Dead By Sunrise’s Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh recently joined Linkin Park Live Archive on YouTube for the 15th anniversary of the band’s first and only studio album, ‘Out of Ashes.’ During the chat, the two, who worked with Chester Bennington until his death in 2017, also reflected on the opinions about Linkin Park’s new vocalist Emily Armstrong.
Shuck first shared support for the frontwoman, saying, “I think Emily is a great choice. I don’t know her personally, but I have personal close friends that have been in bands with her. I definitely knew vocally she could do this stuff. I think that, as she gets more and more shows under her belt as well, it’s just gonna become more and more like all of the old music is gonna be mix with the new music and have her feeling, and it’s gonna be awesome.”
“I saw a lot of polarizing stuff about them trying to replace Chester, and yes, I heard Jamie Bennington and Chester’s mother say a lot of really, really misguided and super nasty and completely untrue sh*t,” he continued. “I can say that those people don’t have any inside track or knowledge about anything. I considered making a full-on video to deal with this stuff because the stuff they’re doing and saying and people they’re appealing to, it’s not good.”
While Bennington’s widow, Talinda, as well as many others, also approved Armstrong’s addition to the band, his mother and son, Jamie, strongly criticized the decision by accusing LP of trying to erase the past and the late singer’s memory.
At this point, Derakh pointed out how “Jamie was saying we’re going out and gonna play Dead By Sunrise like with a new singer or something” though their band has been inactive since Bennington’s death, except for a few tribute shows.
“None of this is true,” Shuck said. “We just gotta say that if you’re listening to what that guy is saying or what either one of them are saying, they are not speaking from any place of truth. There’s absolutely no truth, and I’m holding back right now.”
“So, no, none of that is true. So, he’s completely made videos saying completely false things, he doesn’t know anything about anything. Regardless, it’s good for me to say that I think that Chester would be completely stoked with this choice,” he added.
Linkin Park announced Emily Armstrong as the band’s frontwoman with a new single ‘The Emptiness Machine,’ their first in seven years. Following the news, Chester Bennington’s mother, Susan, told Rolling Stone that “having her singing my son’s songs is hurtful” and she couldn’t bring herself to listen to her performance as she “got out of there as fast as I could.”
Meanwhile, Jamie Bennington accused Mike Shinoda and other band members of scheming behind closed doors to bring Linkin Park back for years through ‘grooming techniques.’ He also said Armstrong was a wrong choice as she was ‘brainwashed’ as a member of Scientology. Shinoda denied all of the claims during one of their ongoing set of shows.
The band is currently on the road to support their upcoming album with new members Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain. Titled ‘From Zero,’ the record will see release on November 15 via Warner Records.