Linkin Park gave a few select fans a glimpse behind the curtain Monday (Aug. 7) in Los Angeles, taking part in a performance and ‘Town Hall’ session hosted by Sirius/XM ‘Liquid Metal’ DJ Jose Mangin.

A number of contest winners and Sirius/XM listeners were allowed to visit the group’s San Fernando Valley rehearsal space. Once there, they took part in the question and answer session, followed by a few photo opportunities, and eventually made way for the band to perform a blistering 11-song set where those in attendance could almost reach out to the group.

The questions ranged from the inspiration behind their ‘Living Things‘ album (Mike Shinoda stated that it was a way to bridge the gap between their beginning sound and their most recent records), to their travel arrangements (up to 25 members of their extended family are on tour and they don’t all live together). Linkin Park also hit on Brad Delson’s plans to sing after appearing vocally for the first time on a record (Delson: “If you stick around, I’ll do it later, but like really later. Like you have to move in.” Shinoda: “It’s so late he’s going on after Guns N’ Roses.”) and their continued relationship to the ‘Transformers’ movies (Delson joking: “People might not know this but we actually own the franchise, so we just put ourselves in and it’s been really lucrative, so thanks for buying the movie tickets.”)

When quizzed about the secret of making the band last without any defections, Chester Bennington told the crowd, “I think the thing that works for us is that we all have the same goal which is to work hard and make the best music we can, and we always, often times as people do, we don’t see things in the same way, we kind of have always been pretty respectful in terms of how we communicate to each other, so we can disagree, but we don’t really argue or fight very often.”

Bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, added, “You have to have the right set of guys who function together well creatively, but who are also willing to put in the work. As silly as it sounds, it’s not easy to do what we do. There’s that mentality that it’s the easiest job in the world. It is the best job in the world, but it’s definitely not the easiest. The biggest part of that is just putting the time and energy on it to be on the same page.”

The band also addressed some of their favorite tours, with Chester Bennington taking the more reflective approach to the question, explaining, “It’s a fun life. Sometimes you just sit back and think, ‘How is this possible? Who are we to have done what we’ve done and do what we get to do?’ It’s a really great life that you guys allow us to have, so I think the touring moment is every time we’re on tour.”

Speaking of which, Linkin Park will spend the remaining dates of the summer with Incubus as part of the Honda Civic Tour (which kicks off Aug. 11 in Bristow, Va.). Bennington added, “I’m really looking forward to touring with Incubus this summer. That’s gonna be awesome.” When quizzed for a favorite album, the vocalist kept it diplomatic, stating, “I’m afraid if I say it, then Brandon [Boyd] will be like, ‘Dude, why’d you say that?’ I don’t know if I have a favorite record. There are songs of bands that I like and I think I’m more of a modern listener, where I like the compilation of songs, the best of’s.”

After a few moments to clear things out and make way for the staging, Linkin Park finished up the day with a performance for those on hand. The set eased the audience in with ‘Waiting for the End’ kicking things off, followed by ‘Breaking the Habit’ and eventually upping the aggression with ‘Crawling.’ The group also continued their Beastie Boys tribute that they’ve done in recent shows by offering up a bridge of ‘Sabotage’ within the song ‘Bleed It Out.’

Off of the new ‘Living Things’ album, ‘Burn It Down’ and the latest single ‘Lost in the Echo’ got some play, before the group finished up the performance with ‘What I’ve Done’ and the song that started it all for them, ‘One Step Closer,’ leaving fans on a high note after a fun day in the Valley.

Linkin Park’s Sirius/XM Town Hall Set List:

1. ‘Waiting for the End’
2. ‘Breaking the Habit’
3. ‘Crawling’
4. ‘The Catalyst’
5. ‘Burn It Down’
6. ‘In the End’
7. ‘Numb’
8. ‘Bleed It Out’ (with Beastie Boys bridge)
9. ‘Lost in the Echo’
10. ‘What I’ve Done’
11. ‘One Step Closer’

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