In Good Taste

Who: The Mars Volta, an octet featuring Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez (former At the Drive-In guitarist), Cedric Bixler Zavala (former At the Drive-In lead singer), Juan Alderete, Free Moral Agent’s Isaiah Ikey Owens, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Adrian Terrazas, Pablo Hinojos-Gonzalez, and drum prodigy Thomas Pridgen.

Sounds Like: Carlos Santana’s original group on crack. No, not his work from the late 90’s; the good stuff from the 70’s, but much more up-tempo, with a dash of Rush, Led Zeppelin, Larry Harlow, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez himself. Lopez states, “Our band is not for us to describe.” Therefore, what you hear, what you think they sound like is correct, there is no wrong answer.

Vital Stats:

• Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala disbanded At the Drive-In at the peak of their success to form The Mars Volta because they simply said, “We were just bored with the music and the direction it was taking.”
  
  
• After four years with drummer Jon Theodore, the group was forced to kick him out of the band due to his laziness and antics. Eventually the band recruited drum prodigy, Thomas Pridgen. He won the Guitar Center Drum-Off at age 9 and a year later became the youngest recipient of a Zildjian endorsement in the nearly 400 year history of the company. According to lead singer, Bixler-Zavala, in terms of drumming, “I guess you could say, Jon played at like level 2 of Tetris, and Thomas plays at level 32, Thomas brought us back to life.”
  
  
• Prior to the release of their first LP, De-loused in the Comatorium, Sound manipulator, Jeremy Michael Ward died from a drug overdose. The band vowed to never do hard drugs again and dedicated their next album, Frances the Mute was in memory of Jeremy Ward. Frances the mute was based on a journal/diary that Jeremy found and his life.

Hear it now: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez recently released his third solo-album, Old Money, in January of this year. Also, keep an eye out for The Mars Volta’s 5th studio release, Octahedron, available in June.

Let’s purify the tainted souls, or at least build an army to stave off mindless rock music. Go to your local record store and expand your mind, listen to the abstract, the talented, and the unique.