Short Biography
Lees & West, triple j, Video Hits and fasterlouder.com.au present
THE MARS VOLTA
Strap yourself in, hold on, and feel free to scream. Few musical experiences match the roller coaster ride that is THE MARS VOLTA, and in 2010, they'll loop the loop in Australia for the fourth time. You love THE MARS VOLTA? Here's three last chances to feel the thrill.
Since emerging from the ashes of El Paso's lauded and lamented At the Drive-In (who also played BIG DAY OUT way back when) in 2001, composer and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and incredibly dexterous vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala have followed their muse in whichever dir...
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Short Biography
Lees & West, triple j, Video Hits and fasterlouder.com.au present
THE MARS VOLTA
Strap yourself in, hold on, and feel free to scream. Few musical experiences match the roller coaster ride that is THE MARS VOLTA, and in 2010, they'll loop the loop in Australia for the fourth time. You love THE MARS VOLTA? Here's three last chances to feel the thrill.
Since emerging from the ashes of El Paso's lauded and lamented At the Drive-In (who also played BIG DAY OUT way back when) in 2001, composer and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and incredibly dexterous vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala have followed their muse in whichever direction it takes them; so far the journey has been the ride of the creative lifetime.
"Some of the most experimental, technically mind-blowing and original music being released today. What THE MARS VOLTA do at a show is more than just play songs... the band takes you on a journey that is all at once uplifting, wild, shameless and self-indulgent." (Beat, July 2008)
Their fifth album, Octahedron, takes all the energy, all of the furious invention that has characterized THE MARS VOLTA's music so far, and distills it with a clarity they've never before achieved. "There's still plenty of room for boundary-breaking," said FasterLouder, "but it's the quieter, more harmony-filled moments that truly establish Octahedron as a bold step forward for a duo who are always miles in front."
The sound may be less aggressive than 2008's The Bedlam in Goliath, but touring with a pared-down six-piece line-up of Bixler-Zavala, Rodriguez-Lopez, bassist Juan Alderete, keyboardist Isaiah Ikey Owens, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez on percussion and synths, and drummer Thomas Pridgen, THE MARS VOLTA are still blistering, ferocious, and set the stage alight like no other.
"THE MARS VOLTA practically exploded onto the stage, rousing the crowd from the first hyperactive guitar chords and terrifying drum rhythms. Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala are the ultimate showmen." (The Independent, July 2009)
"The only objective, throughout, has been to always move forward," says Rodriguez-Lopez. "To always make the next album sound different to the one that came before it, to always be evolving." The latest step in the evolution of THE MARS VOLTA will be on show in Australia this summer.
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In-depth Biography
Picking up the pieces from At the Drive-In, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed the Mars Volta and wasted little time branching out into elements of hardcore, psychedelic rock, and free jazz that expanded on the boundaries of their previous work. Although their previous band's demise ultimately arrived before they were able to truly capitalize on their mounting commercial triumphs, the Mars Volta immediately impressed with their willingness to eschew conventional logic and push themselves into new artistic directions instead of opting for the more marketable sounds. (Interestingly, their progressive yet streamlined approach gave them the early lead among critics against their former bandmates in Sparta, the more emo-leaning of the bands resulting from the split.) Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez enlisted friends Ikie Owens (also of the Long Beach Dub Allstars) and Jeremy Michael Ward, and the Mars Volta debuted with the EP Tremulant in 2002. Still, as much of their reputation was built on the strength of their live show, their highly energetic performances resulted in a wave of word-of-mouth hype that elevated the band to near-mythic proportions because so little of their recorded material was available to the public. Sadly, Ward passed away May 25, 2003, from an apparent drug overdose at the age of 27. The Mars Volta had recently returned from an European tour supporting the Red Hot Chili Peppers, where they introduced brand-new tracks from the full-length De-Loused in the Comatorium, which was released via Universal the following June.
The band returned in early 2005 with their second full-length, the ambitious song cycle Frances the Mute. (They also issued the live set Scab Dates later that year.) Leading up to the release of third album Amputechture in September 2006, drummer Jon Theodore quit and was replaced by Blake Fleming (who had played on early Mars Volta demos). The album also featured an expanded role for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante. Less than a year later, in late 2007, the new single "Wax Simulacra" paved the way for the fourth Mars Volta album, The Bedlam in Goliath, which debuted at number three on the American albums chart. Less than two years later, the band had prepared their follow-up, a slightly quieter outing titled Octahedron that became their debut for Warner Bros. Rodriguez-Lopez has also recorded multiple times, producing more than a half-dozen albums within the span of as many years. ~ Matt Fink, Rovi
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