The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta is an American musical group founded by Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. They are generally considered rock, with heavy punk, prog and Latin influences. They are known for their wild live shows, oblique lyrics,

The Mars Volta is an American musical group founded by Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. They are generally considered rock, with heavy punk, prog and Latin influences. They are known for their wild live shows, oblique lyrics, and heavy reliance on ambient music to establish mood.

Members of the band, At the Drive-In, Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez were in DeFacto with audio technician Jeremy Michael Ward since the mid 90's. DeFacto included Cedric on drums, Omar on bass, and Jeremy with loop/vocal/sound/distortion effects and was a composite of sounds, hinging squarely on tripped-out, instrumental dub. Though DeFacto started as a local band with more of a rock sound, they were rooted within the realm of dub reggae pioneers like Lee Perry and Dr. Alimantado, the group also dabbled in electronica, Latin/salsa, and jazz, which gave their sound a distinct, timeless quality. The band played local shows around their home town, El Paso, TX, and released their first album How do you dub? You Fight for Dub. You plug Dub in. Eventually moving to Long Beach, California in 2000 the band met up with keyboardist Isaiah "Ikey" Owens. Ikey added a distinct new tone to DeFacto and brought forth a new popularity that they had not yet received. In 2001, DeFacto released their second album, Megaton Shotblast on Gold Standard Laboratories, and received instant success. Eventually, At The Drive-In began to collapse, and the band had more time to experiment with new sounds. After the indefinite hiatus of At the Drive-In, Omar and Cedric decided to branch out, and joined Eva Gardner's band, which became what is now The Mars Volta, a new project they envisioned would fulfill their creative desires. The initial lineup that was seen at their first public show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA was Defacto plus Eva Gardner and Jon Theodore. Also during 2001, the band recorded two songs with Alex Newport, which became their first demo. Shortly after, they recorded three more tracks once again with Alex Newport, which would then become the Tremulant EP, which was scarcely released in early 2002. Tremulant was a collection of three songs - Cut that City, a complete rip on modern society; Concertina, a beautiful orchestrated condemnation of a former ATDI member; and Eunuch Provocateur, an intense drive with the prophetic mention of Deloused in the Comatorium. The EP tasted of prog rock, salsa, free and avant-garde, but left a miraculous flavor of a new, unclassifiable that left all who heard it hanging and waiting for what was to come.