This is the story about a band who have some of the most dedicated fans known to music. Fans who often claim their lives are being saved by this band, and describe themselves as an army, who care about this group of three musicians more than anything, and sometimes, anyone, in the world. They’re a band I’ve followed from the very beginning, and I’ve seen them grow into the global phenomenon they are today. Who are they?
thirty Seconds to
Mars Zane Lowe - BBC RADIO ONE
“I respect him greatly, he’s a hard worker, his vision is wonderful. He’s a talented motherf cker!” - Shannon “Most people probably don’t know about Jared, that he’s incredibly loyal. When he’s your friend, you can count on him no matter what. He’s the type of person that - he will never let you down. I think that’s something people don’t know.” - TOMO “I’m really, really grateful to be touring with my brother. I respect him greatly. He is an amazing artist, hard worker and his vision is magical. From the videos to the music to everything. I’m a lucky guy to be touring with him.’ - SHANNON “It’s great working with Jared, because he can push you past the point of what you would normally push yourself to do, which I think, is a good thing.” - TOMO
jared leto
Tomo Milicevic
“When we first saw Tomo play, he was so original, when it came to his personality, his style and playing… he just excelled at it.” - JARED “He’s inspiring, he knows a lot about music that I don’t know, he’s just a good guy.” - Shannon “There are three things you can’t challenge Tomo to is - a packing contest, ping pong and foosball. Everything else, you’re miles a head of him. At the end of the world, he is going to reign champion at all three of those things.” - JARED “When it happens and he brings something, and it’s unlike anything that I would have ever dreamed. And that’s exactly what you want, in a partnership like this. In a band.” - JARED
“I’m fortunate to be able to live dreams with somebody that is so close to you that you’ve known for so long it´s the strangest thing because you look at each other and remember when we were 4 years old.” - JARED “He doesn´t play a song, he takes a song over.” - JARED “Shannon is a fabulous drummer full of original ideas. He’s a genius. The soul of the group, is him.” - JARED “He’s always been a very tribal and guttural drummer. He’s the second coming of John Bonham! He’s a great soundboard, and being so close for years, Shannon helps me define ideas and take it to another level.” - JARED “Shannon Leto - The heartbeat of 30 Seconds to Mars” - TOMO
shannon leto
BRAXTON OLITA tour member
Tim Kelleher
tour member
music video Kevin McCullough Recorded live
edge of the earth
2000
2001
2002
30 seconds to mars
2003
2004
2005 a beautiful lie
Recorded at
Recorded at
Cherokee Studios Sunset Sound The Center for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound
Pulse Recording The Laboratory The Center for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound Lionhead Studios Circle in the Square Studio
Immortal Records Virgin Records
album
capricorn (a brand new name) California Desert Paul Fedor
music video
Immortal Records Virgin Records
album
attack Abandoned hotel in Hollywood Paul Fedor
music video
music video Bartholomew Cubbins New York & Chicago
hurricane music video
music video
Angakok Panipaq Illulisat, Greenland
Bartholomew Cubbins recorded live
a beautiful lie
2006
2007
the kill The Carlu in Toronto Bartholomew Cubbins
music video
from yesterday People’s Republic of China Bartholomew Cubbins
music video
closer to the edge
2008
2009
2010
2011
this is war
this is war
Recorded at
Édouard Salier
The Center for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound emi Virgin Records
album
kings and queens California Bartholomew Cubbins
music video
music video
albums albums albums albums albums
30 seconds to mars review Smiley Ben - bbc Powerful, brooding and slightly vicious Perhaps the main selling point of 30 Seconds to Mars (and their album of the same name) is what puts many people off - that their frontman is Jared ‘Requiem for a Dream’ Leto. It would be a shame to avoid them just for this, since the band’s first album proves that Leto is more than just a pretty face; he’s a pretty voice as well. With lines like ‘He said ‘Can you hear me, are you sleeping?’. She said ‘Would you rape me now?’’ the album combines haunting, disturbing lyrics with Shannon Leto’s thumping drums, Matt Wachter’s pulsing Bass and Solon Bixler’s screeching guitars in a combination that isn’t always comfortable to listen to, but certainly compelling. Alt-rock for the 21st Century (or perhaps the end of the world), with titles such as ‘Capricorn (A Brand New Name)’, ‘Echelon’, and ‘Welcome to the Universe’, they knowingly push boundaries and produce great music with an edge. And hey, they even chuck in a chapter of The Art of War - for what more could you ask? Let’s just hope Leto’s film career doesn’t stop the band from fulfilling their potential, which is as far more than just a vanity sideshow for an actor whose screen credentials they’re keen to play down.
a beautiful lie review Connie Phillips - blogcritics Authentic hard rock has always been about bleeding emotions and music so sharp and heavy it can tear flesh. This might not be what you would expect from a band that is fronted by an actor, but it is exactly what 30 Seconds To Mars delivers in A Beautiful Lie. The music is razor-sharp and solid, everything that good old-fashioned hard rock is suppose to be, but with a polished edge that is refreshing and modern.
jared leto I think that this album A Beautiful Lie is a conceptual album written from the point of view of someone who is at a crossroads in life and has to undergo really intense challenges and confrontations in order to move forward as a human being. And I know for a fact that a lot people have identified with that because they come up and we talk about it. They say so and they share their life stories with us like we’ve shared with them and I have shared as a writer of lyrics and writer of songs. It’s a reciprocal process and in a way you get it back somehow. But there is a very human quality and a quality of self discovery that’s possible when people dive into the two records that are there; these two records of thoughts and ideas. You know, there is a kind of journey that you can take if you want to and it’s something that people have responded to.
this is war review James Montgomery - mtv news Here is the best way I can describe 30 Seconds To Mars’ This Is War, an album born out of rather intense struggles and big ideas, one loaded with icy synths and screaming falcons, epic chorales and windswept sonic expanses (and the occasional Tibetan Monk): Listening to it is like being inside a gigantic silver weather balloon, one ascending into the upper reaches of the stratosphere. It is massive and shiny and beautiful, but also cold and empty. That’s not meant to be a slight — actually the opposite. War is a shimmering epic of an album, to be certain, but as is often the case when big rock bands strive to go even bigger with their sound (the most obvious example I can think of here is Angels & Airwaves), they often create these kinds of shiny balloons: big, lustrous things filled with oddly chilly space. In 30 Seconds to Mars’ case, they up the empty by coating every song in icy, mercury-slick synthesizers. Sure, there’s the occasional guitar line lifted from the U2 songbook, too (the Edge is quickly becoming the patron saint of these kinds of projects, it would seem), but War is, on the whole, a very icy listen, which seems odd considering that more than half its tracks also feature group vocals, a sundry of chants and “Whoa-Oh-Oh”s and “Fight! Fight! Fight!”s recorded at various fan-only “summits” the band held around the globe.
videos
videos
videos
videos
videos
capricorn (a brand new naMe) california deSert 2002 director paul fedor
Well, this video was my hey day, my apex, the day I went Erich von Stroheim... I got a call to work with Jared Leto’s new band. He came to me with an idea about kids hearing something from the ground... about mud. It was crazy. Jared’s running around in the tank I had rented, kids were having sex in the port-o-pottys. And Rachael is digging a hole so deep, we had to shoot around 150 ft mound of dirt.
Pau l Fedor director
I always wanted to thank the kids that endured the heat that day. It should have been 3 days with normal hours, but the EP’s thought differently. In the end, it was fun and muddy madness. Thanks again to everyone who was apart of that shoot. They stayed and worked so hard. for me, if I ever see anyone from that shoot on the street, I owe you a drink at the nearest pub.
edge earth of The
recorded live 2003 direcTor kevin mccullough
at tac k abandoned hotel in Hollywood 2005 Director: Paul Fedor
‘Attack’
is
energetic Jonathan L o v e The D a
Decatur i l y
Co n n i e Phillips Blogcritics
an
expression
keyboards,
of
rebirth
abrasive
featuring
guitars
and
addictive vocals, which range from a pain-stricken wail to an intimate whisper.
This song is a driven expression of endings and new beginnings. sides
of
The
the
deep
seated
spectrum,
rage
emotions filled
cross
and
both
mournful.
the kill the carlu in toronto 2006 director bartholoMew cubbinS
i wanted to Show four guyS facing their identity. the foundation of thiS nightMare of iSolation, MadneSS and fear waS the Starting point, but there are SoMe More avenueS explored. we wanted to Stay away froM the expected So we focuSed on the aeSthetic and general theMeS that were explored in the filM. it waS iMportant to Make it our own.
Jared leto
connie phillipS
it’S really about a relationShip with yourSelf. it’S about confronting your fear and confronting the truth about who you are.
in the video, the lineS between reality and fantaSy are blurred in a dreaM like portrayal which waS inSpired by the Shining. the band haS a hiStory of funneling the SaMe creative energy into the videoS they devote to the MuSic.
alex
‘the kill’ iS an operatic, grandioSe, Soaring tune. ‘the kill’ iS an eMotionally wrought,
f l e tc h e r
landScape.
cineMatic epic that Might See 30 SecondS to MarS ceMent their place in the MuSical
froM yeSterday people’S republic of china 2006 director bartholoMew cubbinS
jared leto
I thought that shooting in China would be the perfect setting to explore the visual possibilities for this song. The depth of their history, the beauty of the culture and the passion of the people inspired a story that left us as a band changed forever.
a beautiful lie illuliSat, greenland 2007 director angakok panipaq
This is definitely a departure from the two previous videos and we are excited about that. It’s not a piece based on a fantasy oriented narrative or surrealistic adventure like The Kill or From Yesterday. As proud as we are of both of those projects we felt it was time to walk down a different path. A Beautiful Lie is a simple story that is, for the most part, a traditional, performance-based video that happens to be shot in an exotic and ridiculously beautiful but endangered wilderness. For us, this was definitely a case of the journey being the destination and the process of plotting, planning, dreaming and executing will always be as important – if not more - than the end result.
jared leto
A beautiful lie features the importance of global warming
www.abeautifullie.org
kings and queens los angeles, california 2009 director Bartholomew Cubbins
We’re doing all-night shoots. That was my big, dumb idea, to shoot at night, But I think this city is a beautiful place at night, and we have these empty streets, and it’s kind of a haunting, forgotten landscape ... very serene. It’s about reclaiming public spaces. It’s been an incredible adventure, but it’s also been really difficult, because there are so many people, and we’re shutting down streets of Los Angeles, Downtown, bridges, some tunnels, Hollywood Boulevard, Santa Monica Pier, we’ll be up on Mulholland [Drive], overlooking the city. But the idea, the night rides, I just had some friends that were doing Critical Mass and Crank Mob and People’s Ride in L.A. And it’s that sort of serendipitous thing, where people started talking to me about it in my life, and then my friend got a fixed gear, and then another friend of mine got a fixed gear. I thought the world was really interesting, and I thought it would be a really beautiful backdrop for the video.
jared leto
CLOSER TO THE EDGE RECORDED LIVE 2010 DIRECTOR BARTHOLOMEW CUBBINS
“Closer to the Edge” is different because it is darn-near 100 percent about the fans themselves: their lives and loves and fears, and how all of those things motivated them to attend a 30STM show in the first place. They are the stars, they are the main attraction. The members of the band are basically secondary characters in the thing. Even Jared Leto’s foot-high pink Mohawk takes a backseat to the fans. Sure, there are moments that sort of make you snicker - the sheer bombast of the entire thing, the fact that this is a “film... presented by 30 Seconds to Mars,” the image of Leto’s pink Mohawk peering contemplatively over the Grand Canyon - but there’s no denying the power of seeing tens of thousands of fans finding a simultaneous salvation, of a crowd of individuals becoming one. It’s what rock and roll is supposed to be about, really: inclusion.
Jam es Montgomery
mtv news
hurricane New York and chicago 2010 Director Bartholomew Cubbins
It’s
a
surrealistic
dream-fantasy
through
desolateempty York
City
at
nightmare
streets night,
the
of
New
There’s
no
people, there’s no cars and you see the band as we encounter some fears and some fetishes, a series of challenges... It’s
a
really
ambitious,
really
cinematic short film. Shooting
in
amazing the
streets the
York
experience;
everything like
New from
you
simple
cobblestone
to
individuals,
I
an
have things
on
the
things
like
personalities,
the
magical
people,
is
love
the
history
here and it’s been a city for me that’s always been about finding your dreams.
jared leto
2011 Director Édouard Salier
jared leto
The song is really about conflict, and the album really is about it too: the inevitability of conflict, the blessing of conflict and what we can all learn from it. We’ve certainly had our fair share of it, So for the ‘This Is War’ video, we wanted to explore another side of it. So we decided to portray soldiers in conflict.
accomplishment Addiction Adrenaline Adventure Art Atmosphere Awakening Beauty Belief Belong Best Brave Breathless Bright Calm Catalyst Change Color Commitment Community Concern Control Courage Creativity Cult Dedication Destiny Devil Devotion Different Drama Dream Echelon Eclectic Edgy Elixir Emotion Enabler Encouragement Energy Enthusiasm Epic Equality Eriline Escape Essential Eternal Everyday Everything Excitement Existential Explosive Expression Extraordinary Extraterrestrial Faith Family Fantasy Fascination Feeling Fight Freedom Friendship Fraternity Fun Genius Genuine Gift Gleam Glory God Grace Greatness Happiness Heart Heaven Help Heroe Home Honesty Hope Humanity Idol Imagination Impact Imperfection Incredible Indescribable Ineffable Infinity Innovative Insanity Inspiration Intelligent Irreplaceable Jared Joy King Knowledge Laugh Leadership Lebenssinn Liberation Lie Life Life-changing Life-saving Love
Lyrical Magical Magnificent Mars ‘Marstatic’ Marvelous Masterpiece Me Meaningful Mentor Mofo Moon Motivation Moving Multi-dimensional Multimedia Music Musketeer Mystery Myth Nature Need New Optimism Original Outstanding Passion Party Peace Perfection Phenomenal Philosophy Powerful Precious Pride Prodigious Professional Profound Pure Purpose Rare Real Reality Rebirth relation Religion Respect Revolution Riot Riveting Rock Saint Salvation Sanctuary Savior Secret Security Sensational Serendipity Serenity Sexy Shannon Smile Solidarity Soon Soul Soundtrack Spacy Special Spectacular StarStateliness Strenght Stunning Success Sun Sunshine Support Survivor Sweat Talent Tattoo Tenderness Tomo Top Trustworthy Truth Unbeatable Unbelievable Understanding Unforgettable Union Unique Universe Uplifting Vision Victory Vital Weird Wild wise Wonderful World Work you describe thirty seconds to mars in one word project
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PHOTO CREDITS jared leto - Tomo Milicevic - shannon leto Salomé Sanabria braxton olita - Tim Kelleher joana rijo