The Mars Volta is an American musical group founded by Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. They are generally considered rock, with heavy punk, prog and Latin influences. They are known for their wild live shows, oblique lyrics and heavy reliance on ambient music to establish mood.
Members of the band At the Drive-In, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, were in DeFacto with audio technician Jeremy Michael Ward since the mid 90s. DeFacto included Cedric on drums, Omar on bass, and Jeremy with various loop, vocal, sound, and distortion effects - a composite of sounds, hinging squarely on tripped-out, instrumental dub. Though DeFacto started as a local band with a rock feel, they were rooted in the realm of dub reggae pioneers such as Lee Perry and Dr. Alimantado. The group also dabbled in electronica, Latin/ salsa, and jazz, giving their sound a distinct, timeless quality. The band played local shows around their home town, El Paso, Texas, and released their first album How do you dub? You Fight for Dub. You plug Dub in. Eventually moving to Long Beach, California in 2000 the band added keyboardist Isaiah "Ikey" Owens. Ikey brought a distinct tone to DeFacto that provided a new popularity previously not received. In 2001, DeFacto released their second album, Megaton Shotblast on Gold Standard Laboratories, and received instant success. DeFacto continued experimenting with new sounds after Omar and Cedric decided to end At the Drive-In, Eva Gardner joined the band, becoming what is now The Mars Volta - a new project they envisioned would fulfill their creative desires. The initial lineup for their first public show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California was DeFacto plus Eva Gardner and Jon Theodore. Also, during 2001, the band recorded two songs with Alex Newport, becoming their first demo. They recorded three more tracks with Alex Newport, becoming the Tremulant EP, sparsely released in early 2002. Tremulant was a collection of three songs - Cut that City, Concertina, and Eunuch Provocateur, (with lyrics containing the name of their first LP). Stylistically, the EP was a fusion of prog rock, salsa, free improvisation and avant-garde.
