We didn’t know that there was any bad blood between Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and upcoming synth-band CHVRCHES, but it sounds like something that was taken out of context has ignited a small fire.
Back in April, Shinoda did an interview with Noisey where he expressed his opinion about the state of music at the present time and what we assume to be one of the inspirations behind the Linkin Park’s new album, The Hunting Party.
“There’s so much music out there.” he begins. “There’s so much stuff that sounds like HAIM or CHVRCHES or Vampire Weekend that I’m full. The thing is, I’m hungry for is not that. I turn on the rock station in L.A. and it sounds like Disney commercial music.”
Now, CHVRCHES have spoken out about the comparison to artists belonging to the Mouse House and to say they were not pleased is an understatement. The response, which comes in video form, has vocalist Lauren Mayberry saying, “I call bullshit a little bit on that one because it’s not a coincidence that his band has a record to sell and he mentioned several bands that people are writing about. It’s not an opinion I worry about hugely because it’s not our kind of music.”
Of course, she doesn’t end there; she adds a slight diss of her own by saying, “I don’t really like being called a corporate sellout by the man that wrote the music for the MTV VMAs.”
The “talk” happens around the nine minute marker.
Shinoda has now responded by taking things to his official website where he claims that the journalist had done the old “click and bait” with the headline.
Part of his post can be read below or you can head on over to the site and read the full thing here.
“I learned a new term this year: “click bait.” Click bait is when someone titles a piece in a sensationalized way in order to get more clicks. It’s what I did with the title of this post. There’s a lot I could pick apart about the CHVRCHES interview; after all, the group’s singer criticized me for “saying something that would become a tagline”…by saying something that became a tagline. (Also notable: the journalist printed the title “pointless dick” but the actual words were “pointless dig”).
But really, my criticism is not with them or any of those bands. I said their names because I was telling the story of how our album began: not because I hate that style music, but because I hate the volume of it. In contrast, one way of looking at it is: the bands I named are the only ones I singled out as being on my “awesome” list (albeit, there are others who are awesome, and there are yet others who are “not awesome”, but that’s neither here nor there).
Lazy journalists will simplify words and start conflicts they don’t have to fight in. Cowardly bloggers will take sides based on what other blogs think is cool. In contrast, THE HUNTING PARTY is a statement about who we are and what inspires us right now. It’s a stab out into an unknown. Our fight is with conformity, stagnation, inspiration, and even our own band’s complex history.
And a big thank you goes out to CHVRCHES and all the bands whose names I’ve mentioned, for helping us find direction with this album. Because sometimes, knowing where you don’t want to go is all the direction you need.”
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