ABC/Image Group LAWhen Mike Shinoda released his Post Traumatic EP in January, each of the three songs was accompanied by a very personal video, often showing the Linkin Park member from odd angles and in extreme closeup. In making the videos, Shinoda says he found himself experimenting with new ways to represent the emotional nature of the songs.
“To be honest, there were times when I felt like I was getting really weird,” Shinoda tells Kerrang!.
“By the time I had the songs, I knew I was going to put these out into the world,” he continues. “One way or another, they were going to come out. So I wanted them to have visuals that were also as personal as they could be.”
Given that the songs on Post Traumatic deal largely with Shinoda’s grief over the death of his friend and band mate Chester Bennington, it makes sense that he’d want the videos to feel as personal as the songs. But he admits he took that notion to the extreme by making the videos entirely by himself.
“I didn’t want anyone else touching them,” Shinoda says. “I didn’t want anyone else holding a camera. So I basically shot stuff on my phone, edited it in Final Cut, and there it was.”
By doing so, Shinoda hoped to create “the most visceral version” of what the videos could be.
“I think sometimes with videos, when they’re made to look very beautiful, sometimes they become better,” Shinoda explains. “But there are other times when it’s the ugliness that makes it powerful.”
In addition to the Post Traumatic songs, Shinoda has also been working on a full-length album solo album.
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