Angels and Airwaves

Angels and Airwaves is a solo project created by blink-182 guitarist, Tom DeLonge. His friend and former Box Car Racer member David Kennedy, Offspring drummer Atom Willard and Distillers former bass-player Ryan Sinn are also members of Angels and Airwaves. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office DeLonge trademarked "Angels and Airwaves" on June 24, 2005 amidst the lingering confusion of blink-182's abruptly announced hiatus. Although no specific release date for an album has been set, DeLonge claims that his new project will be "the best music made in decades" as well as being "much more powerful, emotional and melodic than Box Car and blink put together".

In addition to this, DeLonge is currently directing a movie called "AVA" which may be released in correlation with his solo album. As of yet, the only known cast member in the movie is Michael Ostman. The movie may be released on January 20, 2006. It is rumored that Resting Bird Entertainment website will be releasing the movie. The countdown seems like it could be the countdown to the release of "AVA". The movie is a third documentary, a third love story and a third CGI," DeLonge explains."It's the story of the album, which is the story of the break-up of one of the biggest bands in the world and the creation of the world's greatest band."

DeLonge has appeared in various interviews to be very positive about this project, in an recent interview with Brittish magazine Kerrang! he has said the following about the band's beginning: "Just before all the blink 182 shit happened when we were in Europe, i has a really wierd epiphany. My heart was beating about 100 miles a mintue 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."

In the same interview he has given clues for what to expect: "It sounds like it has the conceptual depth of Pink Floyd, the anthemic architecture of U2 but with Tom from blink writing all the melodies. All the songs are very cinematic, anthemic and epic-sounding. The music sounds angelic. Every song gives you the chills and you feel like you want to cry but you're conquering the world at the same time. It sounds like stadium rock done by a band that's meant to be the absolute biggest band in the world."

Many blink-182 fans have been speculating what has become of the close friendship between members since the "hiatus". Tom has said the following: I love Mark and Travis to death. They were my best friends in the world, and I miss them tremendously. At the end, our priorities were mad different, and I haven't spoke to them since the "hiatus", So instead of talking, I just made this album and this film. There's a story line that runs throughout it, it's autobiographical, I felt like I lost my two best friends, I lost the band I created, and I did it all for my family. And so I decided to write the album and make the movie about my life. But rather than sit there and whine, I used analogies about love and war, because that's what this whole thing was like. Playing music in the wake of the Blink thing was like finding love in the middle of a war zone."

Althought DeLonge and his bandmates are still working on their debut album, which isn't expected to be released until April, an exclusive song will be made available through iTunes on December 13, 2005 - Tom's 30th birthday. "We're going to release a six-and-a-half minute song, a trailer for the movie and possibly a video, as well," DeLonge tells Kerrang!. "It will all be available through iTunes. The Song is called 'Valkerie Missile' and it's kind of a flagship track for the band. Choosing a song was hard for a day or two, because it will be the first thing people will hear, but we all came back to this one. It's really exciting and I can't wait for people to hear it."

"The songs are all six minutes long, and [the music] feels like you're going to cry but you put your fist in the air and you can conquer the world... It's build on a punk-rock foundation, but it definitely doesn't sound like Blink." Delonge sites this work as the most incredible music. Not only that he has written, but that he has ever heard. "Imagine if you were in a jet plane, soaring through the clouds. That's what it sounds like." The band hope to put a song online before Christmas, with the currently 10-song, 75 minute album following this April - concurrent with the movie of the same name hitting theaters.

blink 182, box car racer, plus 44