Matt Wachter | |
|---|---|
 Wachter in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matthew Walter Wachter |
| Born | January 5, 1976 Pottsville, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Alternative rock, punk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Bass guitar, keyboards |
| Labels | Virgin, Immortal, Geffen |
| Formerly of | |
Matthew Walter "Matt" Wachter (born January 5, 1976) is an American musician best known for playing bass in the alternative rock bands Thirty Seconds to Mars and Angels & Airwaves.
Wachter was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. As a child, he spent most of his time with his family in New Jersey and Boston. An active child, he participated in baseball and soccer, taking up swimming as well, he also went to United States Space Camp, along with Space Academy. His interest in music bloomed when he was around five years old, and between the ages of five and eight, he experimented with various instruments, focusing primarily on the piano and drums.
Wachter reached the peak of his musical interest around high school and spent most of his time playing in bands. He picked up the bass, he stated, because he "wanted to play in a band, and the band needed a bass player." He had no previous experience with the bass, the closest being experimenting with the guitar. He credited former Metallica bassist, the late Cliff Burton, as his inspiration for wanting to play the bass guitar.
Wachter attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and moved to Los Angeles after graduating to pursue his career in music.
Wachter was rumored to have worked in a slaughterhouse, but confessed in an interview that he and his bandmates made up the story to stir up an otherwise dull interview. [1]
Wachter joined Jared Leto, Shannon Leto, and Solon Bixler, rounding out the Thirty Seconds to Mars line-up, in 2001. Bixler was replaced with Tomo Milicevic in 2003.
Wachter often stands in a "pigeon-toed" stance (both feet turned in toward each other) when he plays his bass, and stares down at his feet. He says doing this allows him to focus on what he's playing and keeps him from being distracted by fans.
In the early days of Thirty Seconds to Mars, Wachter complained of consistent headaches after performing, but no pain while he was on stage. After a visit to the hospital and a CT scan, it was discovered that he developed a concussion from frequent head-banging on stage. This prompted his mother to suggest he "wiggle his hips like Elvis", as mentioned in the fan yearbook. The head-banging has since stopped.
The first two dates of the 2006 "Forever Night, Never Day" headlining tour had to be postponed after Wachter hurt himself. The injury resulted from changing one of his car's headlights (or as Shannon Leto says "He was left alone with a pair of scissors." to which Wachter replied "A pair of scissors and a light bulb. I'll leave the rest to your imagination."), pushing the tour back an additional two weeks. The band issued press release to fans on March 2.
While on tour in El Paso, Texas, on March 1, 2007, Jared Leto announced to the arena that Wachter would be playing his last show with the band. He dedicated the song, "R-Evolve", to Wachter. After that, Tim Kelleher filled in as the bassist on the March 2 show in Dallas, Texas.
Following the departure of Ryan Sinn from the band on 23 April 2007, Wachter joined Angels & Airwaves in Sinn's place. He was later confirmed as a band member, and worked with Angels & Airwaves on their second album I-Empire . The band released their third studio album, titled Love , in February 2010, along with its follow-up Love: Part Two in 2011. On June 24, 2014, Tom Delonge posted a photo of Matt stating his intention to leave the band to focus on his family life at home, stating "Matt still might join us later down the road somewhere and somehow."
On March 9, 2017, a video posted to Tom DeLonge's Instagram account showed Wachter playing bass, to which DeLonge states he has "been looking for [Wachter]". This led to speculation that Wachter had returned to Angels & Airwaves. This was confirmed by DeLonge on April 18, 2018, posting that both Wachter and guitarist David Kennedy had rejoined Angels & Airwaves and would appear on the next album. [2] When the band released new music in May 2019, however, Wachter was absent from both the band's new press photos and from the list of members listed on the band's Facebook page. Neither the band nor Wachter have released statements concerning the departure, although producer Aaron Rubin stated that Wachter was not involved with any of the band's new music.
Wachter serves as an occasional guest host on Get The Fuck Up Radio. The radio show is hosted by two of his friends, Aaron Farley and Jeremy Weiss and is featured on Little Radio, out of Los Angeles.
In mid-2009, Wachter recorded bass on all tracks for the upcoming release by Street Drum Corps, for release in 2010. [3] [4]
On May 14, 2009, Matt and Libby (née' Lawson) had a child. [5]
| Title | Release | Label | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Beautiful Lie | 2005 | Immortal/Virgin | Thirty Seconds to Mars |
| I-Empire | 2007 | Geffen | Angels & Airwaves |
| Love | 2010 | To The Stars Records | |
| Love, Part Two | 2011 |
Thirty Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of brothers Jared Leto and Shannon Leto. During the course of its existence, it has undergone various line-up changes with the Leto brothers being the only consistent members.
30 Seconds to Mars is the debut studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. It was first released on August 27, 2002, by Immortal Records and distributed by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue, and Thirty Seconds to Mars, and was recorded in rural Wyoming during 2001 and early 2002. It had been in the works for a couple of years, with lead vocalist Jared Leto writing the majority of the songs.
Ryan Sinn is the bassist for The Distillers. He currently resides in San Diego, California.
Tomislav "Tomo" Miličević is a Bosnian-American musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars from 2003 to 2018. Born in Sarajevo but raised in the United States, Miličević moved to Troy, Michigan in the early 1980s, where he became active in the local heavy metal scene and played in a number of bands, co-founding Morphic. In 2003, he joined Thirty Seconds to Mars, with whom he achieved worldwide recognition in the mid-2000s after recording the band's second album A Beautiful Lie (2005). Its full-length follow-ups, This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013), received further critical and commercial success.
Angels & Airwaves is an American rock band, comprising lead vocalist/guitarist Tom DeLonge, guitarist David Kennedy, drummer Ilan Rubin, and bassist Matt Rubano.
"From Yesterday" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, and the third single released from their second album A Beautiful Lie. The song impacted radio on October 17, 2006. The music video for the song is believed to be the first ever American music video shot in the People's Republic of China in its entirety. The music video is also the last video by the band to feature bass player Matt Wachter. The song won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.
"Attack" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released by Immortal and Virgin on May 3, 2005, as the lead single from the band's second album, A Beautiful Lie. The song was written by Jared Leto and was produced by Josh Abraham and 30 Seconds to Mars. The song is a dynamic expression of rebirth and renewal. 30 Seconds to Mars premiered the song on the American network Fuse on May 25, 2005, during Daily Download.
"The Kill" (written "The Kill (Bury Me)" on the single and music video) is a song by American band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released on January 24, 2006 as the second single from their second album, A Beautiful Lie. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Edge of the Earth" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released through Immortal and Virgin on March 3, 2003, as the second single from the band's self-titled debut album. The song was written by Jared Leto and was produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue and 30 Seconds to Mars.
"A Beautiful Lie" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released as the fourth single from their second album A Beautiful Lie. It was not released in the United Kingdom as a single.
I-Empire is the second studio album by alternative rock band Angels & Airwaves. It was officially released worldwide on November 1, 2007 from the Angels & Airwaves website, where it was available for download. It was then released on CD on November 5 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and on November 6 in the United States and Canada. It is their first album to feature Matt Wachter on bass.
"Night of the Hunter" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their third studio album This Is War. Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, the song was released as the fifth and final single from the album in 2011. The track was produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and 30 Seconds to Mars, and was inspired by Jared and his brother Shannon's youth in Louisiana.
Love: Part Two is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Angels & Airwaves, released November 11, 2011, via the band's own label, To the Stars Records. It follows 2010's Love, and its release coincides with that of the band's Love feature film, which includes music from the album. The first single from the album and respective music video, "Anxiety", was released on August 11, 2011. "Surrender" impacted radio on January 31, 2012. It is the final album to feature Atom Willard as the band's drummer and Matt Wachter as the band's bassist. It is also the last album to feature guitarist David Kennedy until his return in 2018.
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"Conquistador" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013). Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, who also produced the song with Steve Lillywhite, "Conquistador" features combative lyrics and call-and-response verses. Described as the "wild child" of the album, it is an alternative rock song with influences and elements from electronica. Thirty Seconds to Mars premiered the song on Vevo on May 2, 2013, two weeks before the album's release.
The Monolith Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. Staged in support of the band's fifth studio album America (2018), the tour visited arenas and stadiums throughout 2018 and 2019. It was initially announced in October 2017 with European dates being released at the same time, with North American dates announced afterwards. It began on March 12, 2018 in Basel, Switzerland, and concluded on August 17, 2019 in Großpösna, Germany. The support acts for the tour included Walk the Moon, K.Flay, MisterWives, Joywave, and Welshly Arms.
"Rebel Girl" is a song by the American rock band, Angels & Airwaves. The song was released on April 30, 2019, as the first single for their album, Lifeforms, and is their first music release through Rise Records. The song was written by Tom DeLonge, Ilan Rubin, and Aaron Rubin.
"Euphoria" is a song by the American rock band, Angels & Airwaves. The song was released on May 19, 2021, as the second single for their album, Lifeforms. It also marks the band's first release with bassist, Matt Rubano, as an official member. The song was written by Tom DeLonge, Ilan Rubin, Rubano, and Aaron Rubin.
Lifeforms is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band Angels & Airwaves. The album was released on September 24, 2021, and marks the longest gap between albums for the band following 2014's The Dream Walker. It is the band's first album with bassist Matt Rubano, who replaced Matt Wachter in 2019, and the first with guitarist David Kennedy since 2011's Love: Part Two.
| Studio albums | |
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| Extended plays | |
| Singles | |
| Other songs | |
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| Live personnel | |
| Related articles | |
| Authority control: Artists |
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