Tomo Miličević
Encyclopedia
Tomislav "Tomo" Miličević (ˈtoːmo miˈlitʃevitɕ) (born September 3, 1979 in Sarajevo
) is a Bosnian-American musician
. He is the lead guitarist of the alternative rock
band 30 Seconds to Mars
.
until the family permanently emigrated to Troy, Michigan
when he was in the 3rd grade. He is quoted as saying that if his family had not emigrated, he “...would be in the army by 16, fighting in the front lines by age 17”. In his teenage years, Miličević was standing outside his father's Dunkin' Donuts in Michigan when an errant bullet hit him in the leg. He is quoted as saying that he "didn't feel it, I just looked down and saw I was bleeding and I laughed." He wanted to keep the bullet, but the hospital would not let him. By the time Tomo was 18 years of age, his parents Tonka and Damir Miličević had opened a restaurant in Los Angeles
.
Tomo has a brother, Filip Miličević, and their sister is actress Ivana Miličević
. Tomo's uncle, Dr. Željko "Bill" Miličević, is a virtuoso violinist and orchestra teacher at Farmington High School in Farmington, Michigan.
He attended Athens High School in Troy, Michigan
, and is a certified executive and pastry chef. Despite this fact, he has never cooked for his band mates.
Married long time girlfriend, Vicki Bosanko, in Crete, Greece on July 5, 2011.
, Tomo told his father that he wanted to play the guitar, and so they made one together. The guitar was used to record the song "A Modern Myth" on 30 Seconds to Mars
's second album, A Beautiful Lie
.
He says that the first concert he attended was Nirvana
but he has since said in interviews that is "truthfully not true...I think it was Paula Abdul
and Living Colour
".
After graduating from culinary school as an executive and pastry chef, Tomo decided to sell all of his instruments and leave the music business. But then he was told about an audition for 30 Seconds to Mars
by Shannon Leto
. Being that Tomo was already a fan of the group, he decided to audition. He was selected from 200 musicians not only for his talent, but also because he is kind and personable. Five days later, on February 3, 2003, he played with Jared Leto
, Shannon Leto
and Matt Wachter
on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
.
The band released their third album This Is War
, on December 4, 2009.
Miličević played for a time with a local band from Michigan
, called Morphic.
Miličević describes his music as rock
, and his influences include Led Zeppelin
, Deep Purple
, Metallica
at the time of Kill 'Em All
, The Who
, Alice in Chains
and Slayer
.
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
) is a Bosnian-American musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He is the lead guitarist of the alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band 30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998. Since 2007, the band has consisted of actor Jared Leto , Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević...
.
Family
Tomo first came to the States as a baby, and went back and forth to CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
until the family permanently emigrated to Troy, Michigan
Troy, Michigan
Troy is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is a suburb of Detroit. The population was 80,980 at the 2010 census, making it the 11th-largest city in Michigan by population, and the largest city in Oakland County...
when he was in the 3rd grade. He is quoted as saying that if his family had not emigrated, he “...would be in the army by 16, fighting in the front lines by age 17”. In his teenage years, Miličević was standing outside his father's Dunkin' Donuts in Michigan when an errant bullet hit him in the leg. He is quoted as saying that he "didn't feel it, I just looked down and saw I was bleeding and I laughed." He wanted to keep the bullet, but the hospital would not let him. By the time Tomo was 18 years of age, his parents Tonka and Damir Miličević had opened a restaurant in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Tomo has a brother, Filip Miličević, and their sister is actress Ivana Miličević
Ivana Milicevic
-Early life:Miličević was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Croatian family, the daughter of Tonka, a homemaker, and Damir Miličević, a slaughterhouse worker and entrepreneur. She emigrated to the United States at the age of five and was raised in Michigan...
. Tomo's uncle, Dr. Željko "Bill" Miličević, is a virtuoso violinist and orchestra teacher at Farmington High School in Farmington, Michigan.
He attended Athens High School in Troy, Michigan
Troy, Michigan
Troy is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is a suburb of Detroit. The population was 80,980 at the 2010 census, making it the 11th-largest city in Michigan by population, and the largest city in Oakland County...
, and is a certified executive and pastry chef. Despite this fact, he has never cooked for his band mates.
Married long time girlfriend, Vicki Bosanko, in Crete, Greece on July 5, 2011.
Musical history
Tomo practiced to become a concert violinist from the ages of 3 to 19 years of age. He started writing his own music by the age of 17. After discovering heavy metalHeavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, Tomo told his father that he wanted to play the guitar, and so they made one together. The guitar was used to record the song "A Modern Myth" on 30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998. Since 2007, the band has consisted of actor Jared Leto , Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević...
's second album, A Beautiful Lie
A Beautiful Lie
A Beautiful Lie is the second album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. It was released on August 30, 2005 through Virgin Records and was produced by Josh Abraham. The album produced four singles, "Attack," "The Kill," "From Yesterday," and "A Beautiful Lie"; of which three of those four...
.
He says that the first concert he attended was Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
but he has since said in interviews that is "truthfully not true...I think it was Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
and Living Colour
Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...
".
After graduating from culinary school as an executive and pastry chef, Tomo decided to sell all of his instruments and leave the music business. But then he was told about an audition for 30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998. Since 2007, the band has consisted of actor Jared Leto , Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević...
by Shannon Leto
Shannon Leto
Shannon Leto is an American drummer and an occasional actor. He is the older brother of musician and actor Jared Leto; both are part of the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. -Career:...
. Being that Tomo was already a fan of the group, he decided to audition. He was selected from 200 musicians not only for his talent, but also because he is kind and personable. Five days later, on February 3, 2003, he played with Jared Leto
Jared Leto
Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor, director, producer, occasional model and musician. Leto has appeared in both big budget Hollywood films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing Jordan Catalano in the teenage drama My So-Called Life...
, Shannon Leto
Shannon Leto
Shannon Leto is an American drummer and an occasional actor. He is the older brother of musician and actor Jared Leto; both are part of the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. -Career:...
and Matt Wachter
Matt Wachter
Matthew Walter "Matt" Wachter is the bassist, keyboardist, and the backing vocalist in the rock band Angels & Airwaves. He was the former bassist for alternative rock group 30 Seconds to Mars, He was with the band from 2001 to 2007...
on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
The Late Late Show (CBS TV series)
The Late Late Show is an American late-night television talk and variety show on CBS hosted by Craig Ferguson since 2005. It immediately follows Late Show with David Letterman and is produced by Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated...
.
The band released their third album This Is War
This Is War
This Is War is the third studio album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, released through Virgin Records and EMI on December 8, 2009. It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200.- Background and development :...
, on December 4, 2009.
Miličević played for a time with a local band from Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, called Morphic.
Miličević describes his music as rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and his influences include Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
at the time of Kill 'Em All
Kill 'Em All
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on July 25, 1983. Since its release, it has been certified 3x platinum by the RIAA, having sold over 3 million copies in the United States alone.-Music:...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
and Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
.
Instruments
- Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Custom Ebony, Fender Jazzmaster (He is left-handed, but plays guitar right-handed)
- Pickups: 490R Alnico magnet humbucker, 498T Alnico magnet humbucker
- Tuners: Grover Keystone
- Amps: Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier with Mesa Boogie Cabinet
- Pedals: Boss Super Chorus SC1, Digitech Whammy, Boss DD20 Giga Delay, Boss FZ5 Fuzz Pedal, Digitech Bad Monkey, Boss Chromatic Tuner, Boss BF3 Flanger, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Boss RC20XL
- Apron, Rolling Pin, Spatula, Hand mixer
- Vicki Bosanko, Shannon Leto
30 Seconds to Mars
- 2005 - A Beautiful LieA Beautiful LieA Beautiful Lie is the second album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. It was released on August 30, 2005 through Virgin Records and was produced by Josh Abraham. The album produced four singles, "Attack," "The Kill," "From Yesterday," and "A Beautiful Lie"; of which three of those four...
- 2009 - This Is WarThis Is WarThis Is War is the third studio album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, released through Virgin Records and EMI on December 8, 2009. It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200.- Background and development :...
Collaborations
- 2010 - (I Just) Died In Your ArmsLove Is Gone (album)Love is Gone is the second studio album by American rock band, Dommin, released 2 February 2010 in the US and 15 February 2010 in the UK. Although it is their debut album under the Roadrunner Records label, Mend Your Misery, released four years prior, is their debut studio album overall...
*[1]
- Contributed lead guitar.