Interviews

1. First experience writing music

2. Drawing on paper napkins

3. Contemplating identity in Los Angeles

4. Connecting to Japan

5. Insights from family on Japanese American internment

6. Politics in music

7. Role as an artist

8. Being a good example for people

Shinoda,Mike

(b. 1977) Musician, Producer, Artist

Being a good example for people

With Linkin Park, I think we all feel very fortunate to be where we’re at, just simply to be able to do what we do for a living is a blessing, you know? So when we’re…at a certain point, I think a few years ago, we thought we finally have made it to that level where we need to be…people look to us with a certain…just in a certain way. Call it a role model thing or whatever you want to call it. But we did, at that point realize…it would be a good idea to start looking into the things that make…that are more worthwhile. You can’t just be in this self-indulgent, self-absorbed rock star thing. There’s no point to it. You’ve got to go out there and show people a good example.

And we started being involved…I think we did…of our headlining tour on the Fort Minor album, we took 6 shows – 1 show each – and 1 of us took the revenue, took our personal money of the band for that one show and gave it to charity however we wanted. So we each got the same amount of money and we got to do whatever we wanted with it. And it went everywhere from United Way and Red Cross to organizations like Densho and Japanese American National Museum. I started a scholarship as well at Art Center College of Design. I know some of the other guys did some scholarships at, say, UCLA and other places, too.

artists charity Linkin Park (rock band)

Date: January 16, 2006

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Chris Komai and John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Michael Kenji Shinoda was born and raised in Agoura Hills, a suburb north of Los Angeles, to a Japanese American father and Caucasian mother. He first began studying music with piano lessons at age three. During high school and continuing while a student at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Shinoda and friends formed a band called Xero. Due to copyright issues, they later renamed themselves Hybrid Theory and ultimately, Linkin Park. Since the 2000 release of their first album, Linkin Park has enjoyed great success. In 2002, they won a Grammy for “Best Hard Rock Performance” for their song “Crawling.” The band won another Grammy in 2006 for their mash-up collaboration with Jay-Z entitled “Numb/Encore.”

In 2005, Shinoda released his first solo effort, The Rising Tied, a hip-hop album that he wrote and produced under the name Fort Minor. One of the songs on the debut album titled “Kenji” was inspired by a visit to the Japanese American National Museum. He interviewed family members who were incarcerated in American concentration camps during World War II. Parts of the interviews with his father and aunt are incorporated into the song.

Although he pursued music as his career, Shinoda continues to express his creativity visually. He oversees the design and artwork for all of Linkin Park’s printed and web materials. He has also created artwork for Linkin Park and Fort Minor’s album covers.

Despite his many projects, Shinoda has taken time to support many charities. In addition to starting a scholarship at Art Center College of Design, he has been involved with organizations like United Way, Denshō, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Japanese American National Museum. He participated in Los Angeles’ Nisei Week Parade as the 2005 Honorary Parade Marshal. For his creative contributions to American culture, he was awarded the Japanese American National Museum’s Award of Excellence in 2006. (October 19, 2006)