Chester stepping out of comfort zone with STP

Chester Bennington says he’s stepping out of his comfort zone for the upcoming Stone Temple Pilots album.

And the vocalist, who suffered a serious ankle injury in January which forced the cancellation of a run of Linkin Park shows, says he’s getting the chance to express himself in new ways with STP.

He tells Artists Direct: “With Linkin Park, things are pretty literal. Writing for STP, I get to be a lot more poetic – I get to be a lot more clever with my wording. It makes it fun because I get to be more colourful.

“With this new record, the music is pretty insane. With the melodies, I’m stepping out of my comfort zone. It’s definitely something I enjoy doing because it helps me think differently in terms of how to get a point across.”

He continues: “We’re really trying to take the musicality to a different level and to bring a lot of energy. We got super funky and it’s as raw and real as it gets. It’s really interesting and I’m having a great time doing it.”

Stone Temple Pilots will tour the US later this month, while Bennington will rejoin his Linkin Park bandmates in May to continue their dates supporting last year’s The Hunting Party album.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.