When Did Chester Really Join Linkin Park?

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by kcg, Jan 14, 2014.

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  1. #1
    kcg

    kcg Well-Known Member

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    Did Chester join LP in 1998 or 1999?

    He was introduced to the band on his birthday via phone call in 1999, right? But he somehow recorded demos with them (Slip, Blue, So Far Away) in 1998. How could he have recorded songs with the band before he even auditioned for them? Either I don't understand the story of the band or the story is contradictory. I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but I don't see how there can be 1998 demos with Chester's vocals when he wasn't even introduced to the band until 1999, unless those demos were just written in 1998 and he recorded his vocals over them after he joined in 1999.
     
  2. #2
    Blackened

    Blackened Blackened Symphony

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    LPLive has a thread debating about it.
     
  3. #3
    Hybrid

    Hybrid Has gone Rogue. LPA Team

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    Changing the name of this thread.
     
  4. #4
    Jack_Farrell

    Jack_Farrell KTTK is Chester suicide-diving off a cliff naked

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    Yes, that's most likely what happened. 1998 they recorded demos, 1999 Chester joined and laid the vocal tracks.
     
  5. #5
    Hybrid

    Hybrid Has gone Rogue. LPA Team

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    That's what I'm getting from it too.
     
  6. #6
    RyRy

    RyRy LPA VIP LPA VIP

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    Not sure when he joined, but I'm pretty sure he left when that generic and forgettable rock band fired their lead singer and stole Chester away from us.
     
  7. #7
    minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    OMG PREACH
     
  8. #8
    Astat

    Astat LPA Super Member LPA Super Member

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    All demos with Chester's vocals on them that are labeled as being from 1998 are mislabeled and were actually recorded in 1999. Chester recorded his audition tape for the band on his 23rd birthday (March 20th, 1999), and was in L.A. for an in-person audition within a few days. The band's first "proper" studio session didn't occur until after Chester joined the band, which resulted in the recording of Esaul found on LPU 11, as well as a few other tracks like Slip and Blue. Anything recorded prior to Chester joining the band would have either been done on Mike's direct-to-cassette Tascam 4-track recorder (which is what the Xero demo tape was recorded on), or instrumental stuff recorded solely using an MPC and/or computer software (demos like Sad, Oh No, the LPU 9 version of Stick and Move, Coal, etc.).

    This whole confusion over 1998 vs. 1999 is solely due to Mike Shinoda forgetting his own band's history. Somewhere along the way, he convinced himself that Chester joined in 1998, and within the last few years, the band has started releasing demos purported to be from 1998, releasing merchandise with "Linkin Park: Established 1998" on it, etc...this was subsequently cleared up in the weeks leading up to the Sunset Strip Music Festival last year, when Mike's wife released photos of a bunch of old Xero show flyers...all of which were from 1998, the year Mike mistakenly thought Chester joined the band.

    Up until Slip, Blue, and Esaul were released on LPU 11 with the 1998 date attached to them, no written history of the band had ever reported anything other than Chester joining in 1999. The story of him doing his audition tape on his birthday in '99 exists in interviews dating back as far as 2002, so this is a very recent development, within the last 2 and a half years or so. Even without the evidence confirming Mike's error, my view on it is that I'm a lot more inclined to believe Chester saying in 2002 that he joined the band 3 years ago than I am to believe Mike saying in 2011 that Chester joined the band 13 years ago.
     
  9. #9
    Gibs

    Gibs The Prog Nerd Über Member

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  10. #10
    Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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    I swear I thought about making this topic no more than a week ago.

    Thanks for clearing it up. :)
     
  11. #11
    TheZlajaZlo

    TheZlajaZlo Closing LPA Super Member

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Theory_(EP)
    So if Chester wasn't even in the band on March 20th, when did they get to play at The Whisky and write and record HTEP by May?

    :blink:
     
  12. #12
    Hybrid

    Hybrid Has gone Rogue. LPA Team

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    :shinado:
     
  13. #13
    Hans Muster

    Hans Muster Well-Known Member

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    This.
    Who says the original information isn't wrong?
     
  14. #14
    Astat

    Astat LPA Super Member LPA Super Member

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    Jeff Blue signed Xero (with Mark), not Hybrid Theory, to a Zomba publishing deal following a show he saw them play at the Whisky in 1998. That doesn't contradict anything I said, the band was involved with Jeff and Zomba from the time he discovered them in '98 until around the time Meteora came out, so he would have been the one financing all of their early work prior to Warner signing them.

    Jeff was also the one who was aware of Chester singing in Grey Daze out in Arizona and suggested he audition after Mark left.
     
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  15. #15
    TheZlajaZlo

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    That explains a lot.
     
  16. #16
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    You guys don't know shit, Chester formed the band back in '96 with Mike and Joe...
     
  17. #17
    The Joesen One

    The Joesen One Fun-employed LPA Super Member

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    Chester was the last person to join the band.

    Unless you're being sarcastic.
     
  18. #18
    lime treacle

    lime treacle You are not alone Über Member

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    Bullshit.

    And I'm not being sarcastic, since when does knowing shit about LP means you're sarcastic. Pfft.
     
  19. #19
    The Joesen One

    The Joesen One Fun-employed LPA Super Member

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    Sorry. :(

    From what I've read Mike formed the band with Brad and Rob in college, reached out to Joe and Phoenix, and recruited Chester. Chester has said in many interviews that he auditioned for the band.
     
  20. #20
    Filip

    Filip god break down the door LPA Contributor

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