Credit: Anna ShinodaWe’ve now reached the point of quarantine where albums are being created on livestream.
Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda released Dropped Frames, Vol. 1 Friday, a collection of songs he recorded during his daily livestreams on the site Twitch. What started as a simple way to connect with fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic turned into one of Shinoda’s favorite online platforms.
“It’s fun to be in there and it’s fun to be in the chat with the fans,” Shinoda tells ABC Audio of Twitch. “There’s a communal element to it, and it’s relatively positive compared to other social media that I use. I’d say it’s a lot more positive.”
The community Shinoda felt reminded him of the early days of Linkin Park’s online outreach, when the band would talk to fans in chat rooms and message boards.
“It does remind me of the core of that connection that we’ve always had with the fans,” he says. “It’s very unique.”
During the streams, Shinoda would create songs inspired by fan suggestions, which is what you hear on Dropped Frames. The record is mostly instrumental, with the exception of one song called “Open Door.”
“There’s a poetry to a song when there’s no human voice or words on it,” Shinoda says. “It leaves a lot to the imagination, which I really enjoy.”
Shinoda’s enjoyed the streaming so much, that he plans to keep doing it even when — or if — the world returns to something resembling normal.
“At this point, if you said tomorrow quarantine’s over and you can go back to life exactly as it was in November of last year, I feel like…I’d continue to do it,” he says.
By Josh Johnson
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