Angels & Airwaves Add Electronic Sound, New Bassist for New Album

(andPOP) - With their 2006 debut album "We Don't Need to Whisper," the members of Angels & Airwaves proved that they were not lacking in confidence. (Frontman Tom DeLonge, formerly of Blink-182, told andPOP at the time that he was "tripping" over the album. "It's so much bigger and powerful than I ever thought and I ever imagined.")

With their new album, "I-Empire," due for release this Tuesday (Nov. 6), the band has somehow become even more self-assured.

"We just want people to know that if they listen to this album, these fires will stop," guitarist David Kennedy tells andPOP, referring to the wildfires in Los Angeles.

On a more serious note, Kennedy says the album is much more stripped down than their debut.

"It sounds like a three-piece in a garage," Kennedy says, though Angels & Airwaves is far more complex than a garage band. The band added a more electronic sound with keyboards and synthesizers. "It sounds organic, but synthesized. The two can co-exist."

As Kennedy talks about the new album, he realizes that he's cutting off Matt Wachter, the band's bassist. Kennedy jokes that he likes to be the one that answers the questions, but most of the time both guys are too busy laughing to answer questions at all. Almost every new question prompts one of them to crack a joke about the other, and the two quickly get caught up in laughing fits.

Kennedy starts to talk about his date the previous evening, but Wachter is quick to tell him that no one cares.

Wachter tries to answer a question about his early days, playing the piano and drums. Kennedy stops him, pointing out his use of double negatives.

Wachter snaps back. "I hate you."

This chemistry seems like a result of a lifelong friendship. But in fact, Wachter is a new addition to Angels & Airwaves.

Wachter replaced former bassist Ryan Sinn in May, when Sinn departed from the band midway through the new album's recording process.

When Sinn left, the band called Wachter, who had just exited from the Jared Leto-fronted 30 Seconds to Mars. They already knew they would be able to get along with Wachter, having once toured with 30 Seconds to Mars.

Wachter says he had so much fun with Angels & Airwaves that he had ended up hanging out more in their dressing room than in his own.

According to Kennedy, Watcher's the perfect fit for Angels & Airwaves. "He's from where we came from musically," Kennedy says. "We grew up listening to all the same bands."

Because Angels & Airwaves has a less intensive schedule than 30 Seconds to Mars has, Watcher says he's able to spend more time with his wife.

"In 30 Seconds to Mars we were on the road 10 months of the year. I was rarely home."

Being in Angels & Airwaves, he says, gives him more freedom.

"We're motivated and driven, but there are other aspects to our lives," Wachter says. "We're family oriented."

And Watcher was prepared to deal with being in a band with a high-profile frontman, of course having worked with Leto, the actor-turned-rocker.

"It's endearing to work with high profile musicians," Wachter admits, adding that he has trouble grasping how famous his bandmates are.

"I'm oblivious," he says, perhaps one of the reasons his bandmates nicknamed him "The Big Dummy."

Though he joined the band part way through the recording process, Kennedy says Wachter was still a huge part of the album. Kennedy says Wachter has a great ear for melodies and that Wachter and the rest of the band agreed what the band's new sound on "I-Empire" should be.

While the new album won't likely fight fires, with what each band member has previously produced, the album does stand a chance of being, as the band has says, "fucking awesome."