The Mars Volta

I was warned to watch out for Mars Volta’s lead singer, Cedric Bixler Zavala by another photographer in the photo pit, “he likes to kick photographers and their camera and lens”, I shrugged this comment off until I noticed Cedric walk on stage and immediately kick a fan (air blowing device not admirer) from the mid stage area to the very back of the stage. At this point I wandered to the far right side of the stage, a safe distance and yet still close enough to get some good shots of this temperamental artist, besides I had never seen so many photographers in a photo pit before, there must have been 30 or more and was not about to go and try to push and prod my way through those heathens just to get kicked in the camera. Rolling Stone voted The Mars Volta as the best Prog Rock band of 2009.

Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez – Guitarist

Cedric Bixler Zavala – Singer

The eighteen or so years that Omar Rodriguez-López and Cedric Bixler Zavala have spent making music together have been a prime example of the theory of musical evolution, a journey of exploration that’s seen the duo refuse to stand still, maturing and growing ever bolder in their art.

From Omar’s first joining their previous group, El Paso’s lauded and lamented At The Drive-In, and progressively pushing that band in more experimental directions that ultimately pulled it apart, to Omar’s composing of epic scores and Cedric’s creation of lyrical novellas to complement them resulting in The Mars Volta’s first two albums, theirs has always been a partnership that has prioritized challenge over contentment.

“The only objective, throughout, has been to always move forward,” says bandleader Omar, speaking from the recording compound in Mexico from which he currently helms The Mars Volta. “To always make the next album sound different to the one that came before it, to always be evolving.” ….Care to read more?

The Mars Volta is an American Grammy Award-winning rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001 and currently based out of Mexico.^[1] Founded by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, experimental rock, jazz fusion and Latin/Salsa into their sound.

They are known for their energetic and improvisational live shows, as well as their concept-based studio albums. In 2009, the band won a Grammy in the “Best Hard Rock Performance” category for the song “Wax Simulacra.”^[2] They were named rock music’s “Best Prog-Rock Band” of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine.

Band name

Cedric Bixler-Zavala stated in an interview: 
The Volta is taken from a Federico Fellini book about his films, what he characterizes as a changing of scene, or a turnaround; a new scene to him is called Volta. Y’know, changing of time and the changeover.

And Mars, we’re just fascinated by science fiction so and it’s something that ultimately looked as in anything I write, its meaning is always up to the listener. As the way we write songs and words, if it looks great on paper then to us it’s like painting, so if it looks good meaning the second then people usually have a better interpretation than we ever would.

The definite article “The” is used to distinguish the band from a group of European techno artists that previously used the name “Mars Volta.”

History

The roots of The Mars Volta are found in the band At the Drive-In.^[5] ATDI members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed an experimental, dub reggae-influenced side project called De Facto, which featured Bixler-Zavala on drums, Rodriguez-Lopez on bass, Isaiah “Ikey” Owens on keyboards, and Jeremy Michael Ward on vocals, loops and sound effects.

Due to creative differences and discomfort with mainstream success,^[6] Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala quit At the Drive-In in 2001. The remaining members of ATDI formed Sparta. By the time bassist Eva Gardner joined De Facto, they had changed their name to The Mars Volta. During 2001, the band recorded two songs with drummer Blake Fleming and producer Alex Newport, which became their first demo.

The lineup for their first public show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California was Rodriguez-Lopez, Bixler-Zavala, Owens, Gardner, Ward, and drummer Jon Theodore. This lineup recorded three more tracks with Alex Newport, which became the EP Tremulant, released as a limited edition in early 2002.

Since the demise of At the Drive-In, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala found themselves once again starting from the ground up, touring and performing in smaller venues. In their early years The Mars Volta were characterized by chaotic live shows and very heavy drug use.^[6]