03/22/03: album is almost out...
Location: san francisco
Posted by m1k3 5h1n0da

i'm hangin in san francisco, mixing some songs for MTV $2bill. we let MTV2 record our show in detroit so you guys who couldn't make it to the show can have a look. the tour has been a lot of fun, and we can't wait to get out there on PROJEKT REVOLUTION, and see more of you guys. it's our first big tour following the release of the album on the 25th here in the US. check for tickets now, they're going fast...

as you can imagine, the excitement we feel right now is inexplicable. the album is going to be in stores this week. and whatever happens, please know that the most exciting thing right now is for you to hear this new stuff. we hope that in listening to it you remember the best memories you've had with our older music, and are ready to make new memories listening to our new music.

we sincerely thank all of you for coming to the shows and doing so much to support the band. we have put a ton of work into the music and art for the album, and hope you enjoy it.

[...and we can't wait to play you the new songs live--see you on projekt rev...]

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01/18/03: words on the new album...

if you enjoyed brad's interview below, you'll be eager to know that we are currently doing a lot of interviews about our new album, METEORA, right now. in the past few days, the journalists have been meeting up with us to ask questions about the new album, songs, and what we're doing. in an effort to make things more accessible for you guys, i'm putting a thread in the message board section called "LP interviews". please keep this thread as free of chatting as possible. i know this is a pretty ridiculous request, because you guys like to mess around...but my reasoning is simple: hopefully, i want to put a page up on the site where we list links to other interviews and features the band has done. but until we decide whether we are going to have an "interview links" page, we'll just do it on our message board to try it out.

if you find an interview on us that is dated after 1/18/03, please put a link up.

01/15/03: Brad Talks About Meteora - Interview by Jessica

BRAD- WHAT DOES METEORA MEAN TO LINKIN PARK AND HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT NAME? WHAT IS THE PRONOUNCIATION OF THE NAME?

(Mee-tee-ora is the pronunciation)

Actually we were touring in Europe and inside the bus the bus driver had set down a travel magazine that was actually featuring this place called Meteora, and just looking at the pictures of this larger than life place- we were inspired to try to write sonically what those pictures conveyed visually. That was before we had even written the body of the album, so it actually inspired us to create on tape what we were seeing visually.
Meteora is a chain of monasteries in Greece that sit on top of incredible rock formations- it?s a really unbelievable place. The title does not have to do with the music in a literal sense- but can be used as a metaphor ? the grandeur of it, and the timelessness of it, are all conveyed quite well on our album.
Actually some of the guys hadn?t even seen the pictures of this place yet- they had just heard the name, but they were all drawn to it just by the energy of the name.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE SOUND OF METEORA ALBUM AS COMPARED TO PAST ALBUMS YOU HAVE RECORDED?

I think there is definitely a threat that links Hybrid Theory with Reanimation with Meteora. Lyrically I think Chester and Mike are dealing with same kinds of emotions as they were in the past- but the difference is they are confronting them with the new perspectives in their lives. There are a lot of the same themes as Hybrid Theory, but the perspective is different and the album shows our growth. Musically it has a lot of the heaviness and darkness as our recordings in the past- but I believe it?s more dynamic then Hybrid Theory. We explored different tempos and time signatures to create a really unique body of work but at the same time a cohesive record. We took 80-90 concepts for songs and streamlined them down to 12, which not only were the strongest songs, but all made the most sense together musically. When we write an album we want it all to make sense and not just write a single and songs to fill in. I think when someone puts on their headphones and listens to this album it taked you on a journey beginning to end. We wanted to may a cinematic record.
One thing that is unique lyrically on Meteora it?s has a unique sense of optimism in the first single which isn?t necessarily present on the other sings. Most of the rest of the songs are quite dark.

ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO TOURING AGAIN AFTER THIS LONG BREAK?

We are really excited to tour and play a lot of places we haven?t been before and even hit some new places? we will definitely be touring extensively. Another great thing is we?ll have a lot more material in which to choose from when playing our live show. Last time we tried to fill out an hour with 37 min of material but in actuality it will be fun to play songs from Hybrid Theory, Meteora, possibly Reanimation. Besides, I think it will just elevate our live show to have a greater selection and more variety. Plus I?ve been working out really long guitar solos I?m really excited to play on this next tour- 10-15 minutes long of just guitar solos. We might just have a second stage just for my guitar solos.

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE, IF ANY, TO THE RELEASE DATE YOU CHOSE?

It was the soonest possible date that we could get it out.

CAN YOU TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT THE VIDEO FOR THE FIRST SINGLE?

Joe is directing the new video by himself and we are really very proud of what he?s done in the past. He?s definitely going to be special effects and CGI intensive. Joe?s background is in creating larger than life visual environments. The song is really about escape and trying to find a place where you belong- but in this case Chester basically falls into a dream, which is the place where he is most comfortable, and Joe is trying to bring to life Chesters subconscious, which is where the majority of the video takes place.

WILL THE ALBUM HAVE ANY DVD OR ENHANCED CD EXTRAS?

We are trying to do as much special stuff with the CD packaging and content as possible.

WILL YOU BE DOING CHATS ON LINKIN PARK.COM AND LPU.COM TO GIVE US MORE INFO ON THE UPCOMING ALBUM?

Absolutely. LP.com and LPU.com are the 2 only 100% reliable sources of information.
And also- the internet has always provided us for the best means for communicating directly with our fans.

WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR SINGLE AND WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?

Somewhere I Belong- it?s the 3rd track and first single off the record. Definitely I think it represents musically what we?ve been able to accomplish. It?s a dope song. I think that from the very beginning of the song you know its something special. It definitely showcases the ability for Mike and Chester to merge into one unstoppable force.

WELL GUYS, THANKS FOR READING THIS LITTLE INTERVIEW I DID WITH BRAD. AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE WONDERING, YES, BRAD WAS KIDDING ABOUT THE GUITAR SOLOS...LOL

12/20/02: besides the music

every post here has been about writing and recording. let's take a detour for a second.

putting out an album involves a lot more than just recording the music. from packaging art to advertisements to tour set-up to the video, we are immersed in non-musical preparation for about two to four months before a release. in other words, we have a lot of fun stuff coming up that you'll be interested to know about.

Bill Berg-Hillinger, who put together our DVD, has been filming us for the past few months. he's got footage of us writing, mixing, and hanging out. from this footage, we're putting together a series of shorts called LPTV. you'll hear about it in the news section on this website when it's ready to come out. in each segment, you'll get to see us making the songs, from writing to recording them. the footage is amazing. on a couple of takes, he just happened to be filming during the second that we came up with a guitar or vocal idea. anyway, for anyone who wants to see inside our creative process at work, it's a great thing to look for. keep an eye on the news page for more details on LPTV.

in the meantime, i'll be working on the album art and ads, joe will be working on the video, and all of us will be practicing the songs in preparation for our upcoming tours. we'll be working hard to get things ready for you.

oh yeah--we decided on an album title.

12/15/02: half-way point

we've been here in new york for over a week, and we'll be here for another week mixing. here's a little more info about what's going on: we had to finish up some recording during the first week of mixing, which is unusual.

the story is...
chester got sick during the last week in LA (recording), and we had to bring him to new york, to a studio we've never recorded at. it was a little unsettling, but luckily it all worked out. i wrote some stuff while he was sick, and when he got better, it was all ready to go. he liked what it sounded like, and hooked us up with great performances. a few days later, he was finished, and flew back to LA. which leaves brad and i here with andy wallace mixing.

some people who visit this site have no idea what mixing is. i'll try and describe it: when we record, we create anywhere from 25 to upwards of 50 tracks of music. one track may be from a microphone on rob's kick drum, one is on the snare, 4 and more are on guitars, a couple for bass, dozens for samples and vocals, for example. all of these tracks need to balanced and separated, adding certain effects (like reverb and delay) to make the song sound right. that's what mixing is. and that's what andy wallace helps us with. he has mixed a lot of great albums, from nirvana's "nevermind" to mudvayne's "LD50" and taproot's "welcome". we are very happy to be working with him again.

everything's great, and we'll keep you up to date with all the newest info here in the studio reports section.

12/08/02: mixing

the recording process is just about finished, so we're gearing up for the next part of the album-making process: mixing. we're getting together with andy wallace again, who mixed hybrid theory. anyway, we also cut the number of songs down to thirteen, and we'll be cutting one more, i think. and everything sounds just right -- so far so good.

03.LP.03

10/29/02: photo shoot / common questions

we just did some photos for the next album...i bet you'll be seeing some of them in a couple of places soon...we shot in a haunted hotel in koreatown. it was scary.

i'm starting to get questions about the new album. here are a couple of answers to common questions:

1. the next album is scheduled for release in march 2003
2. we are working with (producer) don gilmore and (mixer) andy wallace again. it's going great. we are writing tons and tons of material, in an attempt to only put the very best on the album.
3. we are in the studio about 10-12 hours a day, six days a week. not everyone is here at once. people come and go. for the past month, since we've been concentrating on vocals, chester and i have been here every day.
4. we are not planning to have any guests on the album at this point.
5. the new album sounds more like hybrid theory than reanimation. i think the samples are cooler, and the guitars are nice and heavy. and some of the stuff rob is playing is very exciting too.
6. we started with a lot of songs and are on our way to narrowing down to twelve. all of the tracks that we don't finish are basically trashed. they stay in their unfinished state until they get deleted and replaced by better music on my computer.
7. NONE of the band members post or chat elsewhere, on other sites. we are not I.M.ing, or emailing people. the only correct LP info is here and on LPunderground.com.

for answers to more questions, see phoenix's post in the "linkin park" scetion of the message boards. back to work--bye

10/23/02:

hi guys. you're not going to believe this, but i talked my friend into posting here in the studio reports section. here you go...

Howdy folks! It's Chazzy Chaz. We're almost done recording vocals, and it's super swell. Mike and I have been putting in alot of hours in the studio and it's paying off. Working with Don's been alot of fun, I'm glad we decided to do this record with him as well. Yesterday I met Scott Stapp and he was a nice guy. I've actually run into alot of my friends from other bands down here, which has been a nice little treat. Tomorrow is the two year anniversary of Hybrid Theory. It's amazing how much has changed in the last two years. We owe it all of our fans, and we'll show you all how greatful we are by making this next record great! So I'm going back to work... BYE!


10/14/02: recording vocals part 2

It is now mid-October, and I am excited to see the progress that has been made on the new album. Rob, Brad and I are predominantly done with our respective recordings, and it is now in the hands of Chester, Mike, and Chairman Hahn. For the record, and for all of you who were placing bets on the message board, I did complete my portion of the recording using the least amount of time... approximately four days. But Brad and Rob did post respectable finish times themselves.

All joking aside, I can't wait until the album is done and can be heard by all of you. In addition, it will only be a few months until these "studio reports" become "tour journals" again. So be ready for us to be in your town again sometime soon. Thanks again to all of you diehard fans out there... your support is more meaningful than you may ever know.

10/10/02: recording vocals

we're done with drums and bass...guitars are about 90% finished, scratching is about 50% there. and chester and i are working on the vocals every day.
we've had some days where the words just seem to flow out of us, and other days where we can't write more than a few lines. it can be a really slow process, but i know we need to take our time to make things sound right.
by the way, thanks for the encouragement and good words on the message boards here and on LPU.com. people always start posts to us with "you're never going to read this, but..." we do read them, so thanks for writing.
anyway, back to work. chester and i are working on our 11th song today (out of 15). there will be 12 tracks on the album. and i want them all to be great.

08/27/02: finished tracking drums

I just finished recording drums for the new album! I'm sitting here in the studio lounge feeling great about the last five days. Everything went really smooth. We spent the first half of day one listening through all different kinds of drums to find the right ones for the album. Once that was done we went ahead and tracked away. We averaged about 4 songs a day. To get the drums to blend with the vibe/sound in each song, we would make some minor changes to the kit, such as change a crash,or tune a drum a little different . We had a drum tuning specialist in the studo the whole time that was able to get the exact sounds we were looking for.
For me the toughest time to get though is all of the practice leading up to recording. Once I had most of the ideas down for drum patterns and fills, its just hours of practice. I spent about 10 hours a day for a month to prepare for these 5 days in the studio.
For the most part I'm finished in the studio unless a song changes in the making, which is very possible. It looks like Brad is going to start guitar when we return from the VMA's.

08/23/02: in the studio

we made it to the studio. finally. its very exciting. this part of the process takes a couple of months. we'll take all the ideas and parts we've been working on and put them together and try to capture them.

we start with drums, so i'm overseeing things with don, as rob plays through the music.

rob generally works very fast. he practices very hard so that he can come in and nail his parts in a couple of takes. after this, we'll move on to bass [in a couple of days].

on a side note, we're trying to do some more things to be able to show you guys a little bit of what's going on. hopefully we can do more than just these studio reports...

07/23/02: Word Up!

So I'm sitting in our "pre-production" studio, and I thought I'd give you a glimpse into our strange-and-often-fun-creative-process. Actually, I was planning on procrastinating writing this until Mike "suggested" I do it before I leave. You see, I'm a master at putting things off until I absolutely have to do them. This could be anything from paying taxes to doing laundry. What does this have to with the studio? I'm not sure.

I can tell you, however, that things are going really well. We're currently working during the day with our producer on pre-production. This means that we've written a number of songs (roughly 21) and now we're fixing them up and narrowing them down so that we can go into the studio and begin recording. I think one of our biggest challenges is putting aside some of the songs we've written. Since each song has something cool about it, it's hard to let any of them go. Maybe we'll just release a double album...just kidding.

07/17/02: narrowing down

as we work on things, we start to narrow down to a smaller of songs. inevitably, when some songs are less interesting, but have a great guitar part or sample, we try to take that part and put it into another song that seems to be coming together better. so we combine similar songs to create a better song.

originally, the chorus to crawling was a bridge from another song. chester and i needed a chorus to put in that song, and he just sang it there with no guitars. after we recorded the vocal track, i wrote the guitar under it. and we took it into the studio and everyone added their magic.

07/10/02: getting started

right now, we are working on an album of songs with fake names...whenever we start a song, we put it in my computer and give it a working title, such as "smelly feet" or "ugly head". these working titles are what we call the songs until they get finished lyrics and a real name.

a bit of trivia: some songs never lose their working title. "papercut" was a working title, as was "points of authority". but usually songs get renamed. "in the end" was originally called "untitled", which we liked until d'angelo came out with a song of that name.

but sometimes, some of us never get past the working title. originally, forgotten was called "rhinestone," and no matter how much i ask him not to, brad still calls that song by its old name. haha

07/07/02: Number One

We've been working on the next album for about nine or ten months now. more recently, people have started asking us often about the pressures of making another album to follow up "hybrid theory". After a successful album, the only thing we can do is work hard and try to make it something we're happy with, because trying to compete with other peoples' expectations can get messy. So we'll just make something that makes us want to listen. After that, i hope all you guys out there want to listen too.

In the meantime, while we're here writing, we'll wait to see what you think of "reanimation". it's coming out soon, on the 30th, and some tracks are starting to leak out. Overall, its a very challenging album, one that is very complex in structure. You will hear that we had a lot of fun with our collaborators, rewriting our old stuff and writing a lot of new parts. In style, you find that it's a very sample driven album, and also something just for the fans to get to know more about us and the people our band has been influenced by. hope you enjoy it.

Back to writing. I've got to get back into the studio now. in the studio, we will continue working on the songs until the best stuff rises to the top. We started with about 40, and we're down to around 20 now. As songs get better, they push their way to the top of our list until only about 12 or so remain. When that happens, we'll start recording.

05/19/02: remix cd - mixing

first day of mixing:
for all of you who don't know, mixing is where you take a recorded song and set the volumes of each part and effect. it's one of the finishing touches on an album, and one where you can make or break a song.
so, we're finally in the finishing stages of this remix project. it's been a lot more work than i anticipated. it began as a simple remix idea, and has become something very different--not only from the original, but different from what most people think of when they hear the word "remix". this album is much more than putting a beat over the old vocals; these songs have new parts, new words, new melodies, and new themes. and for all of you that complained about the short length of the first album, we have a treat for you: this album is probably going to end up being about 60 minutes long, with about 15 tracks.
on every track, rather than having the remixer submit a final piece of work, we've collaborated in the writing process. some songs have been simply trading files, some have involved sitting down and re-writing entire sections of the song. in any case, though, the songs have changed a lot. it's very exciting.
so far, we've mixed about four songs. mark "spike" stent is mixing. he works with bjork and massive attack, among many others. its cool swapping stories with him, and talking about all the different ways people work in the studio. but more importantly, the songs are coming along well. i can't wait for you to hear them.

04/22/02: writing

...still off tour and still working on the remix cd. we put the next album on hold for a a week or two, in order to get this thing worked out. it's coming out great.

we are having a very difficult time selecting which remixes are going to be on the album. for each track, numerous artists have submitted material, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose. so far, we're pretty sure that the following artists are going to appear on the final album: aaron lewis, jay gordon, pharoah monche, the alchemist, chali 2na of jurassic 5, mickey petralia, dj z-trip, and there is a possibility that a number of others will be contributing vocals and other instruments on various tracks. i've been put in charge of helping the writing process along and coordinating with the remixers and performers, and i'm VERY excited for you to hear it. people have been asking what it sounds like; expect to hear a concentration on the sampled elements, and elaborations on those themes.

in general, we're expecting to have it in stores at the end of july. its taking a long time, but we want to make sure every little detail is covered...

03/01/02: grammy note - from mike - in mexico city

two days ago, we won an award which i was positive we weren't going to win. we are all very excited and proud of it, along with many other things. but it made me realize that we missed an opportunity to say a speech.

personally, i don't like speeches. but i think there is something i would've wanted to say. and, in my mind, our message board is one of the best places to say it:

thanks you all for supporting our band in so many amazing ways this past year. together, we've made many great things happen.

months ago, we told our record company not to spend ANY money promoting our songs or videos on mainstream stations. our idea was: if our fans want to hear a song somewhere, they'll call and request it. and you have. you have the album, you know the songs, you've come to the shows. and you enjoy the songs enough to visit our website. and you've made a huge impact on many people this year, especially us.

thank you so much for making your presence felt in the music community in the ways you have. we are whole-heartedly grateful.

the award is ours to share. enjoy your grammy for best hard rock performance.

12/12/01: countdown to revolution

We've finally made it to the end of the year. Before we started this last leg, we were worried that putting together an extremely diverse bill might be too much for some fans, but Countdown to Revolution turned out great; The Apex Theory, DJ Z-Trip, (hed)pe, and the Xecutioners had a great time playing for you guys, so thanks for coming with an open mind and ear.
With this tour complete, we're taking a break for the holidays. This coming year, we will be going into the studio to record another album. But before that, we're doing one more tour.
Projekt:Revolution is coming in January, and tickets will go fast. Opening acts include Cypress Hill, Adema, and DJ Z-Trip, so check out the presale links today!

11/30/01: Buy the real thing!

Please do not buy bootleg or unofficial Linkin Park merchandise!
This merchandise is being sold illegally and is of poor quality that does not meet the Linkin Park stamp of approval. Because we care about our fans, we have made the effort to make quality merchandise that will not fall apart, unlike the poorly manufactured illegal merchandise that is being sold outside the venues of Linkin Park shows. We appreciate you wearing our clothing, and want you to get the best quality we can provide, so please be sure to get your Linkin Park gear at the merchandise booths INSIDE the venue, or off the merchandise section of our website!

09/11/01: Sept. 11, 2001

Due to the tragedy in the U.S., our show tonight was cancelled. We are unaware of the status of the upcoming shows. Berlin, tomorrow, is scheduled to go on as scheduled. Further updates can be found by calling your local venue, or by checking here.
--Mike

09/10/01: After the VMAs...Europe

the mtv VMA's were fun. i had a good time getting together with the xecutioners again. and for those that are into hip hop, i just got the advance of their album, and i think it's definitely worth checking out. the song joe and i did with them is on there. ...anyway, it was a big hollywood-style event, and we're all pretty glad to be done with it and back to a little more normal routine. we're touring in europe for the next couple of weeks, and then comes family values. check the tours section. word.
--Mike

08/13/01: End of Ozzfest

so the ozzfest is over. we're happy to be home, getting a little rest so that we can be fresh when we start the upcoming european and family values tours. we're hoping to do some cool new stuff on stage, and MAYBE even playing some older songs that we usually don't play. i don't know what it's going to be yet, but we are going to practice the e.p. songs to see if any of them work their way into the set. by the way, if you don't have the e.p., ask around on the messageboard for the mp3s. the songs are: carousel / technique / step up / and one / high voltage (original version) / part of me ...and there is a hidden instrumental track.
--Mike

07/10/01: From Ozzfest

we're going to florida this week. we just finished five shows in a row. three ozzfest and two off-fest. the off-fest shows are particularly exciting, 'cause they are usually general admission, which means there are no seats. and that gives all the kids more room to run around. but as for the ozzfest, make sure you come to the transworld/fye tent--we sign there every day at around three o'clock, so plan to get there early. and people with cd's get to be in the front of the line, so bring your cd.
by the way, the chat the other day was fun. sorry we didn't answer more questions, but it was a little overwhelming. maybe we'll do more next time; the log will be posted soon. and i'm going to answer some old questions on the message board. later
--Mike

06/01/01: From Germany

hey. it's mike and phoenix. I already wrote a bunch of funny crap, and Mike had the computer set up wrong, so we were disconnected from the internet, so we lost it all... We're in Germany, and I (Phoenix) am jetlagged... I've been up the last couple of days by 4 am, and a few minutes ago German MTV played the rock-rap-nu-metal "Koom By Ya My Lord." Needless to say, I feel like I'm on a different planet than the one I grew up on. For the record, the current LP vote on The Mummy Returns is 2-2. Mike and Brad enjoyed the movie, while Joe and I were pretty big negatories. The international scene is great, but I'm definitely excited to be touring in the states again on the Ozzfest... thanks for all your support.// i (mike) don't know why the computer bombed. but whatever...here we are anyway. german mtv and music here in general doesn't make sense to me yet. but i guess if i was german, i'd get it. we're playing rock im park today, for a gigantic crowd. neato. i'm excited for ozzfest. by the way, thanks for all the cool questions on the message board. we'll have to do a little FAQ session again sometime. see ya soon...
--Mike

05/09/01:

someone named jave keeps kicking me out of the chatroom
--Joe

05/04/01: Yo

okay, so the australian shows have been banannas. i think it's safe to say a show has gone well when the kids leave behind them a BROKEN CLUB FLOOR. when everyone cleared out of the enmore theatre in sydney, there was a 20-foot circle where the floor had been smashed down about 18" lower than where it was supposed to be. the crowd was so out of hand that they broke the floor. and tonight in melbourne, we had the biggest turnout that we've had on a headlining show. we can't wait to see what happens in brisbane.
--Mike

04/30/01: What it is !?

australia is dope. we've had agreat time our first day here in sydney. we went shopping, and hope to go do a little sightseeing later. can't wait for the show tomorrow. i heard it sold out pretty quickly, so big thanks to all you guys who are coming. the shows in the 'states in the last few weeks have been fun. we just played with (hed)pe, mudvayne, disturbed, systematic, spineshank, the offspring, and staind (not in that order) at a festival in florida. the show went really well - i think it was a good warmup for ozzfest...
--Mike

04/21/01: Texas

getting out there again. playing a few shows here in the states before we go to australia, new zealand, and japan. then more u.s. dates. then europe. then ozzfest. and offdates (during ozzfest) with slipknot, papa roach, disturbed, and mudvayne. we should be your town soon, so come say hi...

and we're trying to work out a way to hang out with fans at ozzfest; at most shows, we like to just come down and say hi, but ozzfest is a different monster. we may have a booth, or be at the streetwise booth; we aren't sure yet. but just letting ya know.

--Mike

04/08/01:

someone complained the other day that nobody was posting a tour journal. so i am now writing one.
we are enjoying our time off in la. we finally have a couple of weeks off after 9 months of touring nonstop. we just delivered our video for crawling to mtv. we will shoot the video for europe's "papercut" at the end of the month. check dave and i out on the espn sports & music awards on tuesday night.

peace
mr hahn

--Joe

03/24/01: Manchester/London

we just played our first of two shows in manchester last night. this tour has been excellent...today, we were greeted here in london by some kids (who showed up before ANY of the crew of bands got here) with a 4-foot hand drawn poster of the band; we signed it and they're going to keep it for their collection...
thank you guys for showing up at the shows. this tour has been an awesome experience. tonight's show is at a ridiculously huge venue, the biggest we've played so far.
two last things - 1. we've posted a few things on the massage board recently that you might want to check out. 2. the deadline for the art contest is approaching, so send those entries in!!!
thanks, as always, for the support.
--Mike

03/04/01: Spain, France

what's up, peoples!? so we're out here in montpellier, france right now; we just finished three dates in madrid, san sebastian, and barcelona. please excuse any typing errors, as french keyboards are vastly different from the ones i'm used to. anyway, the shows have been going great, and we hope all the people wathcing are having as much fun as we are...it's interesting: mentally, we have to backtrack, and get used to playing in front of people who haven't heard us before. the album hasn't been out for very long out here, and not that many people are familiar with the songs (or the english language either, for that matter). so it's been a fun challenge to play extra hard, and hopefully we'll have some video footage for you to see someday. i love hearing people sing our songs with heavy accents.
french food is for the experienced...i have a hard time finding places i can eat at. it's all good though. we haven't gambled on this tour yet. but we have hung out with the deftones and taproot. lucky we haven't gambled with them, becuase i know none of us or taproot could hang if stephan bet his rolex on a hand of cards. word.

--Mike

02/11/01: Chicago is Terrific

I'm finally up and running, thanks to Naveen being in Chicago today. Unfortunately, Joe Hahn's gambling story is true, and alot of his winnings were my money! You win some, you lose some. We're actually going to have a few days off this coming week... so I'm very excited about that.
Keep submitting that fan art! It looks great so far... Phoenix
--Phoenix


02/08/01: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Styles of Beyond has finished their time on our tour, and we were all sad to see them go home. they are really nice guys, and put on an excellent show. i hear they're going to go home to save up some money and showcase for some more record labels, as they are as of yet an unsigned act.

as for us, driving almost non-stop for days at a time with twelve people trapped in one vehicle with "the shining" playing in the background isn't one of the most ideal ways to travel. -hahaha- at least we got here; the drive from denver last night was pretty rough, especially in the snow. something froze in our septic system, and the bathroom smell kept rob and i from going to sleep for a while last night. but our bus driver (also named rob) managed to fix it eventually.

but this past week, the shows in salt lake city and denver were awesome. some of the biggest crowds we've headlined for, and the energy in the room really pushed us to deliver. everyone in our bus and taproot's bus have been passing around a cold. chester and steve were having coughing fits yesterday. all of our guys slept about 12 hours last night, trying to fight it off. good timing for a day off. we'll gather our energy so we can give 110% at the show tomorrow night.

i'm going to stop writing and go look at some of those art contest entries. good luck to all...
--Mike

01/31/01: Live @ The Fillmore

so...we've been all talk for like two months about this site, and it's finally here. i hope you all like the new features. and if you're an artist, don't forget to enter the fan art contest (see the news/home page for details).

the tour has been phenomenal so far. last night, we played at the fillmore. we didn't know what to think, looking at the crowd, standing on the same stage that jimi hendrix and led zeppelin played on. i hope that all of you that came to the show enjoyed yourselves as much as we did, and hope that those of you who have tickets to the upcoming shows are excited as we are.

(and when i jump out into that crowd, i hope you guys have my back!!!)

see you soon

--Mike

01/30/01: Street Soldiers Tour Begins

Hey, what's up people! How's the new site! I hope you guys are stoked because we've been working really hard to get this thing up. We always talk about being dedicated to our web presence, so we're "putting our money where our mouth is."

Right now I'm sitting at the world-famous Filmore in San Francisco as Taproot are soundchecking Weezer's "Say It Ain't So." The club is video-taping the show tonight so I hope we don't suck.
We've been really busy these first few days of the tour, but the shows have been going off hard. Seattle, Portland, and Sacto were big sweaty pits of energy. Styles of Beyond are unbelievably sweet and Taproot have been ruling it every night.

We can't wait to see everybody across the great U.S. of A. Thank you tremendously for your support and dedication. Mostly, enjoy the new site.

Much Respect,

Big Bad Brad
--Brad