NovaFM Interview

Check out this interview with Mike and Chester. :) Thanks for the tip Tensh_iie! More from this interview can be seen at Mike Shinoda Clan.

Fame, Examined from Within - interview

Great article about Mike's show and his art over at Rafu.com.

“I kind of don’t [need to paint,] but I kind of do,” Shinoda said. “I really enjoy painting and I end up spending some of my free time doing it. People would be surprised, I actually find time to paint and to just chill out and spend time with my family.

The difference for me where my time is spent and that it’s focused time. I’m not just sitting and watching TV and commercials or reading stuff that makes me feel like I’ve just turned my brain off.”

Read more!

Chester and Ryan at 98 KUPD

Chester and Ryan gave an intervgiew to 98 KUPD and lots of cute funny subjects are taken, plus Chester mentions Talinda.

Part 1


Part 2

Metal Hammer July 2002

"Well I have a new house and a new baby, but I just want people when I'm not doing my music to let me be. If I'm out walking my dog and my kid's with me, I don't want to hang out and talk about Linkin Park, I just want to walk my dog."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying my life and I feel suitably blessed but when I'm off the road and with my family, let me be a dad, let me be a husband and just chill out."

"All I wanna say is it's amazing what having a shoot with a professional photographer can do for you. I'm amazed my wife can even look at me!"

-Chester in Metal Hammer July 2002

Linkin Park, family men

Here is a bit from a teleconference call with Chester and Mike....

“As much as we talk about how much time we like to be with our families and take off, it’s important for us to have a balance. The reality is that if we take even a week longer than we expected, it becomes uncomfortable." - Chester

Interview with Chester

Parts from the Etnies interview with Chester:

RB: How old is your, is it son, you have a son?

CB: Yeah, I have four boys.

RB: Four boys.

CB: Got a litter of kids!

RB: What’s the oldest, and the youngest?

CB: My oldest is 11, and his brother is gonna be 10 in November. And I have a 5-year-old, and my youngest just turned one, a couple weeks ago.

RB: So throughout all this, like the music career, the rock star, the everything, how does fatherhood affect that, as far as whether it be creating music or . . .

CB: No I think I’ve really figured it out. I figured it out that I wasn’t always the best dad, you know what I mean? My kids love me, I love my kids, but the reality is that my career always took front seat for a long time. And so I really kind of figured it out, like how to balance being a dad and running a company, and trying to create new companies, and . . . I have another company called Level 7 that is a music and technology-based company, and people will start hearing about that in the next couple of years, but that’s been also a lot of work too, building that, recruiting people for that type of thing too. So it’s been a lot of work too. But, it’s interesting, because somehow I figured out how to do it all. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but I spend more time with all my kids than I ever have. I’ve been married for, I’ve been with my wife for a little over two years. I got divorced a couple years ago, but it was interesting because I spend more time with everybody now. Like, I spend more time with my band, I spend more time with my wife, spend more time with my kids, and I spend more time working than I ever have.

.........And I have this crest across my chest that has my initials, my wife’s initials and the initials of my boys underneath it. And it’s right over my heart; I think that one’s my most sentimental piece. I love it. It’s really simple, there’s not any color; it’s just black and greys. It means a lot to me. . .

Thanks Ma! ;)

Interview with Mike and Brad

A recent interview with Mike and Brad in New Zealand can be heard here. A quote from Mike about the Ladies...

Do your partners come on the road with you?

Mike: Well they come out sometimes, it just depends on the trip. With the experiences we've had, we've been touring so long that the girls have, sometimes you like to go certain places more than others, sometimes there is important stuff going on at home and to be honest they've got lives of their own as well. If they've got something to do they do it.

Thanks Katie!!

Blender article

That’s right — say hello to the grown–up Linkin Park. All but Bourdon are 30 and married; Bennington has four sons; and Farrell’s wife just gave birth to a baby girl.

Meanwhile, Bennington was going through a rough time of his own. The year before, he’d divorced Samantha, his wife of nearly a decade. (The couple have a son together, 5–year–old Draven; Bennington also shares custody of two sons from a previous relationship.) They met in early 1996, when Samantha stopped for lunch at the Burger King where Bennington, then 20, was working. When they got married that Halloween, they were too broke for wedding bands, so they got their ring fingers tattooed instead. The ink is still there; the affection, not so much.

“I’m not going to say the entire experience was horrible,” Bennington says. “But it was pretty bad. We just brought out the worst in each other — like throwing water on a grease fire.”

The divorce became final in May 2005. In December, Bennington got remarried, to former Playboy model Talinda Bentley; three months later she gave birth to their son, Tyler. “It sounds shady,” he says. “But I wasn’t having an affair. I literally met Talinda at a party, thought, Oh, my God, I could actually be happy, and went home and separated from my wife.”

Read the whole article here.

Excerpt from Kerrang

Chester Bennington is someone you'd have thought would want to pour a lot of heart into his lyrics. The last couple of years of his life have been difficult. He's talking, unwillingly, about how he recently divorced his first wife Samantha, a woman he reportedly met while working in a Burger King and married when he was just 20 years old. He's also talking, equally grudgingly, about how, shortly after his divorce, he remarried new wife Talinda Bentley. When he speaks, he peppers his sentences with endless "You knows" and "likes", as though unsure of what it is he actually wants to say.

"If we were a tabloid band then we wouldn't have to talk about this as you'd already know all this kind of stuff" he says, resignedly. "I got divorced. That's always fun. That's always a good time. I felt like someone, like, came up to me and said, 'Here's a big pile of sh**. Eat it'. I also got remarried, so I had, you know, end the other one. I lost all my money in the divorce and that sucks. That was something that was very difficult to deal with. All these things make you feel hung, drawn and quartered.

It was a process that on and on, Bennington getting ever wearier by the divorce proceedings.

"There are certain things that you'd like to let go and you can't because they've got their claws in you, you know." he continues. "It's like you get shot by a Taser and all these little hooks grab into your skin. After those shock you and drop you to the ground, you think, 'Thank God that's over'. Then all the person has to do is stand there and wait to zap you again. That's what my life has been like for the last couple of years. I'll et my ass kicked and then, when I'm feeling relief and trying to let things go. I'll realize this thing is still stuck in me. Then, every once in a while, I'll get zapped and reminded of what I was going through. That's a pretty hard place to live."

Thanks Agnes.

Anna mention in Mike interview

Go HERE to clip 3 and listen. Very cute bit about when Anna met Beyonce. :)

When I met her I was with my wife and we met at this party Jay was throwing. And we went into this little VIP area and I knew everybody but a couple of people and he introduced us. My wife went to shake Jay's hand but basically gave him a quarter of a handshake like almost just grabbed it and let go if even grabbing it and went straight to Beyonce and was like "Nice to meet you, I love your music, I am such a huge fan!" and Jay actually called her on it after that saying "What am I chopped liver? You can't say hello?" She was very excited to meet Beyonce.

Thanks to Rashell for letting me know!

Some old interview bits

ONE MAGAZINE: INTERVIEW WITH CHESTER

With all the money that you've earn those last few years, have you bought meaningless or crazy things?
No, not really. I bought a new house, even though I haven't had the time to live in it because of the touring. One day, somebody asked me what my address is and I was obliged to ask my wife because I didn't know it. Otherwise, I just customised my car over. Today, it's so beautiful that you have to wear sunglasses to admire it. If not, you'll be blinded by its beauty. (laughs)

Is it hard to be away from your wife when you're on tour?
Are you kidding me? It's hyper fustrating! Not making love for several weeks, it's not funny! Luckily there are other ways to satisfy yourself solitary otherwise, I wouldn't make it through. (laughs)

ONE MAGAZINE 2004

You've got a lot of tattooes all over your body. Why?
To get tattooed is the most painful experience you could ever imagine and, at the same time, it's beautiful and reveals a lot about your personality. When people see my tattoos, I want them to help them to understand who I am. When I started, I didn't plan to have as many tattoos, but I got them. There's one I'm really proud of. When I got married in 1996, my fiance' Samantha and I didn't have enough money to buy our rings, so we got them tattooed instead.

Is your wife worried to see young and beautiful girls hitting on you after your concerts?
I suppose that she's worried and, after all, it's natural that a wife whose husband travels a lot questions herself. But we've been married for nearly 8 years and our relation is important. Samantha is just perfect. I don't deserve her.

Do you have any hidden gift which would surprise your fans?
I'm an excellent cook. My wife says that's the reason why she stays with me! (laughs) I can cook a normal steak with just salt and pepper and it will be the best one you'll ever taste. The secret is to cook with love.

DENVER POST

"But I'm really picky about music and where I spend my time," said Bennington, a first-time father of his 20-month-old son, Draven. "Most of the time when I'm home, I'm watching 'Spongebob Squarepants' and 'Sesame Street' and 'Veggie Tales.' "

THE MORNING CALL Jan 17, 2004

Q: You married your wife, Samantha, on Oct. 31, 1996, when you were 20. What has changed you more: the success of Linkin Park or the birth of your son, Draven Sebastian?
Bennington: My son is way more important. Music was a hobby. It was something I did for fun and because I loved it. I'm lucky. I got married, got successful and then had a child. We waited seven years and felt we were really ready for a baby.

Q: As a new father, do you find yourself trying to present a more well-rounded picture of the world? Has it changed your lyrics?
Bennington: No, being a father hasn't changed my lyrics. The world is still a scary place. I mean, we have been at war since I was born. … I write to get (stuff) off my chest. I'm not a role model, and I'm not out to save the world. There is no bright side. Success, to me, is a good marriage and kids. It's not what most people think. I think people perpetuate the wrong things for their kids. I just want Draven to grow up to be a tolerant person.

ROLLING STONES JULY 2003

Do you worry about your son seeing the other bands partying when he's with you on the road?.

Every band that I've met- even the ones that misbehave - know it's not cool to misbehave in front of a little kid. And I won't have him with me on the road his whole life. He's got to have a normal life. But if he wants to be a rock star, that's fine.

Like his daddy?

Honestly, I partied harder when I wasn't a rock star than I have since I've been one. I always say that you don't have to be a rock star to act like one. You don't have to be special to be a d*ck.

FHM MAY 2003

How do you balance a rock lifestyle and a family?
It's very hard especially in the beginning when there was no money. We had like $20 a day and that was all we got paid and hopefully we sold some T-shirts at the show. Now success has afforded us more opportunities and I can take my wife, our our parents along the tour bus for a few days.

-Special thanks to Chester Land and LPTimes.

Anna and Mike interview

And thanks to Colleen aka DariaBlue I put up a nice little interview Mike and Anna did a while back. A very cool find Colleen! Thanks again. ;)

New Zealand Radio interview that mentions Anna

Audio:
Part 1
Part 2


Transcript:

Radio Interviewer 1: Speaking of Jay-Z, when you guys were working in the recording studio, did Beyonce come down and drop off his lunch?

Mike: Hahaha, no....but when we played the Live 8 concert, she and Destiny's Child played before us...and she came and hung out in the dressing room after her performance. She showered and changed and came to our dressing room to hang out, and even with minimal make up and, like, "I'm hangin' out" type of clothing, she's just beautiful. My wife is like, "That's the most beautiful girl in the world." And that's what my wife said. When my wife says that....she doesn't say that often.

Radio Interviewer 1: Mike, I hope you came up with the reply that your wife was fishing for and said, "No, baby. Thats YOU."

Mike: Yes!

Radio Interviewer 2: You did?

Mike: I wish I had thought of that...

Radio Interviewer 2: Oh no!

Radio Interviewer 3: Speaking of your wife, I hear that she loves that new song, which I quite like at the moment too, "Where'd You Go". I heard that she cries every time she hears it.

Mike: Yeah.

Transcript by tinkerbell! Thank you again. :)

VMA Interview with Chester&Talinda transcript

COLTRANE: You guys are doing the same color pattern. I see the orange and orange. Did we work on that?

CHESTER: Absolutely, we did it all together. Put our minds together and come up with a Miami theme. We had to look hot.

COLTRANE: Is he taking all the credit?

TALINDA: He actually is, he picked out my entire outfit.

COLTRANE: I figured that. I gotta say you guys look sexy and that's a beautiful accessory right there. (Ring on her finger)

TALINDA: Thank you very much.

COLTRANE: That rock ain't to shabby itself.

TALINDA: [laughs] No it's not.

Mike & Anna interview