The band later recruited Chester Bennington and successfully landed a record deal with Warner Bros Records. When the band was unable to find a record deal, Wakefield and Farrell left the band to pursue other musical interests, though Farrell's departure turned out to be temporary. The band was limited in resources and originally produced and recorded music in Shinoda's bedroom, which resulted in the release of a four-track demo tape, entitled Xero, in 1997. The earliest incarnation of the band was called Xero. They eventually brought in turntablist Joe Hahn, bassist Dave Farrell, and vocalist Mark Wakefield.

Shinoda founded Linkin Park with Rob Bourdon and Brad Delson in 1996. Shinoda graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and obtained a job as a graphic designer. There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much of it was there. When I saw somebody do that I went, 'Oh yeah, my uncle always does that,' you know. There are things that are more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. And then going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. I remember the first time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house, in the airport, it smelled like Japan. It's not the same thing and then eventually with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese and Japanese-American. While studying at the Art Center College of Design, he experienced a form of identity crisis. He attended classes with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn. After graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration. The three formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry.

Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon.

He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his middle school and high school years. By 13, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues, and hip hop. Shinoda's mother encouraged him to take classical piano lessons when he was six. His father is Japanese-American, he has a younger brother named Jason, and he was raised as a liberal Protestant. Shinoda was born on February 11, 1977, in Panorama City, California, and raised in Agoura Hills, California. In 2018, Shinoda released his debut solo album Post Traumatic, which consists of 18 songs about his feelings following the death of his Linkin Park bandmate Bennington. He has painted several pieces of artwork, some of which have been featured in the Japanese American National Museum. Outside of music, Shinoda is an artist and graphic designer.

Shinoda is also the co-founder of Machine Shop Records, a California-based record label. The band later signed a record deal with Warner Bros Records. Chester Bennington joined Linkin Park in 1999, replacing Wakefield as lead vocalist. He has also served as a producer for tracks and albums by Lupe Fiasco, Styles of Beyond and the X-Ecutioners.īorn in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California, and raised in Agoura Hills, Shinoda formed Xero, which later became Linkin Park, with two of his high-school friends: Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon in 1996, later joined by Joe Hahn, Dave Farrell and Mark Wakefield. Shinoda later created a hip-hop-driven side project, Fort Minor, in 2004. He co-founded Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, primary songwriter and producer. Michael Kenji Shinoda ( / ʃ ɪ ˈ n oʊ d ə/ Japanese: 篠田賢治, romanized: Shinoda Kenji born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer.

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