30 Seconds to Mars - Otherworldly Rock Stars
Far from a Vanity Project, this Band Means Business
Sep 18, 2009
Thirty Seconds to Mars was born in a bedroom. It rose up from a twist of amp cords and dirty socks, the product of a pure vein of impassioned talent. It is Hollywood, home of the wealthy and final bastion of the rejected. The room sharing Leto brothers, Jared and Shannon, are about to start a little family business. Nothing grand: just two guys touring the clubs and bars doing what they do. Jared plays guitar and sings whilst Shannon thrashes the living music out of his drum set.
They are thriving on the unfiltered bliss that comes with simplicity; no arenas, no security guards – that is the not to distant future. For now, it is the smoky anonymity and unabashed joy of performing; a time to cut and shape the band that is to come.
30 Seconds of Fame
Jealousy - that distant twang that you feel when someone appears to so easily have it all; swaggering about a stage or on screen sucking the designer lipstick off of a perfect face. The people who dress as they wish, no matter how outrageous and get away with it. They bypass adoption laws, smuggle contraband into their bodies, sell us liquor they’ve never tasted and cars they’ve never driven; it’s the entertainment world’s cookie factory but Jared Leto is no biscuit.
The Art of Rock
The music and film industries are the seemingly unattainable nirvana of millions, yet Jared Leto has climbed both. He is of that breed where talent and passion drives his need to succeed; his edgy screen style grounds the characters he plays making them accessible. His music, which he plays, writes and co-produces also exudes a raw, un-trodden quality.
1998 would see the family two piece expand and get a ‘real’ job. They signed to EMI’s Virgin label and got some old school tutoring from producer Bob Ezrin, he of Pink Floyds ‘The Wall’ fame. The first self titled album didn’t exactly shock and awe but it did signal the start of a cohesion; the line-up changed and the sound evolved.
A Beautiful Lie
The second Album, A Beautiful Lie, now featuring Tomo Milicevic on lead guitar, violin and keyboards proved a critical and international success. The dreamy video interpretation of ‘The Shining’ for debut track ‘The Kill’ and epic rendering of ‘The Last Emperor’ for ‘From Yesterday’ set the tone for an album very different from the first. Jared Leto’s voice, alternating between impassioned growl and reflective melody, further established this as a band on the rise and one to watch.
The Fans of Mars
Jared Leto doesn’t have to be the next eagerly awaited rock prophet; he just has to care about the product. All too often the people, the album buying masses and loyal fan bases, are slid down the preference ladder. They are preceded by the agents, producers and industry sycophants – those last minute hangers-on that call for comp tickets and then fall to show.
Thirty Seconds to Mars have moved fan appreciation and respect on to entirely novel and fresh levels. For example, their latest studio release will have 2000 different album covers; each one will be compiled from photos the fans themselves were asked to upload to the band’s website. There have also been open recording sessions that have allowed fans the opportunity to add their own vocal mixes to the final track list.
Yeah, But What about the Music?
Music is impossible to review on paper, it has to be felt. You have to experience the pain as it rips at the voice of a heroin addled Seattle poet, the pre-corn row lithe and alive Axl as he passionately wails or the multi-layered urban rhymes that so eloquently speak of crack, whores, hope, hopelessness and life.
Opinion regarding the musical quality or what genre slot Thirty seconds to Mars should be filed under therefore is ultimately redundant. Put on the music yourself and listen. It may be that you are transported to another place, that mixed up otherworldly cross-over that so evidently runs through the band’s videos. Or maybe you’ll feel like you are being piped the contents of a very long and tedious elevator ride: tastes vary, one man’s Dylan is another man’s Cyrus.
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Sources:
The Big Interview: 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto
30 Seconds to Mars Interview - Mishmash Magazine
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