Forever night, never day

Understanding the concept of quality is something Thirty Seconds To Mars have perfected. Their debut album was a critical success and their sophomore album “A Beautiful Lie” is conceptually ingenious. Band of the Day was fortunate enough to interview Tomo and Matt of Thirty Seconds To Mars when they came into town. Once again, we present to you another BotD exclusive…

10 questions with Thirty Seconds To Mars

- by Mattias -

1. You’ve mentioned a lot of greats such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin in your interviews as your influences. You’ve also toured with current acts like Audioslave and My Chemical Romance. What would you say is the main difference between classic rock and modern rock?

T: About 35 years. I mean it’s just a different time. Different time, different inspiration, different sound, different instruments, different technology, and different things to sing and write about.

M: And music is definitely in a different state right now as opposed to how it was 30 something years ago before technology and the Internet. People were still buying records and I think that it was more about music – not that it’s not about music today, but I think that there’s so much information out there that it’s kind of over saturated a little bit.

T: Even back then it was still just about business because people with money essentially took over the record labels.

M: That’s true.

T: So really the only difference is time.

Mattias: Would you say that any of that influenced your writing?

T: What do you mean?

Mattias: Like how the record labels tend to control…

T&M: No. No.

M: We try to remain true to our [music].

T: We write what we feel like writing. We play like we feel like playing. None of the stuff really matters at all because the fact is you can’t come into this industry and have a plan to make money. It doesn’t work like that. You’d have a better chance of winning the lottery. There’s not a lot of money in music so you’ve just got to do what you like doing and hopefully everything else just works out.

M: There are bands that do that. They’re the “cookie-cutter” bands and become bread and butter for a lot of these labels. That’s fine, but that’s not for us.

2. For “A Beautiful Lie,” you guys traveled all around the world for inspiration. What was your most memorable experience?

T: South Africa, without question.

M: Yeah.

Mattias: Yeah? What happened there?

T: Half the record got written there. It was just a very productive time for the record.

M: Very inspirational.

T: Very cool place - Just one of those places that everyone should get to see.

3. You’ve played all over the world and have appeared on shows like Letterman and Conan. Do you have any pre-show rituals?

M: We sacrifice a goat before every show.

Mattias: That’s not an uncommon answer from bands I’ve spoken with.

4. If you were sent to Mars and you could only bring one thing back with you, what would it be?

Shannon: Are you really going to answer that question?

T: No, I’m not going to answer that question – absolutely not. Next Question.

5. With such deep music, what one thing would you want your fans to get out of your music?

T: Whatever they want to see in it. We don’t want them to see anything. We want them to see what they see.

M: I think the idea behind music in general is to create a sense of escape. For me growing up, that’s what music was all about. So I think for us, we create an environment where kids can kind of forget about their problems for an hour.

T: It’s no fun being told what the song’s about. What does it mean to you? – That’s the question.

M: Yeah it’s left up to interpretation. I think if it’s spelled out for you it kind of ruins it in a way.

6. So After opening for bands all these years, how does it feel to finally be a headliner?

M: I think it’s great. We’re finally able to present 30 Seconds to Mars in a way that we’ve always wanted to. For five years we’ve been an opening band so…

T: Well deserved.

M: We’ve definitely worked for it and it’s definitely well deserved. I think it’s just going to grow from here.

7. Speaking of opening acts, ideally who would you like to open for you?

M: Instead of saying that…

T: Yeah it’s not about who’s going to open for somebody.

M: But if there was the ultimate bill, regardless of who’s opening or whatever…

T: Well I’d like to play with Pink Floyd. I think that would be cool just to stand on the side of the stage and watch that, you know? And Bjork…I’d also love to play with Dredg.

M: Yeah great band.

T: I think they’re one of the best bands out there. Dredg is an amazing band; way way way way underrated. Did I mention that I like Dredg a lot?

M: You did.

T: I just wanted to make sure.

M: Shannon likes them too.

T: I think the general consciousness of 30 Seconds to Mars is that we like Dredg.

M: We caught their live show at the Taste of Chaos and it was amazing.

8. I read in your bio that you wrote 40 songs for “A Beautiful Lie” and cut 30 out. Will your fans ever get to hear these? Maybe on a B-sides album?

M: Most likely not

T: Absolutely not.

M: It’s one of those things where they represent a certain point in time and we continue to grow and change so…

T: We’re just moving forward.

M: Yeah we’re just moving forward and constantly changing. We’re not going to try to recycle something that’s done…

T: …and wasn’t good enough from the start. If it wasn’t good enough, there was a reason for that. So instead of going back to those songs, we’ll just write new ones.

9. Also in your bio, you said after you’re done touring, you’ll be touring some more. What about after that?

T: We’d just tour.

M: I bet we’re gonna tour more.

T: How about that? So after touring, we’re going to tour some more. Now after that “some more,” there’s going to be touring “yet again.”

M: There are actually no plans to stop at the moment. We’re on this “Forever Night Never Day” tour right now, which takes us through the end of April…

T: Actually, “Forever Night Never Day” is officially booked through the end of May.

10. Who would you like to see next on Band of the Day?

T: Dredg.

M: Yeah Dredg.

Mattias: I kind of figured that.

T: Definitely Dredg because they’re not very big in Canada, so maybe you could help that. They’re one of the best bands in the world without question. Seeing them live is like seeing Radiohead. Or like seeing Pavarotti singing Aria.

It’s safe to say these guys are worthy of being headliners. Thanks to Thirty Seconds To Mars for doing the interview and for making music that’s more than just some mindless rock. Stick around kids; more 10 Q’s coming soon.

Sincerely,

The BotD Team