30 Seconds To Mars Interview

Written By Cary Barnhard

Having developed a rabid following and a scorching live show since their 2002 debut, 30 Seconds to Mars have proven themselves to be one of the most exciting live bands currently touring, sharing a rapport with their audience that has to be seen and felt to be believed. Additionally, singer/guitarist Jared Leto has done a little acting on the side. Heat Beat got a hold of Jared in between completing one of those little side gigs and kicking off 30 Seconds To Mars first headlining tour.

HB: You and your brother started playing music together when you were about 5?

JL: Yeah, it was somewhere around there. We've always just kind of played music, but he was kind of a prodigy drummer. And then we had like a drum set, like a pad practice set, it was pretty bizarre. He played everything from Jazz to Rock, whatever. It is something that we did since we were very, very young.

HB: And how did you get started playing?

JL: I played Classical piano for a number of years, but I always played a little bit of guitar and sang as well. I wasn't so much interested in it, I thought it was unattainable. But as I got older, I realized it was something that I could do.

HB: What made you change your mind?

JL: I think hearing and identifying with some bands when I was a little bit older, like Pink Floyd and Zepplin really started to change my interest and what I thought about music, and really just inspired me to want to make music. And my brother was always played in a lot of bands and was really into everything from Rush to Metallica. He was a metal head for a while there, back in the day! It was always around, playing in bands together. It grew and grew and grew. It was something that we always did privately and for ourselves, and at a certain point we discovered that there was a kind of completion to the process when you "gave the music away" and other people had "ownership". It became like a soundtrack to their lives and then they all come to this public room and share this very private experience. There's something really magical about that. So that really inspired us and pushed us to want to make a record, a collection of ideas.

HB: You have some very devoted fans&

JL: Yes, very passionate. Be careful, they will find out where you live (laughs)! Where are you?

HB: South Florida, the Ft. Lauderdale area.

JL: Oh, nice! Florida has been amazing for us. We've had an incredible time down there. The fans are very, very supportive and the shows are always really great! We play down there a lot, this year alone we've been there 2 or 3 times. But we do have a very, very special dedicated fan base, it's kind of unlike anything I've seen. There are people out there that feel so strongly about 30 Seconds To Mars that it kind of verifies that you have something to offer, and it's nice to get that!

HB: It seems like you really feel a connection with them.

JL: Yeah, I think so. I've played shows with 20 people and no one really seemed to give a f**k,, and I've played sows with a couple thousand people that are singing your songs and definitely that connection is something very, very special and we hold it in really high regard. I think it's kind of a defining part of what making music is about, hopefully hitting some chords in someone else that really takes the song to a different place that you never expected.

HB: And this is your first headlining tour?

JL: It is. We've played a lot of shows on our own over the years and we've done short little stints here and there. We'd become something of a professional opening band, which has been great. We've learned a lot, we've played with a lot of really talented people, everything from Lollapalooza to Audio Slave to Incubus. We've played everything from clubs to arenas, but this is our first time we're actually doing our own national, headlining tour. And it's really exciting to get out there and be able to deliver what you've always dreamed.

HB: You recorded "A Beautiful Lie" in different places all over the world?

JL: Yeah, this record was recorded in 5 different countries.

HB: How do you keep a cohesive feel when you're traveling around like that?

JL: There's that kind of clichéd bumper sticker saying, "Where ever you go, there you are." And I think that holds true for the creative process as well. Drop Jackson Pollack in China, I'm sure he'd be influenced by his surroundings, not to say that we are in any realm close to what that guy has to offer (laughs). But I just think that you get inspired by your surroundings, but you're ultimately the same person creatively and in a lot of other ways as well.