LINKIN PARK's MIKE SHINODA: 'I'm A Member Of A Club I Never Wanted To Be A Part Of'

Mike Shinoda spoke to The News & Observer about his appearance in a PSA for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, alongside the widow of his LINKIN PARK bandmate, Chester Bennington, during the premiere episode of ABC's new drama "A Million Little Things". Asked if he has found becoming a spokesman for this helps him with his grief at all, Mike responded: "Oh, I don't do that for me, at all. That show was created by a friend of mine [DJ Nash], who had a friend who had died from suicide, and he actually asked me a lot of questions while he was writing the first episode about whether the tone and subjects sat well with me. He would check in with me on that, and he's an incredible writer, so I'm a huge fan of the show.

"Other than that, he had decided to give up a minute of the show's runtime to run a PSA for the Suicide Hotline, which tells you where his heart is at. He's trying to do the right thing. When he decided to do the PSA, he talked to me and Talinda [Bennington] about it, and we're happy to be a part of it.

"Again, I'm a member of a club I never wanted to be a part of. Doing the PSA doesn't have as much to do with [my feelings], as much as to do with people who may have something happen to them that triggers them; it's a responsibility of those people creating the content to put the hotline up, or to at least give them some kind of tool that reminds them of where to go.

"And you might say, 'Well, why do people need to be reminded?' Because it's a disease. Your brain basically short circuits. DJ actually described it very well within the show, when he said that it's like being the pilot of a plane who suddenly can't see where he's going, and the truth is that you're headed into a mountain but don't know it."

Shinoda recently told The Orange County Register that he will be heading into the studio with a few different artists after he completes his currently scheduled run of solo shows in December. The LINKIN PARK singer, who released his new solo album, "Post Traumatic", in June, also noted that there are no concrete plans for the band at this time.

"I'm still in a period of just leaving doors open, because I can do a lot of different things and I'm just looking to see where the wave takes me," he said. "In the meantime, though, I am certainly proud of this record."

Shinoda kicked off the "Monster Energy Outbreak Tour" on October 10. Trek sees him performing in more intimate venues and playing a diverse setlist which includes select cuts from "Post Traumatic", LINKIN PARK and FORT MINOR.

Some of "Post Traumatic" was inspired by the death more than a year ago of Bennington. The singer was found dead in his Los Angeles-area home in July 2017 after hanging himself.

"When Chester passed away, I didn't start it thinking, 'I'm gonna make an album," Mike told Radio.com. "I was kind of like, trying to get back in the studio and get over my anxiety. I walked in the studio and it was just hard. All of a sudden, I was making little jams, and the jams turned into songs, and the songs turned into this album, which became this diary in a sense."

LINKIN PARK headlined an all-star tribute concert for Bennington in October 2017 in Los Angeles but has not announced any future plans for recording or touring.