If it has already been post, sorry.
let's say it's for the new peepsHere we go.
Thirty Seconds to Mars - Matt Wachter
By:Patrick
Matt: Hey, Patrick.
Hey, how are you doing?
I'm good, how are you?
I'm doing good thanks. I'm just waking up.
Your just waking up.
Yeah, I normally sleep pretty late during the day.
That's so weird. Today is actually the first day I got up before noon. I made an exception for Boston because I lived here for awhile. I wanted to get up so I could go see the old stomping grounds and experience the whole Boston experience once again. Take a little Duck tour....you know?
Hell yeah man, are you a Celtics fan?
I'm not a Celtics fan, I'm a Red Sox fan though.
Oh alright.
Word has it that Johnny Daymond might be coming out to the show tonight.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that.
First off, congrats on the new album, it rocks.
Thank you, thank you very much.
Yeah, no problem. How does it feel to back on the road supporting a new record?
It's really amazing. After starting close to two and a half years ago writing and recording the record its a nice departure to be out on the road and sharing the music with the people. It's a little frightening though all at the same time because after being gone out of the public eye for that long you never really know what to expect when you come back. We have a very strong and dedicated fan base and their still there and growing so its amazing. We are very pleased to be out and doing it again.
How are the kids reacting towards the new music?
Amazing. The response has been amazing due to file streaming networks. A lot of people have gotten the chance to listen to the new record already so its nice to see everyone singing along to all the songs. Its cool because when you get to go see a band and their playing a lot of new songs its...no matter how much you like the band its always a little weird because you never really...you know?
I know exactly what you mean there.
Its more enjoyable when your more familiar with the music and you can get into it and sing along.
At the same time though doesn't it kind of piss you off?
You know...its one of those things. Its that catch 22. You want your music to reach as wide of an audience as possible but at the same time kids need to realize that if they download... kids of been coming up to us and saying "Hey, I downloaded the record but I plan on buying it yet". They need to realize that if they do continue to download the music without buying it we might not be around to make another record you know. We still need to make some sort of income for us to continue to do this. Money just doesn't grow on tree's. Its one of those things where its inevitable, the music is going to get out there weather you want it to or not. Its kind of out of our hands.....our fans are very supportive. A lot of them make it known that they downloaded the cd and plan on buying it.
That's always a good thing to hear.
Yeah, it is. At the end of the day if we concern ourselves with record sales we'd make ourselves crazy. We just wanted to put out a great record and we believe that we've done that.
You guys have... you guys did a great job.
Thank you. Yeah, we're really proud of it. We put in a lot of hard work and we've traveled to great distances both in our minds and across the world to make it. Its something we're really proud of.
Minus "Attack" which song off "A Beautiful Lie" is getting the best response live?
Its hard to say because we're only playing a select few on this tour with Chevelle right now. We're playing "Attack"...we've been getting a great response from "The Fantasy" and the title track, "A Beautiful Lie". Those responses seem to be going over very well. We try to ease in the other tracks. Its a difficult thing to know...Do we play more new songs or do we play more old songs? Before it was pretty easy to decide when we would be doing our set list. Now our pallet has expended. Its nice because we get to mix it up.
How'd the title of the record come about?
That actually came about in South Africa. We were there for about a month writing and recording. I don't know if you've ever been there but if you ever get a chance to go there I'd highly recommend it. Its a beautiful country but at the same time its probably...the poverty over there is just heart wrenching. Your looking at million dollar homes looking over what they call townships over there. Which are literally tents and tarps that families live under that are lined up side by side that are like a stones throw away from these million dollar mansions. Its that kind of dichotomy that spawned the title track and the time of the record but it also has a lot to do with the promise of maybe I'm better tomorrow. We all keep pushing forward despite of what's going on around us (the things that bring us down). The human experience is filled with ups and downs but we continue to push forward despite us all.
Since ya brought up South Africa now I mine as well ask this now... I interviewed Dale from Seether awhile back...
Oh yeah....they are actually from there.
Yeah, I asked them about food there. Did you get a chance to try something called Bull Tong? I guess its some sort of jerky.
Its a jerky?
I guess so or at least its something like that.
No, we didn't but we tried bamboo and goats blood though. That was definitely a life changing experience. I think we are officially part of the (editors note: I have no idea how to spell this tribe) ___?__Tribe. Good luck trying to spell that one out. Its just such a beautiful country and the culture over there is just amazing. We were really fortunate to be able to spend so much time over there. If it wasn't for all these places that we traveled to the record wouldn't be what it is. If we were just cooped up in LA it would be much more of a closed off record. I think what gave it that quality was that we got to travel to so many places and we got to get out of our element. Our element being LA ya know. It would have been a lot more of an angrier record I think.
Do you think the surroundings you were in while writing and recording really come out in the music?
Oh absolutely, definitely. We actually met Jared in South Africa, he got over there before us and was writing some stuff. We went over there and the first song he played for us was "Was it a Dream?" and it was unlike anything he had ever written before. It was a total departure for us. We were all totally blown away by it and really excited about the new direction we were headed in. That pretty much got the vibe going for the whole experience.
Personally, at the moment I'm really digging the track "The Kill".
Thank you.
No problem man, do you have a favorite track off the record at the moment?
It changes for me all the time. Its really hard for me to just pick one. Its like having ten children and being asked which one if your favorite. You don't really want to piss off the rest *Laughs*.
Well at the moment....
At the moment I'd have to say "A Beautiful Lie". Now all the other one's are gonna get pissed off. *Laughs*
I know the title track was written over in South Africa but what were the other tracks written over there?
Yeah, "A Beautiful Lie", "Was it a Dream?" was written over there, "The Kill" wasn't actually written over there. "The Kill" and "Attack" were both songs that were scrapped. They were never supposed to be on the record. Those were songs we kind of reworked over in South Africa and kind of made them what they are now. A funny story too is that "Attack" , the song we kind of just wanted to forget about.....Josh Abraham, our producer kind of convinced Jared that we had to record that song. We were all like "No, No,No" but at some point the song changed our perception of the song changed but it ultimately it became the first song on the record and the single.
That was sixth question.
*Laughs* See, now I'm reading them onto you now. Yeah, he was great though. He really pushed us in the direction we were reluctant to go in at first but ultimately it was the best thing for us. Sometimes you need that extra set of ears to see the light I guess.
Did Jared write all the lyrics on this record?
Yeah, he writes all the lyrics. He is also the one who brings the structure and the ideas for the songs to the table. Then we all flush it all out and see what works and see what doesn't. Its been a great experience. On the first record it was Jared and his brother Shannon, they wrote and recorded... then myself and Tomo came on board and toured with them for that record and then we had the opportunity to work with them on this record which was amazing.
Which song off the record has the deepest meaning to you lyrically and why that song?
Ohhh...ahh that's a tuff one. God damn it, why do you have to ask such smart questions man? *Laughs* Damn, that's a tuff one. Each song has its....that's the thing with this record. Lyrically, its so much more revealing than the first record. Its something that I think draws on human emotion. Jared describes the first record as being more wrapped around the head and this one is more wrapped around the heart. He really went out on a limb and let his guard down. This one is much more revealing so I think this one is something everyone can relate to a lot more. Kind of like life in general. The ups and downs and the good moments and bad moments. So for myself every song kind of has draws on personal experience that I've gone through in each in its own unique way. I think everyone can take something different from it. Specifically, its kind of tuff for me. This might turn into an analytical session *laughs* and I don't want to burn you with my fucking baggage. *continues to laugh* Its ahh, I don't know. I think its ahh, I think every kid wants to listen to a record and be able to relate to it and for me that's what I get out of it. I can listen to these songs and lyrically I can pinpoint a time or place in my life. For me, that's why I got into music in the first place.
After the tour ends with Chevelle then ends with The Used what will you guys be doing?
Last I heard we have a bunch of radio festivals booked in the US. After that I think we'll be doing a headlining tour like small clubs, kind of like we did before the tour with Chevelle. On less something else comes up. Things are always changing so you never know what your gonna get.
Cool, tell your booking agent to bring you back to Madison and Milwaukee.
Oh yeah, we had a great time there. When we were in Milwaukee we stayed in the Jeffery Dahmer hotel.
Oh man, the Ambassador Hotel.
That is a fucking freaky hotel man. We didn't know about it till we actually checked in. From the outside it looks like a bomb went off. It just looks all dilapidated. They were remodeling on the inside and most of the floors weren't even finished. We were doing a little roaming around and we found out that's where Jeffery Dahmer took his meals back to. It was definitely not an easy nights sleep there.
Did you make it down to the pool room at The Rave?
NO BUT I heard about that pool though. This kid Max from Milwaukee was telling me there is a pool in the bottom of the venue that some dude apparently a janitor hung himself or someone killed themselves. So apparently the place is haunted.
Yeah, that's what I heard. I walked down there once with some people and there is this chair facing the corner of the room and if you sit in it or go near it your gonna have bad luck.
That's some Blair Witch Project type shit right there.
I was told by someone that works there that the drummer of Saliva sat in that chair and during their performance that night all the lights went out except the lights on him. I guess the band hasn't come back since.
No way, really? I guess I'm glad we didn't make it into the pool room. I got lost in that place just trying to find the bathroom. That place is just so enormous. Its like a maze in there but yeah, we'll definitely be back through the area.
This might be a weird question and I'm sure you've been asked it before but what's your favorite movie of Jared's?
I'm gonna go with "Requiem for a Dream".
If you could punch one person in the face and get off clean who would you chose?
I normally don't consider myself a mean person.... *Laughs* I'm getting all kinds of suggestions here. I'm gonna have to take a vow of silence here. I can't think of anyone I'd want to lay out right now. Let me get back to you on that. I'll e-mail you. That's one of those things I like to think through first.
If you could change one thing about the band what would it be and why?
I wouldn't change a thing and that's the honest to god truth. We've been blessed and all four of us have this gift to share this mission with each other. We're just really fortunate. Well, maybe my hair color. I've went through three different hair colors in the past week and now my scalp is officially fried.
Your hair is gonna fall out.
Yeah, that's what everyone is telling me. Its gonna happen though eventually so what can ya do.
Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Umm well if I mentioned this before but our record officially comes out on August 30th. It was originally supposed to come out on the 16th but we decided to rework a few things around. If you want to find out more about the band you can check out our website at http://www.thirtysecondstomars.com There you can find out everything you want to know about us and maybe even some things you don't know about us. We just want to say thank you to everyone that's been coming out to shows and sharing this experience with us.
Cool, thank you.
Thank you.
