Angels and Airwaves

Members: Tom DeLonge, David Kennedy, Atom Willard, Ryan Sinn

Active: 2005 - present

HISTORY

Angels and Airwaves is an alternative rock band created by former blink-182 and Box Car Racer guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge alongside former Hazen Street and Box Car Racer guitarist David Kennedy, ex-Distillers bassist Ryan Sinn and current Offspring drummer Atom Willard. The band released their first single, "The Adventure," on May 18, 2006 and their debut album, We Don't Need to Whisper, on May 23, 2006.

FORMATION

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, DeLonge trademarked the name "Angels and Airwaves" on June 24, 2005 amidst the lingering confusion of blink-182's abruptly announced "indefinite hiatus". DeLonge quickly recruited friends and fellow musicians David Kennedy, Ryan Sinn and Atom Willard to round out the band's roster.

In an interview with British magazine Kerrang!, DeLonge commented about the band's beginning:

"Just before all the blink-182 stuff happened when we were in Europe, I had a really weird epiphany. My heart was beating about a hundred miles a minute for three weeks straight and it had never happened to me before in my life. I really felt like I'd been touched by something and I felt I was meant to do something massive. "

DEBUT

Originally, "Valkyrie Missile" was slated for release via iTunes on December 13, 2005, DeLonge's 30th birthday. However, due to discussions with their record label, Geffen, the band decided to push the release date back to a later date. Instead, the Angels and Airwaves website produced the first ever glimpse at the movie currently in production, a 1-and-a-half minute long trailer featuring portions of the delayed song.

Angels & Airwaves released a both a music video and short film for their first single, "The Adventure"; the band also released a short film for "It Hurts" via the band's official website. Both are short sci-fi films and together form the first part of a proposed ten-part series, following the cast's struggle through an unfamiliar world. On October 3, 2006, the band released the third installment in the series, "The Gift".

"Do It For Me Now" was released in the US as the second single and "It Hurts" was released in the UK as the second single at the same time. The music video for "It Hurts" is in fact the short-film released on April 18th and was available to select on the UK music television channel Kerrang!.

In 2006, the band embarked on their first full-length tour, which was headlined by Taking Back Sunday and supported by Head Automatica and The Subways. Numerous one-stop dates at the Give It A Name 2006 festival were played with the likes of My Chemical Romance, Lostprophets, We Are Scientists, Hundred Reasons, Panic At The Disco, The Bled, Thrice, Billy Talent, Goldfinger, Underoath, Paramore, The Ataris, Aiden and Atreyu. The band also played on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 15, 2006. Currently, the band is headlining a tour in the US, supported by The Sounds, which ends with a stop in Mexico City, Mexico. After this tour, the band plans to perform in Japan and Australia.

They also performed at two shows at London's Hyde Park and in Manchester supporting the Foo Fighters on their successful In Your Honor tour. Over 100,000 people over both days. Other bands they played with over the two days included The Strokes, Eagles of Death Metal, Motorhead, Queens of the Stone Age, Juliette and The Licks, and Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen

On May 26, 2006 "We Don't Need To Whisper" was certified gold in Canada. The album has also gone two times platinum in the U.K.

FUTURE PLANS

Among the plans for a big future, AVA have announced they are planning on releasing a film involving their music. The World War II-based movie is being created primarily through the use of CGI. This "story" is apparently based upon Tom's life and will give viewers insight into the hiatus of blink-182. Currently, the only known cast member is Michael Ostman.

Before the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, DeLonge revealed news about the current events of the band. "The War" is the next single and the short film was released October 27th, 2006. The band is also writing the script for the new movie and filming for this is currently underway

. Furthermore, in September, on a MySpace bulletin, DeLonge stated that a new song, which is 8 and a half minutes long and contains 3 movements, would be released in a few weeks. It was debuted at the concert at Brisbane, Australia on October 19th.

Recently, MTV asked Tom about the future of the band. Delonge stated that the next part of his three-to-five year process would be revealed next year. "It's bigger than just the band itself. It's a mixture of my businesses and the band, and when people laugh and say, 'Oh, yeah, what a big revolution that was!' ... they have no idea. I have access to developing this record far beyond what people can understand," he went on to say.

ALBUMS

2006 - We Don't Need to Whisper

SINGLES

2006 - "The Adventure" - We Don't Need To Whisper

2006 - "It Hurts" - We Don't Need To Whisper

2006 - "Do It For Me Now" - We Don't Need To Whisper

2006 - "The War" - We Don't Need To Whisper