Angels & Airwaves

Angels & Airwaves (also written as Angels and Airwaves; stylized and abbreviated as ΛVΛ) is an American rock band comprising lead vocalist/guitarist Tom DeLonge, guitarist David Kennedy, drummer Ilan Rubin, and bassist Matt Rubano.

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 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". This has been seen in the group's films, live events, and novel approach to fan-artist interaction.

The band's first two albums were mainly influenced by the music of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, combined with the grandiosity of U2.

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."

Soon after forming, the band began recording its first album in DeLonge's studio in California from mid-2005 to early 2006. However, after a fan email hacked DeLonge and stole four demos, Angels & Airwaves had no other choice but to release "The Adventure" as their first single, which was leaked onto radio stations, causing a premature release on May 18, 2006. A few days later, on May 23, they released their first album, We Don't Need to Whisper. The album reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and went gold in both the US and Canada. Despite this success, critics gave generally mixed reviews, with one noting that "while well-intentioned [the band] failed to reach the lofty heights to which they aspire", especially in light of claims made by DeLonge that the album would be "the greatest rock and roll revolution for this generation". Yet, later that year, popularity picked up with the release of singles "The War", "Do It For Me Now" and "It Hurts". The remainder of the year into 2007 was taken up with tours, and in early 2007, the supergroup returned to the studio to work on a follow-up album.

However, problems accumulated and on April 23, 2007, Angels & Airwaves announced that Ryan Sinn would not play at the Free Earth Day concert at the M.I.T. campus due to difficulties within the band. Following this incident, on May 15, Sinn posted on the Army of Angels fan club message board stating that he was "no longer a part of Angels & Airwaves" and had received a call on the evening of April 19 concluding his relationship with the band. Matt Wachter (the former bassist of 30 Seconds to Mars), filled in for the show and was later confirmed as a permanent member.

The second studio album, titled I-Empire and the first song "Everything's Magic" were leaked to the Internet, and on August 25, 2007, it was the most requested song on California radio station KROQ. Angels & Airwaves began streaming the song on their MySpace profile on August 28, 2007. It also became available on iTunes, and reached number three on the iTunes Rock Chart on September 11, 2007, before the song was even made available for nationwide airplay. The band recorded the video for the single on January 20 and 21, and it was premiered on MTV2 Unleashed on February 25, 2008. Their second single "Secret Crowds" was released on February 4, 2008, along with an accompanying video. The band released a third single, "Breathe", that was released onto the Internet on June 20.