Shannon Leto (now 38)
I wanted to wish my favorite drummer a very Happy Birthday (3/9/08). I know I’m a day late and will probably be rolled in the parking lot after work today by a hoard of 30STM fans. I apologize, unreservedly, for my late post. And if any of those fans care to tell me exactly where Shannon appears in “Highway” I would be very appreciative.
For all of you 30STM fans out there, I read this today. I can’t verify that it’s true but I suspect most (if not all) of it is. This video was filmed entirely 200 miles into the Arctic in Greenland with no green screen effects. It’s aim is to show the decline of arctic ice and how it is affecting the Earth.
The crew refused to set foot on the glacier because it was deemed too dangerous
The weather was so cold that taking your hood off for a minute could result in frostbite. Their hoods were off for the entire video.
39 hours of film were shot. 5 minutes of slow motion were used, all and all about 1:59 of footage.
It was filmed from a helicopter by amatures, because of the dangerous conditions on the actual iceburg
The black lines you see in the video are huge slits in the ice. Thousands of others are unseen. The glaciers were literally breaking under their feet.
If you look closely during part of the video you can see pools in the glaciers. These are water pools from the glacier melting.
At one point (Though edited out) Jared slips and starts to fall down the slippery hill. He saves himself about 20 feet from falling off the cliff.
It took almost a year to plan, took a week to film, and 6 months to edit.
Jared directed, (partially) paid for, and edited the video himself. He edited it on 3 different countries while filming his new movie Mr. Nobody.
The original idea was to film in Antarctica, and the crew wanted it filmed on a green screen. Jared refused to back down and Greenland was eventually chosen for the video (And no green screen was ever used)
The idea of the video was to show the world what we’re losing by not caring about the environment. These beautiful glaciers are melting, and aren’t only effecting those who live by.
The band had to carry all of their own equiptment on and off of the helicopter. In the scene with the flags, the helicopter caused so much wind that Shannon’s drum set would go flying 30 feet away.
192 kinds of insurance were required to shoot the video.
It was so dangerous that the helicopter crew said if not returned to the chopper at a certain time, they would leave without them and the band would have to sleep on the glacier.
When Jared got the tapes to edit, the company gave him the wrong playback machine. He had to pay thousands of his own dollars to rent the correct machine.
For every pound of carbon emissions, they purchase green tags to offset the environmental damage.
And the most honorable thing of all, after shoveling barels of his own money into this video, EVERY DIME FROM THE PROCEEDS OF THIS VIDEO GO TO THE NRDC (natural resources defense council)
Here are some screenshots from this spectacular video…
30 Seconds to Mars
The song is “A Beautiful Lie” and this is a beautiful video. The cinematography and scenery are both stunning. And not only that but they’ve got a new website in conjunction with The Natural Resources Defense Council all about conservation and living green. There are some great tips and links to help everyone go green. And of course, for all of you 30STM fans, there are some great photos of the shoot in Greenland . The motto on the logo on this page says “Sussisto Procul Nusquam”. As far as my limited Latin abilities will allow, I have decided it says “Never Exist At A Distance” or some permutation thereof. If anyone has a more accurate translation, please share. Go here and watch the new video. It’s truly a work of art.
Turn This Off Right Now and Go Outside and Breathe. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Shannon Leto
Heads up 30STM fans. Shannon Leto was at the NAMM Convention yesterday. Hope you had a chance to say hello. Now I realize that the pic is huge, but I know 30STM fans and they wouldn’t have it any other way. (If you can’t see it all, save it and look at your leisure).
NAMM is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads and strengthens the $17 billion international musical instruments and products industry. NAMM’s activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages. NAMM is comprised of approximately 9,000 Member companies.
30 Seconds to Mars
Tidings of great joy for 30STM fans. They’ve just won FUSE’s Best of 2007. FUSE fans were asked to vote for their favorite bands in a series of elimination rounds and the last band standing is my personal fave….30 Seconds to Mars. Congrats to the guys and to the die hard Echelon members who all voted until their fingers bled.
My Masterpiece
This is fun. I typed in “30 Seconds to Mars” and after a few tries and adjustments, came up with the above image. You can “sign” your work and you can choose to incorporate between 2 and 8 images. Type in anything and create! Go here.
This is a fun little year end poll from Kerrang readers but it seems they can’t make up their minds. You may notice that Jared Leto is the biggest villain of the year and the 3rd place hero/sexiest man of the year. 30 Seconds to Mars is the 3rd best and worst band of the year. Gerard Way is a villain and a hero. About being disqualified from the Sexiest Female category Jared had this to say.
From the Kerrang website:
Anyway, Jared Leto has just e-mailed K! to say he finds the whole thing extremely funny.
“That’s fucking hilarious!,” writes Leto. “Maybe next year you guys can make an exception for Gerard and I?”
Leto, who came third in the Hero Of The Year category and first in the Villain Of The Year category, while his band came third in both the Best Band of 07 and Worst band of 07 categories and first in Best Video Of The Year and Best Single Of The Year categories (both for The Kill) also wishes everyone who voted all the best for the new year.
“I hope all the Kerrang! readers are great and please send them a warm happy X-Mas, boxing day, and merry kwanza from the band.”
I’m a fan of both so I’m glad to see Jared has a good sense of humor. Hero or Villain – make up your minds…
Jared Leto and Gerard Way
Villain Of The Year:
1. Jared Leto - 30 Seconds to Mars
2. Pete Wentz - Fall Out Boy
3. Gerard Way - My Chemical Romance
4. Marilyn Manson
5. Ian Watkins – Lostprophets
Best Band:
1. My Chemical Romance
2. Lostprophets
3. 30 Seconds to Mars
4. HIM
5. Fall Out Boy
Worst Band:
1. My Chemical Roamnce
2. Bring Me The Horizon
3. 30 Seconds To Mars
4. Linkin Park
5. Elliot Minor
Best Album:
1. HIM - Venus Doom
2. Enter Shikari - Take To The Skies
3. Machine Head - The Blackening
4. Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold
5. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
Hero of The Year:
1. Ville Valo - HIM
2. Robb Flynn - Machine Head
3. Jared Leto - 30 Seconds to Mars
4. Ian Watkins - Lostprophets
5. Gerard Way - My Chemical Romance
Sexiest Male:
1. Ville Vallo - HIM
2. Ian Watkins - Lostprophets
3. Jared Leto - 30 Seconds to Mars
4. Ray Torro - My Chemical Romance
5. Frank Iero - My Chemical Romance
Best Video:
1. 30 Seconds to Mars- The Kill
2. My Chemical Romance - I Don’t Love You
3. Fall Out Boy - This Ain’t A Scene…
4. Foo Fighters - The Pretender
5. Paramore - Misery Business
Best Single:
1. 30 Seconds to Mars - The Kill
2. My Chemical Roamnce - Teenagers
3. Foo Fighters - The Pretender
4. Paramore - Crushcrushcrush
5. Enter Shikari - Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour
Best New Band:
1. Madina Lake
2. Elliot Minor
3. The Blackout
4. The Ghost Of A Thousand
5. The Sleeping
Worst Album:
1. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
2. Fightstar - One Day Son This Will All Be Yours
3. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
4. Angels and Airwaves - I-Empire
5. Paramore - RIOT!
Best Live Band:
1, Muse
2. My Chemical Romance
3. Machine Head
4. Lostprophets
5. Foo Fighters
Sexiest Female:
1. Pandora
2. Amy Lee - Evenescence
3. Hayley Willaims - Paramore
4. Tarja Turunen
5. Lyn-Z - Mindless Self Indulgence
“A Beautiful Lie” will premiere on MTV on December 30, 2007. Get your DVRs ready to roll.
Last night I watched the MTV EMA awards. I was pleased to note that it was a much better program than we usually get from the U.S. MTV awards. Snoop Dogg was the MC of the program and did a nice job. I know that the audience appreciated him.
Snoop Dogg
Dave Grohl was wonderful. He was in charge of filler spots with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. They have a great sense of humor and that’s critical in filler spots. The Foo Fighters opened the show with “The Pretender”. It was an inspiring performance and the crowd was ready to go.
Dave Grohl
Avril Lavigne performed very well with her hit “Hot”. She was truly on her game. It’s not the style of song I usually like, but she performed it so well and it is a catchy song. I’ll have to give her this one.
Avril Lavigne
Then the highlight of the evening for me…30 Seconds to Mars won the “Rock Out” award. Jared Leto accepted this exhibiting his usual charm.
Jared Leto
My Chemical Romance performed “Teenagers”. They always do so well live and this was no exception. They completed the feel of the song with a stage full of surly teens and cheerleaders in gas masks. I have to wonder, does Gerard Way ever have an off day? (I apologize unreservedly for that unfortunate yet unintentional rhyme).
My Chemical Romance
Jon Heder presented the award for “Solo Artist” and it’s obvious that Munich loves him as much as I do. He showed us all once again why he is and always will be Napoleon Dynamite (and was reminded by several women in the crowd who were screaming, “We love you, Napoleon Dynamite!”)
Jon Heder
One of my new favorites, Muse, got the award for “Best Headline”. I’m not sure what that means but I like them and I’m glad they won it (whatever it is).
Muse
And the icing on the cake for me was discovering a band I had heard nothing from. I had heard of them, but nothing by them. Tokio Hotel received the award for “International Act” (beating my beloved 30STM) but they also performed for the last song of the show. They did “Monsoon” which I thought was a really good song. You can see the performance here. Lead singer, Bill Kaulitz, has a wonderful silky smooth voice (at least in this song) and while the instrumentation was simple, it was very moody. The rainfall toward the end of the song was a nice touch and completed the mood of the song. I will definitely have to look into more Tokio Hotel. I guess if 30STM had to lose to someone, it may as well be these guys.
Tokio Hotel
I’d love to write more about the program because it was a lot better than what we usually do here in the U.S. I’m sorry to say it but it’s true. However, my mentally challenged pooch is in the catbox again and I can’t go on….
The European MTV Awards are on November 1st and there are only 11 more days to vote.
The categories 30 Seconds to Mars are in are “Rock Out” and “International Act”. As we say in the Echelon, “vote til your fingers bleed”.
Link: http://ema.mtv.co.uk/voteNow#/rock-out/
