30 Seconds to Mars

4.2

Foundation date: 1998

The country: USA

Town: Los Angeles

Compound:
Jared Leto (vocals)

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Photo: 30 Seconds to Mars

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Biography of the group 30 Seconds to Mars

30 Seconds to Mars is an American musical group founded by Leto brothers Jared and Shannon. Their main direction is rock in all its diversity: from alternative to progressive.

Alternative rock band Thirty Seconds To Mars (30 Seconds to Mars)


History of creation

1998 is considered the year of the creation of the group 30 Seconds to Mars (“30 seconds to Mars”). At that time, Jared Leto’s film career was already gaining momentum: the series “My So-Called Life” was successfully broadcast on TV, the audience still remembered the action movie “The Cool and the Geeks” and the drama “The Last of the Great Kings”, where Leto played the main roles. But he, still a novice actor, together with his older brother Shannon, wanted to expand the boundaries of creativity, especially since both of them showed unprecedented musicality from childhood and pleased their hippie mother, first with melodic strumming on pots and pans, and then switched to old instruments: Jared mastered the piano and acoustic guitar, and Shannon – a drum kit.

Jared and Shannon Leto have been drawn to music since childhood


So the Leto brothers formed the backbone of the band, joined by guitarist Solon Bixler and bassist Kevin Drake. The band signed to the Immortal/Virgin label and began work on their debut album.

In 1999, 30STM became a quartet from a “family” duet.


At first, the name of the group was constantly changing. The current title refers to an article by a Harvard professor about the development of technology – the future is changing too quickly. His reasoning about progress and time was very close to the Leto brothers and their associates. One capacious phrase allowed in a metaphorical form to describe both the aspirations of the group and the musical direction they have chosen – alternative rock.

The main stages of creativity

Prior to the recording of the first album, “30 seconds to Mars” did without a producer. However, in 2001, the need for such a person is ripe. The choice of the team fell on Bob Ezrin. He was famous for his collaborations with Lou Reed, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and other famous rockers. In the studio, the Leto brothers recorded parts for almost all instruments personally. The album’s first single was “Capricorn (A Brand New Name)”, and the highest-charting song ended up being “Edge of the Earth”.

30 Seconds to Mars – Capricorn (A Brand New Name)

The group’s debut album Leto found a rather modest audience, despite Jared’s popularity. “The attempts of the sophomore”, – this is how one of the authoritative music magazines called the album. However, by the beginning of work on the second album, the musicians corrected the mistakes. Alas, the album “A Beautiful Lie” was ready only in 2005, since Leto’s acting career left little time for his favorite hobby: over the years he starred in such projects as “Requiem for a Dream”, “Panic Room” and “American psychopath”.

From the very beginning of their career, the musicians did not favor personal security guards. They use security only in cases where it is prescribed in the terms of the contract by the organizers of the tour. Close communication with fans sometimes ended badly for the artists. For example, at one of the concerts in Texas, fans in a fit of feelings broke Jared’s nose. Even such transcendent displays of love did not change the group’s attitude towards their safety.

The second album was produced by Josh Abraham, who previously helped Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Courtney Love. By that time, Bixler had already left the band, Croatian guitarist Tomo Milishevich took his place, and Matt Wachter began playing bass instead of Kevin Drake, who had left even earlier.

Tomo Milishevich joined 30 Seconds to Mars in 2003


“Attack” is the album’s opening single, while the songs “The Kill” and “A Beautiful Lie” “shot” much stronger: the video for the first of the songs received the MTV2 Award, and the second received platinum status already in 2006. The director of these and subsequent clips was Jared Leto himself under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins. 5 months before the release of the album, hackers “leaked” it to the Web, so it was decided to supplement the CDs with two new compositions: “The Battle of One” and “Hunter”.

30 Seconds to mars – The Kill

The album was certified platinum in the US and gold in several European countries. The band was showered with nominations and awards at a variety of music awards, among other things, they were awarded the Europe Music Awards 2008, and in two categories at once.

The third album, This Is War (2009), was produced by Mark Ellis, formerly of Gary Newman, U2, Depeche Mode, and multiple Grammy winner Steve Lillywhite. The “classic” composition of the group participated in the recording: the brothers Leto and Tomo Milishevich. You can also classify fans as full participants in the process: they recorded backing vocals on a competitive basis and sent photos for cover design.

Gold composition 30STM


The debut single “Kings and Queens” hit the radio in early October. In addition, the song of the same name from the album and “Closer to the Edge” subsequently moved high in the charts. The release of the record was accompanied by the world tour “Into the Wild Tour”.

30 Seconds To Mars Logo


Collaboration with Steve Lillywhite continued in the fourth album “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” (2013). Some of the tracks from the record were considered by critics to be passable, but “Do or Die” and “City of Angels” earned praise from pros and fans alike. And the song “Up in the Air” is the first single in the history of mankind sent into space on a CD-carrier.

Thirty Seconds to Mars – City of Angels

On the recording of the album “America” ​​(2018), the group worked for more than three years in total. Jared Leto himself acted as the main producer. The group’s style has changed somewhat and moved towards electro and pop music. In addition, the texts also became more topical and referred to acute social issues. “Walk on Water” and “Dangerous Night” are the main songs on the album.

Collaborations with other artists

  • “One Track Mind” – feat. ASAP Rocky (2018)
  • “Love Is Madness” – feat. Halsey (2018)

Scandals

The big scandal 30STM barely managed to avoid at the very beginning of their career. Advertising posters and the cover of the first studio album in 2001 were supposed to look like this: an exploding combat aircraft and a pilot who managed to eject safely. In connection with the September 11 attacks, the marketing department realized in time how inappropriate such a reference was, and made the necessary changes.

The group changed its image several times


The second album “leaked” to the network a few months before the release in 2005. It was possible to avoid the failure of the record only thanks to the recording of two additional tracks and a kind of competition among those who bought the discs: 12 of them contained special tickets that allowed them to attend any of the 30 Seconds to Mars concerts.

Photos from Thirty Seconds To Mars concert in Moscow


In 2008, Virgin Records filed a lawsuit against the musicians for breach of contract – they did not have time to finish the third album on time. The case ended in favor of the group. After the settlement of the conflict, 30 Seconds to Mars even resumed work with representatives of EMI, a diversified company whose subsidiary was Virgin Records.

Discography

  • “30 Seconds to Mars” (2002)
  • “A Beautiful Lie” (2005)
  • This Is War (2009)
  • “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” (2013)
  • “America” ​​(2018)

30 Seconds to Mars now

In the summer of 2018, 30STM turned into a duo, the Leto brothers remained in the group alone. The departure of Tomo did not come as a big surprise to fans: although it was officially announced in June 2018, a few months before that, the band’s performances in the usual trio format ceased, and rumors of a breakup spread in the music world. The exact reason why Milishevich left the group is unknown, but apparently personal problems were the reason. On social media, he posted a touching message to his fans saying that 30STM is the best thing that happened in his life and he is grateful to Jared and Shannon for making all his wishes come true. But the group continues to exist and, as the fans suggested, will certainly replenish with a new member.

In 2018, 30 Seconds To Mars became a duo again


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