Angels & Airwaves
Angels & Airwaves (also written as Angels and Airwaves; stylized and abbreviated as ΛVΛ) is an American rock band,[1] comprising lead vocalist/guitarist Tom DeLonge, guitarist David Kennedy, drummer Ilan Rubin, and bassist Matt Rubano.
Angels & Airwaves
The band formed after Blink-182 went on hiatus in 2005. They continued to record even after Blink-182 reunited in 2009, and after DeLonge subsequently parted with the band again in 2015, he began to focus on Angels & Airwaves more extensively. To date, the band has released six studio albums: We Don't Need to Whisper (2006), I-Empire (2007), Love (2010), Love: Part Two (2011), The Dream Walker (2014) and Lifeforms (2021). The project also resulted in the documentary film Start the Machine (2008). In 2011, accompanying the two Love albums, the group scored and produced the science fiction drama film Love by director William Eubank in 460 theatres nationwide during their multimedia event, Love Live. The band released an animated short named Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker[2] and their fifth album, The Dream Walker, on December 9, 2014. Other related media, such as comic books and a live-action film, followed in 2015.
The group has been described by DeLonge as more than a band, but more accurately "an art project [that approaches] larger human themes and tackles them in different mediums", or simply "a multimedia project".[3] This has been seen in the group's films, live events, and novel approach to fan-artist interaction.[4]
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.[5]
History[edit]
Formation and origins (2004–2005)[edit]
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, former Rocket from the Crypt and The Offspring drummer Atom Willard and former The Distillers bass guitarist Ryan Sinn. Atom Willard told 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."[6]
Television appearances[edit]
In "Even Fairy Tale Characters Would Be Jealous", November 9, 2008, episode of One Tree Hill, aired on the CW Network, the band was asked to perform at a USO concert for US Marines. The band members were eager for their appearance on the show, as they joined the ranks of past bands who have been guests on One Tree Hill. Angels & Airwaves delivered a couple of songs for their stint on the series. During the USO concert, they played the single "Secret Crowds", while "Lifeline" was played on the closing credits.[54]
Films[edit]
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.[55][56] Start the Machine was filmed over a course of almost three years.
Love is a science fiction film directed by William Eubank and starring Gunner Wright that was released in a special event called 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 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 the ISS, in low Earth orbit with him."[57]
In late 2014, the band released an animated short film called Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker, supporting their album The Dream Walker.
Graphic art[edit]
The band's albums have featured space rock images with considerable influences from the work of Storm Thorgerson. The band members explicitly state that there are Pink Floyd influences in their work.[58] In November 2011, the band released a special edition copy of their film Love in graphic novel format with the double album and movie from the band's official website.[59] The band released the graphic novel Poet Anderson: ...Of Nightmares on October 6, 2015, written by DeLonge and Suzanne Young. It was accompanied by the EP ...Of Nightmares, released on September 4, 2015.
Musical style[edit]
Angels & Airwaves' music style has generally been regarded as alternative rock,[60] space rock,[61][62] art rock,[63] and neo-prog.[64]
