In a brand new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Mike Shinoda defined how and why Linkin Park employed Emily Armstrong as their new vocalist.

Linkin Park carried out in entrance of a small crowd in Los Angeles yesterday (Sept. 5) and it marked their first present as a band because the loss of life of Chester Bennington in July of 2017. Fans noticed the return of Shinoda, Brad Delson (who missed the livestream efficiency), Joe Hahn and Dave “Phoenix” Farrell to the lineup, with the addition of Armstrong and new drummer Colin Brittain.

In addition to the lineup reveal, the band additionally shared a brand new monitor referred to as “The Emptiness Machine,” introduced a brand new album titled From Zero and revealed a handful of 2024 tour dates.

Armstrong is finest recognized as the vocalist for the Los Angeles band Dead Sara, which launched three studio albums between 2012 and 2021. So how did she change into the brand new co-vocalist for one of many greatest and most beloved bands to emerge from the 2000s rock and steel scene?

“We started writing, actually, in 2019,” Armstrong instructed Lowe, referring to how her working relationship with Shinoda began. “We did a couple of songs, and everything was a question mark. It was just fun to go in and write some stuff.”

The COVID-19 pandemic clearly put their plans on pause, after which Shinoda referred to as Armstrong to proceed working once more just a few years later. Armstrong recalled feeling open-minded in the course of the classes, although she admitted she did not know what was going to come back out of them on the time.

A bit later within the interview, Shinoda added his perspective about Armstrong and the way he got here to understand she was a superb match for Linkin Park regardless of his “audio baggage.”

“When I’m processing things in general, I’m thinking a lot. When I’m processing our music, I’m thinking more. We did a lot of sessions with a lot of people. They weren’t try-outs, they were just sessions,” he remembered.

READ MORE: Who Is Emily Armstrong, Linkin Park’s New Singer?

“And certainly, when I started to hear Emily’s voice on things, it was the first time that my brain would accept it as a Linkin Park song. When it was just my voice, I could accept it. But when we put other people on the songs… having Emily’s voice on it over and over again, it went, Yeah, that feels good.”

At one level in the course of the dialog, Armstrong additionally shared her personal private connection to Linkin Park as a longtime fan of the band. She cited Hybrid Theory as considered one of her favourite albums and stated that it was the file that impressed her to need to sing and scream.

“So of course it gets to this point and is like, This is crazy. I would’ve never imagined,” she stated, including, “I would love to do [Bennington] proud.”

Watch the complete interview beneath.

Mike Shinoda Explains How + Why Linkin Park Hired Emily Armstrong as New Vocalist