Mike and Joe spoke to Metro.us about Linkin Park’s new boot they made with Sebago for which they celebrated a few days back in New York. Read below.

Mike attended the 2013 NAMM, Waves talked with him about plugins what’s in for Linkin Park right now in which Mike said that they’re doing the soundtrack for “Mall” Joe Hahn’s first movie as a director.

The band just announced via their twitter account that the’ve teamed up with Open Labs to create StageLight, a music program. You can read all about it below as well as read what Mike Shinoda has to say about it.

The developers of new music software StageLight might describe their creation as “GarageBand for PCs,” but their real goal is actually more ambitious than that: They want StageLight to become the go-to music program for the Windows-using masses.

The $9.99 program, which will be announced today by Open Labs, is designed to appeal to all musicians, from novices who have never played an instrument to professionals looking for a simple method of bringing their creative ideas to life. StageLight‘s sleek design has been optimized for touchscreen displays, with an eye toward simplifying even the software’s most complex functions for musicians — at home, in the studio or onstage.

“Whether you play a musical instrument today or not, whether you’ve used some of these tools in the past or not, we are the easy way to create music — specifically on a PC,” said Jeff McMahon, Open Labs’ vice president of business development and strategy, in a phone interview with Wired.

While Windows dominates the desktop, Apple computers are still the machines of choice for musicians and other creative types. Recording studios invariably run ProTools on powerful Macs, and the introduction of GarageBand nearly a decade ago put streamlined music-making tools in the hands of anyone with an Apple.

Ever since then, the question has been asked: What’s a good PC alternative to GarageBand? There hasn’t been a good answer up until now, but if StageLight could capture the imagination of beginning musicians who use Windows machines, Open Labs could gain a foothold with the next generation of music makers.

To make it happen, the software company is working with leading PC manufacturer Dell and with Grammy-winning rockers Linkin Park. Open Labs, which is based in Austin, Texas, hopes to hook new users with instant gratification fueled by ease of use. It also plans to take a page from the videogame industry by selling an endless array of downloadable content to superfans, all while providing a clear pathway to Open Labs’ pro-level software, Music OS, which is being retooled to look more like StageLight. In that way, StageLight could serve as a sort of gateway drug for musicians getting into digital production.

“We’ve created a usable tool that teaches musicians and wannabe musicians essentially how to use a [digital audio workstation] interface,” said Open Labs product manager Matt Presley.

Wired has not tested StageLight but was given an online demo of the software prior to its announcement. As can be seen in the screenshots above, StageLight is designed to take advantage of the touchscreen-centric nature of Windows 8, although it works just fine with a standard QWERTY keyboard and mouse. Regular instruments like guitars or drums can be used as well, as long as the user’s computer has the the proper inputs. And StageLight can handle as many tracks as the composer’s hardware can handle hardware. (“The only limit is your CPU and your RAM,” said Presley.)

 

Linkin Park rapper/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda helped Open Labs tweak the user interface of StageLight into the slick, user-friendly version seen in the screenshots above. (You can download a free trial version of StageLight now.)

“If I’m brand new to this, I want something that’s intuitive,” Shinoda told Wired. “I want it to feel like a tablet. I want it to feel like something that, like, an 8-year-old could open it up and do it.”

The trick is making a complex and deceptively powerful piece of software feel simple, said Shinoda, who has a background in design and has used Open Labs’ Music OS and hybrid hardware creations for years to help him bridge the gap between the studio and the stage. He estimated that half his suggestions about StageLight came in the realms of user experience and user interface — and he’s happy with the results.

“If you were to compare the two side by-side, I think the UI of StageLight absolutely destroys Music OS,” he said.

StageLight is also engineered to do away with the setup hassles sometimes faced by PC users looking to make music with their computers. It’s set up to cater to each user’s level of experience in digital music creation. From the StageLight start screen, three paths are presented: Song Builder Lessons for beginners, Demo Project for advanced users and Fresh Start Project for pros. “A big part of where we differ from all of the other applications is that the Song Builder is going to guide you through what to do,” said Presley. “There is no reading the manual to figure it out.”

Both the Open Labs reps and Shinoda say StageLight has shined in user testing.

“We’ll grab people who have a basic knowledge of GarageBand, and they pick it up right away,” said Presley. “More impressively, we’ll take new users — and they’ll take a little more time, because it’s so new to them they want to dig and explore the interface — but all of them are able to make a basic eight-bar to 16-bar song that they can loop over and over again within five to 10 minutes.”

Such out-of-the-box usability honors Open Labs’ “core tenets,” said McMahon.

“First of all we want to make it fun, right? We don’t want to make it intimidating,” he said. “We want it to be fulfilling, so we want people to really be able to create something that’s usable in a short period of time. And we also want to make it social — to make the song available for sharing.” (Any music created in StageLight can be uploaded in one click to SoundCloud.)

And while Windows machines — including a Linkin Park Edition product line coming from Dell on Dec. 10 that will include StageLight software along with a library of customized sounds, loops and kits that will let users “create their own songs using signature sounds created by the band themselves” — are the first target, Open Labs has plans to expand to other platforms.

“The PC is a great place to start but that isn’t all we’re gonna do,” said McMahon, with tablet versions, and even mobile apps, possible in the future (a lack of processing power in these smaller devices is the major sticking point right now).

The instant accessibility promised by StageLight is one of the key factors that draws Shinoda to the project.

“The charge I get out of making music is like nothing else, right?” said Shinoda. “So, if we can give that to somebody … that’s a great first step for me. And if it ends there, fine. But for me, I love the feeling that this potentially can get people who have never really experienced that — that sensation of the excitement of creation. If it can give that to them, then I’d be really thrilled about that.”

Linkin Park band member Mike Shinoda sat down with Channel24 in Cape Town to chat about musical inspirations and what he does on long flights.

Thanks to LPT.

Mike has chatted with DieBurger about his sightseeing in South Africa as well as listening to local music. The video consists of pictures of Mike mostly posing in front of Cape Town.

Mike let us know that he arrived in South Africe for interviews this morning. He chatted with 5FM’s Jon Savage. The radio station has uploaded some sneak peek videos of the interview with him but promise that HQ vids and soundclips will be uploaded soon. We’ll let you guys know when.

Check out the videos HERE.

Also here’s a picture of Mike sightseeing in Cape Town.

GamerHubTV interviewed Mike on their Medal Of Honor: Warfighter collaboration, their music video for “CASTLE OF GLASS” and more.

Part 1

Part 2

Mike talked to the ESPN blog about Linkin Park’s support towards Olympic Athletes since they met up with a lot of them during their Honda Civic Tour, how social media affects the athletes and Linkin Park’s projects at the time.

Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park loves the unfiltered aspect of social media.

No wonder the rapper and principal songwriter for the California rock band is on Facebook,Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, has his own website, his band’s website and a host of other forms.

And Shinoda feels, because of social media, he made a stronger connection with the Summer Olympics in London and grew to know the athletes better. That’s why he and the band invited several athletes to the fall tour.

“This Olympics were so different because of Twitter. You have the ability to get inside the minds of the actual athletes and get a sense of their personality,” said Shinoda, whose band is heading to Buenas Aries this week for the next leg of a world tour. “I was really struck by how you get a better understanding of who they really are in social media and not in a TV interview.”

Playbook had a few minutes with Shinoda to talk about social media, the tour and what’s ahead for Linkin Park.

What do you mean when you say social media offers better access to athletes?

“In an interview, the athletes are in work mode. They know the cameras are on them. Their mom is watching. They have to edit themselves. But when it comes to social media, they don’t edit themselves. I felt with social media and live TV coverage, you got a nice cross section of what was going on with those people.”

So that’s why you wanted to invite them to your shows?

“I was watching gymnast Gabby Douglas, and they were doing a little TV piece on her upbringing. I thought she was an interesting person. I thought it would be great to meet them. It occurred to me that some of these athletes might be Linkin Park fans. I wanted to extend a gift or friendly gesture to congratulate them for representing us. They worked so hard to get where they are at. It has been definitely a lot of fun to meet them.”

You love connecting with your fans, and you’ve been doing it for a long time. It’s like you’re on the same level as them.

“We’ve all got different modes of communication that we’re comfortable with. I think some people who are less familiar with the band don’t realize how deep the culture runs with us. We’re not just a band and people who listen to the band. It’s a culture. It is very fluid and seamless. When it comes to new technology or a new mode of communication or even a new app, the band and our fans try it. We talk about it and get as much opinions as we can. We didn’t join Twitter initially because it started out all about pop culture and what people were eating and what they were doing. That’s not what our community is about. We waited until Twitter changed because we have a deeper connection with our fans.”

How do you find the time to do it?

“It shouldn’t be a chore. We don’t even try. It’s part of our life. I don’t approach Twitter any differently than one of the fans would. When you get a down moment, you sometimes check and you sometimes read and you sometimes post. That’s what works for me. The breakdown of our band is this: two of us (Mike Shinoda and Dave Farrell) post regularly. Two of us (Chester Bennington and Joe Hahn) seldom post. And two (Rob Bourdon and Brad Delson) don’t even have real accounts. That just works for us.”

You’re getting ready to hit the next leg of the world tour. This CD “Living Things” is doing great numbers spawning several hits. So it appears things are going well.

“The impetus for our happiness is finally finishing a record we’re proud of. It’s more about being happy with the music we’ve written and recorded. We wouldn’t have put it out unless we felt happy about it. We know very well how much work goes into supporting a record. We know not to step out of a studio until we’re done with something we love.”

And your band has a strong social conscious. Where does that come from?

“It’s really which came first the chicken or the egg. We’re not out there telling everybody to go do stuff. They aren’t just following our lead. It’s today’s young culture protecting the planet and the environment and being respectful of one another in a worldwide scope.”

What projects is the band involved in?

Right now, we’re focusing on Music for Relief, which was founded in the mid-2000s. Originally, it was an organization established to provide relief to victims of natural disasters. We now realize that natural disasters are arguably being caused by changes in climate and environmental issues. We decided to get active on the preventative end. Another is Power the World, looking at helping the world have access to sustainable energy. These are all the issues that the Linkin Park fanbase can get behind.”

That’s a lot to take on and you still are planning to make more music.

“We don’t have a start or stop date. Our current focus is to support the record and write more music while we’re out there in between tours.”

If you weren’t in music, would you be working in social media or social causes?

“I would have loved to do something in those fields. I’m not sure how my skill set would match up. My skill set is in graphic design and illustration. But right now my priority is music.”

Mike recently sat down with Noisecreep to talk mainly about Linkin Park’s new music video for LOST IN THE ECHO. Due to its originality, Mike discusses how the idea came about and its powerful connection with Facebook fans.

Leave it to Linkin Park. As many bands struggle to adapt and make sense of the digital age, LP manages to thrive and innovate, not just by embracing new technologies, but also by figuring out how to sensibly apply them to the band.

Besides delivering their fifth consecutive #1 this past June on the Billboard 200 with their LIVING THINGS album, the group also announced a partnership with Open Labs and Dell to create a one-of-a kind music creation software. Music OS (Linkin Park Edition) is a unique and powerful software package that makes it easier for musicians to create, organize, perform and share the music they make.

And now this – the launching of the video for their new single “LOST IN THE ECHO.” The concept is compelling and unprecedented in that it allows the viewer to seamlessly become a part of the production. Co-directed by Tool’s Jason Zada, renown commercial and video director, and interactive director Jason Nickel, creators of the award winning Take This Lollipop viral video, the interactive music video features the viewer’s digital world through use of pictures from their own Facebook profile.

The video application asks permission for temporary access to the user’s Facebook photos and incorporates them in the video. These photos are integrated into the storytelling through stunning visuals, set against “LOST IN THE ECHO.”

The one-of-a-kind, interactive video can be experienced on www.lostintheecho.com. You can also see a trailer for “LOST IN THE ECHO” below.

Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda took some time to talk to Noisecreep about this sparklingly original video concept, technology and what other music videos first impressed him.

How did you guys arrived at such an interesting device within the context of such a beautifully produced video.

For me, it kind of comes from the conversation that started about the format of the music video. Music videos haven’t really gone any place last few years. You have little stories. You have some performance. And that’s about it. Nothing has really started a new phase. Sure, you had the OK Go kind of thing a few years ago. The K-pop thing that’s been going on. You know, funny, interesting viral stuff we all like to watch. But we wanted something really different, we wanted to seriously mess with the format and how the visuals are delivered.

What was the creative process like – how did you get to this specific effect?

The treatment came first – the story. Jason and Jason did all the heavy lifting. We shot down the first few storylines, and they just wrote more. The one we landed on struck a serious chord as far as the story of the song – about uncovering emotional baggage – coming to terms with it and letting it go – the video had to connect with that and we think it does in a powerful way.

And then the fact that photos create a thread throughout the story allowed for this dazzling Facebook interface. Given that Linkin Park has almost 45 million Facebook fans, that’s a pretty powerful connection.

It’s amazing. It got us thinking, how do we incorporate the technology that Jason is manipulating to allow that audience in. Almost 45 million – it’s hard to fathom. Groups don’t usually get as many fans as individual artists because if there’s a band member someone doesn’t like, you lose them. With us, there are six opportunities not to like us [laughs]. But we are fortunate to have the largest amount of fans for a group onFacebook. I think we have 16th largest fan base overall. Because of that, the format of the platform lines up with the way we communicate. We have a fan base that gets this stuff. We can gear stuff towards them. Plus, we’re active on things like Twitter. Admittedly, we were late to the party, but in the beginning it wasn’t as media-rich a format. We were not the type to say, ‘This is what I’m having for lunch.’ But once things like Instagram started happening, we’re very much into that and so we share lots of things we enjoy and find truly interesting.

You guys have always been very open to new ways of doing things.

I always just think about the stereotype of your old uncle, the one that says ‘I’m not gonna put my money in my ATM because what happens when it runs out?’ We have to be the opposite, not intimidated by technology but rather on the forefront of it. We have to know what fits well for us as a band. And it has to be honest and authentic. If we don’t take the time to use these apps and services we’ll never know what is a good fit for us. We’re not fortunetellers in any sense of the word. There’s lots of trial and error of what will work out best for us. It’s just a function of looking for things that are fun and interesting.

Well you’ve certainly done something fresh and different with the new video.

Thanks. We like to approach everything, from videos to things on stage to our recording process as something we can learn from and have fun with. The video is an example of us trying something different – and next time it won’t be this. It will evolve. For this video you have to have Facebook and Flash – next time I’d love to do something that even includes people without those things.

Mike, what were the early music videos that stood out to you in terms of innovation?

Early on it was the Public Enemy video for “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.” Not so much for any of the effects or anything – it was more about the gritty emotional content of the video. And later on the work of the director Mark Romanek. His work was just so compelling for me as I was graduating high school and getting ready to go art school for graphic design. Just so innovative and visual and I was usually inspired by his work.

Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda has talked to SouthTownStar about their Honda Civic Tour with Incubus, LIVING THINGS, and hitting No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

Refusing to be pigeonholed into categories like nu metal early on, the group has progressed to the “Living Things” album, which was released in June.

“This album came at an interesting crossroads for us,” co-founder Mike Shinoda said.

“It’s the fifth studio album. The first two [‘Hybrid Theory’ and ‘Meteora’] were kind of like brother records. They were closely related and they sounded very similar.

“With the third album [‘Minutes to Midnight’], we realized if we did another album like the first two, we’d be stuck doing that forever, so we made a patchwork of songs that sounded different from one to the other.

“With the fourth album [‘A Thousand Suns’], we took the concept album kind of route and picked one idea and went as far down the rabbit hole as we could.

“With the fifth album, we looked back and realized we were comfortable with the whole journey maybe for the first time ever.

“Having been together for so long, we’re had lots of opportunities to second-guess what we’ve done or feel uncomfortable about ways we were portrayed at this moment or that moment, especially during the early years.

“We were young. There was a lot of stuff. There were rumors about the band and ways people took the band’s image.

“For example, the whole nu metal thing. We never really felt like we belonged in that genre in the first place. Every time they tried to shove that flag into our hands, we tried to effectively drop it.

“Coming back with this new record, we just really came to terms with all that stuff. In talking to the band, the guys really have a sense of humor about that era and about themselves.

“They are comfortable with themselves, maybe more than ever.

“With this record, you’ll hear a sense of all the things the band has done and some things we’ve never done before all smashed together into one album.

“It’s frankly the most energetic thing we put together in the last few years.”

Honda Civic Tour

Linkin Park will bring this fresh material to the stage via the Honda Civic Tour on Aug. 24 at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.

“I’m excited for the show. I’m excited for people to hear some of the new music live because I think it’s kind of built for the stage,” said Shinoda who handles vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards and piano for Linkin Park as well as co-produces the albums.

“The production is something I’ve always done, and the guys extended the honor of adding in my credit to the album a few albums ago,” Shinoda said.

“I’ve always been our in-house producer regardless of who we work with. I’m the one who records all the original demos.

“I make a lot of the demo tracks and bring them in and see what the guys think of the different ideas.

“I write most of the demos and then, as we flesh out those demos, I’m always kind of the hub of all of that recording and writing.

“With [vocalist] Chester [Bennington], just to give an example, he generally feels the most comfortable writing a vocal when it’s me and him.

“It’s not so much about the mechanics about that relationship. It is what our comfort zone is, and we made some stuff that we really love to listen to.

“By approaching it that way, it’s fun to do and we get great results that make great songs. We’ve done a lot of that.

“At the end of the day, I really enjoy producing and I really enjoy writing songs.

“I love challenging myself and challenging the guys, so I just try and be a leader when it comes to getting it done in the studio.”

Electronics and art

One of the coolest things about Linkin Park is how plugged in the members are to their music as well as their fans.

“Before the first album was called ‘Hybrid Theory,’ the band was called Hybrid Theory,” Shinoda said of the longtime use of electronics in Linkin Park’s music.

“It was always a part of our philosophy to be all the things we like to listen to, which in some people’s cases would fit into a genre a little more obviously.

“But for us especially, as we’ve gotten older, the stuff we listen to kind of spread out from genre to genre and from time period to time period.

“You’re not just talking about hip-hop but hip-hop from what era, electronics from what era. And that always in the studio, for us, just keeps the process really fun.

“At any given moment, we can say this song feels like it needs something. Let’s take it into a direction that feels fresh and unexpected.

“What random unexpected thing can we bring to the identity of the song that will keep it interesting for us and the fans?”

It’s not just about the music, but it’s also about the visual for Linkin Park, with disc jockey Joe “Mr. Hahn” Hahn directing several of the band’s videos and Shinoda lending his artistic flair to the group.

Shinoda met Hahn at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. “It’s a great shock. I really learned a lot being there,” Shinoda said of his college days.

“Coming from that environment just really sets the bar really high. You’re just around people who are very different and good at what they do.

“It just motivated us to work really hard to make something that we felt was compelling and exciting to make and watch and listen to.”

Hands-on

Linkin Park has not only had hit albums but also several honors including a 2002 Grammy Award for best hard rock performance for the song “Crawling.”

The group received another Grammy for best rap/sung collaboration for “Numb/Encore” with Jay-Z in 2006.

“Our approach is a holistic approach, The band is involved in everything we do,” Shinoda said of Linkin Park, which also features co-founders Brad Delson (lead guitars) and Rob Bourdon (drums) and bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell.

“Some people are used to some artists not even doing their own social media. You see tweets by them, but it’s not even really by them.

“When you see album covers, they didn’t have anything to do with it. For some artists, it’s even the songs themselves.

“Ours is the polar opposite of that. We’re involved intimately in every aspect of the band whether you’re talking about the buttons on the website [linkinpark.com] or talking about the production on the album.

“And clearly when you’re coming to the show, we’re very particular about the details of not only the sound but also the look. We started this look about two years ago with the idea of building upon it as time went on. We’ve been kind of adding pieces to this stage look over time and adding themed music, the visuals and what not. It’s been a work in progress.”

Hitting No. 1

“Living Things” making its debut in the top spot of the Billboard 200 surprised the band.

“That was actually a really interesting story,” Shinoda said. “Maroon 5 was at our heels by only 1,000 records that week before the results came out.

“Before the final number was tallied, we were looking at it from the standpoint that [Maroon 5 singer] Adam Levine is on one of the biggest shows [“The Voice”]. He’s a huge pop star. They have a song on pop radio, a mainstream hit.

“They’re in the tabloids and have everything that could be going for you as far as going through the traditional route of being a popular band.

“The only thing we had on them was we had been around a little bit longer. We knew our online fan base is really supportive and really rabid. As it turns out, that made the difference.

“We activated fans in as many ways as we could think of. We tried to make it fun. We tried to keep it cutting-edge.

“One of my favorite things we did that week was a Twitter listening party where people around the world, regardless of time zone, all pressed play at one time. This wasn’t even something organized by the band. Talk about the real new model.

“The fans came up with this idea to do a listening party, and they chose the time and place. I said, ‘Two thousand of you are in on this. I’m going to get behind it and put Linkin Park social media machines behind it.’

“All of a sudden, it’s hundreds of thousands of people. We’re trending top two on Twitter worldwide for an hour.

“We just promoted [the listening party] for them. Everybody listened to it and were talking about it the whole time. I told them stories about how the songs got made.

“We listened to the whole album, and they wanted to listen to it a second time. It was really fun.

“I think it’s stuff like that that sets the Linkin Park online community apart from other bands. It’s not like you can just write it down as a formula. It’s got to be fluid. It’s got to be go with the flow and just know your fan base, be in touch with them and show them that you care and have a real relationship as opposed to some kind of marketing scheme.”