Other S**t I'm Into: Mike Shinoda

Hip-Hop heads might have first heard of Mike Shinoda when his band, Linkin Park, teamed up with Jay-Z for MTV's Ultimate Mash-up last November. But Shinoda's more than some rock dude who's into hip-hop -- we look at his love for art, The Shining and Halo 2 in this edition of SOHH.com's "Other Shit I'm Into."

SOHH.com: We know you are a multiplatinum selling artist with Linkin Park, but who do you like to jam to? Who is on your iPod?

Mike Shinoda: Well, let's just see. Let me take a look right now. Well, I've been listening to Cam'ron's Purple Haze, [and] Atmosphere's new record. If you're into rock, I like the new album by Thrice. [It's a] really dope album. They really did it and I'm excited because a lot of bands tried to go that route and they're the first ones who really nailed it. What else do I have? A lot of 60's rock, it's kinda like a weird thing to hear. I know people are like, "What?" Let me check this out real quick. I got Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, The Who. You got to be up on all that stuff. There's a sound people don't really get anymore. Even back then, people were experimenting with all the gear they had. They didn't necessarily have a standard way of doing things. So they were just playing around with gears and being creative. These days everybody has gotten into such a rut in knowing their gears so well and start doing things the same way every time. Even for myself, I try to remember I don't have to use a gear the same way I used it before.

SOHH.com: It's well-known that you're big into arts and graphics. Have you done any album artwork or art shows?

MS: The only records I've really done have been a cover for a Saukrates thing and the Styles of Beyond stuff. Other than that, my art gets passed around and stuff. I'm glad people like to look at it, but I never done a show before or anything like that.

SOHH.com: Why do you enjoy art so much?

MS: I actually have been drawing since I was 3 years old. My parents used to give me a pad and a pen when we went out to dinner because I would finish dinner so fast and I used to be bored. So, I would start making noise and be annoying, so they realized they could give me a pad and a pen and I would shut up. [Laughing] And from there, it's pretty much been art and music. I went to school for illustration at ArtCenter [College of Design] in Pasadena, which is a really great art school. It's one of the best in the world. Actually, I shouldn't just say it's the best of the world. It usually gets ranked in Top 5 or Top 10 art schools in the world. They don't have a major and minor program. Basically, [you] pick a major and that's it. I couldn't minor in design, but if I could have, I would have. Ever since then, I basically oversee the art for Linkin Park. Obviously, the Fort Minor thing was a special opportunity to really dig into it and do something different. If you haven't checked out the Fort Minor artwork, you got to see it. The album is coming out on the 22nd and I did a series of 10 paintings that the whole art was based on.

SOHH.com: Ok, so who are some of your favorite artists?

MS: I'm into a lot of different things, like from graffiti art to guerilla art to just simple everyday entertainment. I like Mark Ryden. I like Delta and Dalek, but I'll get inspiration from whatever. I don't care if it's Cartoon Network or HBO or CNN. If something gives me an idea, I'll put it down.

SOHH.com: Speaking of HBO, what are some of your favorite movies?

MS: I actually have a song on the Fort Minor record called "Right Now" and it's inspired by a movie called Shortcuts. Have you seen that movie?

SOHH.com: Can't say I'm familiar with it.

MS: Shortcuts... The director's name was [Robert] Altman. It was basically a jump back and forth between all these different people's lives. It's a really dope film. That song, "Right Now," is kinda based on that idea. [It's] me and Styles of Beyond and Black Thought. That song went from person to person. We just went through different cross sections of people in the world.

SOHH.com: So are there any other flicks that are must owns?

MS: My favorite movies are like The Shining. That's one of my favorite movies. You got to have the Godfather box set. And on a completely different note, you probably should have like, like a... Shit, I don't know... Friday? Hahaha... Oh yeah and Spinal Tap too. For me, being real familiar with the rock scene, Spinal Tap is a really funny movie and on the Hip-Hop side Fear of a Black Hat is like the same kind of vibe.

SOHH.com: Are you an animal lover?

MS: Yeah, I mean as far as... I have a dog.

SOHH.com: So, you like dogs?

MS: Yeah, I'm more of a dog person than a cat whatever. But I like fish, I have fish too.

SOHH.com: What kind of dog do you have?

MS: I got a Boxer. And then, I got some coy fish in a smaller fish tank with angelfish and shit like that too.

SOHH.com: I remember when you first came out in LinkinPark. I copped your first DVD and saw there were some LinkinPark skate decks [skateboards]. Do you skateboard?

MS: I tried. I used to try a lot for years and it never really came together for me, you know? I figured if you're blessed with certain talents and not blessed with other talents, maybe that decision has been made for you. [Laughing] I was definitely made more proficient behind a piano or with a paintbrush than I was with a skateboard, so I decided to give that up. Obviously, I'm a fan. I actually have a lot of friends who skateboard professionally and I'm a big fan of what they do. Actually dude, did you see, we have a new video that's strictly online. We're not putting it out on networks, it's the first song called "Remember The Name." I had some of my friends there. A couple of the guys from DC Skate [team] came. Rob Dyrdek and Jason Ellis are in the video and the security guard, Big Black. If you know who those guys are, they're pretty funny guys.

SOHH.com: Yeah, I saw that video the other day. That's with Styles of Beyond, right?

MS: Yeah, Styles. Those are my boys.

SOHH.com: Yeah, I like the video. I was getting into it and was like wild 'n' out. So, a lot of artists pass the time playing videos games. What type of videos games do you play?

MS: The only ones I'm really into are like "Halo" and "Halo 2." Halo 2 is my game. I don't play video games much, so when I do, I'm a creature of habit. I like to go with what I'm familiar with and that game, you go on and it's something new every time. I have some friends I will play with and you can throw on the headset and talk to them, and it makes it pretty fun.

SOHH.com: I hear that ... I suck at that game.

MS: [Laughing] I'm in the middle. Like, it goes up to level 50. I'm like around usually between a 17 and a 23ish.

SOHH.com: I hear that. So, do you like sports?

MS: I'm not so familiar with sports. I go to games when I can. If I do, I'll go see the Lakers play.

SOHH.com: Any favorite players?

MS: Like I said, I just go when I go. I could say who I would like to watch play, but I don't follow close enough to do that. Mainly for me, it's like I'm so busy, I don't have time to follow it. But like I said, if I would go out and see a game, the first game I would see would be a Laker game and after that a Dodger game and that's about it.

SOHH.com: Aiight. So do you collect anything in particular?

MS: I collect vinyl. I also collect toys. I'm into that a little bit. Probably bigger on the vinyl than I am on the toys, but you know. I got a few things. On the vinyl end, it's mostly that '60s, '70s stuff I was talking about. I got a lot of old Hip-Hop. The funny thing is there was this guy when I was growing up who owned a record store around the way and he had some DJ show up and [get behind] his turntables. He was done and he just brought three boxes of records in to that particular store and the store owner didn't know what to do with all the stuff. He didn't have room for it and he was just like, "You give me twenty bucks, I'll let you have all of it." I had double of it. I have double Run-DMC singles. Audio Two and MC Lyte... The guy was apparently a big L.A. Dream Team fan. He had every record of theirs and every single, so that kinda jumpstarted my collection. [Laughing]

SOHH.com: Nice. You also said you collected toys. What are we talking about here? Action figures? Ninja Turtles? Star Wars?

MS: Nah, I mean more like along the lines of there's more artist-based toys, like whether it be [a] futura graffiti artist like that who will collaborate with people to put together a little something or stuff that's more exclusive to different regions. Like there's a toy called Gloomy, she's from Japan, which I think is just hilarious. She's a bear that eats naughty children. They just make the funniest, weirdest shit. I'm actually hoping to do a project with... There's a toy called Munny and they're doing... I'm actually looking for this email real quick. They're doing what I think is like a charity project. It's from a company called Kid Robot and people like Rev Run... I mean, here's a list. Mark Ecko, Unma Thurman, Metallica, [The Neptunes']Chad Hugo and Pharrell... All these people are basically customizing toys and they are doing an exhibition in like New York, L.A. and San Francisco. So it's like no joke. Although I got old He-Man toys and shit like that, it's more on an artistic level.

SOHH.com: True. For the record, He-Man rocked.

MS: There are two old-school toys I had to go on the Internet and find. One was Skeletor [from "Masters of the Universe"] and the other was Grumpy Bear from the "Care Bears." They decided that Grumpy Bear wasn't PC. [Laughing] He was too depressing for "Care Bears," so they don't make it anymore and I thought that was the funniest thing how they had to get all PC with it and eliminate one of the funniest things on the show.

SOHH.com: That's like getting rid of Oscar the Grouch.

MS: Exactly. It's the same thing. They would never do that.

SOHH.com: Some people, man. So, we know you've always been a big Hip-Hop head. What was the first Hip-Hop album you purchased?

MS: [The] first one I ever brought was probably Raisin' Hell, Run-DMC. I don't remember though because at that time, I had Beastie Boys. I got a Beastie Boys record, whatever LL Cool J record was out. I got all of those at the same time.

SOHH.com: So who are some of your biggest Hip-Hop influences?

MS: I would say Boogie Down Productions. I loved By All Means Necessary. That was my shit. There was N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton. It Takes A Nation of Millions by Public Enemy, Recently, I've been listening to the D.O.C.'s No One Can Do It Better and Wu-Tang's first album [Enter the 36 Chambers]. There's a feel in certain albums when they come out. They got a unique identity. It's consistent and you know the artist is really true to who they are and where they come from. When I was doing my Fort Minor record, I definitely wanted to make that same kind of statement, make it unique and it helps me listening to other albums where the artists are in that type of mind frame.

SOHH.com: Speaking of influences, what was it like working with Jay-Z?

MS: Jay's dope, I mean we got together on that Mash-Up project for MTV. They called him and asked him who he wanted to work with to mash-up the music and he said Linkin Park. So they called us and that started everything. When I make music, I'm pretty diverse as to what I come up with and like I said, I wanted to make this album consistent. In order to do that, I wanted to have a fresh pair of ears listening to it and giving me advice and that was Jay. He is the [album's] executive producer. People are asking me, "Did he actually write anything on the record?" The answer to that is no. That's more in the role of the producer and artist, which would be me. He oversaw the record and the songs and told me if it was one of three things: if it was a keeper, to mix and master it; if it was something to work on; or something to throw out. And I starred with probably 50 ideas and we narrowed it down to 25 songs and ended up with 14 on the record, plus three we are putting on a special edition.

SOHH.com: So is that special edition gonna be available the same day the regular edition is?

MS: Yea man. It's really dope too. The three extra tracks on the special edition are really worth it. I've got one song with Holly Brook on it, one song with Kenna and one with Lupe Fiasco. Oh, and a song with Sixx John too, if you know who he is. Six is really dope. And there is also a DVD in there. It's like the making of the album and it goes through everything from sitting in the studio, working on stuff with the other artists to the videos to a whole segment on me and Jay and Brad Delson, our guitar player from LinkinPark. We sat down and went over all the songs and we have a portion of that meeting on there as well. It's a pretty dope special edition. It's definitely worth it.

SOHH.com: And you also got a mixtape, We Minor, We Major, dropping too, right?

MS: Yes, sir. The mixtape is the shit, man. I can't even tell you. The only thing better than the mixtape is the real album. This thing is a monster. Green Lantern and I did it. There is so much exclusive shit on there, I kinda felt bad. I almost felt like I shouldn't even put it out. But I'm excited about it and we were already committed to doing this 100% or don't do it at all. We got Ghostface on there. Fiasco, Apathy, Self-Titled, S.O.B., Sixx John... Juelz Santana is on that shit, so you gotta pick it up. And the thing is this is gonna be out this week, so you gotta go out and find it. You can find it on the Internet. Go find it at the record store. It's for promotional use only, so it will be all over the place.

By Bear Frazer, SOHH.com - October 26, 2005.
Original article can be viewed here.