| By now, anyone familiar with the song "One Armed Scissor" is bored to tears with the story surrounding At The Drive-In (ATDI) – including ex-ATDI guitarist and Mars Volta co-founder Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. However, the story still manages to spark people’s curiosity. In our celebrity-obsessed culture, the idea of a band at the top of their game throwing it all away is unimaginable.
In 2001, the El Paso band were at the height of their popularity. Their acclaimed album Relationship of Command was equal parts punk rock and heavy metal and their cathartic live performances left audiences kicking and screaming for more. So when news broke that the band had decided to call it quits, fans and critics scratched their heads. What were these guys after, if it wasn’t money or fame?
Apparently it was the music. The members of ATDI had grown restless and began resenting their success. The band ended up splitting right down the middle, with ATDI guitarist Jim Ward taking the rhythm section to form the emo punk band Sparta, while Rodriguez-Lopez and singer Cedric Bixler created the prog-rock outfit The Mars Volta.
"I enjoyed At The Drive-In for every moment it was worth, until I just wasn’t into it anymore and then I moved on," Rodriguez-Lopez explains. "It’s so easy to be a human being and be stuck in the past, just as easy as it is to be concerned with the future. It’s such a waste of time."
In 2000, during his last year with ATDI, Rodriguez-Lopez began writing a screenplay for a film entitled A Manual Dexterity. When ATDI broke up, the film was temporarily put on hold as Rodriguez-Lopez concentrated on recording De-loused in the Comatorium with The Mars Volta.
"When I was in At The Drive-In, I was always the annoying guy with the camera who filmed everything," he says, laughing. "Not so much our shows, but what was happening between the band and places we were visiting. My friends would always tell me – and in particular Jeremy (Ward) would always say – ‘Have you ever thought about making a film?’"
Ward (cousin of Sparta frontman Jim Ward) was a close friend of Rodriguez-Lopez. He later joined The Mars Volta as a keyboardist and sound manipulator, who preferred to work off-stage during their live shows. In 2003, at the age of 27, Ward was found dead at his home from an apparent drug overdose. Rodriguez-Lopez was devastated by the news and, to this day, chooses to remember his friend for his positive influence rather than tragic death.
"I’ve always wanted to make a film since I was small, even before playing music. But I always felt shy about it," he says. "At the time, Jeremy really inspired me. When I would tell him why I didn’t want to do it or why I was afraid, he would always remind me that all these fears I was listing off never stopped me from playing music. He told me to let go of the things that were holding me back from accomplishing my dreams."
Ward also appeared in the film, playing the role of the main character. The story follows two people over the course of one day and how they deal differently with similar situations. Rodriguez-Lopez knows firsthand the importance of understanding the consequences of one’s actions and has himself struggled with drug addiction for many years. Since forming The Mars Volta, he has stayed drug free, but his days of being an addict are not forgotten. The concept for the film was inspired by the time he spent in the drug culture.
"I was a junkie and doing a lot of hard drugs and smoking a lot of crack cocaine. When you’re involved with something like that, you’re kind of stuck and the people around you are all doing the same thing," he says. "I was really fascinated with these people because no matter how different they were, they always fell into two specific categories.
"One was the people who had a very clear view of themselves and accepted responsibility for the choices they’ve made in life," he continues. "And the other was the people who did not accept responsibility and blamed everyone except themselves for how they were. People who had so much in common reacted so differently towards the obstacles put in front of them.
"I feel good having something to do besides drugs at this point in my life," he adds. "For me, I just feel lucky to have a guardian angel or ray of light to help me focus and get through this lifetime."
The film will have a small DVD release in the spring, accompanied by two instrumental soundtracks. Rodriguez-Lopez ended up recording so much music for the film that the soundtrack had to be divided into two parts. A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Vol. 1 was released this August and Vol. 2 will be made available closer to the release of the DVD. Full of trippy psychedelia, moody ambient noise, amazing guitar solos and erratic sampling, the soundtrack will not disappoint fans of The Mars Volta.
With the new Mars Volta album Frances the Mute scheduled for early 2005, Rodriguez-Lopez is busier than ever. He understands that fans might not understand a lot of the decisions he’s made, but assures that he’s finally at a place in his life where he’s confident with the path he’s chosen.
"Sometimes you don’t understand the results of (your decisions) or the results are different from your expectations but, in the end, they are always pure because you were practising a form of instinctual irrational expression," he says. "That, to me is the most sacred part of the mind. That’s the part we’re not using as a part of our waking life. That is the part that is only open when we are dreaming." |
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