colin, but I've known Emily since the first
fucking show she played, and she's a fucking star. She
like I literally saw her dive off like amplifiers at
a New York show opening for the US. Yeah, you guys,
you know, I mean, were you surprised by how quickly
(53:39):
she stepped into that environment of being able to open
for or being able to play for, because it is not.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
Easy to play for twenty thousand people.
Speaker 3 (53:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (53:50):
I I was not surprised that Emily was able and
is able to do that, but only because I got
to know her well enough to to know this is
her this is her lane, you know, like she's this
is what she is built to do, Like this is
what she's made for. I consider myself, you know, as
(54:12):
a as a guitarist, so lucky to have gotten a
chance to work with two just absolute generational talents, both
in Chester and then now at Emily. That when you
see someone who's made for it, you're like, this is
this is like I just need to put you in
(54:33):
that position, and this is what you are made to do,
you know, And that's that's a rare thing. That's a
super super rare thing. I've seen that a ton when
it comes to musicians, or comes to vocalist, when it
comes to anything. But she's got it, you know, she's
got that thing like she's a she's a special, special talent,
(54:55):
and she's an amazing person on top of that. But
I just knew and kind of like I was saying,
Colin is similar where he's not he's not new or
green to music. And there's so many people that are
so talented you know that you just they just end
(55:15):
up landing in different areas or you're not. Everybody gets
to be in a band that is as lucky and
fortunate as us to have been able to connect for
whatever reason the way that we have. But Colin, similarly,
I'm just like, this guy is a natural at what
he's doing. You put him in that space like he's
the guy, you know. And so I was really really
(55:38):
confident in that regard with the set of people that
we had, and I think that I think that they're great.
Speaker 2 (55:49):
Well, well, since we obviously have to wrap up, who
do you want to have that I ask you about.
Speaker 4 (55:55):
I think we kind of covered it Other than that.
I mean, I just say, play in a lot of
spaces we've we haven't played in a long time, coming
up here in the US and abroad, and we're at
we're at a spot where we're really, we're loving what
we're doing, and we're we're very thankful to have this
chance to do it again. And it's been a blast
(56:16):
already just to kind of see and reconnect with with
so many people. So we're looking forward to continuing that
and kind of just going where it all leads.
Speaker 1 (56:29):
H h
Speaker 4 (56:34):
H
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