"I thought it was a spam email when Mike reached out asking me to be part of this": Watch Mike Shinoda play Linkin Park's Castle Of Glass with six musicians who've never met one another before

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Mike Shinoda shares the London episode of his Already Over Sessions series, featuring Linkin Park's Castle Of Glass

Mike Shinoda Already Over Session, London
(Image credit: Mike Shinoda YouTube)

Mike Shinoda has shared the Already Over Sessions episode that he recorded in London in November, and it features six young musicians who'd previously never met performing a unique version of Linkin Park's Castle Of Glass, from the band's fifth album, 2012's Living Things.

The session, recorded at Metropolis Studios in London, features Nørskov (vocals), Paul Davids (lead guitar), Diego Riera (rhythm guitar), Charles Berthoud (keyboards/backing vocals), Ellie Dixon (bass/backing vocals) and Sam Arrow (drums).

Speaking to Metal Hammer in November, Shinoda explained the idea behind his Already Over Sessions series, having previously released a session recorded in Los Angeles, and Sydney.

"I follow a lot of musicians on on my channels, and the algorithms have identified me properly: they're like, 'Oh, you like to watch videos of people playing drums, check out all these drummer videos!" And I'm like, God, there are so many great drummers and guitarists and singers out there. So, as we were putting together ideas about how to support Already Over, the idea came up, and I committed to doing some sessions with people that I found on the internet, assembling like one-off bands.

"I love the idea of getting these people together, and playing a couple songs, and it being a total crapshoot," Shinoda added. "It could be a complete failure, but we're gonna do it anyway."

The musicians involved in the London recording were clearly thrilled to be a part of the one-off collaboration with the Linkin Park vocalist.

"From having Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory on repeat as a kid, to playing two songs in the studio with this legend," Paul Davids wrote on Instagram. "Thanks so much for having me, what an honor playing with these talented folks!"

"I thought it was a spam email when Mike Shinoda reached out asking me to be part of this," Ellie Dixon admits. "Still pinching myself. It was an honour to be part of such an inspiring and downright wholesome day. Mike was so natural in working with us all and I got to meet a bunch of incredibly talented and wonderful humans."

Watch the session, featuring new recordings of Already Over and Castle Of Glass, below:

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.