The lack of progress soon proved enough for Mark, who left to pursue other projects. You’d think receiving a development deal would be a quick win for Xero, but it was anything but.
DJ Joe Hahn, who bonded with Mike at art school over their shared love of hip-hop, and co-vocalist Mark Wakefield completed the line-up. Rob’s roommate was Dave ‘Phoenix’ Pharrell, who joined a Christian ska-punk band called Tasty Snax in high school, switching from guitar to bass to fill the gap in their ranks and sticking with that instrument. After starting Xero with Brad and drummer Rob Bourdon in 1996, Mike turned his bedroom into a makeshift studio, complete with four-track recorder and vocal mic to capture their early demos. The rap-loving son of a Japanese-American father, and a mother who encouraged him to take up piano because it would look good on college applications, Mike was something of a technical genius. READ THIS: Every Linkin Park album ranked from worst to bestīrad had known Mike Shinoda since they were both 13. Sufficiently impressed by what he heard, he offered Xero a publishing development deal. Struck by the 19-year-old’s ambition and, well, balls, Jeff went along to the band’s first ever show – at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, of all places. Upon seeing the various items of Korn and Limp Bizkit paraphernalia adorning the walls of their offices, Brad felt compelled to tell the company’s vice president, Jeff Blue, about his fledgling band, Xero, and their plans to change the world. Thankfully, it was around this time that a somewhat better decision was made by Brad, when he elected to take an internship at Zomba Music Publishing. “I started wearing them a while ago and got used to it, so thought it would be a good idea to keep wearing them.” “I’m not sure why I wear them,” Brad would ponder later. The guitarist would soon develop his own trademark look, though, donning a large pair of headphones onstage.
Brad Delson had grown up on a diet of Guns N’ Roses and Metallica, chemically straightening his curly hair to look more like his heroes, before realising he risked it falling out.