performed gigs at small American venues

When Thirty Seconds to Mars first started, Jared Leto did not allow his vocation as a Hollywood actor to be used in promotion of the band. By 1998, they performed gigs at small American venues and clubs. Their eponymous debut album had been in the works for a couple of years, with Leto writing the majority of the songs. During this period, the band recorded demo tracks such as “Valhalla” and “Revolution”, or “Jupiter” and “Hero”, which later appeared on the band’s debut album as “Fallen” and “Year Zero” respectively, but also “Buddha for Mary”. Their work led to a number of record labels being interested in signing Thirty Seconds to Mars, which eventually signed to Immortal Records . In 1999, Virgin Records entered into the contract.