Mike Shinoda - Biography

Last Editor: kaymascott				Mike Shinoda Biography -   Name : Mike Shinoda Profession : Actor, Composer Date of birth : 11 February 1977 Place of birth : Agoura, California, USA Birth name : Michael Kenji Shinoda Nickname : Mikey Spike Minoda Shinnizle Mike the spike Height : 5' 11"

Mike Shinoda Trivia -

He is one of the vocalists for the band Linkin Park He is half Japanese Mike designed the cover for the Hybrid Theory album Is a distant relative of Russian composer Tchaikovsky (non-blood-related). Attended Agoura High School Parents names Leslie and Kim Shinoda Went to Pasadena Art College has one brother called Jason, Mike calls him Jay. Play Guitar, Beats & Samples and Keyboards for the band Linkin Park Produced the entire album "Reanimation" Wears contact lenses Shares a birthday with Jennifer Aniston, Sheryl Crow, Kelly Rowland and Burt Reynolds. Attended the same high school as 'Heather Graham I' and Shane Stanley. His most poignant moment was getting a college diploma. He got a job as a graphic designer right out of college. Favorite food is Japanese. His musical tastes vary widely, from Tool to Dido. Along with Brad Delson, he is a founding member of Linkin Park. Created Fort Minor- a side project which he did with friends. The album is called 'The Rising Tied'.

Mike Shinoda Detailed Biography -

Michael Kenji Shinoda a.k.a. "The Glue" a.k.a. "The Cobra Holda" (born February 11, 1977) is best known for being the MC/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist/co-producer for the band Linkin Park, and the mastermind behind his hip-hop side project Fort Minor. Born to a Japanese father (Leslie Shinoda) and a Russian-Hungarian mother (Kim Shinoda, reportedly a distant descendant of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), Mike Shinoda, or Michael Kenji Shinoda, was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura, where he resided for all of his pre-adult life. Shinoda's first exposure to the music business came during his middle and high school years, when he attended a concert featuring Anthrax and Public Enemy. After that, he began taking piano lessons, studying classical piano techniques and later moved on to jazz and hip-hop. It was during this formative period that he added the guitar and, eventually, rap-style vocals to his repertoire. In his early teens, Shinoda's musical interests found a source of encouragement in friend Brad Delson, with whom he started to write and record songs in a makeshift studio set up in his bedroom. Shinoda attended the Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Delson and Rob Bourdon, as well as with members of the bands Incubus and Hoobastank. By the end of high school, percussion practicioner Bourdon had become involved in their musical ventures; the trio formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry. After high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design to study graphic design and illustration. It was here that he made the acquaintance of DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn, who, along with Delson's college-mate Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, was soon added to Xero's line-up. Shinoda eventually completed his college training with a degree in illustration, securing himself a job as a graphic designer right after graduation. With his experience as a graphic artist, Shinoda ended up designing all of Linkin Park's artwork with Hahn, and has even designed the album cover for Styles of Beyond's debut album, 2000 Fold. Just prior to his graduation, though, in the final year of his studies, the band (at this point called Hybrid Theory) brought in second vocalist Chester Bennington, replacing Mark Wakefield. Only one six-track EP would be released under the new name before legal issues forced them once again to change it - and thus it came to pass that Shinoda and his bandmates ultimately were to call themselves Linkin Park. Throughout 1999, Linkin Park continued to expand their following amongst L.A. club patrons. This growth in popularity made a record contract an even more urgent concern for the band, and Shinoda was forced to juggle his college finals with talent showcases for various major labels; while the former went well for him, the latter failed to accomplish any positive results until the year was nearly over. Several labels had passed on the privilege until, finally, Warner Brothers made the decision to add the young band to its long list of artists. The first fruits of this union surfaced in the Fall of 2000 as Hybrid Theory, sporting a cover designed by Shinoda himself; before long the album had found its way high into the charts, launching Linkin Park as one of the most popular exponents of the newly-emerging metal-rap crossgenre. From the start Shinoda was closely involved in the techical aspects of the band's recordings, and over the subsequent releases that role continued to expand, with the singer tackling a fair amount of the production duties for the Hybrid Theory remix album Reanimation (2002). His musical role also evolved, and the sophomore release Meteora (2003) saw him assuming a more prominent role as a guitarist. By the release of the Linkin Park/Jay-Z 'mash-up' album Collision Course in 2004, he had his hands in every aspect of the release, from performing and producing to mixing and graphic design. Production and remix work for various other performers (including The X-Ecutioners, Handsome Boy Modeling School and Depeche Mode was also undertaken from time to time. In 2003, Shinoda launched his own record label with Delson as an imprint of Warner Brothers Records. The newly-formed Machine Shop Recordings would then go on to sign artists such as Styles of Beyond, Holly Brook, Simplistic and No Warning. (Simplistic has since broken up.)