Omar Rodriguez-Lopez on Epic Solo-Album Series, New At the Drive-In LP
After his mother’s death in 2012, the hyperprolific Omar Rodríguez-López resolved to re-route his career. The big change: no more solo albums. During the previous decade, he had masterminded several bands, including acclaimed prog-rock outfit the Mars Volta – but he also amassed an intimidating, Zappa-like solo catalog: 26 records and a smattering of EPs, issued at such a blistering pace that even his most devoted fans struggled to keep up. (He released seven LPs in 2010 alone.) While working through his profound grief, the guitarist-bandleader-producer-filmmaker realized he wanted to channel his energy outward. He formed collaborative projects like Bosnian Rainbows and Antemasque – featuring his longtime musical other half, Cedric Bixler-Zavala – then reunited with post-hardcore giants At the Drive-In. The goal, he tells Rolling Stone, was “being a part of something and sharing things.”
Now he’s taking another dramatic – and very Rodríguez-López-like – step in achieving this goal. With new label Ipecac Recordings, he’s clearing house of his solo work, delivering a bi-weekly, open-ended string of albums, with release dates set through December, that were once withering away on his pile of hard drives. But the material, newly mixed by engineer Chris Common, is far from leftover quality. The first two entries showcase two polar-opposite sides of Lopez’ creative mindset: the spastic, demented prog of Sworn Virgins (out July 15th) and the mournful folk-pop of Corazones (out July 29th), the latter originally written as a film score.
Despite this foray into the past, Lopez is moving forward with band-related projects – including an interrupted but recently resumed world tour with At the Drive-In, who are also recording their first new LP since 2000’s Relationship of Command. The endless swirl of music is daunting, even for him. “I just assume it’s the same reason why people who work at the post office go crazy,” he tells RS. “The mail never stops, and there’s never an end to it. Sometimes it feels that way.”
Lopez spoke to Rolling Stone about his ambitious solo project and offered a progress report on the future of his many bands – including a potential reunion with the Mars Volta.
First off, this solo-album series is insane. How did you arrive at the concept?
I quit recording solo material in 2013, so these are all old solo records that are coming out. We got talking with Ipecac and hanging out, and we talked about doing something together. They said, “Do you have any solo records?” I said, “Well, I haven’t recorded any since 2013, but I have some stuff that’s pretty cool from back then.” So I started sending them stuff, and they were like, “Yeah, we like this one. That one’s great too.”