HEY JOE
Joseph Hahn and Linkin Park gets some attention
By Lisa Kim

They call him "The Great Mr. Hahn."
They are his fellow band members who make up the rap-rock band LInkin Park, and Joe Hahn, the band's Great DJ, has helped propel the quintet into the radio and MTV stardom with his very excellent mixing and scratching skills.
In the music video for the bands hit single "One Step Closer", Hahn is not on ly the immensely cool and collected for the camera, he sldo wrote the video treatment, proving that there is much more to this Great one than meets the ear canal.
Growing up in Southern California with two older sisters, Hahn was never just an average Joe. After graduating from Hoover High School in Glendale, Hahn enrolled at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where he planned to hone his skills as an artist. As he explains, how drawing always comes naturally to him, he grabs a pen, almost reflexively, he starts to sketch on a pad of paper.
"When I was young, I wanted to like Jim Lee, the 'Wildcats' cartoonist," says Hahn, whose face breaks into a mischievous grin. "But then I realized that I didn't want to sit inside and draw all day."
As fate had it, Hahn met Mike Shinoda, Linkin Park's MC/vocalist, at the Art Center, and the two soon became friends, sharing mutual passions for both art and music, and eventually forming a band about five years ago. The band then was known as Hybrid Theory.
They got gigs opening for established acts like Papa Roach and Deftones, and slowly developed a devoted following. Finally, they entered the halls of rock Valhalla by signing a major-label contract with Warner Brothers in 2000. Hahn believes that their hard work and tenacity are what stood them apart from other groups.
"We knew what we wanted, the kind of message we wanted to send with our music, and we worked hard to establish it," says Hahn.
Linkin Park has been featured in Rolling Stone and has appeared as musical guests on the Conan O'Brien show. They can be heard on the soundtracks of "Little Nicky" and "Dracula 2000," the trailer for the Sony Playstation 2 snowboarding game "SSX," television shows like "Roswell," and of course MTV, where their video has been in regular rotation.
Their first album, "Hybrid Theory," (in homage to their original band roots) is an 11-song collectionof sounds that fall somewhere between their modern rock and hip hop, topped off with catchy hooks.
Hahn is undoubtly proud of his part in Linkin Parks success. "You get someting chaotic and make it look nice...like melodies mingled with distortion, but the final product is something that you can absorb," says Hahn. "Look at our logo, a soldier, which a is a war affiliated character. But it has wings, and its kind of beautiful. Thus, Hybrid Theory."
For a 23 year old rock star who has toured Europe and most of the United States, Hahn is remarkably down to earth.
"My flaws? Vices? I dont think I have any, except maybe that I'm obsessed with music," says Hahn. "I have a huge collection of CD's and vinyls."
A self described "geek." Hahn maintains that he and his band mates are suprisingly tame, far from the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll stereotype. He enjoys the simple things, like hanging out with his friends.
As a Korean American. Hahn takes pride in his achievements, for taking the road less traveled, and "not buying into the outdated thinking of many Korean parents that the only means of success is to become a doctor or a lawyer." He adds, "I see a lot of Korean Americans walking around who are aimless because their parents have unrealistic expectations for them, because life in America is a lot different than it was in Korea."
"If you want to be rich, you'll be rich. You can be anything you want here."
That kind of attitude is exactly wh he is no regular Joe.