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Infobox musical artist| name = Angels & Airwaves| image = Angels_and_Airwaves_(Hyde_Park).jpg| image_size =| years_active = 2005–present| background = group_or_band| caption = Angels and Airwaves performing at Wembley, London|Hyde Park in June 2006.| origin = San Diego , California , USA| genre = Alternative rock , space rock , art rock , neo-progressive rock | label = Geffen Records|Geffen , Suretone Records|Suretone , Independent - Adventure Intermedia, To the Stars| associated_acts = Blink-182 , Box Car Racer , Denver Harbor , Lostprophets , The Offspring , Rocket from the Crypt , 30 Seconds to Mars , Nine Inch Nails , The Distillers , Hazen Street , Over My Dead Body (band)|Over My Dead Body , Moth (band)|Moth , Alkaline Trio , Social Distortion , Special Goodness | website = URL| http://modlife.com/angelsandairwaves/| current_members = Tom DeLonge David Kennedy (guitarist)|David Kennedy Matt Wachter Ilan Rubin | past_members = Ryan Sinn Atom Willard Angels & Airwaves is an American alternative rock Supergroup (music)|supergroup led by Blink-182 guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge . Other members are guitarist David Kennedy (guitarist)|David Kennedy (from Over My Dead Body (band)|Over My Dead Body , Hazen Street and Box Car Racer ), bassist Matt Wachter (from 30 Seconds to Mars ) and drummer Ilan Rubin (from Lostprophets and Nine Inch Nails ). Former original members are bass guitarist Ryan Sinn (formerly of The Distillers ), who left the group in 2007 for reasons which are still unclear, as well as drummer Adam Willard|Adam "Atom" Willard (formerly of The Offspring ), who amicably parted ways with the band in fall 2011 after completion of their fourth album.
Formed after Blink-182 went on hiatus in 2005, the band has continued to record and tour despite DeLonge reigniting his career with Blink-182 in 2009. For the five years cade of the band's existence, they have established themselves as extremely prolific artists, having released four studio albums '' We Don't Need to Whisper (2006), I-Empire (2007), Love (Angels & Airwaves album)|Love (2010) and Love: Part Two (2011). The project also resulted in the documentary film Start the Machine (film)|Start the Machine (2008). In 2011, accompanying the two Love albums, the group scored and produced the science fiction film|science fiction drama film Love (2011 film)|Love '' by director William Eubank in 460 theatres nationwide during their multimedia event, Angels & Airwaves Presents Love Live|Love Live . Tom Delonge has said in an interview that the band is working on two new films with accompanying studio albums.cite web|url= http://www.iamrogue.com/news/interviews/item/4492-iar-exclusive-interview-angels-airwaves-tom-delonge-talks-love.html |title=IAR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Angels & Airwaves' Tom DeLonge talks 'Love' |publisher=iamROGUE.com |date= |accessdate=2011-10-31
Music history
Formation and origins: 2004–2005
Tom DeLonge began working on new material during Blink-182's final tour in 2004 and shortly after they began their break in February 2005. For half a year he worked alone in his home studio before gathering musicians to form the band. Upon fiddling randomly for several weeks with the band's logo, DeLonge 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. As rumors were floating around about the band's "break-up", DeLonge chose to abstain for six months 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. The band included former Hazen Street guitarist and high-school friend David Kennedy (guitarist)|David Kennedy , former Rocket from the Crypt drummer Atom Willard and former The Distillers bass guitarist Ryan Sinn . Atom Willard told Shave (magazine)|Shave magazine that the experience of all the members of the band made the band formation very easy. "There’s nobody trying to figure out what is and what isn’t going to work, not just for themselves but for music and for a band, what life’s going to be like on the road and all that kind of stuff. Everybody had enough experience to just buckle down and do the work. It really has made it easier than anything else."cite web |url= http://www.shavemagazine.com/entertainment/angels-and-airwaves-adam-atom-willard |title=Interview: Atom Willard |publisher=ShaveMagazine.com |first=Match |last=Stevens |accessdate=July 8, 2011
First albums and artistic development: 2005–2009
Soon after forming, the band began recording its first album in DeLonge's studio in California from mid-2005 to early 2006. However, after a fan e-mail hacked DeLonge and stole four demos, Angels & Airwaves had no other choice but to release "The Adventure" as their first single, which was leaked onto radio stations, causing a premature release on May 18, 2006. A few days later, on May 23, they released their first album, '' We Don't Need to Whisper . The album reached #4 on the Billboard 200, and went gold in both the US and Canada. Despite this success, critics gave generally mixed reviews, with one noting that “while well-intentioned the band failed to reach the lofty heights to which they aspire”, especially in light of claims made by DeLonge that the album was “the best music made in decades”. Yet, later that year, popularity picked up with the release of singles " The War (Angels & Airwaves song)|The War ", " Do It For Me Now " and " It Hurts ". The remainder of the year into 2007 was taken up with tours, and in early 2007, the supergroup returned to the studio to work on a follow-up album.
However, problems accumulated and 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 (the former bass guitarist of 30 Seconds to Mars), filled in for the show and was later confirmed as a permanent member.
The new album, titled I-Empire and the first song " Everything's Magic " were leaked to 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 recorded the video for the single on January 20 and 21, and it was premiered on MTV2 Unleashed on February 25, 2008. The band released a third single, "Breathe", that was released onto the Internet on June 20.
Angels & Airwaves performed at every location on Warped Tour 2008 .cite web|url= http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php? p=8574076#post8574076 |title=Chat: Kevin Lyman |publisher=Absolutepunk.net |date= |accessdate=2011-08-10 They also made a fall tour in support of Weezer . http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/08/05/weezer-announce-tour-with-angels-and-airwaves-tokyo-police-club/ Weezer Announce Tour With Angels & Airwaves, Tokyo Police Clubdead link|date=August 2011
Multimedia projects: 2009–2011
The band took a break from performing in 2009 while Delonge reunited with Blink-182 for a summer tour. During their time off, Atom Willard joined Social Distortion as their touring drummer, while Matt Wachter and David Kennedy began work on the upcoming film. When Delonge and Willard returned in the fall, the band resumed production of its next album. Love (Angels & Airwaves album)|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. http://modlife.com/angelsandairwaves/lovealbumfueltv dead link|date=August 2011 The album was released free of charge due to "corporate underwriting". They began producing it in January 2009 but progress was slow due to Blink-182 reuniting and going on tour. The band finished the album in time for its release on Valentine's Day 2010. Love was downloaded nearly 500,000 times during the first 48 hours after its release day making it the most downloaded album in history.cn|date=December 2011 The first single from the album, "Hallucinations", was made available for free through the band's Modlife on December 23, 2009. The band also released the video via Modlife on March 7, 2010.
The band toured North America, starting on March 27 in Anaheim, California. The tour ended on May 30 in Ventura, California, and Delonge returned to Blink-182 to prepare for their upcoming album and European tour. Delonge originally revealed that there would be another tour, rumored to have UK dates, after the release of the Love (2011 film)| Love film film in the autumn, but plans were changed due to Delonge's commitments with Blink-182.cite web|url= http://www.billboard.com/news/angels-airwaves-delonge-talks-love-tour-1004070450.story#/news/angels-airwaves-delonge-talks-love-tour-1004070450.story |title=Angels & Airwaves' DeLonge Talks 'Love' Tour, Movie |publisher=Billboard.com |date=2009-09-14 |accessdate=2011-08-10 "Epic Holiday" is on the soundtrack to the German film Kokowääh with Til Schweiger .
The second studio album in the Love project, Love: Part Two|Love II , was released on November 8, 2011.cite web|url= http://www.nme.com/news/angels-and-airwaves/55987 |title=NME |publisher=NME |date=2011-04-08 |accessdate=2011-08-10 DeLonge described the album as better than the first part of Love and also confirmed that there would be a box set with both albums and a DVD of the movie.cite web|url= http://theresnosolution.com/forum/viewtopic.php? f=9& t=12481& view=unread#p330992 |title=Theresnosolution.com |publisher=Theresnosolution.com |date= |accessdate=2011-08-10 The first single to be released was "Anxiety"; it was premiered following Angels & Airwaves Presents Love Live|Love Live on August 10, 2011. The music video for "Anxiety" was released on YouTube on August 11, 2011.cite web|url= http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=u-axrEZOXnk& feature=feedu |title=Angels & Airwaves "Anxiety" Official Music Video |publisher=YouTube |date=2011-08-11 |accessdate=2011-10-31 It was made available for purchase on iTunes on September 14, 2011.
Line-up change and Poet Anderson: 2011–present
Before the release of Love II , Delonge revealed that Angels & Airwaves had already begun working on two new albums and two corresponding films. On October 4, it was announced on their Facebook page that drummer Atom Willard had left the band. The departure seemed to be a mutual understanding and Atom thanked the members of Angels & Airwaves for a great six years of making music together.cite web| last = Common| first = Tyler| title = Angels & Airwaves working on two more movies| work = Alternative Press | date = August 14, 2011| url = http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/angels_airwaves_working_on_two_more_movies| accessdate = August 16, 2011 On October 7, it was announced that Angels & Airwaves would be part of the lineup for the Soundwave Festival in Australia, in February and March 2012. It was announced on October 20, 2011, that Ilan Rubin , famous for his work with Lostprophets and Nine Inch Nails , was the new drummer of the band.cite web|url= http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/rockmusic/Angels+Airwaves+new+album-16904.html |title=Angels & Airwaves Announce New Album |publisher=Female First |date=2011-10-20 |accessdate=2011-10-31 According to the band's website, the band will release an album to accompany an animated film called Poet Anderson . http://angelsandairwaves.com/? project_id=4
Other media
Films
Main|Start the Machine (film)|Love (2011 film) Start the Machine is a documentary that focuses on the break-up of Blink-182 , the genesis of Angels & Airwaves, and the making of their first album '' We Don't Need to Whisper . It was released on DVD on June 17, 2008.cite web|url= http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00197X1U4 |title=Start the Machine |publisher=Amazon.com |date= |accessdate=2011-08-10cite web|url= http://www.loserkids.com/product-exec/product_id/7624/nm/Angels_and_Airwaves_Start_The_Machine_BR_Pre_Order/category_id/558 |title=Start the Machine |publisher=Loserkids.com |date=2008-06-17 |accessdate=2011-08-10 Start the Machine was filmed over a course of almost 3 years.
Love is a science fiction film directed by William Eubank and starring Gunner Wright that was released in a special event called Angels & Airwaves Presents Love Live|Love Live on August 10, 2011. "It starts in the Civil War and you travel through time and space. There's a couple of different storylines. The main one is, a guy gets sent up to the ISS|International Space Station , and he gets abandoned up there. He doesn't know why. So throughout his years of being stuck up there, he sees the Earth starting to collapse below. He ends up basically becoming the last person alive. And then decades later, he wakes up one day and there's something outside of his spaceship, in low Earth orbit with him."cite web|last=Franich |first=Darren |url= http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/02/10/angels-airwaves-love-blink-182/#more-11880 |title=Music-mix.ew.com |publisher=Music-mix.ew.com |date=2010-02-10 |accessdate=2011-08-10
The band is working on a new animated movie called Poet Anderson http://angelsandairwaves.com/? project_id=4
Graphic art
The band's albums have featured space rock images with considerable influences from the work of Storm Thorgerson as band members explicitly state that there are Pink Floyd influences in their work.cite web|url= http://www.hollywoodgrind.com/angels-and-airwaves-think-they-are-pink-floyd/ |title=Angels and Airwaves Think They are Pink Floyd |publisher=HollywoodGrind |date= |accessdate=2011-10-31
In November 2011 the band released a special edition copy of the feature film LOVE in Graphic Novel format with the double album and movie from the band's official website. http://www.avashop.com/index/page/product/product_id/25319/category_id/1595/product_name/Angels+and+Airwaves+LOVE+Deluxe+Gold+Bundle
Influences and themes
The group has been described by Delonge as more than a band but more accurately "an Art group|art project that approaches larger Theme (literature)|human themes and tackles them in Media (communication)|different mediums ", or simply "a multimedia project".cite web |url= http://illinoisentertainer.com/2011/08/cover-story-blink-182/comment-page-1/ |title=Cover Story: Blink-182 - Everything Hits At Once |author=Steve Forstneger |date=2011-08-01 |work=Illinois Entertainer: In Print and Online |publisher=Illinois Entertainer |accessdate=2011-08-10 This has been seen in the group's films, live events, and novel approach to fan-artist interaction.cite web |url= http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/08/tom-delonge-discusses-angels-airwaves-debut-film/ |title=Tom DeLonge discusses Angels & Airwaves' debut film |author=George Varga |date=2011-08-08 |work= The San Diego Union-Tribune |publisher= The San Diego Union-Tribune |accessdate=2011-08-10| quote=I always thought that when a band creates a concept record, it seems to live and die in a period of a year. We decided to make the theme and energy of what we're doing stronger, and to dive in deeper and try and keep these things living for years to come. To do that we have to create a multi-media company: a band, a record label a merchandising company and a film studio.
Of the first two albums, the band says that they were mainly influenced by the music of Radiohead and Pink Floyd , combining them with the grandiosity of U2 .cite web|url= http://www.musicomh.com/music/features/angels-and-airwaves_0606.htm |title=Angels & Airwaves |publisher=musicOMH |date= |accessdate=2011-11-02 Of the first album, Delonge said that it would be "the best music in generations", but afterwards admitted that during this time he was addicted to painkillers.cite web|url= http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2007/11/15/exclusive-tom-delonge-talks-about-blink-182-and-being-spun-out-while-building-an-empire/ |title=Exclusive: Tom DeLonge Talks About Blink-182 And Being ‘Spun Out’ While Building An ‘Empire’ |publisher=Buzzworthy.mtv.com |date=2007-11-15 |accessdate=2011-11-02 The Love albums show further blending of the band's musical aspirations of epic and grandiosity and the cultural revolution in the digital era.cite web|url= http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=u-axrEZOXnk |title=Angels & Airwaves "Anxiety" Official Music Video |publisher=YouTube |date=2011-08-11 |accessdate=2011-11-02
Band members
;Current members
Tom DeLonge – singing|lead vocals , rhythm guitar|rhythm and lead guitar (2005 – present)
David Kennedy (guitarist)|David Kennedy – lead and rhythm guitar (2005 – present)
Ilan Rubin – drum kit|drums , percussion (2011 – present)
;Former members
Ryan Sinn – bass guitar, backing vocals (2005 – 2007)
Adam Willard|Adam "Atom" Willard – drums, percussion, music programming|programming (2005 – 2011)#tag:ref|Adam Willard performs on the fourth album although he had left the band by the time of its release.|group="nb"
:*Nominated: MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist|Best New Artist in a Video (2006) for " The Adventure " :*Nominated: MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects|Best Special Effects in a Video (2006) for "The Adventure" :*Nominated: MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing|Best Editing in a Video (2006) for "The Adventure" :*Nominated: Best Band of 2006 (2006) for "We Don't Need To Whisper"
References
Reflist|2
International Index to Music Periodicals – Teitelman, Bram. “Reviews: Albums – Rock: Angels & Airwaves – ‘We Don’t Need to Whisper.’” Billboard – The International Newsweekly of Music, Video, and Home Entertainment 27 May 2006: 49. Print.
Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians – Encyclopedia of Popular Music – “Angels and Airwaves.” Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Copyright Muze, Inc. Last Updated 9 November 2006. Web. Last Accessed 10 October 2011.
International Index to Music Periodicals – Carpenter, Ellen. “My Look: Rock & Style Tom DeLonge.” Rolling Stone 29 November 2007: 38. Print.
Angels & AirwavesUse mdy dates|date=August 2010 Category:Musical groups from San Diego, California Category:Musical quartets Category:Alternative rock groups from California Category:Supergroups Category:Musical groups established in 2005