Bio.of Mike Shinoda

                                                    Mike Shinoda:Vocalist+Producer
Mike is thought by many to be the most versatile member of Linkin Park. Some of his numerous talents include rapping, playing the piano and guitar, producing, and art design. Shinoda was born unto a Japanese father and Russian mother and is a distant relative of the legendary Russian composer Tchaikovsky. Mike got into music at a young age, when he was taught how to play the piano. After years of classical training, Mike eventually began to produce and create his own loops using a keyboard he had purchased. Combining bands such as the Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against The Machine with Wu-Tang Clan vocals, Shinoda started to lay down the genre-blending style that would later become the cornerstone of Linkin Park's sound.
While attending Agoura High School with his junior high chum Brad Delson, Mike and Brad met drummer Rob Bourdon through a mutual friend in a local band named Karma. Rob was soon asked to be the drummer for their new band, Xero. When Brad and Mike went to seperate colleges they met two people who were also asked to join their band, turntablist Joseph Hahn and bassist David "Phoenix" Farrell. Mike recruited Hahn from Pasadena's 'Art College of Design' they both attended, and Brad met Phoenix at UCLA. Mike's main plan for Xero was to create a sound without categorizational boundaries that seamlessly blended several styles of music, including rock, hip-hop, and electronica. This was much like what he had done on his own at a younger age with his keyboard, yet on a larger scale. Mike was a fan of bands from many different categories of music, including Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A, and more.
Mike has also shown he can excel outside of Linkin Park, becoming very active in helping underground hip-hop artists get recognition. On the Linkin Park remix album 'Reanimation', which Shinoda produced, many of the guest stars chosen to remix 'Hybrid Theory' tracks were those of the underground hip-hop scene. Shinoda also released a solo hip-hop effort under the moniker of Fort Minor in 2005, where he gave the opportunity to many up-and-coming musicians to get their shot at having their voices heard on a mainstream stage. His artistic skills played a large part in the development of that album's cover, cd and promotional art, and in 2006 Mike put his skills on display through his first art show in Los Angeles titled "DIAMONDS, SPADES, HEARTS & CLUBS".
The success of that show would later lead to Mike holding two more art shows in 2008-2009: "Glorious Excess: Born" and "Glorious Excess: Dies", both of which were held at the Japanese American National Museum. In 2010, Mike Shinoda helped contribute enemy and character artwork to Linkin Park's first ever iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch game "8-Bit Rebellion!". Mike is constantly creating music and artwork in his spare time.
"Writing songs and sharing them with people is a very rewarding experience...I can't think of anything more gratifying as seeing people from different backgrounds come together to enjoy music. Thanks." - Mike