30 Seconds to Mars drummer Shannon Leto takes some time out from touring the world to chat about hosting dress-up nights, making epic videos, playing festivals and the future.
How has the tour been going?
It's going great, man.
How did the idea for having different theme nights on the tour come about?
We've always been interested in doing things a little different, getting the participation of our audience, sharing the experience and making it meaningful. And just having fun.
Have the audience been getting into the themes?
Oh yeah, people have been getting into it. We had "White Night", we've had "Doctor Night", where people are dressed up as nurses and doctors, we've had "Hurricane" night, that was interesting. You know what I'm talking about, right?
Yep, bet there were a lot of S&M style outfits that night. Speaking of the 'Hurricane' clip, was the reaction to it what you hoped it would be?
You know, it's everything that I thought it would be. Well, I didn't think it would get banned, but people are gonna see the video if they want to see the video, because it's on the internet. The unrated and the rated version are on there, and it's really all about the internet right now anyways. I love the video, my brother did an amazing job. He's the most creative and dedicated person I know and he really made an awesome short film.
Are you planning any more short films like 'Hurricane'?
Yeah, there's always plans and ideas that we want to implement, but right now we're just focusing on touring.
What do you like about festivals like Soundwave?
I love festivals. I love playing at a place where there's a bunch of bands. It allows us the opportunity to play in front of a lot people we wouldn't normally play in front of. It's a big party, everyone's having a great time.
What festival moments really stand out for you?
One of the first festivals we played was Rock Am Ring, that was pretty amazing - 130,000 people singing our song was pretty epic. With their fists up in the air. There's some of that in our video 'Closer to the Edge'. Pretty unbelievable, man. Festivals overall can be really, really exciting. The energy's like no other. Of course when you're headlining your own show that's the ultimate as well.
Speaking of 'Closer to the Edge', that was another grand idea for a video, how important is the visual element to what you do?
It is very, very important. We're a very visual band. We're not just a couple of guys up there playing instruments, you know. Everything is important to us, from the lighting, to the show, to the sound of the show, to the recording of the album, to the visual artwork of the CDs, to our online services, to our videos - I mean, everything.
The 'Closer to the Edge' clip seems to show that you're crossing over into new levels of popularity all the time - have you noticed this on tour?
I think we're so caught up in the inner workings of the tour that it's kind of hard to see that type of thing, but we definitely have felt the growth over the years. We definitely have felt the evolution. It's really exciting to us. I still have the thinking that I'm in a garage practicing, so I'm grateful for everything that's going on right now. First of all, I never even thought I'd have a song on the radio. It's pretty cool, man. It's pretty cool.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
You know what? I'm not sure. Maybe I'll start playing drums on the street, mix it up a little bit. I'll just be out there with my shirt off in the middle of summer. You know, with a bucket out there, me playing on different, uh, things. But really I just want to keep doing what we're doing. I just want to keep creating. That's when I'm the most happy, is when I'm creating music.
Are you working on any new material at the moment?
A little bit. We're just starting to, right now.
As a drummer do you constantly keep a beat in your head?
You know, it depends. Sometimes there's a beat rolling around, sometimes there's no beat. I don't have a constant drum solo goin' on my head though!
Is it true you practice 6 to 7 hours a day?
Yeah, I've been known to do that but I haven't been doing it lately. But yeah, I used to just go, go, go, go, go, go.
Finally, working with a sibling can go wrong for some bands, like Oasis, but you seem to really enjoy working with Jared still. Is that the case?
Yeah absolutely, we have a great working relationship. We don't get caught up in the ridiculousness of things. We know how to give each other space and we've been doing it for a while, so it's all good.
Jed Ahern
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