Xero demo recorded

Linkin Park was founded by three high school friends: Mike Shinoda , Rob Bourdon , and Brad Delson . The three attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, California , a suburb of Los Angeles. After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn , Dave “Phoenix” Farrell , and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, then called Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda’s makeshift bedroom studio in 1996, resulting in a four-track demo album, entitled Xero , released in November 1997. That same month, the band performed their first show, opening for SX-10 and System of a Down at the Whisky a Go Go , a nightclub in West Hollywood . Delson introduced the band to Jeff Blue , the vice president of A&R for Zomba Music , whom he had interned for in college. Blue offered the band constructive criticism to catch the attention of record labels. Blue himself was impressed with Xero after watching them play a live show in 1998, but believed the band needed a different vocalist. Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal. The lack of success and stalemate in progress prompted Wakefield, at that time the band’s vocalist, to leave the band in search of other projects. Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax, a Christian punk and ska band.