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The Wiltern Theater breathes with the damp, familiar scent of backstage Los Angeles: old velvet, stale espresso, and the sharp tang of clean laundry from a nearby wardrobe rack. Inside the makeshift green room, a single speaker box sits on a folding table, emitting the faint crackle of a conference call line that connects two rock frontmen to dozens of journalists scattered across the country.
Mike Shinoda sits with one leg tucked beneath him on a leather sofa that has seen better decades. A thick black sharpie is balanced between his knuckles, tapping a rhythmic tattoo against his knee. Right beside him, Chester Bennington is practically vibrating, his fingers tracing the edge of his phone, his posture a coiled spring of nervous, joyful energy. They are thirty-seven and thirty-eight, but when they lean into each other to catch the muffled audio from the speaker, they look remarkably like the teenagers who used to share a single microphone in a cramped studio bedroom. Twenty-one years of marriage and seven children have done nothing to dull the sharp, magnetic pull between them; if anything, the domestic chaos of their real life only makes these rare moments of professional isolation feel more like an escape.
"Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us today," Kymm Britton’s voice cuts through the static, crisp and authoritative. "We have Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda on the line, ready to take your questions. So, if everybody could keep them kind of brief so we all get to ask at least one, let’s start."
Mike catches Chester’s eye and flashes a quick, devastating grin. He reaches out, his thumb dragging across the soft skin of Chester’s inner wrist, a silent, grounding touch before the madness begins.
"Thank you," the operator's automated drone chimes in. "At this time, we will open the floor for questions. Please limit your questions to one at a time. Our first question comes from John Moser with Morning Call."
"Hi. This is for either of you guys," John’s voice sounds tinny, echoing slightly through the room. "I read the publicity stuff about your new album, and it talks about the sort of shift in direction, and I’d like you guys just to sort of recap that and talk about that a little bit. And tell me what you think about the reception to it. This is the first album in your catalog that hasn’t gone to number one."
Chester makes a small, protective sound in the back of his throat, his posture stiffening, but Mike’s fingers slide up to press firmly against the back of Chester’s neck, soothing the defensive instinct instantly.
Mike leans toward the microphone, his tone smooth, effortless, and entirely unbothered. "Yeah. When we were making the album, I had a handful of demos that were a little more – they weren’t quite as heavy as this. They were a little more electronic-driven, and there was just a day that I was listening – I was looking for something to listen to, and I couldn’t find what it was that I wanted." He shifts, his knee brushing against Chester’s thigh, keeping that physical anchor solid. "I wanted something more aggressive and heavy and energetic, and I just kept finding either stuff that was – you know, there’s another part to it, too. I wanted it to be, like, modern and progressive, and the only stuff I was finding was – if it was modern and progressive, it tended to be a little more mellow. And if it was heavier, it tended to sound more – it tended not to be as progressive."
As Mike speaks, Chester’s eyes soften, watching the animated movement of his husband’s hands. Mike speaks with the precision of a producer, but Chester knows the raw passion behind it.
Mike continues, "And so, I think we all found that there was just a style that was kind of being underserved that we wanted to hear, and that’s what we decided to make. As far as the reception, I don’t know. Kymm, do you have a number of how many – it debuted; although, it didn’t debut at number one in the space. It debuted number one…"
"Sixty-seven countries," Kymm interjects smoothly.
Mike lets out a soft, satisfied sound, his fingers gently tangling in the short hairs at the nape of Chester's neck. "Wow – 67 countries. So, that’s anything near a failure. But some friends of mine in the U.S. said, 'Hey, I heard it. Sorry that you guys didn’t get to number one on the charts,' And I said, 'You know, it’s actually – I feel like the Billboard chart is for one thing. It’s for the first week album sales, and this is not really a first week album sales kind of album.' It’s a statement album. It’s a live album; an album that should be taken to the stage, and that’s exactly what we’re planning to do right now. We leave – I actually fly – we all fly this week, and we start the Carnivores Tour here in the States."
Chester shifts, pulling himself up straighter, eager to defend the art they built together. He looks at Mike, a silent question in his eyes. "Can I make a statement?"
Mike’s expression melts into something incredibly fond, gesturing with a tilt of his head. "Please."
"It’s funny because I think probably more so than any other record, maybe other than possibly *A Thousand Suns*," Chester says, his voice ringing out clear and resonant in the small room, "I feel like critically the record’s been overwhelmingly positive. Like, I have yet to read anything negative about the record on a critical level that has been written, which is pretty amazing, and so for that, we’re very grateful."
He stretches his legs out, resting his booted foot over Mike’s shoe, claiming his space, claiming his partner. "But at the same time, almost on a daily basis, I run into Linkin Park fans, and I’ll take pictures or say, 'Hi,' whatever, and every single person that I’ve met since we released this record has told me that they love the record. They are super happy that it’s out like it is, that they’ve been waiting for the great rock record."
Chester’s hand finds Mike’s knee, squeezing hard enough to leave a mark, a silent exclamation of pride. "I’ve heard some other guys in the band say that they feel like it is a record that really the genre needed, and that they also appreciate the record that we’ve made, that it is progressive, and it is something that they want to listen to. And I feel like we have accomplished our goal on this album. I think not only creatively, but personally for the band, but also for a lot of our fans. Like, they appreciate what we do, but they’ve kind of been waiting for us to rock out for a while, and I think they appreciate not only that we did rock out, but in the manner in which we did. I think they can see that it was crafted in the same way we craft everything we do."
The line clicks, the automated voice returning. "Thank you. Our next question comes from Katrina Cameron with the *Sacramento Bee*."
"Hi, guys. How are you doing?" Katrina asks, her tone bright. "I was wondering if, for this upcoming tour, you will feature more songs from your latest release? Or will it feature some older fan favorites?"
A dangerous, mischievous glint flashes in Chester’s amber eyes. He looks at Mike, a full-blown gremlin grin spreading across his face. Mike recognizes that look instantly—it’s the same look Chester gets right before he wrestles one of the toddlers onto the living room carpet. Before Mike can stop him, Chester leans into the mic.
"We’re actually going to do a DJ-style party set where we just play lyric videos. We thought that would be cool."
There is a long, agonizing pause on the other end of the line. Mike buries his face in his hand, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
"So, you just play what kind of videos?" Katrina asks, sounding genuinely bewildered.
"Lyric videos," Chester repeats, deadpan, his eyes sparkling as he nudges Mike’s ribs with his elbow.
"Oh, lyric videos."
"From YouTube. Yeah, we’re just going to –"
Mike cuts in, overlapping Chester’s voice, unable to keep the laughter entirely out of his tone as he joins the bit. "Not actually even going to go on stage. We’re just going to –"
"Yeah," Chester chips in, grinning like a schoolboy. "We’re just going to bring our laptop up there, press 'play,' put it on a big screen, with lyric videos and lights; it’s going to be awesome. No?"
Mike shifts closer, his chest pressing against Chester’s shoulder as he leans toward the speaker. "Why are you taking us seriously? I don’t understand. I feel like you were just taking us seriously, as if it were something we would actually do."
Katrina lets out a relieved laugh. "I was waiting to see if you were going to say, 'Just kidding,' and I was like, 'You know.'"
"I will think about it," Chester teases, throwing his head back against the sofa cushions.
"Nobody says, 'Just kidding.' It’s so funny," Mike mutters, his fingers tracing a lazy pattern on Chester's thigh, high enough to make Chester’s breath hitch slightly, though his face remains a mask of innocence.
"I appreciate the sentiment, though," Katrina says.
Mike clears his throat, pulling himself back into professional mode, though his hand stays firmly planted on his husband. "Yeah. It’s going to be a little different from the last – if anybody caught any of the European tour online. We started there, put more work into it, smoothed out some of the rough edges, and added a couple of songs. So, it’s coming along. I feel it’s a solid set. It’s got a mix of the old and basically stuff from every record."
"Yeah, there’s a healthy dose of the new record in there," Chester adds, his voice dropping an octave, becoming the grounded rock star again. "And I think we’re playing 'Final Masquerade,' 'Rebellion,' those are the two that we haven’t played yet, and 'Until It’s Gone' and 'Guilty All The Same.' So, there’s a lot of the new record in this upcoming tour, for sure."
The operator's voice cuts in smoothly. "Thank you. Our next question comes from Derek Oswald with Altwire.net."
"Hey, guys. My question is: In recent interviews, you’ve discussed how this direction required some time to get the whole band on board. Was there initially a lot of reluctance or resistance to make a harder record? Or do you feel like the rest of the band bought in pretty quickly? Like, when did you feel it, like, for everybody?"
Mike takes a breath, his hand sliding up Chester's back to rest heavy and warm between his shoulder blades. "For me, it was a bit of a process. I felt like Chester was on board from the beginning, and Chester – I think Chester and Dave and I had talked about it a number of times, but it was still, like, figuring out at that point what we were – well, our conversations were happening mid-tour last album. And so, like, what does a louder record mean? What is bringing energy to the album, even more so than the last album? What does that mean?"
Mike’s thumb strokes back and forth over Chester's t-shirt, a quiet rhythm that keeps them both centered despite the gravity of the questions. "How do we do that without it sounding like a throwback or a derivative of heavier stuff we grew up with? And so, we were trying to find the right – and it really fell to a large degree, at first it fell on me to kind of find the right tone, so that I could take that to, in particular Brad and Rob, and say, 'You guys, like, I know this is something that you don’t naturally gravitate towards at this point in your life, but check out these reference points.'"
Chester listens, leaning into the touch, his heart swelling with the familiar awe he always feels when Mike talks about the architecture of their music.
"And as I’ve said before, Derek, you know bands like Refused and At the Drive-In and Helmet and many, many more," Mike continues, his voice steady and articulate, "but those bands are a great example of how, when you listen to those albums, I feel like there’s a huge aesthetic separation between those albums and other things that were going on at the time. And that’s what I was keying into and saying, 'It is possible to bring a smart, and maybe alternative in the more pure sense of the word, an alternative to, like, what people expect when they hear metal or heavy music or whatever.'"
The operator moves them along without a beat. "Thank you. Our next question comes from DJ Moran with ABC Radio."
"Hi, there. My question is: You guys have been doing this for a long time now, 13 or 14 years. Obviously, you’re all in different places than you were when you were 25. I’m sort of wondering how going out on tour has changed for you over that span of time, both in how you rehearse songs and get material ready, and also the personal stuff, your own lives. You have much fuller lives than you did then. And what’s involved in putting all of that aside for a few months and just leaving and going out."
At the mention of their personal lives, Chester and Mike share a soft, private look. *Fuller lives* is an understatement. Seven kids deep, their house is a perpetual whirlwind of high school drama, elementary school projects, and toddler toys scattered like landmines. Leaving home isn't just about packing a suitcase anymore; it's a massive logistical operation involving nanny schedules, school calendars, and FaceTime routines.
Mike addresses the technical aspect first, his voice rich with experience. "I’d say, first and foremost, we have opportunities now that we obviously didn’t have then, and just like being in the studio, you have opportunities with knowing what you’re doing, number one; knowing what’s out there is, like, a possibility of whether you’re talking conceptually or being able to afford production or instruments or whatever. Like, we have so many opportunities, and the focus a lot of times is on what the selection process is, like, what choices do we make that keep things focused and exciting?"
He leans back, bringing Chester with him by the hook of his arm around Chester's waist. "I feel like on this one, the production that you’ll see, for example, is, I think, it evolves over the course of the show really well. It’s more video-based. The song selection and the technology we used to get the set into its current form. We’ve just finished the idea that technology didn’t really exist, even seven or eight years ago. So, what’s funny about it is that in our band, technology has actually allowed us to be more of a band, more of an organic, free-thinking kind of group, because we are the kind of band that creates a lot of our stuff in the studio in layered forms."
Mike’s eyes fix on Chester’s face, tracing the sharp line of his jawline. "Like, if you think back to when the Beatles made the decision to go off the road more and focus on the studio, one of the things that they did was they made music that they physically couldn’t play on stage. There were so many layered vocals and so many layered instruments and things that at that time it would be virtually impossible for them to do any of that on stage. As technology has progressed, all that stuff becomes more and more possible."
Chester reaches down, tangling his fingers with Mike's, their wedding bands clicking together in the dim light of the green room.
"And for us, we create in a style where things get layered, and there’s a lot of different stuff going on in each song, oftentimes," Mike says, his voice dropping into that warm, professorial tone Chester adores. "And 10 years ago that stuff would be locked into a timeline with our sampler, keyboard, or whatever, and in more modern stuff, we can actually react on the fly and say, 'Let’s slow this part down. Let’s speed it up. Let’s pitch it. Let’s go up or down. Let’s loop it,' and there are moments when we can just kind of jam out and enjoy it. And that, strangely, is, like, this merging of, like, the humanity and the technology and the set that helps allow us to do that."
Mike takes a quick breath, his grip tightening reassuringly on Chester’s hip. "The other thing I should just mention is that, although there is technology in the setup we’ve got going on stage, I feel like it’s very high-tech for music, as far as what a music setup on stage can be. We also have – I feel like we have a great deal of responsibility to be a live band, so, whereas, we have the opportunity to put certain things in the computer or on a sampler or whatever, we’re very careful about what we do, what we do put in the computer, because we want to be playing everything. We want the crowd to see us performing the song, and I feel like even in almost every case, if you were to remove that other stuff and just have what’s being played in front of you, you basically have the same song. So, that’s an important difference or, I guess, specific approach to note."
"And on a personal level?" DJ Moran prompts gently.
"How is it different?" Mike asks, looking at Chester, giving him the floor. "Yeah, go ahead."
Chester leans forward, overlapping Mike's words, eager to talk about the reality of their world. "Well, I mean, honestly, when you’re young, and you’re out there and kind of – you don’t have a family, I mean, yeah, those are important, and you’re focusing on the shows, but you’re also kind of focusing on, like, 'Am I going to see – where am I going to shower? Do I want to keep this box of clothes that this company gave me, because I don’t really like them, but I also don’t have any clean clothes?'"
Mike lets out a quiet, breathless laugh against Chester’s shoulder, remembering those exact days of cheap motels and sketchy venue showers.
"Those are the kinds of things you’re thinking about when you’re young, and you’re on the road," Chester says, his voice warming with fond nostalgia. "Nowadays, it’s like we focus on having our families out, and if we can have our families out, I personally like all I focus on is preparing for the next show. So, I really don’t think much has changed in our setups for the tour. I mean, we still kind of practice in the same manner. We rehearse in the same manner."
Chester turns his head slightly, his lips almost brushing Mike’s temple as he continues. "The great thing is, our crew knows us so well and has been with us so long that we don’t have to do sound checks anymore, which is pretty awesome because it frees up a lot of time to stay back with your families during the days and listen to stuff. And so, it really has gotten a lot better now, I think, now that we have reached the place that we have in our careers. We’ve found a way to balance our personal and touring lives a lot better. And so, that’s been really great, I think, all around for everybody."
"Thank you," the operator says. "Our next question comes from Kristyn Clark with Pop Culture Press."
"Hi, guys. Thank you so much for just being with us," Kristyn says, her voice echoing with genuine enthusiasm. "First, I want to say *The Hunting Party* is an absolutely brilliant album. And I’m curious about this being your first self-produced album and the use of analog tape grain. Would you feel that you would go that route again? I absolutely adore that kind of perfectly imperfect sound."
Mike beams, the praise striking the exact right chord in his producer’s heart. He stretches his legs out, fully relaxed now, his thumb tracing a slow circle over Chester's hip bone. "Yeah. So, I think it’s something that we’ve been curious about for a while, and it had to be the right moment to really dive into it. I’ve had a little bit of experience with tape on previous projects, but not really cutting such large chunks of the song and large performances to tape, and it’s so nice because it forces you to slow down and, like, really consider each performance, each recording of whoever’s playing at the time, and whether or not you want it."
He looks at Chester, his eyes dark and full of a deep, enduring affection that transcends the music. "That’s really, I think, what gives this album at least its sound. Yeah. So, it’s definitely something that’s kind of this point now, within our bag, and we get to potentially go back and use it again if the song asks for it."
"Alright, guys, we're going to take a quick five-minute break before the next round of phoners," Kymm's voice crackles through the speaker, followed by the definitive *click* of the line being put on hold.
The sudden silence in the green room is heavy, almost physical. Chester doesn't waste a single second. The moment the line goes dead, he groans loudly, a theatrical, full-bodied sound, and collapses sideways. He dumps his entire weight right across Mike’s lap, his head coming to rest on the plush arm of the sofa, his black-booted feet dangling over the opposite end.
"Oh my god, my brain is soup," Chester mumbles, slinging an arm over his eyes to block out the harsh fluorescent lighting of the room. "If one more person asks me about the chart positions, I'm going to tell them we're replacing the whole tour with a puppet show."
Mike doesn't even blink at the sudden assault on his personal space. Instead, he shifts instantly, his thighs taking Chester’s weight with practiced ease. A slow, wicked grin spreads across his face—the look of a hunter who has finally cornered his favorite prey.
"A puppet show, huh?" Mike murmurs, his voice dropping into a low, predatory register that has absolutely nothing to do with press conferences or record sales.
Before Chester can pull his arm away from his eyes, Mike pounces. He shifts his weight forward, sliding off the back cushions to hover directly over Chester’s torso. He cages Chester’s body between his arms, his hands planting firmly on either side of Chester’s ribs. The sheer, sudden heat of him makes Chester gasp, his arm dropping away from his face as his eyes snap open.
"Mike—"
Mike doesn't let him finish. He dives down, capturing Chester’s mouth in a deep, bruising kiss that completely cuts off the frontman’s air supply. It’s not a gentle kiss; it’s the possessive, hungry reaction of a man who has been forced to sit six inches away from his husband for an hour without being allowed to touch him properly. Chester lets out a soft, muffled sound against Mike’s lips, his hands immediately flying up to grip the fabric of Mike’s t-shirt, pulling him down even closer. He arches his back slightly, pressing his chest flush against Mike’s, completely melting into the familiar, intoxicating weight of his partner.
Mike’s mouth moves against his with a fierce, practiced rhythm, his tongue sliding past Chester’s lips to claim him entirely. One of Mike’s hands detaches from the sofa, sliding down to grip Chester’s jaw, his thumb pressing firmly into the hinge of Chester’s cheek to hold him still, deepening the kiss until Chester is completely breathless, his fingers tangling desperately in the dark fabric of Mike's shirt. When Mike finally pulls back, just an inch, their breaths mingle in the small space between them. Mike’s eyes are dark, heavy-lidded, and entirely focused on the flushed skin of Chester’s cheeks and his darkened, wet lips.
"You talk too much," Mike whispers against Chester’s mouth, his thumb gently wiping a smear of moisture from the corner of Chester’s lips.
Chester lets out a breathless, shaky laugh, his chest heaving as he looks up at his husband. The frantic energy from the interview is completely gone, replaced by a warm, heavy contentment that only Mike can provide. He reaches up, his fingers gently tracing the sharp line of Mike’s bearded jaw.
"You love my mouth," Chester retaliates softly, a lazy, incredibly flirty smile tugging at his lips. "Don't pretend you don't."
"I do," Mike growls softly, his hand sliding down from Chester's jaw to wrap firmly around his throat, not squeezing, just holding him there, a heavy, possessive brand. "Especially when you're using it to completely derail our press strategy with YouTube lyric videos."
"It was a good joke," Chester defends himself, his eyes sparkling with unadulterated mischief as he wiggles his hips slightly beneath Mike's weight. "You laughed. I felt your shoulder shaking."
"I was laughing at the sheer absurdity of your husband-management skills," Mike retorts, bending down to bite gently at the sensitive skin right beneath Chester's ear, making the smaller man shiver. "We have twenty more minutes of this, Chazy. Control yourself."
"Make me," Chester whispers against Mike’s neck, his hands sliding down to grip Mike's hips, pulling him down into the crook of his body, utterly shameless and completely indifferent to the fact that Kymm could walk through the door at any second.
Mike lets out a low hum, a vibration that Chester feels directly against his chest. He kisses his way back up to Chester's lips, slower this time, a sweet, lingering promise of what's waiting for them back at the hotel room once the working day is finally done.
---
The electronic chime rings out, a sharp, metallic note that shatters the private warmth of the green room. It signals the brutal end of their five-minute sanctuary.
"Back to reality," Mike murmurs against Chester’s neck, though he makes absolutely no effort to move.
Chester groans, a deeply dramatic sound of protest as he scrambles to sit up. In his haste to get back into position before the line goes live, his fingers bungle the waistband of his jeans, leaving the top button undone and the fabric sitting loosely on his hips. He doesn't even bother to fix it, simply slouching back into the leather sofa and clearing his throat to regain his professional composure. Mike, observing the open denim with a slow, wicked grin, slides his arm back around Chester's waist. Just as the line clicks open, he drops his hand straight down the front of Chester’s unbuttoned pants, his fingers flattening warm and possessive against the bare skin of Chester's lower stomach.
Chester’s posture goes rigid, a sudden, sharp intake of breath hitching in his chest, but his face remains a mask of absolute innocence as the automated voice chimes in.
"Welcome back," the operator says smoothly. "Our next question comes from Adam Lawton with Media Mikes."
"Hey, guys," Adam’s voice echoes through the small speaker. "Just want to ask: With there being a kind of two-year time frame between your previous album and the new one, and with this album being quite a bit different from what we’ve seen from you guys in the past. Was there ever a time in the recording process that you guys were worried, maybe you went too far, and were kind of like, 'Are we alienating our fans in any way?'"
Mike’s thumb traces a slow, agonizingly deliberate circle just below Chester's hip bone. Chester pinches the bridge of his nose, anchoring his voice through sheer willpower as he leans toward the microphone.
"I mean, we’ve cut the record a lot before on the last three records, because I think since Minutes To Midnight, we’ve kind of had this conversation," Chester says, his tone remarkably steady despite the frantic thudding of his heart beneath Mike's palm. "Really, when we went into Minutes To Midnight, we knew it was going to be different, and we wanted it to be extremely different. And we knew it was a risk; in the worst-case scenario, we could alienate our entire fan base. So, not since – we already knew at that point, like, 'Okay. We’re crossing our fingers and just hoping that what we do in the studio, which is our goal, is to make good songs and some great songs. If we accomplish our goal, it will be almost impossible to alienate everybody.'"
He shifts his weight slightly, trying to subtly press against Mike’s hand to make him stop, but Mike only deepens the pressure, his lips twitching with a suppressed smile.
"And, luckily, for us, I mean, a lot of our fans have come along for the ride on the last two records, and we really did go and stretch our wings and see how far we could take these," Chester continues, his voice carrying the fierce, genuine passion he always holds for their art. "And I think, for us, like, going through that process of trying things and making sure that we’re creatively excited and energized helps us create music that still sounds like Linkin Park, regardless of what vibe the song is. I mean, that’s kind of what we’re known for anyway. So, I think for people to get hung up on us not speaking to a specific sound is a kind of silly idea anyway, considering that we’ve never really been a single genre type of band."
Chester reaches down with his free hand, catching Mike’s wrist under the fabric of his jeans and squeezing warningly, though his voice never wavers. "So, I think that going through that process is really a lot of being able to be creative on a heavy record like this. I don’t think we could have been as creative with the guitar and the drums 12 years ago. So, I think that because we’ve kind of gone around and tried new things and kind of alienated ourselves and some of our band."
"Okay," Adam responds on the line. "And just to kind of tie in with that, do you think having the guest performers, like Page Hamilton and Tom Morello? Do you think that helps, maybe even out some of that uneasiness when you put it out there for the fans? Like, 'Hey, I see Tom’s on there. I see Page is on there. Daron’s on there. Maybe I’ll still check it out anyway, even though it may be a little different.'"
Mike finally takes mercy on his husband, withdrawing his hand from Chester's waistband but leaving his palm resting heavily on Chester's thigh, his fingers digging into the denim. He leans forward to take the question.
"The addition of those guys was, in most cases, pretty late in the game," Mike explains, his voice smooth and professional. "I mean, if you’re just talking about from, like, a fan recognition standpoint, then, sure, like somebody sees those names on there, they kind of know what they’re getting –"
"I don’t think those guys would have been into working with us if that was, like, the goal, though," Chester cuts in, overlapping Mike smoothly, his gaze fixed on his husband's profile. "I mean, like that was – to me, like, if we were coming at this from the idea of, like, 'Hey, let’s go work with these people and then that’ll make it even more cool.' And people were, like, 'Want to listen to us, and if they don’t want to.' But that’s, like, a weird way of looking at what we do anyway, and it’s kind of the opposite of what our intention would ever be."
He reaches over, his fingers trailing lightly along the back of Mike’s neck, a silent gesture of solidarity. "And it is like that. Like, we do collaborations it’s because of coming from, like, a holistic place, like, more totally into this artist for whatever reasons we are, and we’re interested in working with them and would they be interested in working with us. And then see – then let’s go from there. It’s got to come from the very, from a very open, spontaneous kind of grassroots way. It can’t be forced or thought of in a boardroom and written down on a piece of paper, and then seen by like 10 to 15 people. That’s not the way that anything creative usually gets done."
"Thank you," the operator chimes in. "Our next question comes from Jim Harrington with Bay Area News Group."
"How are you guys doing?" Jim asks. "So, I saw you guys for the first time playing the San Jose Arena during the Hybrid Theory tour, and I remember that at the end of the show, instead of playing a traditional encore, you jumped into the crowd and signed T-shirts. When I left, you guys were still signing T-shirts in there. That was really impressive. I’m wondering these days if you’re interacting with the fans. Is that something you’re able to do? And if so, how are you doing it? And maybe through social media? Or what?"
A soft, nostalgic smile touches Chester’s lips. He looks down at his hands, remembering the raw, chaotic energy of those early years when everything was new, loud, and slightly terrifying.
"Well, I think, for us, we’ve always – our fans have been the number one most important thing," Chester says softly. "And we wanted – when we were jumping down and signing things for people, we were discovering each other. We were discovering – the band was discovering our fan base, and our band was discovering the band, and it’s really exciting. But early in the game, you can jump down into the crowd that doesn’t know who you are, and you can hang out all night. And these days, it would be much more difficult to do that."
He catches Mike’s eye, a shared look of gratitude passing between them. "Thankfully, it would be much more difficult to do that these days and keep people safe, or even to find T-shirts for every person who remains at the stadium, for example. We basically sign T-shirts, and we would – we jump down. When we were playing our music and stuff, when we stopped doing that, our old production manager confronted the band and said, 'Hey, guys. We really appreciate what you guys are doing. It’s great. But you do this every single night, but we’ve been late for, like, the last four days getting out of here, and we’re being charged an extraordinary amount of money for being late. And so, can you guys stop doing that?'"
Mike lets out a rich laugh, leaning into the microphone to overlap Chester’s memory. "I remember it differently! I thought it was when, because they were saying, like, first of all, like, we’re staying really late, and the crew is getting tired because you’re extending the end of the show so far, and so on. The crew’s, like getting – because they want to take down the barricade; the security people, local venue, they were like, 'This is over. You’ve got to get these people out of here' and all that. And then, furthermore, like, people would get stuff signed, and they just wouldn’t leave. They just stuck around to hang out and stuff. And it’s, like, 'Okay. You’ve got way too many people just hanging out here. You guys have to stop. You have to cut it off.'"
"Yeah," Chester agrees, laughing softly as he restlessly runs his fingers through his hair. "It was literally like they were, 'We can’t do our jobs because you guys are hanging out with the fans.' And so, basically, we had to come up with a new way of, like, doing that. And so, we’ve done meet and greets with our fans every night, every performance we’ve ever done. For us, like, honestly, meeting our fans is pretty mellow, so when we’re out on the street in our daily lives, we meet people all the time who are fans, and being accessible to a certain degree is really important to us. We’ve been able to thankfully keep our private lives private and share our professional lives with our fans, and everybody’s been really respectful of all that. And it’s really cool to be in Linkin Park and kind of be a normal person at the same time. So, I appreciate that from our fans, and it makes it that much easier to maintain openness with them as much as we possibly can."
"Thank you," the operator says. "Our next question comes from Matt Bishop with Rock Revival."
"Hey, guys. Thanks for having me here. I appreciate it," Matt says. "So, you guys briefly touched on the stage, production, and stuff for the show earlier, but I’m watching the video for 'Final Masquerade,' and it’s just visually stunning. And I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit more on the visual element of the stage production, how you're translating your videos and stuff into the live performance, and what fans can expect from your visual presence on this tour."
Mike sits up a bit straighter, his eyes lighting up with the familiar technical enthusiasm that Chester finds incredibly endearing. Mike’s hand moves from Chester's thigh to trace a gentle line up his spine, anchoring him while he speaks.
"Oh, great. Well, one important thing to start with is that the visuals on The Hunting Party were rooted in a handful of drawings, artwork by an incredible painter named James Jean," Mike explains, his fingers playing with the hem of Chester's shirt. "James, I don’t even know where to start with how important this guy is or how incredible he is. You can look him up on your own. So, he – Joe is a friend of James. James drew a bunch of stuff for us. In talking with him, we wanted to do something that had never been done with his artwork before, and landed on the idea of converting each piece into a 3D sculpture."
Chester leans his head back against the sofa, watching the animated movement of Mike's lips, completely captivated by his husband's brilliant mind.
"So, although the sculptures live in the computer, they don’t exist physically yet; maybe someday they will, but for now, we have them rendered as 3D art," Mike continues, his tone rich and expressive. "Our amazing group at Ghost Town did those renders with James, and then they built out the basic foundation of the artwork for the album. And that stuff, you’ll find that on the T-shirts, and you’ll find that on the website, and you’ll find that in the live visuals as well. And then, it’s not enough to just throw the stuff up there. I mean, you can, but it’s beautiful, but I think that in the context of a live show, it’s really important to have something that lives and breathes with the show."
Mike turns his head slightly, flashing Chester a quick, intimate smile before looking back at the speaker box. "And to some degree, one of the challenges that I posed to the production team was, based on what we decide to do with the show every night, if we decide to play something differently, if we decide to expand the part, or whatever we want to do, I want the artwork to change with the performance. So, it needs to be malleable, and that’s where the real production challenges start to arise. Without getting geeky into it, and in fact, I’m not really versed in the geeky stuff, I can just tell them, like, 'These are the ideas,' and then, luckily, we have an excellent production team that can do that. And the guys at Ghost Town, again, the guys who are involved with rendering the stuff in 3D, they’ve been intimately involved, as has Joe, in creating these tour visuals."
He takes a breath, his fingers giving a reassuring squeeze to Chester's shoulder. "I think it’s gotten really great. I’m not going to spoil any surprises as far as how the LED stuff gets – what it’s actually being presented on, or as far as what the stuff actually looks like. You’re going to have to come to the show to see that stuff. But, as I said, it adapts with the show, and the show is a work in progress; like, we are changing – we do change things usually steadily from show to show, and then from tour to tour, there might be some broader stroke changes. But, yeah, we take the live show seriously. It is, in some part of it, it’s as much a piece of art as the music is, so we want it to be compelling and fit with the overall kind of aesthetic of what the band is up to right at this moment."
"Thank you. Our next question comes from Gary Graff with Oakland Press."
"Hey, guys," Gary greets them, a chuckle in his tone. "Talk a little bit about your touring partners; what your relationship is with 30 Seconds to Mars, and why it’s a good fit, and which one of you is planning to somehow steal Jared’s Oscar during the tour."
Chester breaks into a wide, bright grin, his shoulder bumping playfully against Mike's. "I think, for the most part, I think the relationship is more of a professional relationship. I mean, I’ve been friends with Jared for a few years and way more than a few years now, but so we’re pretty friendly, but overall, I mean, it’s not, like, we’re all having birthday parties together and things like that. So, most –"
"I like that you went with birthday parties," Gary cuts in, laughing.
"This is a closeness; whereas, like, perhaps it might happen with Jared and me," Chester continues, his amber eyes dancing with light. "On – there are six people in our band, six people. There are three people in their band. Our respect comes from a professional stance between each other and, for me, I know that we’ve been very close to our fan base for a very long time, asking questions and seeing who they want us to tour with and it’s been really interesting, but every time – and it’s funny to say this because it probably sounds really corporate, but this is what happens when your band becomes as big as Linkin Park. We decided to poll our fans to see who they want us to tour with, and for like, what, five or six times in a row, I think, 30 Seconds to Mars has either been the most popular band that they want to see us tour with or number two. I’ve never seen them out of the top three."
He reaches over, his thumb hooking into Mike’s belt loop, a grounded, comforting anchor. "So, it’s been a long time since the fans have wanted to see us tour together. So, for that, I think 30 Seconds to Mars has grown tremendously over the last several years into not only a great studio band, writing great songs, but also amazing live. And so, for us, at this point, our fans are really excited to see us play with 30 Seconds to Mars and AFI. And also, if I can say this, AFI released their ninth record, Burials, in October last year, so that’s pretty impressive. I don’t know if you guys are listening to their most recent record, but it’s amazing. And another band that not only are great guys, but they keep making amazing records after amazing records, and are also known for their live shows. So, that’s kind of a simple, no-brainer. Luckily, this is one of those times where we were, like, 'Hey, let’s ask 30 Seconds to Mars and AFI if they want to tour with us.' And they both said, 'Yes,' at the same time. So, it all worked out really well."
"Oh, that’s great," Gary says. "Mike, you mentioned other kinds of things, styles, and directions you were exploring. Are any of those sticking? And any sense of where you might go on the next Linkin Park album?"
Mike lets out a soft laugh, looking at Chester with an expression of pure, unadulterated amusement. "Yeah. I have no idea. That’s the answer."
"I mean, that’s really the game with this band is that every time we go into the studio, it’s, like, then you’ve done," Chester chimes in, his voice ringing out clear and bright. "We kind of do whatever we want. Yeah, it’s great."
"Thank you," the operator says. "Our last question comes from Michael Napolitano with Preschool of Rock."
"Hey, guys," Michael’s voice comes through the speaker, warm and enthusiastic. "I always say that the family that rocks together stays together. Are you raising your kids in the music scene, passing down the musical torch? Are they engaged? Tell me about it."
The question strikes a deeply personal chord in the room. Chester and Mike immediately exchange a swift, silent glance across the space between them. Without needing a single word, an unspoken agreement passes between them with absolute clarity: keep the youngest ones out of it. Julia and Lauren are still just tiny, vulnerable babies—four and two years old—and they don't need their names or lives offered up to the media spotlight. Their older boys, however, have already grown up under the bright lights of their world, and they are more than happy to share a glimpse into that beautiful, chaotic domestic reality.
"Oh man, it's a full-on circus at our house," Mike starts, a rich, incredibly fond warmth flooding his tone as his hand rests gently on Chester's shoulder. "But honestly, they are all incredibly engaged in their own ways. Jaime and Isaiah are getting older now, eighteen and sixteen, and they have this deep, profound appreciation for what we do. They've grown up around the studio, so to them, it's just the family business, but they really get the work that goes into it."
"Yeah, and Draven and Tyler are totally obsessed with the energy of the live shows," Chester chimes in, his face lighting up with that fierce parental pride that always sits right beneath his surface. "Draven's twelve now, and he's got this amazing creative ear, always asking questions about how the sounds are built. Tyler is eight, and he's just a ball of pure kinetic energy, always drumming on every flat surface in the kitchen. Otis is five, and he's right in the middle of it all, completely unfazed by the noise."
He feels Mike's thumb trace a soothing line along his collarbone, a gentle reminder of the two little girls sleeping soundly back at home under the watchful eye of their extended family. "We've got a couple of really little ones, too, who are just starting to figure out what the noise is all about, but overall, the house is just constantly filled with music. Whether they choose to follow the exact same path or do their own thing, the creative torch is definitely burning bright in the living room every single day."
"That's beautiful, guys," Michael responds, his tone genuinely touched. "Sounds like an incredible household."
The line clicks, transferring them back to their publicist. "Well, thanks, guys. Awesome," Kymm's voice rings out, crisp and concluding. "Hope to see you guys out on the road."
"Definitely. Thanks, Kymm," Mike says, leaning in one last time to plug the upcoming dates. "We leave this week, and we’ll be out all through September on the Carnivores Tour, so make sure you guys come out and catch a show. It's going to be something really special."
With a definitive click and a long, flat dial tone, the conference call line goes entirely dead. The silence settles over the Wiltern green room once more, heavy and absolute.
Chester doesn't give Mike even a fraction of a second to move. With a wild, sudden burst of that chaotic energy he’s famous for, Chester hooks his strong arms completely around Mike’s torso. He hoists his husband right off the sofa with an effortless, practiced strength born of years on stage, laughing brightly as he carries Mike back toward the deeper cushions of the main couch.
"My turn," Chester crows triumphantly, tumbling them both down into the worn leather in a tangled, laughing heap, completely indifferent to his unbuttoned pants as he pulls Mike down flush against his chest to claim his reward.