Together with his bro Shannon and buddy Tomo Milicevic, the trio are 30 Seconds to Mars. They’ve just been in Oz, so we dropped by their Sydney hotel for a quick word.

Hi guys, what have you been up to? Jared: We’ve been working. Spending a great deal of time in the hotel. We’ve been playing these incredible shows. The crowds have been amazing the energy has been great.

How do you find Aussie crowds? Tomo: Australian crowds are great. High energy. Very devoted to the show. They come to have a great time, which is really all you can ask for.

Any places stand out on your tour? Jared: We went to St Tropez and Ibiza recently.

Cool. Did you find them as wild as they’re meant to be? Jared: I didn’t hit the wild side so much but I saw enough from a distance to know that it is pretty wild yes.

Is your new album, This Is War, your best yet? Tomo: Definitely. I mean I would say so and it differs greatly. These guys [Shannon and Jared] made the first album and it’s kind of like a strange world that they created. You know, then A Beautiful Lie we all worked on together and it became a bit more about the songs and more about the conversation. This record is just the first time that we’ve really become who we really are and I think that’s accurate.

Jared, I noticed in the “Closer To Edge” video your pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins from the Dr Seuss book was the producer. What inspired you to choose that name? Jared: I was just having fun.

Your music videos are quite theatrical, how long does it take to put one together? Jared: It depends. I mean anywhere from six months to four weeks. I think “Closer To The Edge” was many months of shooting, from January to May or something, and then about six weeks of editing. Tomo: Yeah, coz we started about two weeks into the US tour. Jared: And then about five weeks of hardcore editing.

I’ve heard the word “enviromen-tour” been thrown around in regards to how you guys operate on tour? Jared: Yeah I mean we’ve looked for opportunities where we could be a bit more responsible about things. I mean, we’re no environmental activists or purists or anything, we do our best that we can and try and be responsible and involved but you know, we’re not perfect.

You’ve got very dedicated fans called The Echelon don’t you? Tomo: They’re part of it. These guys started it a long time ago. They’re a very dedicated group of individuals who maybe rise above and beyond the call of duty. We know a lot of people personally because you see them so many days in a row. People tend to travel with our shows.

That must be a pretty good feeling? Tomo: It’s pretty flattering. We’re really grateful for that kind of stuff.

30 Seconds to Mars’ new album, This is War, is out now.