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The Mars Volta
Planetary Craftmakers
by Rob Lyon

Continuing their love affair with Australia, The Mars Volta returns for a run of shows across the country. The last time Adelaide experienced The Mars Volta it was as part of the Big Day Out, but this time they return for a headlining tour in support of their third studio album Amputechture. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez takes about touring and their new album, which is in the works.
Another Australian tour, does it feel like an annual pilgrimage?
“I wish,” Omar laughed.
How much did you enjoy playing in Australia last tour? “It was great,” Omar reflected. “What do you mean? Couldn’t you tell we had fun? Australian and South America are the best and most exciting places for us to go and play.”
What’s your favourite city based on past experiences? “Melbourne is probably my favourite city,” Omar replied. “I really like the Gold Coast as well but as a city to hang out in I really like Melbourne. Adelaide is okay and not so much Perth.”
What can fans expect in the set-list?
“It’s a little bit of everything from all the albums,” Omar indicated. “Now that we’re four records into it we have a little bit more to pick and choose from to put out there and present. Besides that, it’s the same thing with us having long-winded conversations with each other on stage and playing songs in between.”
Does the show change much from night to night?
“There is, because of the amount of improvising we do,” Omar answered. “At the same time we’re still playing songs. What songs they are might vary but it is hard to see things varying any more because we tour so goddamn much that it all starts being the same until you get in to a brand new record. Even though we’re starting another tour I’ve already started tracking the next record. That’s where my head is at the moment.”
Do you still enjoy touring?
“Very much so,” Omar agreed. “I’ve been touring since I was 17 and I’m 30 years old now. When I’m off tour it gets confusing and I don’t know what to do with my spare time. It’s more of a lifestyle and you get used to living out of a hotel room. You get your little system that works for you, but having said that being out for a while you definitely feel that the grass is always greener on the other side. Then I start getting really sick of touring and want to be in the studio making another record. By the time you’re done making that motherfucker you’re ready to be out on the road again and that you never want to see another studio again.”
When you’re off tour do you get the itches around nine o’clock knowing you’d normally be on stage at that time?
“I don’t really get that because I work all the time,” Omar mentioned. “I stay in the studio working and that alleviates that sort of itch. I do try and take a little bit of time off occasionally but it is a feeling of anxiousness that you’re supposed to be doing something but you’re not. It’s like you forgot to do your homework and that you’re going to get in trouble but then you realise that it’s okay to sit here and relax.”
Has it been easy working the songs from Amputechture into the set?
“Definitely,” Omar replied. “It feels good to play it, there’s not really a lot of thought put in to it. It’s like that song is fun to play, that one is to, I don’t think I ever want to play that one and I’m sick of playing that one. I think we try and tailor it to where our head is at that particular moment, like anything else in your life such as CDs in your car in that they constantly change and what you’re listening to changes. Then there are your favourites you always listen to as well.”
Was Amputechture a complicated album to make?
“It was and it wasn’t,” Omar explained. “All the music came out very naturally and how it sat in my head and how I wanted to put it together was all there very naturally and quickly. As with making any record it can never not be easy, I don’t think. Making records always has to be half labour of love and terror then the other half fun and excitement. I need everything to be doubled in my life. I don’t feel that one thing or one statement or one colour or one idea can be true without its counterpart or its arch nemesis. Making a record is no different and each time it’s going to be really horrible at some point and really fun at another.”
Was it an intense time in the studio?
“Like I said, it goes both ways,” Omar pointed out. “Frances The Mute was a nightmare from the beginning and then it was like trying to climb out of a fucking black hole. By the end it became really fun, then when I went in to mix it it was a fucking nightmare. I mixed the record three different times. Amputechture was fun right from the get-go and then it fell right in to the black hole. It was terror for a while trying to climb out of it and then by the end it became fun again.”
Mars Volta play Thebarton Theatre on Mon Mar 19. Amputechture is out now through Universal.