In a recent interview with Complex, Mike Shinoda shared why he used to dislike Metallica fans.
“I remember in one of my classes, it was actually an art class,” the musician recalled. “My friends at my table, we were hip-hop kids and that’s what we listen to and there were some kids who were rock kids and they sat at a different table. They were Metallica kids and we hated each other, just on the music.”
He continued reflecting on those times, saying, “I mean it wasn’t that deep. Like we weren’t fighting or whatever physically but we would make fun of each other. We wouldn’t hang out, we would not associate because the music was the divider.”
Shinoda explained how his perspective changed over time, “Eventually, I just naturally heard things that were bridges, that were connectors. It started with the Beastie Boys sampling [Led] Zeppelin and [Jimi] Hendrix because I didn’t just listen to the Beastie Boys record and memorize that and move on to the Run DMC record and blah blah blah.”
He added, “I heard those samples and I realized oh that’s ‘The Ocean’ by Zeppelin. That’s ‘When the Levee Breaks’ by Zeppelin. And a little while later, bands like Rage and Chili Peppers and there was a soundtrack called ‘Judgment Night.’ Do you ever remember that?”
“That had Helmet and House of Pain together on it and stuff like that. I was like, ‘This is it, man.’ I love whatever this is. These guys like what I like. This is the kind of music that I’m listening to and once you start thinking about that, you just realize there’s so many ways to blend it,” Mike shared about his musical evolution.
Shinoda previously recalled a prank Linkin Park played on Metallica during their 2003 Summer Sanitarium tour. With help from Metallica’s head of security, Tom Robb, they set up a picnic while Metallica was performing. He mentioned that their pranks were harmless and not extreme.
