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Angels & Airwaves

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Angels & Airwaves

Angels and Airwaves (AVA) is a band that was formed by former Blink-182 and Box Car Racer guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge after he left Blink-182. The band includes the Over My Dead Body, Hazen Street and Box Car Racer guitarist David Kennedy, ex-Distillers bassist Ryan Sinn, and current Offspring drummer Atom Willard. AVA released their first single, "The Adventure", on May 18, 2006 and their debut album, We Don't Need to Whisper, on May 23, 2006.

Formation

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, DeLonge trademarked the name "Angels and Airwaves" on June 24, 2005 amidst the lingering confusion of Blink-182's abruptly announced "indefinite hiatus". DeLonge quickly recruited friends and fellow musicians David Kennedy, Ryan Sinn and Atom Willard to round out the band's roster. All members reside in San Francisco, California

In an interview with British magazine Kerrang!, DeLonge commented about the band's beginning:

Just before all the Blink-182 stuff happened when we were in Europe, I had a really weird epiphany. My heart was beating about a hundred miles a minute and so I started this band.[1]

Debut

Originally, "Valkyrie Missile" was slated for release via iTunes on December 13, 2005, DeLonge's 30th birthday. However, due to discussions with their record label, Geffen, the band decided to push the release date back to a later date. Instead, the Angels and Airwaves website produced the first ever glimpse at the movie currently in production, a one-and-a-half minute long trailer featuring portions of the delayed song.

Angels & Airwaves released both a music video and a short film for their first single, "The Adventure"; the band also released a short film for "It Hurts" via the band's official website. Both are short sci-fi films and together form the first part of a proposed ten-part series, following the cast's struggle through an unfamiliar world. On October 3, 2006, the band released the third installment in the series, "The Gift".

File:Avacdcover.jpg
Angels & Airwaves' debut album We Don't Need to Whisper

"Do It for Me Now" was released as the second single in the US, while in the UK "It Hurts" was released as the second single. The music video for "It Hurts" is the short-film released on April 18th and was available to select on the UK music television channel Kerrang!.

The band played numerous one-stop dates including the UK's Give It a Name festival in April 2006. The band also played on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 15, 2006.

They also performed two shows at London's Hyde Park and the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester supporting the Foo Fighters on their successful In Your Honor tour in June 2006.

They later embarked on their first full-length tour, which was headlined by Taking Back Sunday and supported by Head Automatica and The Subways.

Before the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, DeLonge revealed news about the current events of the band. "The War" would be the next single to be released and the short film was released October 27th, 2006.

Star of Bethlehem

Furthermore, in September, on a MySpace bulletin, DeLonge revealed the band had recorded a new song, which is over 8 minutes long, called "Star of Bethlehem". The band debuted the song at a concert in Brisbane, Australia on October 19, 2006. The full song can now be heard on the band's MySpace, and an edited four minute version is included on the KROQ 2006 Christmas CD.

Live performances of the song can be viewed here :

Future plans

Among the plans for a big future, AVA have announced they are planning on releasing a film involving their music tentatively titled "AvA". The World War II-based movie is being created primarily through the use of CGI. The "story" is apparently based upon DeLonge's own life and will give viewers insight into the hiatus of blink-182. Currently, the only known cast member is Michael Ostman. The band is writing the script for the new movie and filming for this is currently underway [1].

Recently, MTV asked Tom about the future of the band. DeLonge stated that the next part of his three-to-five year process would be revealed sometime this year. "It's bigger than just the band itself. It's a mixture of my businesses and the band, and when people laugh and say, 'Oh, yeah, what a big revelation that was!' ... they have no idea. I have access to developing this record far beyond what people can understand,"[2]

The band are scheduled to play on the Main Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festival in the UK in late August 2007. (+44), the band containing the other two members of blink-182, will also play at the festival. It is unlikely the three former members will come face to face for the first time since the split because the two bands are playing on different dates.

Angels and Airwaves is currently back in the studio preparing its sophomore album. Resting Bird is working on "a new video that will introduce all of AVA's fans to the new album... Before any video updates are posted from the studio, you will see a visual representation of what this album is about."[3]

Experiencing music

Tom DeLonge stated in his PR Editorial Review:

So preachy, I know. And I don't mean for it to be. I wanted it to be the recording of an emotional event in my life. I love the idea of an album doing that, because I knew that if I could get 15,000 people in an arena to have the same feeling at the exact same moment, it would end up feeling like a religious event. I really want the room to be dark, with black light or a candle. People should have headphones on, and they should be really comfortable, maybe sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed. I spent a year and a half working on this record, trying my hardest to give people a moment of escapism. All I ask is 50 minutes of a lowered heart rate.[4]

Band Members

Other Personnel

Discography

Albums

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label UK Album Chart Peak Position UK sales US Album Chart Peak Position US sales
File:Avacdcover.jpg
 May 23 2006 We Don't Need to Whisper Geffen Records 6 100,000+ (Gold) 4 500,000+ (Gold)[5]

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Pop 100 UK Singles Chart
2006 "The Adventure" 55 5 51 20 We Don't Need to Whisper
2006 "It Hurts" (UK) - - - 59 We Don't Need to Whisper
2006 "Do It for Me Now" (US) - 21 - - We Don't Need to Whisper
2006 "The War" - 19 - - We Don't Need to Whisper
2007 "The Gift" - - - - We Don't Need to Whisper
  • "The War" is the theme song for the MTV reality football show "Two-A-Days" and has also been used as background music during select televised PGA events. It has also been featured in one of the videos on YouTube to get NHL defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick to the NHL All-star game.
  • In the 2006 NFL Opening Night Game, the instrumental intro for "The Adventure" was used while the Pittsburgh Steelers introduced members of their previous Super Bowl winning teams. This song was also played in an introduction to the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals on Fox prior to game 7 of the NLCS in 2006
  • ABC and ESPN promotional commercials for the 2006 FIFA World Cup included the instrumental opening of "The Adventure".
  • In his ESPN NHL Season Preview, John Buccigross used a verse from "The Adventure" to describe the Chicago Blackhawks.
  • "The Adventure" is used as the background music in the trailer for the film Chasing Temptations starring Hayden Christensen and Mischa Barton. It was also used in the trailer for In The Land Of Women, which stars Mischa's fellow O.C castmate, Adam Brody.

Coincidentally, the song was used in a promo trailer for the final episode of the third season of the O.C

  • They recently placed a live show in the Windows Vista Launch Party in Times Square.
  • "The Adventure" was used as background music on ESPN's The Ultimate Highlights during Sportscenter.
  • "The Adventure" was played as the background music for a commercial for the new show, The Lot.
  • "The Adventure" reached number 33 on Toronto's 102.1 The Edge '102 of 2006' year end countdown.
  • "The Adventure" was one of the main songs at VF-213 Blacklions Final Tomcat Cruise DVD
  • "The Adventure" instrumental is used in the opening segment of the Elvis Duran & The Morning Zoo radio program each weekday morning.

Trivia

  • The album cover for We Don't Need to Whisper was stated by Tom to represent "the infinite potential of a human being."
  • When beginning the recording sessions, "We Don't Need to Whisper" were the first words DeLonge said into a microphone when testing to see if everything was working correctly.
  • The band performed "Star of Bethlehem" at their most recent concerts, and it was released on Kevin & Bean's Super Christmas CD, although the version featured is only 5 minutes long instead of the uncut 8 minute version from their MySpace.
  • The meaning behind the name AVA: Tom DeLonge was driving in his car trying to think of a name for his band and he thought of the name Angels and Airwaves. Abbreviated it is AAA. Tom has a daughter named Ava, and if he replaced the middle 'A' in AAA to a 'V' it would be his daughter's name. Also, you might see AVA making the 'V' look like an upside down 'A'.

References

  1. ^ http://www.tomsangels.com
  2. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1543359/20061017/angels_and_airwaves.jhtml?headlines=true#/news/articles/1543359/20061017/angels_and_airwaves.jhtml?headlines=true
  3. ^ http://angelsandairwaves.com/
  4. ^ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F8DTDC/002-7841736-2419234?v=glance&n=5174
  5. ^ http://www.huliq.com/15688/ge-and-mtvu-award-m-i-t-students-with-25-000-eco-grant
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