Interviews

1. First experience writing music

2. Drawing on paper napkins

3. Contemplating identity in Los Angeles

4. Connecting to Japan

5. Insights from family on Japanese American internment

6. Politics in music

7. Role as an artist

8. Being a good example for people

Mike Shinoda

(b. 1977) Musician, Producer, Artist

Contemplating identity in Los Angeles

The question of, like, an identity or especially racial identity is something that always you’ll find with young people in LA, especially. It comes up all the time because LA is so diverse. I went to school in the Valley where a lot of kids got bussed in from the city and it was very…it’s a really mixed place to be. I think that…all my friends growing up – especially when I was at school in like the Woodland Hills area – they had…all my friends were different backgrounds, different races, different religion and what not.

And I think that really does become a question when you’re a younger person. “So where do I fit in? Where do I belong?” Because there’s a certain point where nobody really cares. Everybody’s just friends because that’s who you fall into place with and who you get along with. But then there’s s certain point of starting to really identify with other people and obviously, as a mixed…a person of mixed background…my dad being Japanese and my mom is like a mixed Caucasian – pretty much American, like her side of the family, a lot of the different parts of the family tree date back to the earliest colonies in the States and whatever. I mean that’s…it’s funny because that side of it is just so Caucasian, so White, so whatever. And then the other side, it’s like there’s a difference between being Japanese and being Japanese American and you start to really realize that as you get older.

California hapa identity Los Angeles multiculturalism racially mixed people United States

Date: January 16, 2006

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Chris Komai and John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Michael Kenji Shinoda was born and raised in Agoura Hills, a suburb north of Los Angeles, to a Japanese American father and Caucasian mother. He first began studying music with piano lessons at age three. During high school and continuing while a student at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Shinoda and friends formed a band called Xero. Due to copyright issues, they later renamed themselves Hybrid Theory and ultimately, Linkin Park. Since the 2000 release of their first album, Linkin Park has enjoyed great success. In 2002, they won a Grammy for “Best Hard Rock Performance” for their song “Crawling.” The band won another Grammy in 2006 for their mash-up collaboration with Jay-Z entitled “Numb/Encore.”

In 2005, Shinoda released his first solo effort, The Rising Tied, a hip-hop album that he wrote and produced under the name Fort Minor. One of the songs on the debut album titled “Kenji” was inspired by a visit to the Japanese American National Museum. He interviewed family members who were incarcerated in American concentration camps during World War II. Parts of the interviews with his father and aunt are incorporated into the song.

Although he pursued music as his career, Shinoda continues to express his creativity visually. He oversees the design and artwork for all of Linkin Park’s printed and web materials. He has also created artwork for Linkin Park and Fort Minor’s album covers.

Despite his many projects, Shinoda has taken time to support many charities. In addition to starting a scholarship at Art Center College of Design, he has been involved with organizations like United Way, Denshō, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Japanese American National Museum. He participated in Los Angeles’ Nisei Week Parade as the 2005 Honorary Parade Marshal. For his creative contributions to American culture, he was awarded the Japanese American National Museum’s Award of Excellence in 2006. (October 19, 2006)