CHVRCHES respond to diss from Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park; Shinoda responds back

July 3, 2014

In an interview with Noisey back in April, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda had some interesting things to say about synth-pop band CHVRCHES, comparing them to Disney commercial music. “There’s so much music out there,” he said. “There’s so much stuff that sounds like HAIM or CHVRCHES or Vampire Weekend that I’m full. The thing I’m hungry for is not that. I turn on the rock station in L.A. and it sounds like Disney commercial music.”

Now, in a recent video interview, CHVRCHES have responded to the LP rapper’s comment. Vocalist Lauren Mayberry says, “I call bullshit a little bit on that one because it's not a coincidence that his band has a record to sell and he mentioned several bands that people are writing about. It's not an opinion I worry about hugely because it's not my kind of music,”

Mayberry eventually adds her own diss, “I don't really like being called a corporate sellout by the man that wrote the music for the MTV VMAs.” Watch the full interview below. (The Linkin Park chat starts around the 9:00 mark.)

Mike Shinoda has posted an update to his official website, where he blames this drama on “click bait” and a journalist’s “tendency (if not their main objective) to sensationalize this kind of commentary.” Read an excerpt from Shinoda’s post below, and check out the full post at his official website.

“I learned a new term this year: “click bait.” Click bait is when someone titles a piece in a sensationalized way in order to get more clicks. It’s what I did with the title of this post.

There’s a lot I could pick apart about the CHVRCHES interview; after all, the group’s singer criticized me for “saying something that would become a tagline”…by saying something that became a tagline. (Also notable: the journalist printed the title “pointless dick” but the actual words were “pointless dig”). But really, my criticism is not with them or any of those bands. I said their names because I was telling the story of how our album began: not because I hate that style music, but because I hate the volume of it. In contrast, one way of looking at it is: the bands I named are the only ones I singled out as being on my “awesome” list (albeit, there are others who are awesome, and there are yet others who are “not awesome”, but that’s neither here nor there).

Lazy journalists will simplify words and start conflicts they don’t have to fight in. Cowardly bloggers will take sides based on what other blogs think is cool. In contrast, THE HUNTING PARTY is a statement about who we are and what inspires us right now. It’s a stab out into an unknown. Our fight is with conformity, stagnation, inspiration, and even our own band’s complex history. And a big thank you goes out to CHVRCHES and all the bands whose names I’ve mentioned, for helping us find direction with this album. Because sometimes, knowing where you don’t want to go is all the direction you need.”

Linkin Park recently released their new LP, The Hunting Party, on June 13. CHVRCHES released their debut last year, The Bones of What You Believe.