You can take the boy (or man) out of Detroit.
And in Tomo Milicevic’s case, you can put him back there, too.
The Thirty Seconds to Mars member — who co-founded the group in 1998 with Academy Award-winning actor Jared Leto and his brother Shannon Leto — was born in Sarajevo but moved to the U.S. with his family as a baby and to Troy when he was in third grade. He graduated from Troy Athens High School before moving to Los Angeles in 2003, but now he’s back, having purchased a home in Detroit’s Indian Village with his wife, Vicki.
“We’ve been pretty much working towards this scenario for a long time,” says Milicevic, a multi-instrumentalist who’s also a certified chef. “I have a bunch of family in Michigan, mostly on my dad’s side, and Vicki has tons of family in Royal Oak, Detroit, random places.
“I’m a Michigan kid. I love this place, so I’ve really been waiting to be able to come back and participate. We kind of grew up in that Detroit music scene, playing and just going to shows. I’ve always had a deep, deep, deep-rooted affinity for the city, so we’re super-excited about being there again.”
Milicevic feels the same way about 30STM’s local date on the Carnivores Tour with Linkin Park and AFI, which is letting him play at the DTE Energy Music Theatre for the first time.
“That’s a big deal for me,” he says. “I’ve played all my venues in Detroit— Cobo, the State Theatre (now the Fillmore Detroit), Saint Andrews. I just haven’t played Pine Knob, so, yeah, that’s a big one for a hometown boy.”
Milicevic’s musical association with Leto, meanwhile, has also exposed him to Hollywood, especially during the past year as Leto gobbled up a Supporting Actor prize for his role in “Dallas Buyers Club.” But Milicevic hasn’t spend any time on awards show red carpets with his bandmate.
“I didn’t go to any of that stuff,” he says. “As you can imagine, that is a pretty tough ticket to get, and he’s already got his brother and mother, so that’s OK. I was at home cheering him on with the people.”
Leto’s Oscar, Milicevic adds, is not on road with the band. “No, that’s in his kitchen, in his window,” he says.
