The Airborne Toxic Event

The Airborne Toxic Event’s ornate alt-rock has all the tension-building suspense of a gripping novel. Indeed, the Los Angeles band’s name comes from Don DeLillo’s White Noise, an inspiration for frontman Mikel Jollett. An aspiring novelist himself, Jollett turned to songwriting as a way to channel his own pain—among other traumas, he was born into the Synanon cult—forming The Airborne Toxic Event in 2006 alongside guitarist/keyboardist Steven Chen, bassist Noah Harmon, violinist Anna Bulbrook, and drummer Daren Taylor. Guided by Jollett’s diaristic words and moody howls, the band translates big drama into skyscraping melodies, first captured on its 2008 self-titled debut and explosive baroque-rock hit “Sometime Around Midnight.” Whether spinning dark, introspective tales into the angular post-punk hooks of 2011’s All At Once or the synth-pop arrangements of 2015’s Dope Machines, the band has always been driven by catharsis—especially Jollett. In 2020, the singer brought two of his biggest passions together, releasing the band’s rock de force Hollywood Park alongside his memoir of the same name—both inspired by a life far wilder than any fiction.