There are four what we call glyphics that represent different elements with 30 Seconds to Mars,” says Leto. “We have a lot of symbology, which is something I’ve always been interested in. I think it’s kind of an excuse for us to apply this art side to the project as well.
"There’s a set of four new ones, but these are consistent,” he continues. “They’re not just for one album. We do have other symbols like the arrow, which is based on the Norse symbol for the god Tyr, which represents order, direction, consequence. And we have a phoenix seal as well, which represents, obviously, rebirth and it’s a classic ancient symbol that we have on our 30 Seconds to Mars seal. A lot of people have gotten that tattooed. Then we have a saying, 'Provehito in altum,’ which means 'Launch forth into the deep,’ which is a Latin phrase that we use on the symbol as well.”
30 SECONDS TO MARS
ROCK STARS AND MOVIE STARS
by Jonathan Williams
Photos by Frank Mullen
Aug., 2005
Jared – “We were pretty blown away to see it start happening and it’s been nothing short of a small phenomenon. There’s a lot of people and they post their pictures on the Web site.”
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Judging from the spacey rock sound of the band’s 2002 self-titled debut, and the fact that the band is fronted by actor Jared Leto (Panic Room, Requiem for a Dream, Fight Club), it might be easy to think of 30 Seconds to Mars as a band with its head in the clouds. However, its non-stop tour schedule and the emotional connection its fans have had with the music and lyrics have created a devoted following for 30 Seconds to Mars. And the symbols that have come to represent what 30 Seconds to Mars is all about have found their way literally under the skin of many of the hardcore fans, “which is the ultimate compliment,” says Leto, whose acting breakthrough came as the frontman of a fictional band on the ‘90s high school drama series My So-Called Life.
“We were pretty blown away to see it start happening and it’s been nothing short of a small phenomenon. There’s a lot of people and they post their pictures on the Web site. There’s something, I think, so simplistic, almost primordial, about the images themselves. When they came to be it was very clear that something in its simplest and least detailed, least manufactured form worked the best for us.
"And it’s weird that in life human beings always have a relationship to symbology even beyond language,” he continues. “It’s something you’ll find in every society or culture in the world. People have used the power of symbols to convey bigger messages and these symbols all do that for us, they hold a bigger ideal that represents something that’s maybe a little bit more powerful than just the music. It’s a way for there to be an extension into the two-dimensional or three-dimensional world. It’s a platform for us to explore and do things that are creative and artistic.”
Of course, it’s not just the band’s fans who have decided to make these symbols a permanent part of their lives. As founding members of 30 Seconds to Mars, both Jared and his brother Shannon Leto, who plays drums, have gotten tattoos of these symbols as well.
“There are four what we call glyphics that represent different elements with 30 Seconds to Mars,” says Leto. “We have a lot of symbology, which is something I’ve always been interested in. I think it’s kind of an excuse for us to apply this art side to the project as well.
"There’s a set of four new ones, but these are consistent,” he continues. “They’re not just for one album. We do have other symbols like the arrow, which is based on the Norse symbol for the god Tyr, which represents order, direction, consequence. And we have a phoenix seal as well, which represents, obviously, rebirth and it’s a classic ancient symbol that we have on our 30 Seconds to Mars seal. A lot of people have gotten that tattooed. Then we have a saying, 'Provehito in altum,’ which means 'Launch forth into the deep,’ which is a Latin phrase that we use on the symbol as well.”
While this cerebral approach definitely comes across in 30 Seconds to Mars’ music, the band is surprisingly down to earth and always finds a way to give back to the fans who have found such a strong connection to its creativity. One of the most interactive things the band has done was putting together a yearbook that was available on its Web site last year, featuring pictures submitted by what Leto calls “a big family” of fans from all over the world.
“There are a lot of tattoo pictures in the yearbook as well,” he says. “There’s one of my autograph on a girl. That was a little bizarre.
"I never actually had a yearbook in high school, I never really had that community,” he continues. “There seems to be that element of community with the band that is probably an extension of wanting some sort of connection or something. The yearbook was a way to celebrate that or foster more connectivity. People show up now and we’ll sign their yearbooks and maybe they’ll get other people to sign the yearbooks as well. It was just kind of a fun, interesting idea I had never heard anyone explore before.”
Of course, the ultimate reciprocation is recording more songs and performing more shows. And 30 Seconds to Mars has definitely been busy with that, recording A Beautiful Lie over the past couple of years in New York, L.A., South Africa, and Morocco, as well as touring steadily since mid-May to promote the new album.
While A Beautiful Lie still has the keyboards and electronic effects that made the first album unique, it’s all toned down a little for a more straight-ahead rock approach. Where the first album had some Tool-like guitar parts and some Orgy-esque space rock tendencies, with some heady prog-rock elements, the new one is a little more personal and emotional and lands somewhere between the Deftones and The Cure.
“It’s a complete departure from the first record,” says Leto. “There’s a perspective there and it’s a human being in the crossroads, in this pinnacle, in this precarious balance of decision making. It’s really about brutal honesty and about going to war with yourself and hopefully winning. In a sense, it’s conceptual because every song on the record has that perspective and comes from that place of self-examination, change, ultimately rebirth and renewal. It’s about this choice to believe, and it’s an optimistic choice even though the word 'lie’ is in it, it’s an optimistic title because no matter what happens we collectively as a race continue to keep
Here’s the best explained version I’ve found on the theory I believe.
____________________
Argus Apocraphex is a way of life, a way to escape the harshness of reality, things always seem closer then they really are in the Argus Apocraphex, following the Argus Apocraphex means we as the Echelon (The 100 eyes of Argus) have to escape into blissful environment where we can unite and launch forth into the depths of our minds, but at the same time divide and progress on our own personal journeys, reuniting in the environment created by us all.
The song End of the Beginning is the key to unlock the puzzle here’s why :
In the song End of the Beginning this is what it said:
It’s the end here today but I will build a new beginning, take some time, find a place, and I will start my own religion.
Okay, what this means is that Argus Apocraphex isn’t a book it is in fact a religion, a way of life.
The next part of the puzzle is this (also lyrics from End of the Beginning) :
You saw what you get when you take what you take, look in the eye of the test, it’s all because, now there’s a feeling I get when I look to the left but it should never be sensed, start searching for a sign.
This is the ordeal of the Phoenix. For those of you who don’t know, the Phoenix was a bird that when it died its body burned into ash, then was reborn again from its own ashes. This is our test, looking into the eye of the Phoenix and cutting off what connections we have to real life.
This is where Provehito in Altum comes in. Provehito in Altum means Launch Forth into the Deep. Maybe not the deep how about the depths? After the test is complete we can launch forth into the depths of our mind and unlock the bliss of the Argus Apocraphex religion or way of life, however you see it.
United as one the Echelon becomes the one hundred eyes of Argus, the warriors and keepers of the gate to the Apocraphex. Divided we may start our own personal journeys into the vast possibilities of the Apocraphex; this is where A Beautiful Lie comes in.
Everything is connected; 30 Seconds to mars, Provehito in Altum, The Argus Apocraphex, The Phoenix, and the personal journey and escapism that A Beautiful Lie talks about. This journey could be the journey of the first to enter this way of life, Jared Leto.
By Sean Davidson [Echelon
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