30 Seconds To Mars is an imaginative alternative rock band from Southern California. Their songs are at once revelatory and uplifting, filled with characters that battle with estrangement, psychosis and dark obsessions, while fancying their own escape from this world.
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30 Seconds to Mars started as a small family project in 1998, by two brothers Jared Leto, and Shannon, though within no time the family project grew. Matt Wachter joined the band as bassist and keyboard player and Tomo Milicevic joined as a guitarist. In 2002 the group came out with their self-titled debut album that was produced by Bob Ezrin. This album did not create any furor in the music world, it was welcomed with mixed reaction. In 2005 the band issued their sophomore album A Beautiful Lie produced by Josh Abraham. Before releasing the album, the band traveled widely to four different continents, including five different countries, to hone their music and also to allow for Jared's film career. But to the dismay of the band members the album was leaked 5 months prior to its official release date. So the band included two bonus tracks: "Battle of One" and "Hunter" to offer their fans something extra. The band put in "golden tickets" in 12 copies of the album to promote it. The "golden tickets" granted admission to any 30 Seconds to Mars concert free of charge, along with backstage entry. A year later the band bagged the MTV2 Award for "The Kill" at the MTV Video Music Awards. The music video is broadly based on the film The Shining. The album in spite of being leaked did pretty well in the market where it was certified platinum by the RIAA in January. The band embarked on the tour "Welcome to the Universe" which was supported by MTV2. Head Automatica, The Receiving End of Sirens, Cobra Starship, and several other bands including Street Drum Corps backed the band in their "Welcome to the Universe" tour. The video for "From Yesterday" is the maiden American rock video ever shot in its totality in the People's Republic of China. The music video is broadly based on the film The Last Emperor. They performed at a glittering and gala function during the Australian MTV Australia Video Music Awards on April 29, 2007, where they were nominated for three awards. They bagged just one award "Best Rock Video" and "Video of the Year" for "The Kill". The band has also issued songs other then their two albums.