Post Traumatic EP

*Post Traumatic EP*
Post Traumatic EP
EP by Mike Shinoda
Recorded:	2017
Released:	January 25, 2018
Length:	9:35
Producer:	Mike Shinoda
Label:	Warner Bros. Records
Mike Shinoda chronology
Mike Shinoda chronology

Post Traumatic is the debut EP by Mike Shinoda as a solo artist. It was announced on January 24, 2018^[1] and released the following day at 10am EST and 7am PST with accompanying homemade music videos for each song.

Background

The EP was released about six months following Chester Bennington's death and contains three songs composed by Mike Shinoda as a way to cope with the loss of his friend and to express everything he'd been going through over this period. In a release note, he wrote:

"The past six months have been a rollercoaster. Amidst the chaos, I’ve started to feel an intense gratitude--for your tributes and messages of support, for the career you have allowed me to have, and for the simple opportunity to create.

Today, I’m sharing three songs I wrote and produced, with visuals that I filmed, painted, and edited myself. At its core, grief is a personal, intimate experience. As such, this is not Linkin Park, nor is it Fort Minor--it’s just me.

Art has always been the place I go when I need to sort through the complexity and confusion of the road ahead. I don’t know where this path goes, but I’m grateful I get to share it with you."^[2]

About the release, Mike said, "The reason I chose to put (the first three) songs out was because I knew there were a lot of fans who were having a tough time coping with Chester's loss and the uncertainty of what's gonna to happen with the band," Shinoda explains. "I wanted to communicate on one hand that I was feeling the same way they were, or similar. And on the other it's also giving them almost like a beacon of 'This is where I am, and this is where I would like to go,' so there was a sense of direction in that way. I just wanted to signal that it WAS personal, and that it was a different sound and a different approach. I think the core fans of the band's music and of my music understand that, and to anybody else I just wanted it to be clear that this is MY expression."^[3]

Writing and Recording

About a month after Chester Bennington's death, Mike Shinoda started sharing photos of himself in the studio, doing what he called "music therapy".^[4] Over the remaining of 2017, he kept working on new music.^[5]^[6] He said, "On this project, I’m trying to work “in the moment.” I record a vocal or shoot a video while I’m feeling something."^[7] As an example of this, "Looking For An Answer", the new song performed at the Hollywood Bowl show in honor of Chester, was written only 8 days after Chester's suicide,^[8] and part of "Over Again" was actually written and recorded on the day of the show.

Mike said getting back into the studio and getting started in general was terrifying because the only person he had spent more time with than Chester was his wife.^[9] Luckily, he had a wonderful support system of friends and family, with vistors coming every day for the first two months to bring food and just listen to him.^[10]

Composition

After releasing the EP, Mike said he had a bunch of other songs, some of which were more finished than others, but he wanted to release those three first to see if the fans would like him to keep going.^[11] Regardless of that, he said there were already more music and visuals in the making^[12] (including a studio version of "Looking For An Answer")^[13]^[14] and he wanted people to see and hear each piece as soon as he completed them. ^[15]

About the musical elements on the songs, he said, "There are live instruments, of course. Guitar, percussion, piano, etc. I also feel like sometimes keyboard instruments sound better if I play them by hand instead of recoding and quantizing them (a fancy way of saying the computer plays them)."^[16]

Releases

The EP was released on January 25, 2018 exclusively in digital format. Both explicit and clean versions are available.

Track Listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Place To Start	Mike Shinoda	2:13
2	Over Again		3:50
3	Watching As I Fall		3:31

Personnel

All songs written and produced by Mike Shinoda
Vocals by Mike Shinoda
Percussion on "Place To Start" by Rob Bourdon
Track 1 mixed by Mike Shinoda
Tracks 2 and 3 mixed by Manny Marroquin
Mastered by Michelle Mancini
Artwork by Mike Shinoda

Promotion

Mike Shinoda did a Q&A on Twitter a couple of hours after the EP was released.^[17] He said he wouldn't be doing any interviews and the only place he would be answering any questions regarding the EP (including from journalists) would be on social media.^[18]

Despite no song from the EP being officially sent by the label to radio, "Over Again" was picked up and played by radio stations.

After announcing his two solo shows at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan,^[19] Mike Shinoda said where he plays shows is up to the fans. "If the agents & promoters know the fans want a show, it'll happen. But you have to make yourself heard."^[20]^[21] This prompted LPLive, in collaboration with the Linkin Park Global Ambassadors, to launch a campaign for a Post Traumatic Tour around the world^[22] which received support from Mike himself.