The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta biography

The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band consists of Omar Rodrí­guez-López (guitar, producer, direction), Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), Juan Alderete (bass), Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (keyboards, percussion) and Deantoni Parks (drums).

Formed following the break-up of Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala's previous band, At the Drive-In, The Mars Volta incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and the rhythmic complexity of math rock into their sound. They are known for their energetic live shows, as well as their concept-based studio albums.

In 2009, the band won a Grammy Award in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for the song "Wax Simulacra." In 2008, they were named "Best Prog-Rock Band" by Rolling Stone magazine.

Band name

Cedric Bixler-Zavala stated in an interview:

The roots of The Mars Volta are found in the band At the Drive-In. ATDI imploded on the verge of breakthrough, partly due to boredom, partly to musical differences. Then ATDI members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodrí­guez-López started flirting with 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 and drug abuse, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala quit At the Drive-In in 2001. The remaining members of the band formed Sparta. During 2001 Eva Gardner joined the members of De Facto on bass, and they recorded two songs with drummer Blake Fleming and producer Alex Newport, which became the first demo by The Mars Volta. 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 in early 2001 by Gold Standard Laboratories.

After 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 heavy drug use.

Following Tremulant, The Mars Volta continued touring with a fluid line-up while preparing to record their debut full-length album De-Loused in the Comatorium, produced with Rick Rubin and released on June 24, 2003. Whereas Tremulant had no general theme (except the prophetic mentioning) De-Loused was a unified work of speculative fiction telling the first-person story of someone in a drug-induced coma, battling the evil side of his mind. Though lyrically obscure, The Mars Volta stated in interviews that the album's protagonist is based on their late friend Julio Venegas, or "Cerpin Taxt", an El Paso poet and artist who went into a coma for several years after a deliberate drug overdose, recovered and later committed suicide. He died jumping from the Mesa Street overpass onto Interstate-10 in El Paso during afternoon rush-hour traffic. (Venegas' death was also referenced in the At the Drive-In song "Embroglio" from their album Acrobatic Tenement.)

Biography from , the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.