CITAZIONE
Q&A Sessions: Omar Rodriguez Lopez
by Rob Perez
02.22.2011
Omar Rodriguez Lopez wants you to be initiated. Disputedly the most prolific artist in music today, Rodriguez has been the creative force behind two influential bands for the past 15 years—At the Drive In and The Mars Volta. When Rodriguez performs, he channels the electric spirit of Jimi Hendrix, the smooth guitar rhythms of Carlos Santana, as well as early punk rock sensibilities, ‘90s teen spirit angst, and today’s social unrest. With Telesterion—a collection of 38 songs that offers a taste of Rodriguez’s music—it is the quintessential introduction—or initiation as he puts it—to fans just discovering his genius. Be warned: Rodriguez’s complex musical arrangements, wailing vocals, and pounding rhythms can be too much to take in at first, but it will keep you coming back for more. We spoke with the world renowned artist about his new album, the meaning behind his music, and the future of The Mars Volta.
nocheLatina: I know I’m going to mispronounce the album title, Te-les-te-ri-on. Is that correct?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Yeah, Telesterion. I wouldn’t know either. It comes from the Greeks, so I’m not even sure how to pronounce it.
nocheLatina: No worries. I do know that its meaning in ancient Greek is ‘a building in which religious mysteries were celebrated.’ Can you explain what the correalation is between the Greek meaning and your album?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: The whole album happened because our Japanese distributor had the idea. I was told, ‘Listen, I’d like to put together something concise. Someone just finding out about your music could be overwhelmed because there are so many records. I’d like to put together a collection from all the different records. Let’s do that.’ My partner Cathy, from the label, loved the idea. She thought it was important for us to do it. Then, my art director put together the order of track listings and everything. I just thought the whole concept of it should be a place where people can come and discover what it is that I do for fun. That’s why I took that title. It’s part of my love for Greek mythology and literature. The title, Telesterion, is a place of initiation. That’s what it translated to in my head when they were saying, ‘We want a record where people can get an overview of what it is you do.’ I thought, ‘Oh, like an initiation. I get it.’ I immediately thought of Telesterion.
nocheLatina: So the album is like a celebration in a way.
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Yeah. Everything I do is a celebration. The idea of this album is a place where people can get a general understanding of that ritual. It’s not something to be taken so seriously. It’s what I do to enjoy life. It’s what I do for fun. It’s how I communicate with my family and friends. It’s exactly that. It’s a ritual. It’s a celebration.
nocheLatina: Can Telesterion be considered a ‘best of’ album?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: No, not at all because that has nothing to do with celebration. That’s judgement. That’s putting value on something that I do. Again, I didn’t choose the songs. I said, ‘Cool. Go with it. If you want to create an overview you go do it because I don’t have that objectivity.’ I can’t pick songs that I think are better than others. I just have fun. It’s not that serious.
nocheLatina: You’re certainly one of the most prolific artists today. There are 40 albums, 25 solo albums, and the stuff that hasn’t been released yet. How do you keep coming up with new music? Where does the creativity come from?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: I don’t edit myself. I just express myself. It’s simple. I think artists have bought into the rules made by business people. There’s a whole set of unspoken rules, like only put out a new record every two years or you need a hit on an album in order for it to be worth putting time into it. These are all rules that were created by the industry, not those who are trying to express themselves. It was created by people who are trying to sell the expression. Now, I’m not going to complain about that because I’m in the fortunate situation where I make a living off of having fun. But what I’m saying is that at the heart of what I do is exactly that—discovering myself and enjoying it. When that’s the center point, it really frees you up. I’m not living by other people’s rules, so I can just express myself all the time. It’s like having an opinion. We have opinions all the time. Therefore, my records are just opinions. They’re notebooks, journal entries, or Polaroid pictures. It’s a big scrapbook of me discovering life and all the beautiful things in it, all while learning a lot of lessons.
nocheLatina: Is it a challenge to keep it fresh?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Yeah. I just challenge myself the same way I do in life, which is to be open to new influences and ideas. At the end of the day, I think, everything I do kind of does sound the same, unfortunately (laughs). Meaning that, it’s coming from my inner vision of the world, so I definitely have a certain type...I’m me. I have a personality. When you strip it all down I think a lot of it is very similar, but it’s all a matter of how you perceive that similarity. For me, I want to get to the truth. That’s been my biggest goal in life since I was little. It goes back to that time when my mother explained to me what her concept of God was. I’ve been searching for what that internal truth is and how it relates to the entire universe. For me, the music is a way to get there. But, I have to make it clear, it’s not separate from when I cook dinner for someone. It’s not separate from my relationship, how I love my woman, and how I understand her needs. It’s not separate from my brothers and my best friend, Cedric. It’s not separate from sex, writing, or any other activity I can possibly name. It all boils down to the same singular concept, which is, ‘How do I become better? What is the truth?’
nocheLatina: How would you describe your music?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Searching. My music is just searching. I’m just searching. That’s it. I want to become one with God. I want to be God, if that makes any sense. I’m just searching for how to better express myself. All my life I’ve had problems with controlling my anger. Slowly, but surely, I searched how to do that. Music is a tool because I let out that aggression. When I was younger I used to break into houses, trash windows, deface statues, and spray paint. Then, I found a more constructive way of releasing my frustrations. Anyone can destroy, but not everyone can create. There’s a hundred different ways to break a glass cup, but there’s only one way to make that glass cup. I started becoming more interested in that. That became the search of myself and my place in this world. Maybe it is experimental, I don’t know. I’m just constantly looking for that thing beyond my reach. I’m trying to paint this picture that I can’t put into words.
nocheLatina: You’ve mentioned God a few times. Would you say there’s also a certain amount of spirituality in your music?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: It’s all that. That's the root of everything. The world is a mental creation, so there’s nothing else. Understand when I say God I don’t mean any form; I’m not talking about some man. I’m talking about that instinctive thing that lets you know you pertain to something. There’s something greater that bounds it all together. Even if that greate for you is chaos, violence, or whatever.
nocheLatina: You also mentioned control. Are you still very controlling or have you learned to let go a little bit?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: I’m still very controlling and yes, I’ve learned to let go. I’m glad you brought this up. This is a perfect example of searching and the role of music. It’s exactly that. I don’t want to be that way forever. That is an extension of my personality. It’s not just music. I’m that way in my daily life. That’s me and I want to get rid of that because what is that? That’s only neurosis. It’s a lifelong process. I wasn’t born that way. I want to rid myself of all those things and go back to the original form that I came in. That’s the most important thing to me. So yes, the process of creating music is my search for finding this type of happiness and letting go. In that sense, I’m a very sick person and I’m really trying to heal that.
nocheLatina: What’s the future of The Mars Volta? When can we expect to hear new music?
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: The record is done. Whenever the record label decides to put it out that’s when we’ll hear something new (laughs).
