Jared Leto embarked on an epic cross-country road trip last week dubbed #MarsAcrossAmerica which took him from New York to Los Angeles using any means necessary. The trek had the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman hitchhiking and hopping on Greyhound buses during his deep dive into American culture. Leto's adventure was in support of the band's fifth studio album, America, which is also their first album in five years.
Will this album take Thirty Seconds to Mars in a new direction? It's possible. With big names like Halsey, Zedd and A$AP Rocky serving as guests on the project, there's no doubt some exciting risks were taken musically. Leto even revealed that there was a Cardi B collaboration that never quite panned out.
Leto sat down with Harms at ALT 98.7 studios in Los Angeles to detail his journey, new music, the band's upcoming tour and more.
Lessons Learned Traveling Cross-Country
I think I've learned that we all have so much in common. And I've been reminded of that. I should say that we have much more in common than we do differences and if you turn on the news, the media, certainly there's a lot of conflict out there. But I see people that have dreams, people that want to live in a country where their safe and their children are safe. I see people that want to build a better place for their kids and the future. But it's an inspiring time to make music, to put music out. This trip was great to take across the country. We visited a lot of cities and states that we'll be playing shows at on the tour that's coming up - the Monolith Tour.
What To Expect From A Day in the Life of America Documentary
We filmed all over the country. In every single state. Puerto Rico and D.C. in 24 hours and we made a portrait of the Unites States of America and what I think is a really interesting time to say the least. And it's absolutely incredible the footage that we got back. We're excited about it. I hope it will come out this 4th of July and the music, the album, is the soundtrack for the film.
(Photo: Joel Marasigan)
Surprises Coming To The Monolith Tour
We have a production idea that I've been working on for 10 years that we finally managed to pull off somehow. So we'll be bringing that all across America as well. We have an incredible lineup - Walk The Moon, K. Flay, Welshly Arms and Joywave. We wanted it to feel like a mini festival that's coming through town night after night. I'm excited to get on tour in the US for June and July and sweat our asses off and have unforgettable experiences.
There Will Be No Shortage Of Special Guests On Tour
That would be a lot of fun. I talked to A$AP in New York. Maybe we'll manage to - if schedules align maybe we'll get him at Madison Square Garden or The Forum. But their incredible artists and we would love to share the stage with all of them - with Halsey, with A$AP, with Zedd.
We've been inviting people on this tour. Most nights on the tour we have guests - a local from whatever country we're in come out and either do that the part that Travis Scott did on "Walk On Water" at the MTV Awards or sing "Dangerous Night" with me as a duet.
The Cardi B Collaboration That Almost Happened
We got close! We got close! The world doesn't know this but we were very close to doing something together for this album.