This Week

Last weekend, Thirty Seconds To Mars rocked Download Festival’s 30th Anniversary in the United Kingdom down at Donington Park, then heading to Germany for two nights of shows in Dortmund and Leipzig. After arriving in Finland for Provinssirock Festival, the Band hardly slows down as they then prepare to head to Sweden for Sunday’s Gothenburg Pier Festival.

Every week, 30 Seconds To Mars will be blogging their touring adventures for MTV Transmission. Here’s what the boys are up to this week!

This Week

After one stop in the Netherlands and a day off in France, Thirty Seconds To Mars headed to beautiful Switzerland to play at Caribana Festival. This weekend, the Band will be playing Download Festival in the United Kingdom, rocking the Ronnie James Dio Stage in Donington Park. Click here for the complete festival line-up, or visit the Band’s info page here.

Every week, 30 Seconds To Mars will be blogging their touring adventures for MTV Transmission. Here’s what the boys are up to this week!

THIS WEEK

Thirty Seconds To Mars played for huge crowds in Germany, including one hundred and twenty thousand who came out for the 25th Anniversary of Rock Am Ring.

Paramore (Photo: Aloysius Lim/Warner Music)

“Singapore, it’s nice to meet you!” shouted Hayley Williams to the packed Singapore Indoor Stadium last Sunday. The greeting has at least been five years in the making. For the thousands of teenage fans who queued up outside the venue as early as the night before, watching Paramore larger-than-life right before their very eyes was like, to paraphrase the lyrics from “Misery Business,” watching their wildest dreams come true.

Interview by Madeleine Chong

Hi JJ, tell us more about your latest album, 100 Days. I understand that the album was inspired by a dark time in your life – your vocal chord injuries and how you surmounted those odds. How has that affected your musical progression on this album?

My trials and tribulations have brought me through a journey of self-discovery and realization. Through it all I’ve learnt to face my problems directly and express myself more vividly, especially through the performance of this album’s music and recording. This album is no longer about how sophisticated and decorative my music can be (though it sometimes still is), but more of an honest testimony of how life has changed for me, and how for my dreams I’ve sacrificed a great deal of my time, my heart, and life, just to focus on the path that’s been paved for me.

There’s no escaping the phenomenon known as Justin Bieber. At age 15, this small town boy from Canada is practically everywhere! With Usher backing him all the way, Justin has charmed his way in millions of prepubescent hearts. We managed to grab a hold of Mr. Teenage Hot Stuff for some quick fire questions. Brace yourself and here goes!

Mention “super massive,” “epic,” and “grandiose” in the same breath when it comes to live performances and chances are, someone’s talking about Muse. Having won a slew of “Best Live Act” awards and with gargantuan stadium feats firmly etched in the minds of fans thanks to the far-reaching powers of YouTube, it’s no wonder the 11,000-strong crowd were incredibly psyched for Big Night Out 2010.

It took a while to get in, but once things got rolling, the event ended up being one of the biggest gigs in recent local rock history. It was a night full of mosh, energy, and good ol’ fashioned rock. Though, it didn’t have the brightest of starts.

Produced by LAMC Productions, Big Night Out 2010 featured headliners Muse, backed up by post-hardcore band Saosin, and punk rockers Rise Against. Needless to say, as we took our place in line to get into Pen A, it seemed 90% of the people seemed to be there for Muse – we even saw people buying Muse T-shirts and putting them on right there and then. Total tally for Rise Against/Saosin tees – 3. Ouch. Though to be fair, that was just Pen A – hopefully there were more in the other queues. We also noticed a fair number of high heels in the crowd, and made a mental note to stay far away from them once we got in – there’s nothing quite like a 5-inch heel coming down on your foot in the mosh pit.

“It’s important to fight sometimes so you can be free,” Jared Leto tells me in all seriousness. Fresh from attending the Sundance Film Festival 2010 and back in Los Angeles, the 30 Seconds to Mars (30STM) frontman was taking time out for a chat over the phone with MTV Asia.

Putting things into context, Jared was referring to the band’s uphill struggle in 2008 and 2009, especially with the grim prospect of the infamous $30 million Virgin label lawsuit hanging over their heads. It was a period where 30STM declared war, shed past baggage, enlisted an army of fans to leave their imprints on the new album, and basically marched on in a new creative direction.

Jared talks more about the album, coveting the elusive Obama album cover, turning the camera on Los Angeles for music video “Kings and Queens”, and wanting to tour Asia sometime this year.

Perhaps the most revealing insight into the nature of Adam Young (who records under the moniker Owl City) comes from a line in “Dental Care”, a track taken off his major label debut album, Ocean Eyes (2009). “I’d rather pick flowers, instead of fights,” he sings over a bouncy, upbeat melody. And that pretty much sets the tone for Owl City’s sound – a pure slab of dreamy electro-pop, slathered with an extra helping of rainbow sprinkles.

With sold-out live gigs across the US, Asia, and more touring on the cards, it’s a far cry from loading trucks in warehouses for Coca-Cola and working the graveyard shift for UPS, all of which Adam has done before. Adam takes time out from daydreaming about beaches, fireflies and hot air balloons to speak with MTV Asia via email on snowy owls, “XXL” gym shorts, and the ocean deep.

Boys Like Girls Live In Singapore (Photo: Hype Records)

“I gotta feeling. That tonight’s gonna be a good night,” crooned Martin Johnson, lead vocalist and guitarist of Boys Like Girls. The cover of the Black Eyed Peas’ hit single was definitely a great opener for their full-length debut show at the newly opened Compass Ballroom at Resorts World Sentosa on January 28.