Leto reached out to De Havilland over EMI lawsuit (ContactMusic.com)

JARED LETO is planning a trip to visit veteran Hollywood star OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND in France - because she helped in his multi-million dollar lawsuit against record giant EMI. The rocker and his group 30 Seconds To Mars were sued by the parent company of their label Virgin Music for $30 million (£20 million) in 2008 over claims they failed to produce an agreed number of albums.
The band refused to buckle to the demands of industry bosses and fought back, eventually settling the case earlier this year (09).

Leto has credited De Havilland with the victory, because the Gone With The Wind star set a legal precedent by fighting her contract with movie house Warner Bros. in the 1940s.
De Havilland won a lawsuit against the film power house which lead to service contracts in California being ruled invalid after seven years, and30 Seconds To Mars' lawyers used the "De Havilland law" to resolve their case.

The actor-turned-musician contacted the 93 year old during the lawsuit and was delighted when she agreed to meet him and subsequently struck up a correspondence, offering advice about the case.
And Leto was so touched by De Havilland's help, he's planning a special trip to visit her at her home in Paris, France.
He says, "The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the 'De Havilland law' after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros. We used the same statute to resolve our lawsuit... I'm going to visit her in Paris to thank her."

Thanks to ContactMusic.com

Q&A: Leto's 30 Seconds to Mars on new creative plane

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - 30 Seconds to Mars, the alternative rock band formed by actor Jared Leto and his brother Shannon, has kept busy since its 2005 studio release, "A Beautiful Lie," selling more than 3 million albums and singles, touring the world and recording a new album.

The band is also fighting a $30 million lawsuit filed last year by Virgin/EMI over 30 Seconds to Mars' termination of its contract, in which the band cited a California law that governs the ability of entertainers to end their contracts after seven years. The band countersued the label in the fall, alleging breach of contract and "creative accounting" that it says resulted in unpaid royalties. There isn't yet a release date for the new album, but the band and producer Flood talked to Billboard about what to expect.

Billboard: What experiences did you have on the road that you brought into this album?

Shannon Leto: There's a song that we have that encapsulates the sound of 30 Seconds to Mars these days, called "Kings and Queens."

Jared Leto: I had written a verse right as we were going to the airport -- I literally almost missed the flight because I picked up the guitar and this song came out. You have that moment of discovery that's exciting.

Billboard: Flood, what was it like working with these guys, compared to working with the Smashing Pumpkins and other bands?

Flood: Every band I've worked with brings something unique. These guys wanted to move into a different place, and that's always a big challenge. They've established themselves very firmly in one arena, but when Jared first talked to me, it was about trying to make a "classic album." And that's by pushing themselves and me and all of us to a place that you may not have expected to go.

Jared Leto: He has a karmic ability to be with bands at pivotal moments in their creative lives. And I said to him that I really felt like that is where we were at as a band, ready to take new chances and ready to challenge ourselves in ways we hadn't before. And I think all the years on the road, all the years of struggle, the battles we've fought, have really helped make us who we are. We were ready to say something unique in creative terms and Flood was the perfect person to help us achieve those goals.

Billboard: In light of the lawsuit that Virgin filed against the band, how do you insulate yourself from that strife?

Jared Leto: You can't. You try. But we always felt, and we still feel, like it was the right thing to do, because what we fought for and what we're still fighting for is fairness and for what we believe is right. It's interesting that all of this is happening along with the madness of the financial crisis, the creative challenges, the lawsuit. It's an intense time, and I think you can feel that on the record.

Billboard: Where are you right now with the lawsuit? Is it close to a resolution?

Jared Leto: You never know with these things. Some days you think there could be a resolution, and other days you prepare yourself to take it all the way. It's dependent on a lot of moving parts. We certainly have always been a band that has had a very rewarding, and more than civil, and enjoyable relationship with our record label and the people in our lives that we've done business with. We've always been really, really grateful. But there came a time with (EMI), where it just didn't make sense for us to continue moving forward with the conditions that were there, and I think any reasonable person (looking) at the facts and the options would readily agree.

Billboard: Will you end up releasing this album independently?

Jared Leto: There is a very real possibility of that. We're looking at all our options, and there are some wonderful, really exciting options out there, and we're really grateful for that.

Billboard: The band has become popular in many countries. How do you explain that global appeal, regardless of language and culture?

Flood: Watching them at a few concerts, it seems to be that people who are disaffected or don't fit into normal groups seem to feel a sense of attraction to this band, because they don't feel as though they're outsiders.

Jared Leto: It's more the collective consciousness than it is just us. We really share ownership. I really believe that our fans have a sense of how much this means to us as well, that we're not just chasing a single or an album or just a song or a piece of merch or a party. They know this runs deep, and it's everything for us.

Source: Reuters.com
Thanks to Morrigan and the Official 30STM BBoard

30 Seconds To Mars May Giveaway New Album (Rock Sound)

30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto has spoken to Rock Sound about the release plans for the band's third album. The group are currently recording in Los Angeles with British producer Flood despite an ongoing $30 million dollar lawsuit with their former record label.

''Anything can happen, you never know what the future will hold,'' Leto admits to Rock Sound as the band's plans remains clouded by the ongoing legal conflict. ''Maybe we will just throw our new album on the internet and see if anybody wants to take it. We have never made a penny from selling a record anyway so why would it matter to us?''

Rock Sound can also confirm that two new songs have been titled 'Kings And Queens' and 'Hurricane'. For more exclusive news about 30 Seconds To Mars make sure you check out future issues of Rock Sound.

Source: RockSound.tv

30 Seconds To Mars Consider Free Album

Jared Leto’s angst-ridden rockers are considering giving their third album away for free. Their former record label, however, are having none of it…

30 Seconds To Mars are currently putting the final touches to third album, ‘This Is War’, and frontman Jared Leto has said they are considering giving it away for free. The sky-scraping arena rockers have enlisted British producer and former U2 cohort Flood to help them finish the record. Speaking to Rock Sound magazine, the actor turned rocker said:

''Anything can happen, you never know what the future will hold. Maybe we will just throw our new album on the internet and see if anybody wants to take it. We have never made a penny from selling a record anyway so why would it matter to us?''

The news follows the revelation that Virgin, the band’s former record label, are suing them for breach of contract. The company is claiming that the band have refused to deliver three albums as required by the contract.

Source: http://www.xfm.co.uk

30 Seconds To Mars In 'Good Spirits' Despite $30 Million Lawsuit (MTV.com)

'The great news is the music is better than ever,' frontman Jared Leto says of upcoming album.

Jared Leto isn't going to let a little thing like a $30 million lawsuit slow him or his band, 30 Seconds to Mars, down. In fact, if anything, it's made them even more prolific.

According to Leto, 30 Seconds to Mars have been hard at work on the yet-to-be-titled follow-up to 2005's A Beautiful Lie, for which they've enlisted the talents of British post-punk producer Flood (Nine Inch Nails, Sigur Rós). Even though there's a $30 million rain cloud looming overhead, Leto said the band's in "good spirits" and that they're "working together as a band better than we ever have before," and are feeling more inspired than they have in years.

"Our only concrete goal is to make something amazing, and something that we're proud of, and something that's fulfilling and challenges us," Leto told MTV News recently. "We really try to just collectively participate in a creative experiment that hopefully ends up being something we're really proud of. But when you're in it, you can't help but be 1,000 percent focused on what's going on in that time. That's why I like making music so much, because it really commands your entire being. It takes all of you. And when you're making it with other people as well, it's a really unique experience. It's really making an actual 'record' of this time in our lives, and it's saying something in creative terms about who and what we are — our thoughts, our fears, our hopes, our dreams."

Leto claims that this new LP is inspired by a number of life experiences he's been through, and that the band has been able to evolve from A Beautiful Lie, making this next record his favorite effort to date.

"We've had this phenomenal experience travelling the world, and as you come into contact with different cultures, different people, you can't help but be influenced by that in some sort of way," he said. "I think this record is about faith, about spiritual matters, and that just happens to be what we're thinking about and talking about in our lives right now. I said when the last album came out that I wanted to destroy the first record, which I think we did. We took a dramatic turn from the first to the second, and I think this new record follows that path. It's exciting to us, and we're really passionate about it."

Of course, the $30 million lawsuit — filed by the band's former label, Virgin Records, back in August — is still pending, and Leto freely spoke about the suit that contends the guys failed to produce three of the five records they were obligated to deliver under their 1999 contract, which the band entered into with the now-defunct Immortal Records.

In 2004, Virgin took over that contract, which the band later "repudiated," claiming that they were "excused from such performance from and after July 4, 2008, pursuant to California Labor Code Sec. 2855 (a)." That law mandates that a contract "may not be enforced against the employee beyond seven years from the commencement of service under it."

"It's our first lawsuit," he joked. "When you have a $30 million lawsuit against you, it's part of your life. Some days you feel invincible, and other days you can be obsessed with it. Some days you can get a little pissed. We've always had a phenomenal relationship with our record company. We have been sued for terminating our record contract, and, really, for exercising our legal right. We've been signed for over nine years now, and under California law, you can't be bound to a contract for more than seven years."

Leto said the band will challenge the filing, because in his opinion, the suit doesn't have legs.

"It's all about fairness," he said. "It's about companies treating artists fairly. It's an age-old debate and, unfortunately, it will probably continue into the distant future. Record companies — and in particular, EMI — want their bands to work for free. They want their bands to work for slave wages. We would do this for free, because we love doing this — but there's a principle there. We feel really confident that this is the right thing to do — to confront this and not shy away, not to be scared, to challenge the status quo. The great news is the music is better than ever. We're making the best album we've ever done."

By Chris Harris

Shannon Leto (ModernDrummer.com)

"Music is a language," says 30 Seconds To Mars drummer Shannon Leto, "and I grew up with that language. I haven't had any schooling whatsoever, but because I grew up with music all around me, I just got it. Our music may sound technical, but it's all done through feeling and emotion."

The emotional playing that pours through on the band's self-titled debut started during pre-production. "We had to feel each song live," Leto says, "so we massaged the songs quite a bit, and it was definitely an important factor. As soon as we went into the recording process, I had the songs down. Then I could add things that would come off the top of my head."

To get Leto's drum tracks to cut through the multiple layers of guitars and sound-design effects, his kit was tuned very high. "All the guitars were EQ'd really low," Leto says, "so my tracks cut through a lot better with a higher tuning." As for equipment, Leto plays Sonor drums with Remo Pinstripe heads and Sabian cymbals. He used a trio of snares in the studio, including a Ludwig Black Beauty, a Noble & Cooley, and a vintage Ludwig. Leto also plays two 20" bass drums.
("I like the tones of two different drums," he explains).

Source http://www.moderndrummer.com/updatefull/200001386

Press release from EMI Ireland

From Munich to Mars in 30 Seconds!

Source: Boardforce.net

Jared Leto and his band 30 SECONDS TO MARS will play at the Nokia Air & Style 07 in the Olympic Stadium Munich aside from THE HIVES and SEAN PAUL.
 
Munich, October 22nd 2007 – 30 SECONDS TO MARS is the name of the last of three top music acts that will perform on December 1st at the Nokia Air & Style 07 in the Olympic Stadium Munich. The four musicians of the successful alternative rock band from the US are going to give an incredibly electrifying live performance. Jared Leto, head und lead singer of 30 SECONDS TO MARS, does not impress only with his musical skills – he also is a wanted man in Hollywood. 
One month before the Nokia Air & Style 07 on November 1st 30 SECONDS TO MARS already visit Munich – but only as spectators. At the MTV European Music Awards (EMA) 07 at the Olympiahalle the band of front man Jared Leto and his brother Shannon is nominated for two awards: best rock act and best international act. Only one month later on December 1st the US boys are going to perform their very successful second album ”A Beautiful Lie” at the Nokia Air & Style 07 in the Olympic Stadium Munich. With over one million sold records and the no.1 hit „From Yesterday“ 30 SECONDS TO MARS have already grown out of the newcomer status.

But Jared Leto is not only doing a good job on stage, he also is a great actor. Jared Leto took the step from a renowned teeny star into the first row of Hollywoods’ actors and played in blockbusters like ”Alexander“, ”American Psycho“, ”Requiem For A Dream“, ”Panic Room“ and ”Fight Club“. His talent as actor is reflected on stage: Attended by energetic keyboards and aggressive guitars, the emotional singing of the face of 30 SECONDS TO MARS successfully captures the audience.

During the EMA 07 30 SECONDS TO MARS competes with music heroes such as Depeche Mode and Linkin Park for one of the wanted awards. Only four weeks later the band will perform at the Nokia Air & Style 07 with other prestigious artists at their side, to fire up the Munich audience. This years’ line-up with 30 SECONDS TO MARS, the Swedish rock combo THE HIVES and dancehall-superstar SEAN PAUL from Jamaica is probably the best in Nokia Air & Style history. 
 
Thanks to Marushka and the 30STM Official BBoard

Jared Leto in Iceland and Greenland

US actor and musician Jared Leto paid Iceland a short visit on Tuesday before flying off to Greenland to record a video with his band 30 Seconds to Mars with the Icelandic film production company Arctic First.

“We will mostly shoot on icebergs and glaciers so it should be a very cool video,” Sigurbjörn Búi Baldursson, who belongs to a 16-strong Arctic First production team, told Fréttabladid.

The video will be shot in the town Illulisat, famous for its icebergs, and Baldursson serves as assistant director to Leto, who is directing the video himself.

Jared Leto first became famous for playing Jordan Catalano in the TV series My So Called Life starring Claire Danes. Leto also played in the movies Requiem for a Dream and Fight Club.

Thanks to Icelandreview.com

JARED LETO: "I'M A CLOSET HIPPIE"

Source: itv.com: Actor and singer Jared Leto has revealed that he is a closet hippy and is deeply concerned about the environment.

Speaking at a music festival in Germany, Leto said he hoped that people would take more interest in saving the planet.

"You can get somebody to turn off the light or to unplug an appliance or to plant a tree," he said.

"I think it's a wonderful thing, we've moved beyond the days of tree-hugging hippies being the example of environmentalism around the world."

He added: "It's the responsibility of not only hippies, but all of us. I'm a closet hippy anyway - hence my long hair."

Leto went on to say that he hoped that being concerned with the environment would become an obvious choice.

Following his performance at the Rock am Ring festival in Germany, the star said he and his band 30 Seconds to Mars have enjoyed an incredible couple of years together.

Their latest album, A Beautiful Lie, has shifted a million copies in America and their growing status on this side of the Atlantic was underlined when they completed a sell-out UK tour.