Part 2: Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda On Dealing With Brutal Criticism & Fighting Tooth And Nail For Your Vision

In the studio

You’re renowned for having very loyal and committed fans, developing that rapport is a skill-set in itself, how did you learn that?

On our first tour, we opened for a band that treated us like crap. Our album wasn’t out—incidentally, neither was theirs—but they had a single that was starting to do well on the radio. We would get to the venue, and those guys would take up every room in the place, leaving us to sit on the curb outside waiting to play.

Instead of signing autographs, they would charge their fans for a signed picture. They had hairdressers and bodyguards, and we were playing 500-seat clubs! It was ridiculous. But instead of moping outside, we talked to the fans. We signed everything and gave our demo cassettes away for free.

We learned a great lesson: treat your opening bands and fans with respect. Today, we still set up a meet-and-greet with our fan club at every event, and we make an effort to treat our opening bands with respect.

Mike Shinoda, Joseph Hahn and artist Shephard Fairey

Tell me about about your understanding of money and how it works in a competitive industry.

My art show, “Glorious Excess Dies” is about this idea. It’s about obsession with celebrity culture, consumer addiction, and fascination with excess; how our opinions are shaped by viral news and our idols, and what it all looks like to me.

There’s a saying in the music industry: “as soon as you can afford everything, they give it to you for free.” Maybe the bottom line is that I don’t know how money and fame work yet, but I know that sometimes it seems like the whole world is obsessed with them to an unhealthy degree.

I’d like to live in Mike’s garage

You must spend a fair amount of time online like us, as a blogger yourself, how important do you think the Internet is in building a successful business now and going forward?

How important? It couldn’t be more important. As a creative person, your top priority is making good art. After that, your top priority is to have a strong online presence!

Thanks Mike, it’s been a pleasure. Some important lessons there and plenty of things that people can put into action for themselves. I look forward to hearing how our readers are able to learn from your experience.

Hear Mike explain Glorious Excess Dies above

You can follow him on http://www.mikeshinoda.com

Interview by Angel Greenham.

Editing by Paul Magee

Special thanks to Angelique Groh.