Interview by Alexa & Mandy
July 2, 2006
http://www.thirtysecondstomars.thisisthehive.net
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Estrella: Could you please state your name and what you do in the band.
Tomo: My name is Tomo and I play the guitar.
Matt: I’m Matt and I play bass.
Estrella: How long have you been playing guitar for?
Tomo: I’ve been playing the guitar for about 10 years now.
Estrella: What inspired you to take up guitar?
Tomo: I don’t know, I think my dad’s Jimi Hendrix’s record, it was Live at the Isle of Wight and I saw him with that strap on the front cover with just his hands and I thought, “That looks pretty cool,” and then I discovered Metallica and that was it.
Estrella: Is 30 Seconds To Mars your first project?
Tomo: No, but this is my last project.
Estrella: When you were younger did you imagine yourself as a musician?
Tomo: I was bred to be a concert violinist, I started playing violin when I was 3 years old, so I’ve never known anything but music. If I didn’t become a musician, I would probably be living on the streets smoking crack.
Matt: I’d be sharing a cardboard box with Tomo.
Tomo: Exactly.
Estrella: What are some of your personal sacrifices you have made since you’ve joined 30 Seconds?
Tomo: Personal sacrifices, none really. I mean other than I don’t get to see my girlfriend as much because I’m on tour all year long but I’ve been doing this my whole life so nothing’s going to change. Just the amount of people in the crowd had changed, it’s just gotten bigger, that’s all.
Estrella: How has your views of people and friends changed since you’ve became a musician?
Tomo: Like I said, it’s been my life for so long so I can’t really remember.
Matt: Although, I do notice as we’ve gotten bigger, some friendships haven’t really changed but they try to get closer. You get some people who are saying you’re great friends but you really don’t know who they are.
Tomo: That actually happened the other night, a friend was at our show last night, that I hadn’t seen in a very long time, I really wasn’t in the mood to hang out and it’s not someone I really keep in touch with, he just happened to be there and he just got really angry and said things like, “Who do you think you are? Mr. Rockstar?”, and I was just like, I don’t need this, I really just don’t give a fuck at all.
Estrella: How has your tour been going so far?
Tomo: It’s amazing. It’s nice to see that the course of our labor over the last several years, pay off. It’s been amazing, it’s nice.
Estrella: Was it your decision to bring bands such as Aiden, Emanuel, June, and The Audition on tour with you?
Tomo: Every thing that happens with this band is our decision. There’s nobody making decisions for us.
Matt: Except for that Menudo collaboration. That wasn’t our idea.
Estrella: What are you plans for the rest of the summer or upcoming fall?
Tomo: We’ll be on tour for at least the next two years.
Estrella: Any plans to start writing a new record, even though your recent album is pretty new.
Tomo: We’re not thinking about that yet.
Matt: We have been playing around with some ideas but all of our main focus is what’s going on right now. There’s a lot more room to grow.
Estrella: Name three things to have with you on a desert island.
Tomo: Water, milk, eggs.
Estrella: You?
Matt: Ipod… juice, and a solar battery.
Estrella: Best Halloween costume you’ve ever worn.
Tomo: My birthday suit.
Matt: Gross.
Tomo: I’m going to change my answer, I did a halloween costume once where my head was a platter on a table. My best friend had a cardboard box for a refrigderator and we cut a hole in the middle and we put a table cloth and stuck my head in the middle, like a platter with blood all around it and we taped like glasses and stuff all on it and walked around with it on, that was my favorite one ever.
Matt: I don’t have any good… I must have been like a dragqueen or something.
Estrella: Are their any bands you would like to plug or promote during the interview that aren’t getting enough credit.
Tomo: Keating.
Matt: Dredg.
Tomo: Dredg.
Matt: Menudo.
Tomo: Keating, especially. They’re a band from Nashville, TN, you can get more info on them at their myspace page, it’s www.myspace.com/keatingband and they’re on tour right now with Flyleaf, we took them out for the last leg of our headlining tour, they are amazing.
Matt: Great band.
Estrella: Any closing statements?
Tomo: Nope.
Estrella: You?
Matt: Nope.
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