Taking their name from a Harvard professor’s thesis on the connection of human beings to the “red planet,” 30 Seconds to Mars is alien compared to other acts popular today. 

On November 16, 30 STM performed at The Waterstreet Music Hall.  The band has been portrayed as rude, snobby and uncaring towards their fans but this is far from true.  They are just four guys, three of whom met in juvenile detention, trying to make music and do something that they love.

“Our goal as a band is to just create music that’s interesting, that’s provocative, that’s engaging,” bassist Matt Wachter said.  “”Something that’s not like everything else out there right now, hat’s not mundane.”

Wachter added that he wasn’t saying that there isn’t good music out now, just a lack of it.  30 Seconds to Mars is just trying to do something that is a little different.

“One thing that is really important to us,” drummer Shannon Leto said, “is not to be pigeonholed in any direction, and not cornered off.  If we want to do an acoustic album we’re going to do that.”

Enjoying being followed around by fans, the band is impressed by the size of the crowds that attend their shows.

“The crowds have been amazing,” Leto said.  “We started off playing in front of fifty people and it started building up from there.”  He also credits the media and opening for Puddle of Mudd and Incubus for helping their popularity and their exposure.

Wachter said that they would continue to tour over the course of the upcoming year and that their next single due out is “Edge of the Earth.”

Leto and Wachter don’t concern themselves with the stigma of being depicted in the press as “another actor turned musician band.”

“It’s a waste of energy to really concern yourself with that,” Wachter said.  “There are so many other things we have to concentrate on, it is just a waste of energy.”

“We let the music speak for itself,” Leto added.

The guys joked about how they spend their free time, when not touring.

“I like long walks on the beach and horseback riding in my spare time,” Wachter said.

Leto added, “Wearing a long blonde wig” and “eating chocolate.” In the end they agreed that they spend their time “naked, blonde wig, on a horse, and eating chocolate.”

The band has been discussing a new album but is focusing on promoting their current album, 30 Seconds to Mars and are not trying to let expectation bother them.