"All my life I thought I was going to be a painter of some kind. When I was about three years old, whenever my family went out to a restaurant, my parents would give me a pen in order to keep me entertained. I have drawn and painted all my life. That's why it was such a shock when, after I got into Art School, I decided to pursue a career in music." Mike Shinoda is a "sansei" (third generation Japanese American), whose father was interned during World War II. Mike took ten years of piano training before deciding to focus on keyboards, songwriting, and production; meanwhile, he was juggling painting and drawing classes with hopes of getting into art school. Once he was accepted, Mike found that balancing the art and the music was an exhausting task. "On average I'd do classes from 9AM to 7PM. I'd go from school in Pasadena to band practice in Hollywood for two or three hours, then all the way back to my parents' house, over an hour away, and work on paintings until I passed out. Then I'd get up in the morning and do it all again, seven days a week." His diligence was rewarded. Over thirty-five million albums later, Mike Shinoda is known as rapper, part-time guitarist, and beat-maker for Grammy award-winning rock band Linkin Park. And he got his Bachelor of Arts in Illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Mike hasn't, however, left his painting interests behind; he oversees all the band's art for print, merchandise, and web. He co-designed the covers for their "Hybrid Theory," "Reanimation," and "Meteora" albums, and is responsible for overseeing all major print and web art representing the band. Mike's philanthropic efforts are growing as well. In the past five years, Mike has started a scholarship at his alma mater, and been involved in groups such as United Way, AIDS Project Los Angeles, Densho, the Japanese American National Museum, the Arthritis Foundation, and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Last year, Linkin Park started Music For Relief, an organization to aid the rebuilding of South East Asia. Mike and the band played a sold-out show in Los Angeles to support the cause; the organization raised over $2 million for relief efforts. Shinoda also has a highly anticipated new side project, called Fort Minor, due out this year. "Fort Minor is a chance for me to get back to my roots in hip hop, and show our fans what I do on my own." Fort Minor's debut album, "The Rising Tied," is scheduled for release on Linkin Park's label, Machine Shop Records. for more information: www.linkinpark.com www.musicforrelief.org www.fortminor.com |
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