30 Seconds to Mars is an alternative rock band hailing from the USA, featuring actor Jared Leto as vocalist.

Band History

Created in 2000 by Jared Leto (Vocals and Guitar) and his brother, Shannon (Drums), 30 Seconds to Mars merely began as a small project. Things began to speed up quickly, however, and Matt Wachter later joined the band as bassist. After a small revolving door of guitarists (as the band's first two guitarists, Kevin Drake and Solon Bixler, left the band due to issues primarily related to touring), the three auditioned Tomo Milicevic to round out the band's roster. Milicevic also plays keyboards for the band.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly), even though Leto is a major Hollywood actor, he prefers not to use this information to "sell" the band. Actually, Leto hates attention given to himself more than the band so much that he refuses to play shows if they have used his name as a movie star to promote the band.

30 Seconds to Mars debut self-titled album, produced by Bob Ezrin, was released in 2002 to critical acclaim, yet it didn't sell much (the last released count was by the Billboard music charts on March 25, 2005, setting the debut at 102,000 copies sold in the United States alone).

The band hasn't given up, however, as a their second album, A Beautiful Lie, was released on August 30, 2005. For this effort, the band traveled (in the course of three years) to four different continents to perfect their sound and also to cater to Leto's film career. The album was produced by Josh Abraham, whose credits include the likes of Velvet Revolver and Linkin Park.

Because A Beautiful Lie leaked a full five months before its release, the band decided to include two new "bonus" tracks: "Battle Of One" (an original song that was also set to be the album's title track when it was first announced) and "Hunter" (a cover of the Björk song). To further promote the album, the band also enclosed "golden passes" in a select number of copies, which grant their owners access to any 30 Seconds to Mars concert free of charge along with backstage access.

Logo Translation

The bottom of the band's phoenix logo (which the band named "Mythra") bares the phrase "Provehito in Altum," the band's motto, which, translated from latin, means "Launch forth into the deep."

Band Members

Current Members

• Jared Leto (Vocals, Guitar)
• Tomo Milicevic (Guitar, Keyboard)
• Matt Wachter (Bass)
• Shannon Leto (Drums)

Former Members

• Solon Bixler (Guitar)
• Kevin Drake (Guitar)

Discography

• 30 Seconds to Mars (2002)
• A Beautiful Lie (2005)

Singles

Songs Featured in Movies

• Echelon (2003) (The Core)

External links

• 30 Seconds to Mars's official website