Interviste e articoli di carattere generale, sui TMV, ovviamente!

Having risen to fame with and walked away from At The Drive-In, Omar Rodriguez Lopez went on to create the experimental rock behemoth that is The Mars Volta with fellow ex-At The Drive-In band mate and best friend Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Subba caught up with him as he prepares to unleash some previously unreleased solo material from his extensive archive...



What has prompted you to go back into your archive and release these albums now? It's stuff that I had in the archive at the studio, and I thought it'd be nice to take the chance to share it. I make about seven or so records a year, so if I only put out one or two then you can imagine over the years that I've accumulated a whole vault full of records. Then someone will be playing one of the tracks, or someone will say 'Hey, what happened to that one song I heard you record? I really like that', so I'll go and dig it out. 'Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fungus' is a great example of that because it's a record that I made while Jeremy (Michael Ward) was alive and although he didn't actually play on the record, he was in the studio the whole time that I was recording and I have really good memories when I hear the record; it sends chills up my spine, and I thought it would be a nice sentiment for Jeremy.



The albums were recorded shortly after the demise of At The Drive-In. Was it material that you'd had for a while? They were tracks that were already written and actually would have become At The Drive-In songs. I was writing all the time, and when At The Drive-In started to become 'successful', you can imagine for someone from El Paso who's been making music since he was 12 to suddenly be validated in the music world, it was really inspiring. It made me feel like 'Oh, great, I should listen to my instinct, I am good at what I'm doing'. When that started happening I became really inspired and started believing in myself, even more than I had, so I was writing the whole time. We were able to put an At The Drive-In record out each year, and there was material that I was putting together for what would have been the next album. What started to make it evident for me that I needed to leave the band was that when I presented the tracks to the rest of the band and heard the way that they played them, it started to sound simplified and similar to stuff that we'd already recorded. For me, that's something I just can't do, not in that band, not in any band. If the songs were starting to sound the same then I realised I needed a new way to play and needed to work with a new set of musicians who would interpret the songs differently.



What would you say were the most valuable lessons that you took from your time in At The Drive-In? Fuck, there were so many of them. Most importantly I learnt to always trust my instinct because it always put me in the right direction, no matter how painful the realisation was. These guys were my friends, we'd toured for seven years together, so it was like breaking off a seven-year relationship with a woman that you still like, you know what I mean? Just realising that it doesn't work anymore, we've grown apart, whatever. So, as painful as it was to tell them that I didn't feel we could create anything new together, I was right to follow my instinct because I was so much happier after. I learnt so many lessons from being in At The Drive-In because I basically grew up in the band, I became a man in that band. I was with them from when I was 17 until I was 25, so all the life lessons that happened in that time happened on the road with the band. A great friend died, I fell in and out of love, I learned a lot about living together, sharing together, struggling together. We didn't have anything for a long time, it was just the five of us in the band.



So was that feeling of not being able to take things further with At The Drive-In, but obviously wanting to take things further creatively, what prompted putting together The Mars Volta? That's what it was completely. People are always saying to me that I'm quoted as having said that leaving At The Drive-In was all to do with not being able to deal with mainstream success, and it wasn't that at all. It was great and inspiring to be validated all of a sudden after years of touring on our own, and playing bigger shows was incredible. People started saying to me 'Don't rock the boat', but my instinct and desires for what I wanted to achieve in life were telling me that I couldn't continue. I felt like I was doing teenage stuff, like if I'd have kept doing that music that I'd have been like a guy going through a midlife crisis, like he's older but still wants to have a corvette and a pierced ear.



Was Cedric always on the same page when it came to wanting to move on? He definitely was, but I didn't know that because we never talked about it, it was just something that was growing inside both of us. That was probably the biggest fear, telling him 'I'm going to quit this band and start a new band, do you want to come with me?', that was the biggest leap for me. I felt bad about the other guys but Cedric is my childhood friend, we've played together since I was 13 and he's my best friend in the world, so there was a definite fear that he wouldn't be on the same page. Jeremy asked why I was even thinking twice about it because there'd never been a time when Cedric and I hadn't been on the same page. That was the biggest leap for me, taking him to one side on tour and telling him that I didn't feel like we were going anywhere and that I wanted to assemble a whole new set of musicians and do a whole lot more than this, that I wanted to start a new band and wanted him to come with me. He was like 'Oh my God, I feel the same way but I didn't want to let you down and I didn't know how you were feeling'.



There's a sense to your music that it's not overly structured and quite freeform. What is the writing process for you? I think that's my biggest accomplishment, the fact that my music doesn't sound as structured as it is. The songs are very structured, they're very written, all of the parts are written, and it's always a challenge to not make it sound like a science experiment or like what we're accused of sounding like all the time which is a prog band. I love that music but my roots are in punk rock, which comes completely from emotion and instinct, so I go to great efforts to loosen it up and make it sound organic and natural. After being in a band and playing music for so long, I know what to do to make things sound like that, like changing tempos or taking weird turns out of nowhere. On one hand, I'm proud that I can make it sound like that, but on the other hand it's frustrating because it's a common misconception, people saying to me 'It must be so cool being in a band where you just jam in a room and record it', and I'm like 'Fuck, no! There's so much work put into it, so much thought put into the arrangements and how to make an appeasing sound'.



Does that way of working result in a lot of unused experimentation? Yeah, definitely. I have a whole section in the vault of unused songs, unused ideas that I intend to revisit eventually. When I would work in 'professional' studios, they'd get annoyed at the amount of takes that I do because I'm always looking for the arrangement that will make a track sound natural.



You've also put together the Omar Rodriguez Quintet. What does that represent for you that's different to The Mars Volta? I don't differentiate when the material is being written. I'm constantly recording and obsessed with the recording process, and I have a catalogue of songs that I start to pick from and focus in on and say 'OK, these songs are a record'. The songs themselves start to pop out and say 'I belong over here' or 'I should be with this group of songs', and sometimes you get it wrong and realise that a song doesn't belong where you've put it and pull it out. Really, it's to do with organising records, and also about legalities. When I first signed with Universal and they realised how excited I was, the amount I record and how much I wanted to do, that was like a red flag to them. They put into the contract that we could only put out one record a year as The Mars Volta but that I could put out as many additional albums as I wanted if I put them out as a solo artist, so that's where that whole thing started. Like I said, when I'm recording I'm not thinking one way or the other, I'm just thinking about creating different sounds and not doing the same thing over again. Some songs beg to be a Mars Volta song, and others beg to be away from that personality. Every single Mars Volta record is a collection of songs from different time spans; Frances The Mute for example, which was recorded in 2004, it has two songs from 2001, one from 2003, one from 2000 and two from 2004. The fact that I was able to take those songs and make an album that sounds like it was made in the traditional way, to me that's another accomplishment that I'm proud of.



Given the huge amount of material that you're selecting from then, does that become a very time consuming task? Yes and no. The lucky thing for me is that I have a great mental Rolodex when it comes to my music. I can't remember my mother's birthday, I'm not good at math, but I can go 'Oh fuck, I know what song would be perfect' and my engineer will say 'Well where the fuck is that?' and I'll say 'Check the so and so drives, 2006, it would have been Autumn, during rehearsals at Long Beach', and he'll go there and sure enough he'll find the song I was thinking of. For the most part then, it's not as time consuming as you'd think. When I do lose track of something though, then it's a complete nightmare and we have to go through 80 drives of material to find it.



So what else do you have in the pipeline? I'm working on the new releases and figuring out when I'll do a 'solo' tour - it seems so funny calling it a solo tour because my role is no different to when I'm with The Mars Volta. I do everything, I make the music, I'm the leader of the band, Cedric sings on some of my solo tracks, and the tour we're putting together has the same line-up. Cedric is coming with me as well. Again though, because of legalities, it's just easier to do things this way. I always hated the idea when I was younger of solo artists, but now I understand the process and it's worked out good. Hopefully with the next contract, it won't be an issue to put out five Mars Volta records each year.

It is 2:30pm in New York. Have you slept well?
Omar: Yes, but by this time I usually have. Of course this way is not how I'd most like myself to be. I was working until 7am.

That's exactly what this conversation is going to be about: productivity and creativity. Earlier this year there was the new Mars Volta album THE BEDLAM IN GOLIATH, with ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FUNGUS and MINOR CUTS AND SCRAPES IN THE BUSHES AHEAD, two older solo works, appearing simultaneously. You are infamously known to record up to eight albums a year.
Infamous? This only relates to the average of what people produce today! Not everything I record gets published.

Well...
Okay, how should I explain it? I don't really have a 'social life'. I don't drink, I don't go to clubs. When I want to have a good time, I go in my studio, work on things and express myself that way. Funny, now I'm talking about 'work' again, when I've just been talking about 'play'. People mistake these concepts with pleasure. So do I. There is this interesting outlook on creativity and productivity which leads to people saying "now you must be serious, to be able to do the work". But this is so much fun for me that I can easily talk about it as 'play'. I'm very thankful that I can do things that I love, and make a living from it. Earlier I had some pretty dumb jobs, and recording was done in the evening. Today I can do what I want all day and night: record.

Work is a game for you? Really?
Yes, absolutely. Okay, sometimes there's some work involved, when I have to concentrate really hard and have to finish things off. That feels a little bit like work. The rest of the time, I'm enjoying myself so much that it doesn't seem like work to me.

Do you ever ask yourself, who's going to listen to all of it?
Oh no, I never think about the listeners, unless we're playing live. But when I'm recording? Never. I think that's the biggest mistake an artist can make: to think about their audience. The best thing a creative person can do for themselves is this: be absolutely selfish.

In what sense?
What makes me lucky? Where do I keep finding fun in what I do? What do I want to express? And what would be the record that I'd enjoy listening to? In the end, I am also a listener, and I'm not different from other people...…

Hm...
True, true! There are only ten different types of people in the world. If I'm happy with something, it's because it corresponds to the laws of the Universe that there are enough people out there whose preferences and quirks I've divided.

ABSENCE is a guitar record, MINOR CUTS plays with elements of Dub and film sequences that are played in slow motion. A very different creative output, no?
Sometimes I can't be bothered with the guitar, and I just want to play bass or keyboards or something. I never sit down and think "now I'll make an ambient record", it doesn't work that way. The question is much more about, if it's raining or snowing or the sun's shining outside, and what's going on inside you. They are always different things, and from that, different music comes out of you. In MINOR CUTS a more meditative voice is expressed.

But expression never stands alone. What is it about, what should be expressed?
Everything. It's an expression of everything that I feel. I believe that the human soul always feels somewhat trapped. In the body, in material things, in fear, perhaps in desire to attach itself to other souls. I believe that our consciousness always tries to keep up with, keep in contact with the soul, but the soul is much more complicated and smarter than our intellectual ability could ever be.

That's why we have language.
Language helps, but in the end it just confuses things even more. I speak Spanish and English, and I still don't feel that words could ever express my innermost feelings: hatred, love, intoxication, peace, loss, desire... for me, those things are only adequately expressed through music. Some people understand it then, others don't.

Is there such a thing as inspiration? For the purposes of enthusiasm, and the influence of spiritual states in the creative process?
Yes. I believe in inspiration as enthusiasm. I believe in speed, in chance, and what arises from all the chaos. Which comes to what you just called the 'spirit': chaos is its spring. Chaos is the basic state of the universe, and it very much resembles what is in a soul.

People fear the chaos.
Because they forget that chaos always follows the form. You can't have one without the other. The reason is that the human consciousness is laid out to recognise the structure in the chaos. What sounds chaotic, is in truth the perfect expression of that which is real. What people fear, is the big question mark which shows the chaos. It's like looking into an abyss, the edge of insanity.

Is creativity also a form of therapy?
Exactly. I always say that when people ask me why I do what I do: "music is my therapy". It's in my nature to deal with the chaos and hectic rush and riddles in me, and to produce a connection with the universe, to myself and to other human beings. Some people talk and pay a therapist for it, I use the language of music. But at the beginning, I don't understand what's coming out. Is it a violent record? An affectionate one? Most of the time I only get what it is, and why, slowly and much later: "Oh, so that's how I felt! That's what I wanted to say!"

What about when you're virtually 'out-therapied'? Are you also no longer creative?
No, then I have arrived at the end of a life cycle. Then it is necessary to begin a new cycle. When everything's been asked, when everything's been answered. Then you go on to the next question. If you are serious about asking a question, you must be prepared for the fact that you can no longer stop it. It is a permanent trip which knows no end. This would then be death.

Must I love or hate myself, to be creative?
Both. Both are in you, like everything is inside you, the answers to all questions. All cultures, from the antiquity to today, from the Greeks, the Vikings up to the Asians, all know variations of the symbol of Ying and Yang, light and dark.

Can anything new originate from improvisation?
I feel my most proud when people say: "the music sounds so spontaneous, this must have been great fun!" But it is actually the result of methodical and structural considerations, yet it sounds organic and accidental. We only improvise on stage.

Do you ever think: Damn, what nonsense have I made here?
Yes, often. Some things I find embarrassing, but that's okay. That's why they're there; Why did I wear this T-shirt, why was I with this woman, why did I make this shit music? Because these are all evidence for the fact that you are a person, part of the process that we call life. Our conversation here is a special moment which only the both of us share. If you write it down, it is another moment, maybe only for you. And then somebody reads the text, and then there is a moment which you share with the reader...and so on. It's the same with records.

With Mars Volta records too?
Sure. Unfortunately, due to reasons regarding our contract, I'm only allowed to put out one Mars Volta record per year, the rest must be published under my name.

Is it true, that the next one will be acoustic?
Not if you mean 'only acoustic guitars', but it is more intimate. We play around that a lot, or better, 'played'. Of course, the album has been finished for a long time.

Of course?
Yeah, sure. At the moment I'm in the middle of the next Mars Volta album after that one.

>>>www.myspace.com/omarrodriguezquintet>>>


And the picture says: "I have no social life. I don't drink, I don't go to clubs. When I want to have a good time, I go in my studio."

What will you remember most about 2008?
I remember our tour because we toured this whole year straight no stop— like slaves. I remember all that because we just came back from South America, Europe, Japan, did the whole states thing again. That was big for me because I feel like I really did get to see everything. Sometimes you feel like you’ve seen stuff, but this year I really saw it all.
That and I have a two-year-old boy and I just got him a drum set and I just figured out that he’s left handed. Just watching him play is a highlight. I learned when I was three and he’s hella better than me.

Who is the band to watch in 2009?
Damn, that is a good question. We just recorded a new record and to me it’s the best. When I first heard Goliath, I didn’t hear it until it almost came out, so I was like damn, this is sick shit! Cause when I was in the studio I was stressin’ out! ‘Cause when I was in the studio I was learning all of John Theodore’s parts which is crazy! Because it was 20 eight-minute songs. I was learning them and I was stressin’ out. By the time I got to record I didn’t know what to expect because I had never recorded with Omar as far as doing a record. It was a lot of pressure. When I first got in the band I never even tripped. Now this one, the new one we just did that isn’t titled yet, I enjoyed it way more because I knew what to expect from Omar, I knew what to expect from everybody. I could sit down and relax and just do what I do. You feel me? So I think the major thing for our band is going to be our next record because for me I think it’s the best record Omar has ever produced as far as his arrangements and I just like the music a lot. Like the last record, was like I’m gonna show you all that we gotta new drummer. Now it’s like we’re gonna show you that we’re still killin’ it. There’s like ballads on it. We sound like we’ve kicked it longer than two years.

What songs to do you listen to most on your iPod/iTunes?
Damn, I’ve been listening to a lot of Stewart Copeland. A LOT OF STEWART COPELAND. I have his live Police video, where he has his video camera next to the drums and it’s like his own documentary of the Police tours. He’s just hella dope. I’ve been trying to listen to all the people that all the cats that I listen to listen to. Going back and listening to hella Ginger Baker and shit. My girl is like I’ve heard Cream like a million times. I’m like I know; I’m only listening to it because I’m listening to Ginger Baker. I’ve been listening to a lot of like Afro-beat music, like Fela and a lot of other hip-hop stuff. But my iPod has been down. So I’ve just been listening to what I’ve been able to listen to. That’s crazy. I’m gonna go. That’s going to be crazy. A lotta people who are going to go are going be like damn. I’m sure at first people are going to be like yeah I’m just gonna go, but when they actually see it everyone is like DAMN! Like I was in Mexico when Obama won so everything is so crazy to me.

What was your favorite live performance of 2008?
That we did? My favorite one, Detour Fest in L.A. because we rarely ever play L.A. and when we do I just like the crowds. I like the rowdy crowds, like the crowds that are rowdy for no reason. That’s how it was, it was cool. So I gotta say the L.A. crowd. Backstage wasn’t all fun, but the show was tight. Dang! I didn’t go to any shows that weren’t our own, honestly. What shows? I like the Battles, you know them? That guy, the drummer from Helmet, he plays in that band. They’re pretty tight. I like seeing them. I haven’t seen much because I just end up seeing the bands we go on tour with. Sometimes I don’t even listen to them because some of these bands after a while— you just get a headache. I’ve been watching a lotta videos though. I’d gotta say probably that Police thing, even though that’s not new. That’s the tightest thing I’ve seen. I like going back. You gotta take it back.

Mars Volta Revel in Records, Grammy Nomination

Mars Volta guitar player and musical mastermind Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's tells Spinner that the next two Mars Volta records are already recorded and waiting for a release date -- this on the heels of a Grammy nomination for 'Wax Simulcra,' off last year's 'The Bedlam in Goliath.' Of course, the first of these won't see the light of day until at least this spring, as vocals need to be recorded and additional tweaking may be necessary. And Rodriguez-Lopez isn't giving any possible titles away.

"I gave the band a six-month break," he says. "I'm not trying to force my pace. I'll just be here doing what I'm doing, recording more albums. When the time comes, the time comes."

Right now, the time is ripe for collaboration with L.A. underground hip-hop label Stones Throw in the form of a solo album, titled 'Old Money.' Rodriguez-Lopez and label head Peanut Butter Wolf have been friends for some time, and releasing a wildly progressive rock album didn't seem like such a crazy idea, considering Stones Throw's eclectic roster.

'Old Money' deals with the entrenched political power structure of the United States, although Rodriguez-Lopez views the Obama administration as a breath of fresh air. "All [Mars Volta's] political views have always been shrouded in metaphor and veiled on our other records," he explains. "For some reason, I had the urge to do something a little more obvious."

As for that Grammy nod, Rodriguez-Lopez isn't playing it entirely cool. "I'm not gonna pretend like, 'Yeah, man, that doesn't mean s---,'" he says. "It's not validating me or putting me down. It's like if someone invites you over to their house for dinner. It's nice of them if they invite you into their home, so you accept it and go over and see whether it's awkward or not." Our advice? Bring a nice bottle of wine.

Posted by Jonah Flicker

http://www.spinner.com/2009/02/02/mars-vol...mmy-nomination/

Orange Pop: Experimenting with Free Moral Agents

The Long Beach group is Detroit Bar's Monday-night resident act this month.


By KELLI SKYE FADROSKI

The Orange County Register


It's tough to be fired from any job, but for musician Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, losing a role in one band ultimately provided a window of opportunity to experiment and expand on his sound in another.


In 2002, Owens was fired from his keyboarding duties for the out-there prog-metal outfit the Mars Volta, so in his newfound free time he started a home recording project he dubbed Free Moral Agents.


Owens rejoined the Mars Volta in 2003, and today he says there were no hard feelings about the firing or rehiring. Nonetheless, the break from that group enabled Owens to develop his psychedelic home experiment into a full-fledged side project.


By 2006, Free Moral Agents (as they are now known) finally came together: Owens along with vocalist Mendee Ichikawa, drummer Ryan Reiff, bassist Dennis Owens, guitarist Jesse Carzello and keyboardist Reid Kinnett. Since then the Long Beach group has performed in numerous venues on its home turf, Los Angeles and Orange County – and the Agents are Detroit Bar's Monday-night residents all this month.


Owens explained during a phone interview earlier this week that the band's name isn't just some clever moniker signifying nothing. It essentially spells out the group's basic philosophy: that every player has a choice to do what they want or don't want to do.


"In that sense everyone is a free moral agent," Owens says. "I've always liked that idea. In the band, it's important artistically that everyone be able to make their own decisions; you don't want to be in a group where people can't (do that). Everyone in this is an artist unto themselves, and that's what's really cool about this lineup. We could break up and start six different bands that sound nothing alike.
"

Although collectively influenced by artists like Miles Davis, Björk and numerous dub, reggae and West Coast hip-hop artists, Owens says the band is perhaps most heavily inspired by Sonic Youth.


"I think they are a huge influence," he says. "Out of all of those other groups, it keeps us in the rock realm, so that's a big one for us.
"

The group is also into a lot of new music, especially from the likes of Animal Collective and CocoRosie. Yet, though they all bring their own musical ideas to the table, Owens says this is the first band he's been part of where the difference in taste among members is much smaller than what they have in common.


Owens says his past decade of creating and performing has left him feeling like a student of rock. The wisdom and insight he's gained, he says, is what he brings to Free Moral Agents.


"Everyone in the band, obviously, puts their own stamp on the music, but this is the first band where I feel like the statement it's making is most uniquely mine. This is by far my favorite band I've been in.
"

But how does this busy keyboardist and producer find time to squeeze in all of his gigs?

"I just run my life effectively and keep a calendar," Owens says. "I schedule time for myself to rest and take a day off to breathe, because it enables me to work longer and do better work. (The Mars Volta) have another record coming out next year so we're resting up now and getting ready to come back with it in late 2009 and into early 2010.
"

The Mars Volta is also up for a Grammy this year for best hard rock performance for "Wax Simulacra," from the album "The Bedlam in Goliath.
"

It's not the first time Owens has been nominated for having played on someone's record, but he has yet to take one of the golden statuettes home. And if he wins Sunday? He'll put that prize on display safely at his mom's house.

March 22, 2009...6:09 am
Cedric Bixler of The Mars Volta: Substance of Style



Interview by Damon Locks

Charisma, image & style, all of these things create the persona of a performer. Someone like David Bowie (in the 70’s) was a master at manipulating these things to create his ever changing stage identity. The Clash as a group changed their fashion often to reflect their musical evolutions (to this day Clash bassist Paul Simonon still reigns supreme - in my opinion - as the coolest looking guy in rock). Parliament/Funkadelic…need I say more? The illusions that help create an entire world for the listener are an essential part of the magic of being a performing musician. The Mars Volta is a group that brings avenues of intrigue to the audience. One element of the mystique comes from the group’s visual style. Are there any performers you would credit as building blocks for your own style? Even if they are not reflective of your own personal style can you name some artists/groups whose style has made an indelible impression on you as a listener? Could you also explain why their look is so vital and charged for you?

What informs your personal visual presentation Do you have rules about how clothes should fit you? Pant length?Hair concepts? Colors of clothes? Referencing different fashion eras? Shoes versus sneakers versus boots? Can you explain the reasoning behind these governing factors and how it has changed over the years?

Lets see as far as a look is concerned Omar and I have always had an eye for what we consider a uniform that can be worn everyday. In At The Drive In what we wore stayed on our backs for months at a time. This was due to being practical and on the go. We were sleeping in the same clothes we played in with our shoes on. There were moments around 1995 when certain members of At The Drive In used to lock Omar in the bathroom and force him to shower and change his clothes. Of course this never worked because Omar would just turn the water on and sit there. Apart from his fear of water…there was also a certain superstition of keeping your lucky socks shoes and shirt on so that everyday would be a good show. That superstition still remains.

We were highly influenced by the Trenchmouth and N.O.U aesthetic. We grew out of it and looked backed at what we were up to before At The Drive In(musically and clothes wise as well). Mind you there was never a discussion about what we should wear…. that would be a little too corny and you can’t get everyone in your band to dress the same(at least with Mars Volta that is true). I think one of the turning points was when Omar brought me the Fania All Stars movie Nuestra Cosa. The look was very 60’s and 70’s which in all honesty was what we were into around 93. You would have laughed…but to us it seemed proper. Especially when the bass player of MDC rolls through town and he looks like an old Hawkwind burn out (same can be said for Cliff Burton of Metallica, the only hippy burnout amongst a bunch of heavy metal dudes). Even the singer of Government Issue used to roll through El Paso looking like fucking Greg Brady……it was almost this Andy Kaufman approach of never letting anyone in on the joke and being very serious about the joke. Very early Pink Floyd to us was punk regardless of what John Lydon or Duane Peters dictated as rules.

Over the years we have adopted some Tom Baker from Doctor Who, Joan Crawford noir, Yakuza style Japanese gangster suits and El Topo spaghetti western style dirtiness. Grant Morrison’s writing style and approach to life took shape in our “play every day like its your last”. Even Kiss and Slade provided a huge example of how not to take things so seriously and to remember to have fun. People like the The Butthole Surfers, Throbbing Gristle and Flipper bring out the troublemaker in us. Performers like Sam and Dave (where I got my Nehru influence) and Gram Parsons nudie suites that’s all in there too. It’s just not obvious sometimes. Above all we just wanted clothes that really fit us…which was probably a reaction to that 90’s baggy look.

Everything thing about our presentation….from backdrop art to dressing up even the masquerade NYE show is vital to concept of escaping reality. When you have over stayed your welcome in the world of lsd cocaine etc…music and its presentation is the safest most fun way of turning your back on reality I recently had surgery on my right foot, which has left me a little biased as to what type of shoe to wear. A lot of my problems just run in my family but I certainly aggravated my feet by wearing pointy Cuban heels for over 4 years for 2 hours + a night. The metal rod and scar have left me with the option of tennis shoes lately. Some people in the band enjoy the simplicity of tennis shoes and winos which are a very cheap cholo looking shoe. I had heard through the grapevine that you had a magical pair of electric blue creepers that you retired after Trenchmouth. Is this true Damon? That’s a pretty cool rumor if it is. It is true! - Damon

Can you create charisma or are you simply born with it?

Charisma is something that I don’t know if I really have. I am a true believer in the alter ego and split personality as a shamanic quality for the benefit of positive energy. Since I was a kid I had the performer in me. I was such a loud mouth that my mother and father use to threaten me with scotch tape over the mouth if I was too loud. Needless to say I spent a majority of my childhood with a clear piece of tape over my mouth. When the movie the Elephant Man hit cable tv in the 80’s, I fell in love with it. While some kids played tag in the front yard I was dressed as the Elephant Man screaming, “I am not an animal! I am a human being!” at the top of my lungs. So between being my bark collar and love of Kiss(mom made me a Kiss cake for my 5th birthday! I got a photo too!), I developed a split personality. Laid back Cedric by day and Baby Bix the court jester on stage. I ain’t gonna lie, it sounds corny but it is what it is.

The music that The Mars Volta makes is complex yet reaches a relatively large audience. Do you have any feelings about the necessity of showmanship to reach the audience and draw them in?

As far as showmanship goes I’ve learned that if the audience is asleep I will try everything and my power to wake them up. Breakdancing still runs in my blood and lately even “crip walking” seems to find a way into the presentation. I may not be a very good “crip walker” but fuck I’m trying. When Jon Theodore used to play with us, I had this very anti-audience view because of what we had gone through with At The Drive In. Everyone expected us to be little circus monkeys cuz we established ourselves as live act to watch. When we started this band I wanted to show motherfuckers that I could actually sing, cuz some of those asshole English critics were claiming we could not write songs and couldn’t sing. I wanted show that we could never be that easily categorized. Now with Jon Theodore I often compared him(w/ love and respect) as a grumpy pastor that had little faith in the sermon……very rigid and only having memorable sermons every once in a while. That factor greatly influenced me to kinda lose what I had…that ball of energy that everyone knew. Even my mom said, “Mijo you don’t jump around like you used too.” Then out of the storm of a dark two years Thomas Pridgeon came to our church and I swear to god I have been overcome by his spirit. When he plays on the same stage as me and can’t help but to fully embrace my alter ego (which is too much fun). If that’s showmanship, then yes it is important . I’m glad I don’t think about being anti audience anymore.

Can you name an artist or group that has put on an unforgettably inspiring show to you and why?

One of the most memorable shows I have ever seen and had the honor of being part of was back in the At The Drive In days(once in Oklahoma and again at Gilman Street Collective in Berkley, California). The band was called FAT DAY ! What a band. Talk about presentation…..lets see how do i describe this band…

First off they all except one guy, had cut their hair to look as if they were balding. You know the inverted mohawk. Hair everywhere except on top. They all looked like physical education coaches equipped with whistles that hung on their necklaces. They actually used to run laps around the audience. They wore matching purple coach shorts and purple basketball jerseys. If you looked closely you could tell that their hair grew normally, they just shaved it too look like they were bald coaches. Their music was very Los Crudos/Locust…blast beats…extremely short songs, heavy on the screaming. Their secret weapon were these 4 trampolines that were customized with 4 triggers underneath the trampoline. They each had some sort of foil trigger underneath their shoes, so within the circle of the trampoline there were triggers for these Close Encounters of the Third Kind synthesizer sounds. They would all jump in unison, doing jumping jacks and would start playing the trampolines with their feet. Kinda like that Japanese video game called Dance Dance Revolution. I have never seen anything like that ever. Between the jumping jacks, whistle blowing,coach like tantrums, blast beats, and the balding haircuts there was the most unique musical experience I have ever seen. Imagine if The Monks emerged from the space ship in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and they were your high school PE coaches playing power violence?! That was FAT DAY and I will never forget them!

Recently I have been head over heels for this 80’s Philipino Kung Fu exploitation/007 James Bond spoof called For Your Height Only. It stars Weng Weng, a barely waist high dwarf that flies through the air in a jet pack, wears the illest clothes, gets the ladies, all while making a monkey out of the forces of evil. That’s an actual quote. Look for it on mondomacabrodvd.com. You will thank me later!