LPU Chat With Mike

Mike recently stopped by LPUndergorund for a chat with LPU members on the new album. Here's a few things he had to say;

On what types of songs will be on the album;
"I don't know yet. we're still working on it. we have narrowed it down to about 30-50 songs, andsome of those are heavy, some are softer, and some are in between."
On the new song named "Qwerty";
"The song known as "qwerty" -- a rough title BTW -- is actually still in progress. we did those lyrics on the plane on the way to japan! i'm not sure if it'll make the album, but we liked the song enough to play it!"
On having to push back the new album's release;
"Originally, we thought we'd have an album out at the end of this year, but at this point we don't see that happening. we're doing really well, but we just need a little more time. that's why we thought we'd play the new song live, to give you a little insight into how things are going."
On the inclusion of "power ballads";
"I thought "easier to run" might have been a power ballad. but not that we have any intention of making one--that's just what the song decided to be. if you mean power ballad like whitesnake / poison / LA guns / boston, then maybe we're not ready for that yet."
On what the new album will sound like;
"I just think the styles we're mixing right now are all over the place. we have really been pushing things outside the box. but even like my fort minor album--it's a hip hop album, but a lot of the stuff isn't conventional. the LP album won't sound like FM. but it has it's own unique sound that still sounds like LP--just different."

"It will sound familiar, and you will recognize it as LP; butso far it has a different sound that i cannot describe. it sounds like it's older, but not vintage. more organic in some spots, like just yesterday we recorded a song with no samples that is completely raw. other songs are full of samples. lots of variety at this point--but we don't know which songs will make the final album."
On playing "Reading My Eyes" live;
"Reading My Eyes: we actually just got the idea while we were in rehearsal. once we figured out the first few notes, the whole song came back to us. that was pretty cool, seeing as how we hadn't played it in almost 8 years. we actually had to download it online to remember how the song started!"
On the lyric-writing process;
"Nothing is fiction. everything is from real life. a lot of it is made of morphed stories that are part chester and part me, because we write together sometimes. since we're both writing from our own experiences, the ideas of the songs tend to blend together in that way. we basically just try to depict the root emotion as accurately as possible. for example: my memory of a fight with someone, and chester's memory of a fight with someone could have very little in common at face value. but the root emotions of maybe not being respected or feeling disappointed -- those are the same."
On writing dark songs;
"Our songs have always has a little darker tinge to them, that's just our sensibility. the lyrics are still just beginning, so i don't know where they'll end up. i would like to have as much variety as possible on the album, though. i just don't like to write silly happy songs....unless i'm doing it as a joke."
On working with Rick Rubin vs. working with Don Gilmore;
"Don was alot of fun to work with on HT and meteora because he's really silly in the studio, and he makes great, exciting rock records. he has a very distinctive style. Rick is a legend. he's one of the most respected producers of all time. we can listen to a song one time, and immediately give you five things that you can do to it that will make it better. he knows his way around"
On swearing on the new album;
"I don't know yet...there are a few cursewords at this point, but i don't know what's going to happen with that. not a big deal, i think."
On what will be on the LPU 6.0 CD;
"Don't know yet, but we want to make it REALLY good. more info to come, but i hope we can make it one of the best CDs yet."

Thanks to Paul for the transcript!

 

Considering I got that info from someone in LP's management I wasn't really wrong to say that as of the time of posting that (of course it could've changed) qwerty was the standing title.

I shouldn't post my insider info about the album length cause I wouldn't want to be criticized if that was wrong too.

Oh, and...

Would it hurt for half the people in this thread to spell out words such as 'and', instead of saying n? -.-