Alternative Rock
About :
Angels and Airwaves is a solo project created by blink-182 guitarist, Tom DeLonge. His friend and former Box Car Racer member David Kennedy, Offspring drummer Atom Willard and Distillers former bass-player Ryan Sinn are also members of Angels and Airwaves. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office DeLonge trademarked "Angels and Airwaves" on June 24, 2005 amidst the lingering confusion of blink-182's abruptly announced hiatus. Although no specific release date for an album has been set, DeLonge claims that his new project will be "the best music made in decades" as well as being "much more powerful, emotional and melodic than Box Car and blink put together".
In addition to this, DeLonge is currently directing a movie called "AVA" which may be released in correlation with his solo album. As of yet, the only known cast member in the movie is Michael Ostman. The movie may be released on January 20, 2006. It is rumored that Resting Bird Entertainment website will be releasing the movie. The countdown seems like it could be the countdown to the release of "AVA". The movie is a third documentary, a third love story and a third CGI," DeLonge explains."It's the story of the album, which is the story of the break-up of one of the biggest bands in the world and the creation of the world's greatest band."
DeLonge has appeared in various interviews to be very positive about this project, in an recent interview with Brittish magazine Kerrang! he has said the following about the band's beginning: "Just before all the blink 182 shit happened when we were in Europe, i has a really wierd epiphany. My heart was beating about 100 miles a mintue for three weeks straight and it had never happened to me before in my life. I really felt like i'd been touched by something and i felt i was meant to do something massive."
In the same interview he has given clues for what to expect: "It sounds like it has the conceptual depth of Pink Floyd, the anthemic architecture of U2 but with Tom from blink writing all the melodies. All the songs are very cinematic, anthemic and epic-sounding. The music sounds angelic. Every song gives you the chills and you feel like you want to cry but you're conquering the world at the same time. It sounds like stadium rock done by a band that's meant to be the absolute biggest band in the world."
Many blink-182 fans have been speculating what has become of the close friendship between members since the "hiatus". Tom has said the following: I love Mark and Travis to death. They were my best friends in the world, and I miss them tremendously. At the end, our priorities were mad different, and I haven't spoke to them since the "hiatus", So instead of talking, I just made this album and this film. There's a story line that runs throughout it, it's autobiographical, I felt like I lost my two best friends, I lost the band I created, and I did it all for my family. And so I decided to write the album and make the movie about my life. But rather than sit there and whine, I used analogies about love and war, because that's what this whole thing was like. Playing music in the wake of the Blink thing was like finding love in the middle of a war zone."
Althought DeLonge and his bandmates are still working on their debut album, which isn't expected to be released until April, an exclusive song will be made available through iTunes on December 13, 2005 - Tom's 30th birthday. "We're going to release a six-and-a-half minute song, a trailer for the movie and possibly a video, as well," DeLonge tells Kerrang!. "It will all be available through iTunes. The Song is called 'Valkerie Missile' and it's kind of a flagship track for the band. Choosing a song was hard for a day or two, because it will be the first thing people will hear, but we all came back to this one. It's really exciting and I can't wait for people to hear it."
"The songs are all six minutes long, and [the music] feels like you're going to cry but you put your fist in the air and you can conquer the world... It's build on a punk-rock foundation, but it definitely doesn't sound like Blink." Delonge sites this work as the most incredible music. Not only that he has written, but that he has ever heard. "Imagine if you were in a jet plane, soaring through the clouds. That's what it sounds like." The band hope to put a song online before Christmas, with the currently 10-song, 75 minute album following this April - concurrent with the movie of the same name hitting theaters.
History :
Formation and We Don't Need to Whisper: 2005-2006
Tom DeLonge began working on the debut album, We Don't Need to Whisper, shortly after Blink-182 began their hiatus in February 2005. As rumors were floating around about the band's "break-up", DeLonge chose to abstain for half a year from any interviews surrounding the issue and his future plans; instead he concentrated on writing and recording in his home-based studio. In September 2005, he finally spoke publicly in Kerrang! magazine, where he unveiled the name of his new band, "Angels & Airwaves". Upon fiddling randomly for several weeks with the band's logo, Tom suddenly realized that if he were to invert the middle "A" of the band 's acronym into what appeared to be a "V", he would have the name of his daughter, Ava.
Angels & Airwaves released their first single, "The Adventure", after a fan hacked into Tom's email account and stole four demos from the album. "The Adventure" was leaked onto radio stations, resulting in the band having to release it on May 18, 2006. They released their first album, We Don't Need to Whisper, a few days later on May 23, 2006. The album reached 4th on the Billboard 200, and went gold. The band toured for most of 2006 and then retreated to the studio at the end of the year to record the follow-up.
I-Empire: 2007-2008
On April 23, 2007, AVA announced that Ryan Sinn would not play at the Free Earth Day concert at the M.I.T. campus due to difficulties within the band. Following this incident, on May 15, Sinn posted on the Army of Angels fan club message board stating that he was "no longer a part of Angels & Airwaves," and had received a call on the evening of April 19 concluding his relationship with the band. Matt Wachter (former bassist of 30 Seconds to Mars), filled in for the show and was later confirmed as a permanent member.
The new album, titled I-Empire, a departure from the heavy effects found in We Don't Need To Whisper, wаs released on Universal/Island Records. I-Empire debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 9 with sales of 66,000 in its first week. It also reached number one on the iTunes Top Albums chart. The first single from the new album, "Everything's Magic", was leaked onto the internet, and on August 25, 2007 it was the most requested song on California radio station KROQ. Angels & Airwaves began streaming the song on their MySpace profile on August 28, 2007. It also became available on iTunes, and reached number three on the iTunes Rock Chart on September 11, 2007, before the song was even made available for nationwide airplay. The band shot the video for the single on January 20 and 21, and it premiered on MTV2 Unleashed on February 25, 2008 The band came out with a third single "Breathe" that was released onto the internet June, 20.
Angels & Airwaves performed at every location on Warped Tour 2008. They also underwent a Fall tour in support of Weezer.
LOVE: 2009-present
Love is the third studio album by Angels & Airwaves, which was officially released worldwide on February 14, 2010 after being delayed from Christmas 2009. Fuel.tv also released it two days earlier for Modlife members, along with Mark Hoppus' remix of Hallucinations available to those who donated when downloading the album.. The album was released free of charge due to "corporate underwriting" (The Hoppus remix can also be downloaded if an online donation of $0.01 or more is given to the band). They began producing it in January 2009 but progress was slow due to Blink-182 reuniting and going on tour. AVA finished the album in time for its release on Valentine's Day 2010 . The first single from the album, "Hallucinations," was made available for free through the band's Modlife on December 23, 2009. The band has shot the music video for "Hallucinations" and is set for release in the next few days (as of February 16, 2010).
Love was downloaded nearly 300,000 times during the first 48 hours after its Valentine's Day release
The band will tour North America, starting March 27 in Anaheim, CA. The journey, which touches down in 28 North American markets, wraps up May 28 in Las Vegas.
Members :
Tom DeLonge : Vocals , Guitar (2005-present)
David Kennedy : Guitar , Keyboard (2005-present)
Matt Watcher : Bass, Backing Vocals (2007-present)
Atom Willard : Drums, Percussions (20050-present)
Former Member :
Ryan Sinn : Bass, Backing Vocals (2005-2007)
