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Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

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Omar Alfredo Rodriguez-Lopez (born September 1, 1975 in Bayamón, Puerto Rico) is the guitarist of the rock band The Mars Volta.

Contents

Biography

Rodriguez-Lopez grew up in El Paso, Texas, but spent some of his childhood in South Carolina, where he would become confused with his self identity. He would straighten and dye his hair blonde and even went through a time of violence. After leaving the city before the age of 18, he spent time traveling across America. During this time he saw his life going nowhere, as he abused drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine, and engaging in such activities as "dumpster diving" to obtain food. He was a self-proclaimed bum. So he got in touch with friend Cedric Bixler Zavala who suggested he come back to El Paso. With the help of Bixler Zavala, he was able to make it back to El Paso where he joined At The Drive-In as backup vocalist and bass guitarist. After receiving a record deal with Flipside and recording Acrobatic Tenement with the band, he became their full-time bassist before switching to guitar. While in At The Drive-In, when he was home he held some odd jobs, including a telemarketer for AT&T. He also worked as a secretary and sold acid and other various drugs.

Rodriguez-Lopez has spent most of his career working with, and often living with, his close friend, Cedric Bixler Zavala. The pair first played together in rock band At the Drive-In. While still in that band, they formed a dub reggae outfit called DeFacto. In 2001 the two left At the Drive-In, which they had been a part of since 1996, on "indefinite hiatus" to form The Mars Volta. In addition, Cedric appears on Rodriguez-Lopez's [[A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1]], the soundtrack to Rodriguez-Lopez's film. The release of this film is postponed indefinitely.

Rodriguez-Lopez's compositional and playing style is characterized by, among other factors, unresolving dissonances (in particular a heavy use of the tritone), chromatic passages, serial composition and lengthy improvisation. He is also known for his vast array of effects pedals. Rodriguez-Lopez claims to be ignorant of any music theory.

Rodriguez-Lopez's style has been likened to that of King Crimson's Robert Fripp (who also uses tritones abundantly). It is likely that Fripp has had a considerable influence on Rodriguez-Lopez. However, Rodriguez has cited salsa pianist and bandleader Larry Harlow as his primary influence. Rodriguez cites the comedian Lenny Bruce, the film-maker Werner Herzog and the New Age anthropologist Carlos Castaneda as three other important influences.

Other notable comparisons can be drawn between Rodriguez and guitarist John McLaughlin of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis fame. It is very likely that Rodriguez was influenced by McLaughlin as evident in his abundant use of complex time signatures and frequent meter changes in his playing. Many jazz and rock elements originally fused by pioneers such as McLaughlin are present in Rodriguez's playing as well.

Rodriguez-Lopez is credited as writing all the music heard on The Mars Volta's 2005 release CD, Frances the Mute, as well as acting as record producer, arranging and recording all of the music. He has also recently finished producing the forthcoming album from LA-based band Radio Vago.

Equipment

With The Mars Volta

Live: (Omar has a huge range of effects pedals which he uses both live and in the studio. The above is a list of identified pedals, however the list is not complete and may never be complete.)

Studio:

De-Loused In The Comatorium

Frances The Mute

With
  • Amplifiers:
  • *Marshall Super Plexi PA (As seen used in earlier videos)
  • *Orange Heads (Unkonwn models, usually covered with a Puerto Rican flag)

With Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet

With
  • Basses
  • *Fender Jazz basses (Omar used a black with white scratchplate model and white with red tortoise-shell scratchplate model)

The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet

The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet is a side project of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Taking some free time out of his busy schedule with The Mars Volta, Rodriguez-Lopez plays live shows with his quintet. Not much is known of the Quintet yet, except for the members and that they just finished a European tour with Enrique Trejo.

Members

Discography

Solo / Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet

With

With

With

Guest Appearances

{| style="margin:0 auto;clear:both; width:90%;text-align:center;" align=center class="toccolours" | bgcolor=#6699CC|The Mars Volta |- |style="font-size:90%;"|Omar Rodriguez-Lopez | Cedric Bixler-Zavala | Jon Theodore | Isaiah Ikey Owens | Juan Alderete de la Pena | Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez | Adrian Terrazas-Gonzales | Pablo Hinojos-Gonzalez |- ! style="font-size:90%;" bgcolor=lightgrey|Discography |- |style="font-size:85%;"|Albums: De-Loused in the Comatorium | Frances the Mute | Scabdates | A Missing Chromosome | Amputechture
Extended plays: | Tremulant EP | Live EP
Singles: "Inertiatic ESP" | "Televators" | "The Widow" | "L'Via L'Viaquez" | "Vermicide"
[[Image:

 

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