Formation and Acrobatic Tenement (1994–97) At the Drive-In was founded in 1994 by guitarist
Jim Ward and vocalist
Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The newly formed band played its first live show on October 14, 1994, at The Attic, a venue in El Paso, Texas, followed up by a show on the 15th at the
Loretto High School Fair. Not long after, At the Drive-In released its first studio recording entitled
Hell Paso, a 7-inch EP issued in November 1994. At the Drive-In released its second EP
¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! in June 1995. The band then set out on another tour, this one in a newly purchased 1981
Ford Econoline and spanning 42 days and 10,000 miles across the United States. During these tours, At the Drive-In began developing a large underground following by mostly playing in basements and small venues across the western United States, with their popularity spread by
word of mouth among fans. One such show that changed the course of history for the band was in a now defunct bar in Los Angeles, where the band put on an explosive performance for just nine people – some of them employees of the
Flipside record label. The staffers were so enthralled by the show that they offered to put out At the Drive-In's record then and there. The album was released August 18, 1996, and the band commenced another tour of the United States the following year spanning 100 days (February to June 1997) and 24,000 miles. In October of 1999, the band relocated to Los Angeles. November and December of that year saw At the Drive-In open for
Rage Against the Machine, getting the chance to play arenas for the first time. Afterwards, the band toured with
the Get Up Kids.
Relationship of Command would instead be released by the
Beastie Boys-founded
Grand Royal, which Rodríguez-López described as "our dream come true," since the band had long admired Grand Royal and had hoped to sign to them long before being approached by DEN. The album, released on September 12, 2000, was met with critical acclaim. In addition to touring worldwide in Europe, Japan, and the United States following the release of
Relationship of Command, At The Drive-In performed on several television shows. The band's first nationally televised performance was on
Farmclub, a now defunct television show which aired late at night on the
USA Network. After that performance, they also appeared on
Later with Jools Holland, ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with David Letterman''. Additionally, their minor hit radio single "
One Armed Scissor" had circulation on MTV and significantly contributed to the band's popularity. By 2002,
Relationship of Command had sold 273,000 copies in the United States, according to
Nielsen SoundScan.
Breakup and other projects (2001-2009) On November 12, 2000, At the Drive-In was involved in a motor vehicle accident when their touring van skidded out of control on ice and flipped onto its roof. Though the accident left the band shaken, none of the members sustained serious injury – Hajjar and Bixler-Zavala were taken to the hospital for minor injuries and released. In January 2001, At the Drive-In traveled to Australia for the
Big Day Out music festival. While performing in Sydney, they left partway through their set after telling the attendance to calm down and observe the safety rules against
moshing. After the refusal of the crowd, frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala told them "You're a robot, you're a sheep!" and
bleated at them several times before the band left the stage after performing only three songs. "I think it's a very, very sad day when the only way you can express yourself is through slam-dancing", he proclaimed. The following month, At the Drive-In cancelled the last five dates of its European tour, citing "complete mental and physical exhaustion" of the members. In March 2001—less than a month away from a United States tour set to begin on April 14—at the peak of their popularity and following a world tour, At the Drive-In broke up, initially referring to the split as an "indefinite hiatus". The band played their last show at
Groningen's Vera venue on February 21, 2001. Commenting on the hiatus, guitarist Rodríguez-López said: "After a non-stop six-year cycle of record/tour/record/tour, we are going on an indefinite hiatus. We need time to rest up and re-evaluate, just to be human beings again and to decide when we feel like playing music again." However, in 2002, Hajjar stated that the hiatus was "just press crap", and that the band was truly broken up. Though many of his bandmates, including Bixler-Zavala, have cited exhaustion due to excessive touring as the main factor behind At the Drive-In's dissolution, Hinojos would then leave Sparta to join Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López in The Mars Volta from 2005 to 2009. The Mars Volta disbanded in 2013, and Rodríguez-López went on to play with
Bosnian Rainbows, while Bixler-Zavala started a new band called
Zavalaz. Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López eventually reunited once again and formed
Antemasque in 2014.
First reunion (2009–2012) During an interview with Drowned in Sound in June 2009, Bixler-Zavala stated that he had been in discussions with the band's former members and suggested that they could get back together after they sorted their financial business out. He added, "I wouldn't mind it. It might happen, we just have to iron out a lot of personal things. A lot of it we've dealt with already and I've apologized for a lot of things I've said and the way it ended... we'll see what happens." In response to Bixler-Zavala's comments, guitarist Jim Ward quickly quashed rumors of a reunion by stating "I don't think that I'll be answering any questions or doing any interviews anymore, thank you very much. I haven't got much to say about anything except with songs which I will continue to make and release." At the Drive-in finally got back together in late 2011 and officially announced their reunion on January 9, 2012. They played their first show since 2001 on April 9 at Red 7 in Austin, Texas, as part of a 4-date tour across Texas with
Zechs Marquise warming up prior to performing at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 15 and 22. Later in the year At the Drive-in also performed at festivals such as
Lollapalooza,
Splendour in the Grass,
Fuji Rock and
Reading and Leeds Festival. The band had also acquired the rights from
Fearless Records to reissue most of their catalogue (three full-length albums as well as
Vaya EP) and launched their own label, Twenty-first Chapter, to handle the reissues. The name of the label is a reference to the chapter omitted from the US version of the Anthony Burgess book
A Clockwork Orange. While the reunion shows were met with mostly positive reviews, Rodríguez-López received criticism from fans and observers for his evident lack of enthusiasm while playing on stage; initially this was attributed to the recent death of his mother; however, Rodríguez-López later stated that he also no longer felt connected with At the Drive-in's music. Rodríguez-López also ruled out the possibility of the band recording new material, though he reversed this stance in light of the band's 2016 reunion. Following the dissolution of
The Mars Volta in 2013, Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López ceased all contact with each other. Bixler-Zavala blamed Rodríguez-López for the breakup on Twitter; however, he stated that he was still happy with At the Drive-In's reunion: "And for the record I'm still in love with ATDI. Proof was in MY performance. I would never get on stage if my heart was elsewhere." The two subsequently focused their efforts on their respective projects, Zavalaz and
Bosnian Rainbows, and remained on non-speaking terms until early 2014, when they finally resolved their issues. An initial attempt to restart At the Drive-In did not work out, however, so Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López went on to form
Antemasque, touring and recording for the next two years.
Second reunion and in•ter a•li•a (2015–2018) In October 2015, At the Drive-In agreed on doing another reunion, and an appearance at Rock On The Range festival in the following May was scheduled. In January 2016, trailed by a 15-second video of seemingly new music, the band detailed plans for a world tour and new album later in the year. After initial rehearsals, Jim Ward was removed from the reunited band, The band canceled part of their North American tour after Bixler-Zavala began to have issues with his voice. On December 8, the band released their first new song in 16 years, "Governed by Contagions", through
Rise Records. A new album,
in•ter a•li•a, was released on May 5, 2017, preceded by another single, "Incurably Innocent". The
Diamanté EP was released on November 24 as part of Record Store Day; it had a limited vinyl release of 4000 copies. In August 2017, the reunited band performed at
Rock en Seine in
Paris, France and in May 2018, the band headlined the
Neon Desert Music Festival.
Hiatus and uncertain future (2018–present) During a show on November 17, 2018, at the
Circo Voador in Brazil, Bixler-Zavala announced to the crowd that the following night's show would be their final show for the foreseeable future. That night, Bixler-Zavala posted on Twitter stating "Maybe it's a sign of weakness to some of you but I had to give a huge thank you to my ATDI family. This was our 2nd to last show. Tomorrow is the last. Don't know when we'll play again. Thank you Rio. How do I even sleep now?" The following day on November 18, 2018, the band played their final show at Bar Opinião in
Porto Alegre,
Brazil. On November 19, 2018, the band released a statement on their official Instagram announcing a hiatus. In 2025, in response to a fan on Instagram, Bixler-Zavala stated that he would be against playing any future shows with At The Drive-In, saying that the band's chapter was "permanently sealed forever", and that the band had "played [their] last show in Brazil." ==Musical style and influences==