Angels & Airwaves want to be taken seriously. Though lead singer and principal songwriter Tom DeLonge made most of his fans, and dollars, with the pop-punk trio Blink 182, A&A is not a side project. In fact, "I-Empire," DeLonge's 2nd post-Blink 182 album with his new, more mature outfit proves this simply by it's existence...and the almost non-stop road schedule the band has taken on since the release of "We Don't Need To Whisper."
DeLonge had a chance to take a break from Blink before, with his side-project Box Car Racer, which made one album and kind of died in less than a year, much of the reason many fans were skeptical about the longevity of his new project.
The band also includes guitarist David Kennedy, formerly of Box Car Racer and Hazen St., former 30 Seconds to Mars bassist Matt Wachter and former Rocket From the Crypt and Offspring drummer Atom Willard.
I had the chance to chat with Willard about being in "a band made up of guys from other bands," jumping from a successful project to the uncertainty of a new one and the band's current tour with The Color Fred, Meg & Dia and Ace Enders, which will stop in Baltimore and Washington D.C. this weekend for two sold out shows.

Hey man what's going on?
Just hanging out. We're in Orlando, Fla. right now enjoying all of the humidity and the sunshine.
I'm in Annapolis, which is near Baltimore and D.C. and it's actually pretty warm here right now.
Baltimore! Maybe you can help me with something. What is that venue in Baltimore that is all bricks, it's just made of nothing but bricks.
Umm.. I'm not quite sure, I've only been in the area for a little over a year.
That's ok dude. I just remember when I was with Rocket From the Crypt we opened for Rancid at this place in Baltimore that was made of all bricks. That place was great. I had so much fun, just the greatest ever.
You guys had a pretty successful run with the first record and you are out with a new one that is doing pretty well. Do you think you are starting to shake a lot of the skepticism about whether the band was for real or not?
Yeah man. There was a lot of that. A lot of people would call it a side project. We all had so much other stuff going on previously, so I think it's only natural to be kind of skeptical. But we really are committed to it and it's starting to show through the fact that we got right back in and did another record right way. I think that was a good sign of things to come. I think people are starting to accept it as a "real band."
When you were making the new record, did it come easier because you are established now, you have a record behind you. I mean, you guys didn't even really play shows or anything before the first record was made, right?
No we didn't. It did go a lot easier because it was such an established thing. With this album we had just been on tour for eight or nine months before recording it. Making the first one was like...I mean, Tom and I knew each other but we had no time to get used to each other. It was like we were instantly put in a situation where we had to work together. Making an album can be stressful, so it went a lot easier this time. We knew each other better and I understood tom better, as far as what he's looking for as a producer and main songwriter. You have to know what he's trying to say. Now I'm like "Ok, when he says this, it sounds like he means this, but he actually means THIS." So then I'll do the fill or beat or whatever, and he gets all excited about it and I think, "Yep, I was right."
It was just a much more fun process this time. The songs just flowed out. The first one took almost a year and a half to complete, and this one probably took a third as long.
You know, we'd be f-ing around at sound checks and that kind of stuff, just jamming more. Being on tour had the biggest influence on how to communicate. I was on tour with The Offspring while the first album was being made, so this time to be in the studio every day was another big difference.

You quit The Offspring to become 100 percent focused on this band.
Was it kind of scary to jump from, you know, a very established band to this "new" kind of thing and kind of take a gamble?
Yeah, of course you have those questions in your mind like "shit what am I giving up and what am I gaining." Stability or whatever. But, it all stems from the fact that none of us were happy, you know whether it was me or Tom or the other guys. Sometimes you have to leave the burning house to get to the new house. It's exciting. The way we do things and the way it was set up from the start has a lot to do with why there won't be problems that we all encountered in previous bands: communication, respect, just all this stuff that makes relationships between people work. That kind of stuff is going to be really heavy and important and the music is too, but the fact that we can deal with each other and be civil no matter what is going on is what will keep us excited. It's scary to move on, but when the pasture looks so green over the fence, you know?
I always see some bands that, you know, after like 10 years are still playing songs that seem kind of silly to still be playing after that long. Was that maybe part of the change in scenery?
I don't know. I think that is a subconscious motivator, but you don't know how different stuff can be either. For Tom, I think he was seeing some of that. For me I feel more connected to the music with this band, it's more representative of what I'm listening to at this point.
So, what ARE you listening to right now?
I'm really all over the board. I have my stand-bys. I just back into PJ Harvey's "4-Track Demos." I love that record, it's rhthymy, stripped down and raw. I love the Against Me "New Wave" record. Hank Williams, and The Clash always. It's really all over the board, but at the same time it's all kind of connected. I do listen to some metal stuff and some aggressive music, but it's not the focus. I love Rage Against the Machine.
I've read that there are plans to do things with A & A outside the realm of music. What other things are planned?
We've been filming a feature length movie since August, when we had decent working versions of the songs for "I-Empire." We sat down with this guy and discussed this and came up with an awesome story line. We are basically filming a 10 piece film and only 3 are in the same setting with a main character. The rest are extraneous, and kind of random, but then all tie together and you see how they are related. It's very interesting and it's getting closer to being done filming. Then the editing and stuff will kick into high gear, hopefully to be released in the fall.

Angels & Airwaves will peform Saturday in Baltimore at Sonar and Sunday in Washington D.C. at the 9:30 Club with Meg & Dia, The Color Fred and Ace Enders. For more information, visit http://www.sonarbaltimore.com/ or http://www.930.com/