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On July 20, 2017, the music worldlost one of its most innovative artists in Chester Bennington.
Over the past seven months, Shinoda has been figuring out how to heal following Benningtons passing.
It was the first and only show theyve played since Benningtons death.
In June, hell release his first solo album.
The past seven months have been a roller coaster.
I was always drawing and sketching in notebooks.
Its been cathartic one of the things thats helped me navigate what has happened.
When Chester passed, for the first week, I was completely lost at sea.
Dont wait to listen to the music.
Dont wait to get onstage.
I just had to dive in and do it and get back to writing music in the studio.
And the longer it took me, the scarier it would become.
So about eight days after Chesters passing, I went into the studio and started making some stuff.
Half the time I would just go in there and make stuff in the dark.
The connection with reality was strained or blurred: It just felt so surreal with everything that had happened.
I liked what that looked like: It felt like I was Skyping or FaceTiming you.
I started to shoot things when I was really feeling them so that the sincerity would be there.
I dont know where Ill go, but I know that I need to show this side of things.
There were what seemed to be thousands of tributes.
I wanted them to know that I was here and listening.
In the beginning, I didnt care what I made as long as I was doing something.
Some days thats really dark, and some days its totally not.
Hopefully as I go, the lighter days become more frequent.
It goes without saying that its hard.
You might be completely flip-flopping emotions in the span of ten minutes at least thats been my experience.
And I talk to the other guys from Linkin Park pretty regularly.
We check in all the time.
Weve gotten together and hung out a lot.
It was three hours long, the longest show we did in our career.
I was knocked out for two days.
You have all these people who are incredible artists singing his parts.
Im unable to say what will happen with the band.
But there just isnt one.
Youre trying to get your balance.
I dont think theres ever a definitive finish line to that.
The compelling part about it is, theres a suspense about what comes next.
Ill put it on my Instagram and my Twitter and decide, nows the time.
In a sense, its liberating.
For me, this is one way to feel a little bit of peace.
