Don't Get Comfortable" An Interview With The Mars Volta

by Scott Thill

When The Mars Volta's musical wizard Omar Rodriguez-Lopez broke apart his earlier group At the Drive-In right on the cusp of its major breakthrough, it was a singular move made by a ballsy artist with an eye to the future. Omar was right about At the Drive-In: There was nowhere else to go. So he grabbed kindred spirit and Drive-In vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, built his own mammoth musical experiment and the rest is post-prog history. Since then, The Mars Volta have released two mindfuck albums soaked with riffs, concept and pure virtuoso energy, including the latest Frances the Mute, and haven't looked back. Even when the whiners and critics cried about TMV's dense experiments, lofty lyricism and resilient noncomformity. But those suckers just don't get that TMV are deep thinkers looking to deliver an artistic experience audiences are not likely to see on MTV or anywhere else on stage this year. Morphizm caught up with Omar to talk Big Themes. He was more than willing.

Morphizm: Your recent solo release A Manual Dexterity: Volume One was the soundtrack for your upcoming film. How have you used film as an influence for your work with Volta?
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez: When you listen to music, it becomes very easy to start copying things. To say "I really love that song," and then try to find its key, time signature or something. It's very easy, whether you notice or not, to subconsciously mimic the things you love in music. Whereas when you're stting down and watching a film, there is no tangibility for you as a musician to completely rip off a scene of character the way you would a song or a note.

Morphizm: Have you ever thought about soundtracking for film?
OR-L: It seems interesting to me, and I would definitely like to try making music for someone else. I just wonder how well it would go over for me, because sometimes it's difficult to guess what other people want, even if they're telling you. Even if I was sitting with the director, and he was explicitly describing what he wanted. You never know.

Morphizm: It seems like you would have competing visions, which would seem to make the job harder considering that you're working in different mediums.
OR-L: But it also seems like that conflict would produce something really interesting. If everybody loved the project.

Morphizm: Is that creative conflict central to redefining the territory in which you work? Mars Volta sounds like a band interested in pushing the envelope.
OR-L: Half the time, it's about staying interested and not getting bored with the reptition. It's just like anything else in life. A relationship or whatever. You hit that two-year mark and sometimes have to be conscious of not getting comfortable.

Morphizm: Does it help matters to allow spontaneity to dictate some aspect of your work?
OR-L: In terms of the approach to recording, I definitely try to stay on my toes in order to juxtapose the fact that so much of our work is methodical and structured. It's like architecture.

Morphizm: Your live show, which is something to see, seems to be a bit looser than the recorded work.
OR-L: I see certain bands that seem to be dismissing the live performance, that play their songs in concert exactly the way they play them on the records. There's not a lot of freedom there. What ends up happening is that the audience hears something they could easily have heard at home. The band doesn't deviate from the structure of the record at all. They're not corrupting it or making it any dirtier.

Morphizm: I'm interested in how hard it is to keep everyone on the same page during periods of improvisation. Volta has some seriously talented musicians.
OR-L: Live performance is the moment where everybody gets to intereact. It's a form of democratic expression, where you get away from the idea of one person telling everyone how to perform the songs. Improvisation is simply like having a conversation.

Morphizm: A sonic dialogue.
OR-L: Every night you throw out a topic, and every gets to offer their opinion on it. In order for that to happen, you have to have a group of people who are aware and acquainted with each other, who are sensitive to each other's personalities. And when you have that kind of energy and dynamic happening, everyone is able to take part in the conversation. If you don't have that dynamic, then it would be like throwing out a topic and having everyone talking at the same time. Certain people would feel like they didn't get their point across, while some would feel like others are stepping on their toes.

Morphizm: It seems that a unique but structured jam would be ideal. Which is funny considering that you're playing the same songs over and over.
OR-L: It's the same as actually having a conversation every night. Some nights will be amazing, and you'll be able to delve deeply and perhaps shed some new light on your subconscious. Other nights won't go so well. As much as we try to exercise forms of irrational expression, we still have nights where everyone is going off on their own.

5 May 05

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