30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto told MTV Newsthat his songwriting for the band's fourth album -- which the group has just begun working on -- was inspired by a trip to India not long ago. Leto explained, "I was recording in India, and had an amazing experience over there, and came back with some really great material. And not so much that this is a World Beat record, it's more about the experiences and how they're influencing me in creative terms, emotional terms."

• The band announced last week that it was working on album number four after months of speculation over whether 30 Seconds would return at all. Leto said about the break-up rumors, "We were on the road for two years, four months or so, and people started to ask us about a new album, and we didn't have any plans . . . at that point, I don't think we knew what was going to happen for the future, so rather than make something up, we just told the truth: We didn't know."
• The new 30 Seconds album will follow up 2009's This Is War. Although Leto said that the band wrote dozens of songs that didn't make that record's final track list, he told us that it's unlikely he'd revisit any of that material: "Yeah, I think it's important to move forward, not to move backwards. You know, when you're making music, it's really about what you have to say in a given period of time as well, and that changes because of what's going on in the world, what's going on with you personally."
• 30 Seconds To Mars is also relaunching the Summit -- through which fans can interact with the band and even participate in recording -- and streamed a live broadcast on Friday (April 27th) through its VyRT website. Leto said about the initiative, "There are a lot of people around the world who just can't jump on a plane and be part of a show, and that's what we provide with VyRT)."

CHECK IT OUT: Get more on VyRT at http://vyrt.net/mars/

LISTENERS' POLL: Would you pay a fee at something like VyRT to watch a band perform online?

30 Seconds To Mars' Jared Leto Won't Revisit Old Material