This is an interview with Mike Shinoda, taken with permission from Rob Matthews @ Linkinparkweb.com.

Rob Matthews: My first question is about the upcoming remix album. How did it come about interms of were you just changing the songs around yourself for fun? Or were other artists asking to work on songs, and what can we expect in terms of the sound of the album?

Mike Shinoda: Firstly, I've always enjoyed remixing songs. And a bunch of us wanted to do this ever since we did the album. We want to take the songs in a sample-driven direction that they haven't previously existed in before. So we reached out to some friends and people started talking to one another, and now we have a pretty solid lineup of remixes to choose from. They range anywhere from alternative-industrial to prodigy-style big beat. The people invloved include: Jay Gordon (Orgy), T-Ray, Alchemist, Evidence (Dilated Peoples), Crystal Method, and of course myself and Joe.

RM: You've had a studio bus with you on the road and I was wondering if you've been putting a lot of pressure on yourselves to write a new album or have you been taking your time and just letting your ideas develop over time?

MS: I tend to work all the time. I have ideas everyday and I try to put them into the computer as soon as I have them. That way they stay fresh and I stay exited. And I'm confident that we're all competent songwriters and we will make some interesting things happen on this next album. One thing in particular that I really want to concentrate on is adding more elements to our bag of tricks, and focusing on my lyrics and delivery more.

RM: Having played the same songs for the last year well touring, have any of the songs lost the feeling from when you wrote them, or have any become closer to you and mean more now then they did before?

MS: Suprisingly, no. And that's definitely a good thing, for us. I ahve started to feel that certain I was expressing in those songs have changed and the new music is a place for me to examine that.

RM: You have always been really close with your fans from the start adn with THe LpUnderground recently started, how does it feel to be able to give back and stay close with all your fans?

MS: Lp Underground was started with the intention of making an organization for all the hardcore Lp fans to look to for fastest news and exclusive info about the band. I hope the casual listeners shy away from it. I want to keep it as music-focused adn music-driven as possible, with the most accurate info about us.

To me, this next part is very important. Here's where we're at: TV and radio want to be down with us, but they dont always get it. They dont ahve a tenth of the experience with us that our avergae fan does. Because of this, I 've seen all kinds of press turn into something that I don't feel represents us well to our fans,
A lot of confusion is created in fans minds by the media. Imagine this: a writer who knows virtually nothing about us does some research on the internet (very sketchy) for an hour (if ever that long), interviews ur for 30 minutes (or maybe not at all) and writes an article that 150,000 people read and assume every word is true. Sound scary? Even now, we still have interviewers asking us "where did you get the band name from" and "who is the sixth guy you play with on stage?"
Add to that the chatter of casual listeners, people who dont really care about nor understand the band, and you've got a mess.
So we started Lp Underground, and made Lpunderground.com to focus a mainline of info from us to the hardcore fans.

RM: You're really involved with linkinpark.com and take the time to post on the message boards and take part in the chats. Do you ever try to convince Chester to touch a computer and join a chat?

MS: He used to work on computers before the band and his job turned him off to it. Maybe if more fans asked him nicely, he'd come around.

RM: I've been reading about how you helped get a new band a deal with Warner bros. and I was wondering about how you feel about helping up and coming artists now?

MS: I havent gotten anybody any record deals yet. We are starting an imprint label of our own, distributed through Warner, though. We are very picky about music, so it will take a band or group of a high caliber to make it on our label.

RM: What is your favorite part of the dvd and is there any secrets about it we should know?

MS: I dont have a favorite part yet. And as far as secrets go, there are secret sections on the DVD, as you have probably heard. We will be releasing the codes to get then starting in January. I promise you that certain codes are going to be impossible for anyone to figure out, so check linkinpark.com in January for the codes...

RM: Projekt Revolution. What can you tell me about this?

MS: Adema, Cypress Hill, and Linkin Park. Hosted by DJ Z-Trip. Its going to be a great tour...we're going into larger venues, and hitting up all the cities in the US that we havent been to since the beginning of the year. A special part about the Projekt Revolution tour is that we're doing a live local DJ battle at every show. So two local DJ's will show their skills, and compete to win a prize provided by vestax (the leading DJ equipment company).

RM: Favorite memory of 2001?

MS: Too many to name. We went to many wonderful places like Japan adn Australia. We toured Europe with the Deftones. We made great friends like the Xecutioners adn had a lot of memories with so many other people on tours like Ozzfest and Family Values. I couldnt pick one event that topped the rest.

RM: What are you looking forward to in 2002?

MS: We'll be at home writing and recording for a while, because we are perfectionists. The next album is going to take all year to make. But we have a ton of material, and working with it is going to be an exciting challenge.

RM: Anything else you'd like to say or mention?

MS: I have an end of year thanks to give. Please, on behalf of our dedicated fans, accept our thanks for making this happen this year. Together, we've brought a sound to the world this year. Lets focus on making it continuing to happen, and broadening peoples horizons. We'll keep trying to make it.