Angels & Airwaves: 'There Needs To Be One Focused Visionary'

Plenty has been said about the controversial comments made by Angels & Airwaves’ frontman Tom DeLonge a few years back (at one time he boasted on MySpace that AVA would create “the best music made in decades”), but the band’s new documentary Start The Machine definitely clears the air. In the new DVD DeLonge admits that he does feel some regret in making such grandiose statements about his debut AVA record We Don’t Need To Whisper, but it’s apparent that the band has a tireless work ethic that nearly backs up some of those comments. Throughout the behind-the-scenes footage, guitarist David Kennedy acts as the mild-mannered voice of reason. And although DeLonge charismatic presence tends to get the spotlight, Kennedy’s rhythmic contribution shouldn’t be underestimated.

While you won’t hear DeLonge making the controversial claims he did a few years back, Kennedy told Ultimate-Guitar writer Amy Kelly that his band continues to make big plans. The Start The Machine DVD is just one of several endeavors, and you can expect a sci-fi, feature-length film (sharing the title of the band’s latest album, I-Empire) in the near future as well. Although there is no set date for the film’s release, Kennedy said that he is confident in the progress made thus far. In the meantime, check out AVA at this year’s Warped Tour, where they are one of the tour’s headlining acts.

UG: Start The Machine is a pretty revealing look at what the band went through to create the ideal debut album. Did you have any idea that AVA would be such a big undertaking?

David: Yeah. We set out that way. I think the idea was when we started the band – from playing in other bands and everything that was accomplished and wasn’t accomplished in the past adventures – it was an opportunity to do something new that we hadn’t done before. I think watching the documentary, just looking at the looks on our faces, we wanted to do something really great and awesome. We had no fucking clue how to do it. I think that’s where some of the mistakes and some of the other controversy kind of comes up, from that experiment of trying to make sure we were out of our regular comfort zone.

In the documentary you really seem to be the voice of reason during the recording process. Did you ever get worked up over anything?

I think so. I definitely got worked up. Being frustrated with some of the other things, it’s just sitting back and realizing there’s a process to how things get done. There’s a process to how Tom works. For the right reason or the wrong reason, they have to come to actual fruition so you can make that decision at that point. So a lot of my getting worked up was a bit more reserved. I tried to keep it inside until it actually wasn’t a point to be extremely excited. I guess that I’ve heard from people who have seen the documentary about me being the voice of reason…I don’t know.

Tom and I have known each other since we were about 16 years old. Musically we both played in bands, but we took very different directions. We had the same sort of likeness, but we both went about things differently. Now we’ve ended up sort of in the same place, but we got here in totally different ways. I’ll always have a different idea of how to look at it than he will. That’s what makes him who he is, though, having that ability to just make the biggest, grandest statements and ideas. I’m always one to try and figure out the realistic side of what we can accomplish so that something does happen, as opposed to letting an idea get so big that’s unattainable.

It sounds like Tom already had a pretty clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish in Angels & Airwaves. At what point do you usually enter into the songwriting process?

From the different bands that I’ve been in, I think you really realize that there needs to be one focused visionary. It’s your job to be a part of that team because you essentially have the same vision or the same designer. There has to be someone to focus and initialize it, otherwise you might have too many people trying to control it. I guess that’s how we all fit into the process. Tom definitely comes up and has that ability, and you recognize his ability and true talent of coming up with idea after idea. That’s not my strength, and I definitely realize that. But my strength – and I think that it is for the other guys, too – we can definitely cipher through what is actually working and what is just self-indulgent or getting away from what the vision of the band is. We started with a strong understanding of the vision that we want to accomplish. We had quite a few conversations before we ever even started, so we’re just trying to stay true to that.

"I've heard from people who have seen the documentary about me being the voice of reason… I don't know."

Talk a bit about the effects you used on We Don’t Need To Whisper and I-Empire. Considering that you had such different backgrounds, is it safe to say that you tried out effects that were probably very new for you as musicians?

Yeah, I think that’s very true. It’s kind of a hard learning curve, just discovering the delay before recording. Not that you hadn’t dabbled more with chorus and flange, but those were really the main kinds of distortion. Those were a little more familiar. The most unfamiliar effect was really playing along with delay. I’m used to playing big power chords, and it’s the same thing with Tom and all of us. We decided to have more of a visual picture with music. It had to have a lot more texture and a lot more layers. So it was just an experiment of playing around with different stuff.

Technique-wise, you really realize how bad you’re playing when you’re trying to record it. You definitely realize how bad you’re playing with your playing when you play with clean guitar. You put a delay on it, and then it repeats how bad you’re playing! Once it all starts coming together, it gives you the ability to fly with your guitar. I know that sounds fucking corny, but it feels like it and it sounds like it. It just creates textures. For us, the stuff that really is the foundation and that holds the melody is the bass guitar. Our guitars are really just textures creating the environment.

Many of your songs have a U2 style throughout them. Is The Edge’s style something that you referred to during the writing process?

When you’re doing research, you’re trying to figure out things. For us, we went back to a lot of bands that we were initially were introduced to when we were in 6th grade. We didn’t exactly identify with them during high school because that wasn’t what was current for us at that moment. But kind of going back to that stuff and realizing songs like “Where The Streets Have No Name” and what that made you feel like when the organ and guitar starts coming in, it just sounds like it’s racing and pushing you forward. So that’s what we wanted. We wanted to create those feelings.

Did you do any research into what kind of gear The Edge used?

I’d like to, but he doesn’t put it out there. I don’t think it’s really available. I guess he tours with everything he records with also. It’s crazy! He brings fucking dozens of guitars, and I guess what he plays with when he recorded is what he plays with live. I don’t know. That’s what I’ve heard. We’re more about being efficient!

Your band has a larger-than-life sound on the records, so how easy is it for you to transition to the live show?

I think it’s good. You might be losing some of the exact texture. You’re going to lose so much going to the stage or whatever open place you’re playing anyway. You’re never going to recreate that sound with that guitar. No matter if you have the same settings, it’s not going to matter. So going from recording to stage, it was just doing what was going to work every single night and what we could travel with. It was coming as close as we could, but not trying to be super-anal about it. I think we transitioned really well to the stage. I think we’re awesome!

Did you change things up in the recording setup from We Don’t Need To Whisper to I-Empire?

They are all the same tools that were in there in the studio before, but there was a conscious effort about trying to create a bit more of a raw sound – making it sound more analog than the first record. It could be the same exact pedal and the same exact guitar, but just tweaking the amp’s knob differently. All of the tools were the same, we just used them differently.

Did you tend to stick with one particular guitar and amp for the bulk of the recording?

Yeah. We would use these analogs delays, these 2290s. That’s something they don’t make anymore, but for the recording we used those a lot. That was the one big delay we used. We used a lot of Fender Telecasters, obviously. For all of the clean delay stuff, when you’re trying to find those notes that need to repeat and be very clear, those guitars just pop. When you start getting into like the bigger Gibsons or bigger body sounds, you can’t get any of those kind of twangy, clean sounds. It becomes really muddy. When we play live, it’s okay. You can find pickups and things that resonate deeply. When you record, that’s when everything becomes really true.

"I think we transitioned really well to the stage."

It seems like Critter (engineer on We Don’t Need To Whisper) played a big part in creating rhythms. One of my favorite parts on the DVD was when Critter began recording random, everyday sounds and transforming them into beats for the album. Were you pretty open to trying out ideas like that?

We were very motivated to do that, we just didn’t know the guy who could record it. Critter, he comes from more of an industrial background. He worked with A Perfect Circle and Ministry. He worked a couple years on Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy. He did it a couple years, but it’s going to be an ongoing project. He comes from that kind of world. He loves Peter Gabriel. That’s one of his favorite singer-songwriters of all time. He’s got this really cool, gritty, edgy, industrial vibe, and then he’s got a melodic, pop sensibility. Those were the ingredients that we wanted and needed to accomplish the stuff that we wanted to.

We experimented with some other things, and Critter came in a month-and-a-half later when we started recording. It was just by chance, through somebody who knew somebody who knew Critter sort of. That’s how we ended up getting him in the studio. Our original engineer, although he’s an incredible guy, he just wasn’t going to accomplish the stuff that we needed to. We had an opportunity to have someone come in and record the drums, and that’s how we got Critter there. Once we met Critter we were like, “This dude is incredible.”

Some bands end up with several extra songs that don’t make the cut on a final album. Do you have a few leftover tracks as well?

No. A lot of bands do that. I remember we were in the studio on the first record the same time that AFI was. They were like, “Oh, we’ve got 100 songs written.” I remember Newfoundglory was saying they had 35, 40 songs. I was like, “Fuck, dude!” A lot of the ideas are born in the moment. When you get a song that has this sort of feeling rhythmically, then Critter will start programming something or we’ll have prerecorded the different beats. Tom will be fooling around the keyboard or fooling around on the guitar, and it just goes from one part to the next part. We really don’t write any more songs because you start with an idea and you finish it and move on.

It’s not like there are all these different songs that have verses, choruses, and bridges. You actually make it until it’s right because you’re not married to any one thing. A lot of times you write songs and you write them as a whole. Whether they work or they don’t work, you just record them the way they are. Then you can go, “Oh, shit. That whole thing doesn’t really work.” Then you move on.

Are you still planning on releasing the I-Empire feature film?

We’re going to do it. It’s getting done. At this time, I don’t totally know. We have the trailer at the beginning of the documentary. It doesn’t tell you obviously what it’s about, but it gives you sort of a visual representation of what we’re trying to accomplish. There are all these different visual things, and hopefully it will create interest. In a perfect world, we could actually have something done by fall. In the realistic sense – who knows? I won’t say anything in the meantime.

The idea is that we’re definitely motivated and we’re definitely going to get it done. We’ve probably got 90 percent of it built. It’s like the foundation of a house. You get the walls and everything up at your house, and then you’ve got to get in there and really figure out how it’s going to work. We just actually watched the movie to the point where it’s at the other day, and I think that it’s really proven to us that we do have something that’s going to be incredible. We just have to make sure that it’s going to be and not rush it. When we did the documentary, it took us a long time and we thought it was never really going to come together, but it came together at the right time. We all feel really strong about it and we feel that it’s finished.

Interview by Amy Kelly
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2008

Comments

[Hanzi_G]

1st!

Good article, I must say it was very interesting

[imdwalrus]

Good interview, though I don't like how he kept on talking in 2nd person.

[mcraddict81592]

I really hate tom delong, but this guy seems a lot more down to earth,
cool interview, but he had that whole "yea we're awesome" thing going on.

[NemX162]

Very interesting read.

[parkerguitars24]

mcraddict81592 wrote:

I really hate tom delong, but this guy seems a lot more down to earth,
cool interview, but he had that whole "yea we're awesome" thing going on.

Dude, you try having a successful band without an ego.haha

[Serjem]

i used to love that old enema.of.the.state-ish tom... i love some of the AVA stuff to but the guy changed badly

[firsttoknow]

Serjem wrote:

i used to love that old enema.of.the.state-ish tom... i love some of the AVA stuff to but the guy changed badly

your ignorant. he changed his music style, but hes the same person. ive met him recently, hes the same tom. you obviously never knew him, go listen to aliens exist maybe you'll get the idea.

and who cares if david said "yea were awesome" or tom said "this is gonna be the best album in 20 years" jeeze you guys get worked up over stupid stuff, just listen to the music. what if every time you said something stupid somebody kept reminding you? nobodys perfect

[killboypowerhed]

I saw them live. they sucked monkey scrotum. worst concert I have ever been to.

[DiveRightIn63]

I saw them live and they did well.

[punkrockjoe]

I saw them live twice and they sucked both times.

[chrissomr]

Serjem wrote:

i used to love that old enema.of.the.state-ish tom... i love some of the AVA stuff to but the guy changed badly

I agree entirely with firsttoknow. Tom is still a funny crazy guy. He grew up a little bit, and writing songs about getting blowjobs from your mom.....but he still talks like it haha. I saw them at warped tour and he still joked around with the audience and is still a fun loving guy.

[BobChicken]

i really like his passion for music- although his ego can sometimes go over the top a bit, he obviously enjoys life, and music, and really loves being out on stage showing us what he does

[sorrykid77]

your absolutely right
tom should tell everyone his album is a genric peice of shit
that way it will make up for telling people his album was good

where the **** do you get off?

[masterchief44]

Pretty cool interview.
Haven't gotten to see them live yet, but Tom never really was that good.

I mean, I've seen some cool clips.
Nothing too bad, nothing extraordinary.

Tom seems just as not-too-good live as he was in blink,
and that's how I like it to be. :]

[Bair]

theres no new info in this article.

[RunawayKaren]

Tom's voice simple isn't suited for this kind of music. Live with blink he sounded the same as on their records. Live with AVA he sounds like he has strep throat.

[Dionietzsche]

Since when does playing power chords and ripping off 70's conceptual bands make you a visionary?

[Wildcard24]

I really like David Kennedy, ever since The Box Car Racer project...

[archangelseren]

so much potential but what happened? its a bit sad

[kennyvspenny]

this band kicks ass. I-Empire is better than the first album.

[WeAretheArsenal]

Dionietzsche wrote:

Since when does playing power chords and ripping off 70's conceptual bands make you a visionary?

agreed, u are my new idol

[blink182plus44]

[quote]imdwalrus wrote:

Good interview, though I don't like how he kept on talking in 2nd person.[/quote
He didn't, you know they were talking to Dave not Tom right?
And I thought they had given up on the whole movie thing but i guess not!

[Dionietzsche]

WeAretheArsenal wrote:

Dionietzsche wrote:

Since when does playing power chords and ripping off 70's conceptual bands make you a visionary?

agreed, u are my new idol

I know, ain't I awesome?

blink182plus44 wrote:

[quote]imdwalrus wrote:

Good interview, though I don't like how he kept on talking in 2nd person.[/quote
He didn't, you know they were talking to Dave not Tom right?

You're thinking third person. Second person is when you use the "you" pronoun rather than "I" (first person) or "he/she/it" (second person). And now that you mention it he does use a lot of "you"s.

I used to be the biggest blink fan, but then they got all serious. I still had respect for Tom though, right up until AVA. I've said it before, I'll say it again: he isn't Roger Waters.

[Regression]

You really can hear the U2 influence.

They aren't bad, not much of their stuff really excites me though.

[MAXPAYNE4664]

Interesting read. Gonna see them at the Warped Tour this month.

[jonathanonfire]

Dionietzsche wrote:

Since when does playing power chords and ripping off 70's conceptual bands make you a visionary?

this is extremely true... only reason most people (mostly cocksucking pop-punk chicks) got into them anyway is cause of jackoff delonge's departure from blink and all. they are nothing new. it's the same crap with a borrowed face.

[musiclover2399]

I saw them live. They didn't play with perfection; it was much more powered by their passion. It was like going to a jam concert except instead of guitars solos you heard passion in the vocals and the ferocity that they played the instruments.

Anyone who just expects songs to be played the same as the record usually doesn't have a lot of passion about music besides being great.

[JXjizo]

RunawayKaren wrote:

Tom's voice simple isn't suited for this kind of music. Live with blink he sounded the same as on their records. Live with AVA he sounds like he has strep throat.

Tom always sang like hell live with blink, but there were much more energy.

[korn_dawg]

it’s apparent that the band has a tireless work ethic that nearly backs up some of those comments

I love this. It tries to assert that being an active musician and band makes that excuse for a debut album acceptable or even some form of good..

[wicked_hobbit]

Very good interview. I never read anything from other AVA band members' P.O.V except Tom.

Btw, the thing about the feature film does confuse me a bit. How come they are still uncertain about it but already got 90% done?

[wicked_hobbit]

Ok, got it. He was only unsure about the release date. Gotta learn to read more attentively. Sorry for the waste of space

Checked!

[Zell182]

my god I hate ava sooooo much. Tom is a fool why did he quit blink-182? How can a person change so much from making funny, good songs to this drivel.

[pickSlidin]

Tom is not the cocky bastard is represented himself as. He was high on painkillers or some shit and just saying how great AvA will be. He took it all back so whats the difference anyways? If you actually met him hes the same childish funny dude he was in Blink, only older. And I'm sick of everyone complaining about how "Tom quit blink 182. IMO that was a great move on Toms part because Blink broke up at the peak of their success, and we all know they were going downhill anyways. Besides I like Angels & Airwaves a lot. And I'll admit, they used to suck live, but now they are a lot better and Tom's vocals are improved too.

[tom0466]

Everyone that's only seen Angels & Airwaves on Warped Tour should not judge Tom's vocal performance on that. He is so much better when they're headlining.

[shoka1234]

Tom Delonge is a loser. He talks about all this spriritual crap, why cant he just make juvenile jokes and be funny (as opposed to a weirdo) that hes been since he took pain killers and started AvA

[primus182]

tomis good to create melody (he is creative) and cool easy song, but he is not a true guitarist, he dont know the guitar...he just play *****ng power chord. David kennedy is a very average guitar player and he is not creative. Tom should choose a truc guitarist (bellamy from muse , mike turner from our lady peace or jhonny greewood from radiohead for exemple hahaha). tom or david are nto good at guitar adn they made the same music and the same power chord that blink or boxcar but with delay,chorus, etc etc
thay sucka little bit

[guitaringnathan]

firsttoknow wrote:

Serjem wrote:

i used to love that old enema.of.the.state-ish tom... i love some of the AVA stuff to but the guy changed badly

your ignorant. he changed his music style, but hes the same person. ive met him recently, hes the same tom. you obviously never knew him, go listen to aliens exist maybe you'll get the idea.

and who cares if david said "yea were awesome" or tom said "this is gonna be the best album in 20 years" jeeze you guys get worked up over stupid stuff, just listen to the music. what if every time you said something stupid somebody kept reminding you? nobodys perfect

dude can u just suck up a little bit more to the dude. you act like you have always known the guy, talking to him once doesnt mean you know everything bout the guy. if he says this is the best album in 20 years, painkillers or not, thats bold and that means the album should have been amazing, and it wasnt.

tom is full of himself, and thinks he is bringing in the next wave of music. I'll leave that up to the bands that actually write decent music instead of crappy wannabe new wave synth music

[korn_jer28]

i'm just confused as to how tom and co. think that they're doing anything original. their music isn't anything special and with all this hype about "more than the music" with the film idea, the concert 'experience', and other 'multi-media endeavours', i mean, bands have been doing things like that for years. so until tom actually comes up with a fantastic, out-of-this-world, original idea for his music and/or band he should be more quiet and less ignorant.

[geordyguitar182]

"Tom always sang like hell live with blink, but there were much more energy."

He didn't always sing like hell the chicago show was really good and so was the pepsi smash show, plus a couple others. tom had his moments. but it never really mattered if he sang well or not tom is awesome

[prettysoonidk]

i used to live blink182 and tom's music but now it just seems like he quit caring about it and just wants more popularity. when we dont need to whisper was coming out i was really looking forward to it but then when i heard it it sounded completely different from what i expected. i thought it was gonna have that same fun style and sound that blink182 had but it just seemed like really simple stuff that they rushed and didnt bother taking their time on, just something that they wanted to get out quickly with those simple riffs and beats and no heart.

[Pingis_Or_Death]

Dionietzsche wrote:

Since when does playing power chords and ripping off 70's conceptual bands make you a visionary?

+infinity

[gibson-sg-rocks]

cool interview. "were awesome" i though that was pretty funny. blink is better than +44, i havent heard much of A&A. why do people call it AVA? whats the V for? im very into delayed guitars, but i have a gibson sg, i probably should have got a fender for lead delays. but **** it, my sg rocks.

[nolanator]

tom delonge is awesome!angels and airwaves sucks balls though.tom should of staid with blink 182, then it would of been cool. angels and airwaves can suck on satans balls

Reality checked.

[kharis92007]

ava is the name of Tom's daughter. He flipped the second A in the abbreviation "AAA".

[kharis92007]

ava is the name of Tom's daughter. He flipped the second A in the abbreviation "AAA".

[firsttoknow]

guitaringnathan wrote:

firsttoknow wrote:

Serjem wrote:

i used to love that old enema.of.the.state-ish tom... i love some of the AVA stuff to but the guy changed badly

your ignorant. he changed his music style, but hes the same person. ive met him recently, hes the same tom. you obviously never knew him, go listen to aliens exist maybe you'll get the idea.

and who cares if david said "yea were awesome" or tom said "this is gonna be the best album in 20 years" jeeze you guys get worked up over stupid stuff, just listen to the music. what if every time you said something stupid somebody kept reminding you? nobodys perfect

dude can u just suck up a little bit more to the dude. you act like you have always known the guy, talking to him once doesnt mean you know everything bout the guy. if he says this is the best album in 20 years, painkillers or not, thats bold and that means the album should have been amazing, and it wasnt.

tom is full of himself, and thinks he is bringing in the next wave of music. I'll leave that up to the bands that actually write decent music instead of crappy wannabe new wave synth music

how is defending someone from ignorant comments like yours sucking up? i met him once, yea that doesnt mean that i know him personally, but he was funny and cool and acted the same as ive always seen him in interviews. everybody acts like hes a completely different person, when hes always admitted to being a complete weirdo. ill quote aliens exist "im not like you guys" he doesnt care what you think.

about his actual music, if you dont like it, thats your opinion. but people like you who make those kind of comments are the kind of ignorant fools that think their opinion is fact. i like angels & airwaves and so do a lot of people for many different reasons

[OmfgWtfZergd]

primus182 wrote:

tomis good to create melody (he is creative) and cool easy song, but he is not a true guitarist, he dont know the guitar...he just play *****ng power chord. David kennedy is a very average guitar player and he is not creative. Tom should choose a truc guitarist (bellamy from muse , mike turner from our lady peace or jhonny greewood from radiohead for exemple hahaha). tom or david are nto good at guitar adn they made the same music and the same power chord that blink or boxcar but with delay,chorus, etc etc
thay sucka little bit

Ya know, that comment shows how ignorant you really are about music. There's a difference between a good guitarist and a good musician. Anyone can be a good guitarist with some training and practice, but a good musician takes talent and creativity. You don't have to be the fastest, craziest guitar player to be good at music. Need an example? Look at DragonForce.

As for changing up their band setup...I think it is fine. They just need to open their minds a bit. And I doubt Matthew Bellamy of Muse would ever join this band since Muse is such a better band, in every way possible.

[Serjem]

this is my second comment... i apologize for posting it but i couldnt resist.... it is kinda offtopic... but not so much.... i felt like i had to share this with you....

right now i'm listening to carousel and other songs from blink's first album....
and... the pic of tom delonge aboce caught my eyes.. and it got me thinking.... could this really be the same guy?!?! i'm like... wtf?!
i get kinda pissed on situations like this lol
well that was it cheers ug and good nite

[deathmetalmann]

musiclover2399 wrote:

I saw them live. They didn't play with perfection; it was much more powered by their passion. It was like going to a jam concert except instead of guitars solos you heard passion in the vocals and the ferocity that they played the instruments.

Anyone who just expects songs to be played the same as the record usually doesn't have a lot of passion about music besides being great.

i agree i saw them live, and of course heard mistakes and all that jazz..but at the end of the day its the emotion that you get out of it that counts. idc how he's changed or what it sounds like, or whatever.

[[travis]]

Does anybody even care for this band anyways? They're not even good. All of the songs have the same riff, and same use of delay.

[guitaringnathan]

firsttoknow wrote:

guitaringnathan wrote:

firsttoknow wrote:

Serjem wrote:

i used to love that old enema.of.the.state-ish tom... i love some of the AVA stuff to but the guy changed badly

your ignorant. he changed his music style, but hes the same person. ive met him recently, hes the same tom. you obviously never knew him, go listen to aliens exist maybe you'll get the idea.

and who cares if david said "yea were awesome" or tom said "this is gonna be the best album in 20 years" jeeze you guys get worked up over stupid stuff, just listen to the music. what if every time you said something stupid somebody kept reminding you? nobodys perfect

dude can u just suck up a little bit more to the dude. you act like you have always known the guy, talking to him once doesnt mean you know everything bout the guy. if he says this is the best album in 20 years, painkillers or not, thats bold and that means the album should have been amazing, and it wasnt.

tom is full of himself, and thinks he is bringing in the next wave of music. I'll leave that up to the bands that actually write decent music instead of crappy wannabe new wave synth music


how is defending someone from ignorant comments like yours sucking up? i met him once, yea that doesnt mean that i know him personally, but he was funny and cool and acted the same as ive always seen him in interviews. everybody acts like hes a completely different person, when hes always admitted to being a complete weirdo. ill quote aliens exist "im not like you guys" he doesnt care what you think.

about his actual music, if you dont like it, thats your opinion. but people like you who make those kind of comments are the kind of ignorant fools that think their opinion is fact. i like angels & airwaves and so do a lot of people for many different reasons

its great when people call the unbiased person ignorant. i dont think necessarily when my opinion is fact, but when you go around saying your music is the best, and the album was dissapointing, then continue to act like you make the best music ever, then i have a problem with the person.

tom seemed like a cool guy before this ava, painkillers or not, i call an idiot when i see it

[boxcarblink94]

punkrockjoe wrote:

I saw them live twice and they sucked both times.

i've seen them six times. they sucked once, they were okay twice, and they were phenomenal thrice.

[Markhimself]

I hate to be an ignorant and immature person (these seem to be the names given to anybody with musical taste), but AVA are the worst band i have ever heard and thats no exaggeration. LOL!! the music video where Tom is wearing a space helmet looking to the stars?! HAHAHA Wot was that about?! Almost wet myself!! HAHAHA! MASSIVE step down from Blink! Where i would have traded my balls to watch Blink live, i wouldnt even watch AVA if they were handing out free tickets! LOL! Love the most ignorant childish person on UG.

[nnb]

the only band since the 60's that was able to pull of "more then the music" was Kiss. I've never seen them live, but i would assume their not great,cause I've heard linkin park,offspring and muse live and none are as good as the album (which is to be expected imo) only band i think sounds better live then in studio is Iron Maiden.so stop complaining that they suck live..

about tom being an ass, i dunno if he is or not..but what about that guy who said his band was bigger then jesus??

[Tin_man]

nnb wrote:

the only band since the 60's that was able to pull of "more then the music" was Kiss. I've never seen them live, but i would assume their not great,cause I've heard linkin park,offspring and muse live and none are as good as the album (which is to be expected imo) only band i think sounds better live then in studio is Iron Maiden.so stop complaining that they suck live..

about tom being an ass, i dunno if he is or not..but what about that guy who said his band was bigger then jesus??

Um... Pink Floyd?

[Dionietzsche]

nnb wrote:
about tom being an ass, i dunno if he is or not..but what about that guy who said his band was bigger then jesus??

The difference is that The Beatles were the biggest band in the world. What claim to fame can AVA make to justify such statements? That their "visionary" used to be in a mildly popular pop-punk band that wrote three chord songs (same three chords, in the same order, in each song) about shitting their pants?

Markhimself wrote:

LOL!! the music video where Tom is wearing a space helmet looking to the stars?! HAHAHA Wot was that about?! Almost wet myself!!

Hey, don't laugh! That helmet has probably saved him from a number of head self-inflicted head injuries.

[Gsh]

I'm pretty sure it was John Lennon of The Beatles who said at one point, "We're more popular than Jesus". If you've got more fans than there are Christians and Jews and Arabs combined than I'd say you are more popular than Jesus.

[lareauguitars]

cool im excited

[Mullen2105]

These guys really suck live. But he seems pretty cool.

[tim western]

Why the hell is 'Angels and Airwaves' abbreviated to 'AVA'!?

[Rogue_45]

AVA isn't music its a lifestyle. They can say whatever they wan't & get away with it because they are the best. When one of you bloggers sells as many records as they have then it will be your turn to do the bragging, but for now just listen and enjoy

[HostileFTW]

You can't expect to write the best music in ten years when all your songs sound like everything else on the top 40 charts.

[nnb]

floyed had better music, but kiss had the whole show,attitude and general marketing that made them what they were(are).

i know that the Beatles were the biggest band in the world at the time..still doesn't make what he said anyless stupid and arrogant IMO.But i do agree that coming from someone who was in blink is ridiculous,they were fun to listen to when up to grade 10..altho i still listen to them sometimes

[Tin_man]

Rogue_45 wrote:

AVA isn't music its a lifestyle. They can say whatever they wan't & get away with it because they are the best. When one of you bloggers sells as many records as they have then it will be your turn to do the bragging, but for now just listen and enjoy

Wow... Just wow.

[mafuhungy]

i still like tom delonges music hes been one of my idols since i was 6 because his band has a different name that wont change

[Andrew3110]

I just can't enjoy AVA. I've tried. Not saying they're not good at what they do, it's just not my cup of coffee. I respect a band with a strong work ethic though.

[Domine6377]

yea i used to really be into blink. and they could have still done the things tom wants to do with travis a mark i think. they should have just compleatly changed blink for a album and saw if they liked it and their fans liked it not each to start a new shitty band that cant make music. ive always been against ava and i still am. i call them angels and douchewaves

[scotybwonderful]

I cant get my head around some peoples narrow minds!
These people saying things like "hes changed badly"...wtf?
How do they know? do they know him?
No.
Im not saying you have to like it but
AVA write songs for the fans of blink 182 who have grown up abit...who appreciated the MUSIC and not just some aspects of Toms on stage personality...
Thats not a real music fan for me...
Im not saying you have to like it

[brad_dunne]

punkrockjoe wrote:

I saw them live twice and they sucked both times.

i saw them twice and hey were ****ing amazing... toms voice was really good the first time at the molson ampitheatre in toronto and the second time was warped tour in tornto a few weeks ago and they were gonna get cancelled and decided to go acoustic so they could stay... ****ing amazing.

[punkdisasters]

These guys ****ing RULE live now.

Yeah they were kinda shitty in 2006, but they are a much better band now.

[J5mprmn3]

T H E S E G U Y S C O N T I N U E T O M A K E P O I N T L E S S E F F O R T S

[firsttoknow]

i saw them at warped tour, best concert ive ever been to, they were amazing. i love all of their music

*checked*

[strat0blaster]

and you can expect a sci-fi, feature-length film (sharing the title of the band’s latest album, I-Empire) in the near future as well

You're a musician. Make music. Leave the film world to Michael Bay and rappers who think they can act.

[SainT182]

I thought that AVA's albums were ok but could of been much better.
+44 are so much cooler, but wat is lycanthrope about?

[Idioteque5150]

any band that is playing on the Warped Tour isn't coming close to making the best music in the last 10 yrs.

[Spyrider]

gibson-sg-rocks wrote:

cool interview. "were awesome" i though that was pretty funny. blink is better than +44, i havent heard much of A&A. why do people call it AVA? whats the V for? im very into delayed guitars, but i have a gibson sg, i probably should have got a fender for lead delays. but **** it, my sg rocks.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME MAN? HAHA, "what does the V stand for?" tom is a punk, and needs to make better music

[firsttoknow]

Spyrider wrote:

gibson-sg-rocks wrote:

cool interview. "were awesome" i though that was pretty funny. blink is better than +44, i havent heard much of A&A. why do people call it AVA? whats the V for? im very into delayed guitars, but i have a gibson sg, i probably should have got a fender for lead delays. but **** it, my sg rocks.



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME MAN? HAHA, "what does the V stand for?" tom is a punk, and needs to make better music

the v is kind of like an upside down A, cuz AvA looks cooler then A&A. and dude, are you seriously that ignorant? im sure when your over 30 being a "punk" isnt a priority, and his music is great to me and a lot of others.

[hoppusfan182]

i don't know why people are getting upset about him saying "yea we're awesome", i dont think its a big deal what do you want him to do, hate his own band. I will admit i am not a huge fan of AVA but i do listen to them now and then. From this interveiw david seems like he would be a down to earth and fun guy to work with musically

[primus182]

hey

how can you beat...OK COMPUTER (radiohead) its the best cd in the past 20 years. Delonge and his power chord cant made the 1/4 of a cd like ok computer. tom made easy listening music but he is not radiohead and he will never be.

[Webzwithaz]

I tink AVA are awesome. They sound different from most bands around these days and they have a good motivation behind their music HOWEVER I can see how people might not like them. But when people start saying stuff like:

I hate to be an ignorant and immature person (these seem to be the names given to anybody with musical taste), but AVA are the worst band i have ever heard and thats no exaggeration.

...it really irritates me. Don't care if this sounds cheesy but you can't call yourself a musical person if you don't accept and respect everyone's opinion of music. There's no such thing as musical taste, instead its musical tastes. I luuuuuv AVA, that's my OPINION!

[lilscooter11]

Atom Willard, lol, just lol.

[Markhimself]

Webzwithaz wrote:

I luuuuuv AVA, that's my OPINION!

...it really irritates me. Don't care if this sounds cheesy but you can't call yourself a musical person if you don't accept and respect everyone's opinion of music. There's no such thing as musical taste, instead its musical tastes. And i haaaaate AVA, That's my OPINION!

[food&liquor]

strat0blaster wrote:

and you can expect a sci-fi, feature-length film (sharing the title of the band’s latest album, I-Empire) in the near future as well


You're a musician. Make music. Leave the film world to Michael Bay and rappers who think they can act.

oohhh look at me im dissing michael bay! arent i cool! (even thought i loved transformers but ssshh dont tell anyone)

[NorCalLos]

I can't believe I read ALL these comments. Better than doing my work. Or is it?

[Dallen_007]

primus182 wrote:

hey

how can you beat...OK COMPUTER (radiohead) its the best cd in the past 20 years. Delonge and his power chord cant made the 1/4 of a cd like ok computer. tom made easy listening music but he is not radiohead and he will never be.

They said they were trying to be Radiohead. Not only that, I beg to differ that ok computer is the best album of the past 20 years because honestly the best album is all opinion, and who knows? maybe this is the best album to someone. Not me but it could be. Oh and so far you've posted twice on this page and both were really stupid, could you pleast think before you post.

[Dallen_007]

EDIT: I meant to say they never said they were trying to be Radiohead.

[xcmasta91]

ava is going nowhere and tom is nowhere near having the same success like in blink, ill admit some songs are pretty good but tom needs mark and travis to be good again