Joining host Kevan Kenney for a special Audacy Check In on the release day of their 2024 comeback album, FROM ZERO, the members of Linkin Park are with us to talk about the brand new record, upcoming world tour, and more.

Mike Shinoda, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, Joe Hahn, and Emily Armstrong join KROQ host Kevan Kenney today while currently in Bogota, Colombia celebrating the release of Linkin Park's 2024 album, FROM ZERO, and bringing their brand new live show to all corners of the globe.

“It's very rare to play a new spot and it came up somehow on maybe Twitter or somewhere, but the last time we had played a new show I think was in Hungary on maybe the last tour cycle,” Phoenix tells us. “But it seems like these days there's one or two new cities or new countries per cycle that we get to see for the first time. It's always a good time.”

Finally getting to this point, Mike Shinoda says was a complicated process, “For me, two years ago, it was very overwhelming and I think the best thing that we did was to just basically let things happen in the order and at the timeline that they were gonna happen -- let things happen organically and not push too hard. And I feel like what ended up evolving was we just naturally kind of found each other. We found this new line up, we found [singer] Emily [Armstrong] and [drummer] Colin [Brittain] in particular, and the music just kind of came into focus based on what we were having the most fun doing.”

Giving off a smile when Kevan said it felt like the band was getting back to its “roots,” Mike explains, “I love that there's such a strong Linkin Park DNA in the record -- it does really feel like Linkin Park -- but I think there's a part of it that's the old sound, and part of it that's every era of the band, to me, on the record.”

“I don't know if I know well, what the Linkin Park DNA is,” Phoenix admits. “It's kind of like when you're too close to something, you just do it, and then other people tell you, they almost interpret it, and then you kind of say, ‘OK, cool, I'm glad that came across.’ But I think in any and all of that creation of an album, or working on new music, or new stuff, or when there's, I don't know ‘interstitials’ or whatever you might want to call it… for me, those things are just us doing us, figuring that out, and moving forward."

"In this process," he adds, "one of the things that was so fun and rewarding and cool and energizing was just how, when we started gradually integrating Emily and Colin, it felt like Linkin Park. It just felt like it fit for me and for us, and those were the coolest moments in the entire process. Just feeling like things were kind of gelling and coming together, and we're having a blast doing it the whole time. So, at this stage being ready to finally have the album out, having people be excited about it, that feels great.”

Don't miss Kevan Kenney's full Check In with Linkin Park above, and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.

Words By Joe Cingrana, Interview by Kevan Kenney

Joining host Abe Kanan today for a special Audacy Check In is Breaking Benjamin's Benjamin Burnley – along with his son Ben Jr. -- giving us details about the band's brand new music, upcoming album plans, and plenty more.

Although Breaking Benjamin has not dropped a full length since 2018's 'Ember,' the longest span of time they have had in between albums, they have kept themselves quite busy in the meantime. The band just wrapped up their most recent co-headlining tour with Staind and special guest Daughtry, and at the start of the month released their brand new single "Awaken," which landed at the top of several Billboard charts.

Before discussing new music, Abe wanted to know from Ben Jr. what it’s like having a mega rockstar dad who performs in front of tens of thousands of people at his concerts each night. “It's like something special to me because, you know, I play on stage. I entertain like thousands of people and I'm grateful for that,” he tells us.

“Every time he's with me, he plays on stage with us,” Ben’s dad explains. “And also too, I want to mention, for real, the last chorus of ‘Awaken,’ there's like a pad vocal that's going on in the background and he's singing that. So, he's singing on the record. Yeah, he's singing on that song.” Giving us a taste of the raw audio featuring his son, Ben proudly says, “Not many people know, but, I mean, I'm kind of just spreading the word that he's singing on that track.”

The new single’s runaway success has, in a way, passed Burnley by since the band has been busy on the road since its release earlier this month. “I had no idea,” he tells us, “because I'm out on tour and just doing my thing out here. We have so much going on during the day… I haven't really checked in. I didn't know it was doing so well. I'm very, very thankful and grateful for that.”

“Our day to day out here on tour, we do a meet and greet and then we do the concert and we're not really, because we're traveling so much -- today is the last day of the tour -- the only kind of interaction that we get with actual people is at our meet and greet,” Ben explains. “So, we've gotten some good reactions from that and out here on tour, in the wild, that's really the only gauge that we get, because the rest of the day is stuff like this and the concert.”

The positive reaction he admits is “definitely gonna give us a little bit of a pep in our step,” to finish the rest of the album, “but we are already the type of band that we're going to give it our all no matter what,” he says. “That's what's taking so long… that and COVID.”

Taking his time writing music during what he considers such an uninspiring period, felt like the best course of action, he believes. “Everybody has a different personality, everybody works best under different conditions, and I'm just the type that I can have the negativity of COVID and all of that be turned into a positive thing. But I'm the type that it has to be after it's over and I reflect on it, not while I'm in it -- and that's like with anything. Like, if something bad happens and I'm hurting or whatever the case may be or even if I'm happy it has to be at a time, which is weird, I guess, but it has to be at a time when that's over and I'm looking back on it, not during. I'm too busy going through it during.”

Looking back now as a major headliner, Ben still remembers the early days quite fondly, playing at 11AM when the festival gates officially opened. “Yeah, I'm kind of surprised we're not doing that,” he says humbly. “I'm surprised we're not playing 11 o'clock. I'm really grateful that we're where we are, but I definitely do. I was just talking about that recently, you know how we've all been there, we've all done that. We all do the same things out here, and every step of the way is its own fun, its own allure, because I miss those days kind of in a way, because the climb, you know, the climb is fun. Reaching thin ...

Back on the music scene with three new solo singles, “Rockstar,” “New Woman” featuring Rosalía, and the latest “Moonlit Floor,” LISA checked in with Audacy’s Mike Adam at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to chat all about the new tracks, who's on her collab wish list, and what’s next.

LISA’s latest trio of singles, away from BLACKPINK, follows her first solo project, LALISA, a two-song set released in 2021 featuring title tune “LALISA,” and fan favorite “MONEY.”

Delving right it, Mike started the conversation discussing LISA’s latest single “Moonlit Floor,” asking her if she was familiar with the Sixpence None The Richer song “Kiss Me,” before she sampled it in the song. “Yeah, actually I remember when I was young, I don't know, five or six, my dad always played that in a car,” LISA recalled. “So I [was] kind of familiar with that song.”

Already stacking up an impressive list of collaborators like Ryan Tedder, Max Martin, and Rosalía with the three tracks she’s released thus far, LISA revealed she has a wish list of “a lot” more rockstars she’d love to work with, but at the moment, at the top of that list is Doja Cat.

Sharing some things she’s learned and picked up from the people that she’s worked with, LISA expressed, “when I did a music video with Rosalía… I learned something from her. She's amazing, she’s a professional, like every single take, that like action, she's just doing her thing. So I learned that confidence and identity, she just maintains her identity with her music, with her art and everything. So, yeah, I wanted to be someone like her that can maintain my identity.”

With dancing being such a big part of her career, LISA also shared a bit about starting dance lessons at the young age of four or five. Recalling her first day at dance school, which her mom dressed her for in a skirt, LISA said, “I just went in and they just tell me to kick… and I was like, I'm in the miniskirt.”

Noting, that dancing was something she had a great passion for and worked really hard on, “because I love it,” and “want to be good,” LISA went on to say, “I improved a lot when I moved to Korea, when they give me like intense dance lessons.” Especially through the power of repetition. “I just keep repeating it until my body memorize it."

Also discussing how she has the rights to her solo music, which Mike rightfully acknowledged is “just huge,” LISA concurred, saying, “I’m just so lucky, to have that on my own, I'm just so thankful… I’m so lucky.”

In addition to new music, also on the horizon, the K-Pop star is set to make her acting debut in season 3 of the hit HBO anthology, 'The White Lotus.' And while she didn’t share any scoop about the super secretive series that’s set to hit the small screen in 2025, she did share that she reached out to friends like band member Jennie, who also starred in an HBO series — 'The Idol,' for some guidance. “Yeah, I actually asked, like how do you memorize all the lines? Revealing the slightly unimaginative, but still helpful advice she received was, “you just memorize it.”

To catch the entire conversation, check out LISA's entire interview above.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Mike Adam