Startled Calf (1991–1992) Rodríguez-López dropped out of high school at age 17 to go on tour with Startled Calf, an
El Paso, Texas, hardcore punk band, as their vocalist, and was left stranded in
Berkeley after the rest of the band were arrested. The band formed in 1991 and featured
Ralph Jasso on guitar, Jimmy Hernandez on bass, and
George Fraska on drums. The band broke up in 1992.
At the Drive-In (1995–2001, 2012, 2016–2018) At 17, Rodríguez-López left El Paso to hitchhike around the country for a year in the early 1990s, during which he acquired an addiction to
opiates. Eventually 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 return to El Paso where he could begin to reclaim his life from addiction and join
At the Drive-In as backup vocalist and bass guitarist. After receiving a record deal with
Flipside Records and recording
Acrobatic Tenement with the band, he became their full-time bassist before switching to guitar. After several years and two more critically acclaimed albums, for a variety of reasons, Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala left At the Drive-In and the band went on "indefinite hiatus". The remaining members,
Paul Hinojos,
Tony Hajjar, and
Jim Ward went on to form
Sparta while the duo focused on other projects. On January 9, 2012, At the Drive-In announced that they were reforming for a tour. The band released their fourth album
In•ter a•li•a in 2017 before going on an indefinite hiatus in November 2018.
The Mars Volta (2001–2012, 2019–present) Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala refocused their efforts on the dub outfit called
De Facto, which also included
Jeremy Ward and
Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, and which they had started years before while still in At the Drive-In. Eventually the same collective of musicians in De Facto would be expanded into Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala's new band,
The Mars Volta. Once again starting from scratch he wrote and toured with the band which consumed almost all his time and money. On May 25, 2003, less than a month before the release of their first full-length album,
De-Loused in the Comatorium, bandmate and close friend Jeremy Ward was found dead of a heroin overdose. This event, coupled with the memories of the suicide of his friend
Julio Venegas years earlier, finally convinced both him and Bixler-Zavala to quit using opiates. Since then he has been clean and credited his newfound musical work ethic on his new lifestyle. The Mars Volta's second album,
Frances the Mute, would later be dedicated to Ward. During the early years of the band he also worked on a low budget movie called
A Manual Dexterity which starred Jeremy Ward. The soundtrack
A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1 was released in 2004. The release of the second volume, which was originally planned for Spring of 2005, and the film were both delayed indefinitely due to legal problems. Conflicts over ownership of certain footage and Rodríguez-López's reluctance to revisit the project which featured his late friend Jeremy Ward were both cited as reasons for the delay. However, Rodríguez-López stated that he does intend to release both Volume 2 and the film at some point in the future. On February 8, 2009, he and his fellow Mars Volta bandmates won the Grammy for
Best Hard Rock Performance. On January 23, 2013, The Mars Volta officially announced that they had broken up, following a series of tweets posted by Cedric Bixler-Zavala stating that he had departed the band. Their future was uncertain at this point, although Rodríguez-López did not rule out the possibility of reuniting in the future. On June 18, 2022, The Mars Volta revealed the coordinates to a location in Los Angeles, California, where fans were allowed to preview new music from the band. This was followed up by the release of the single "Blacklight Shine" and a tour announcement, marking both their first new music and first live shows in ten years. The band subsequently announced their first album in 10 years, The Mars Volta, which was released on September 16, 2022. The Mars Volta has remained active ever since.
Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group (2005–2012, 2018) In 2005 Rodríguez-López relocated to Amsterdam, where he eventually wrote and recorded four separate albums. His first solo project was the "Omar Rodríguez-López Quintet". Rodríguez-López played several live shows in Europe with his quintet, which in 2005 also included three members of The Mars Volta Group (
Juan Alderete,
Marcel Rodríguez-López and
Adrián Terrazas-González) and
Money Mark. The songs featured on this tour later appeared on the album
Omar Rodriguez. It was characterized by long, improvisational songs with
Dutch titles and no lyrics. The Quintet also performed live with
Damo Suzuki, parts of which were recorded and incorporated into a 25-minute
EP titled
Please Heat This Eventually, which was released in 2007. During this time Rodríguez-López was also working on The Mars Volta's 2006 record
Amputechture and composing the score to the film
El Búfalo de la Noche simultaneously to his work with the quintet. On May 29, 2007,
Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo was released. It was the third full-length solo album by Rodríguez-López. It featured performances by Mars Volta members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marcel Rodríguez-López, Juan Alderete, Adrián Terrazas-González as well as cameos by Money Mark, John Frusciante, and Jon Theodore. It was written and recorded between 2005 and 2006 in California and Amsterdam. The Quintet later resurfaced in 2007, now known as "The Rodríguez-López Group" to perform on the "white" stage at the
Fuji Rock Festival in Japan on July 28.
The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange is a double LP featuring the original quintet and was released on vinyl November 20, 2007. It was also released for digital download.
Calibration, a record that Rodríguez-López recorded during his stay in Amsterdam, was released February 5, 2008. It was described as being influenced by
electronic music and
acid-jazz.
Sonny Kay, co-owner of the former Gold Standard Labs label with Omar, created the album covers (and has done so for the majority of future Omar releases). Two Omar Rodríguez-López solo albums were released in Europe on January 26, 2009, from the Netherlands-based record label Willie Anderson Recordings:
Megaritual and
Despair.
Despair is best described as a
field recording, while
Megaritual is a collaboration jam between Omar and his brother,
Marcel Rodríguez-López. In mid-2009, a new entity has been created called
El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez (
the New Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group) to release the first in a series of three recordings completed in 2006. Thus far these recordings have only been known as the
Omar and Zach Hill collaborations. The first recording titled
Cryptomnesia was released on May 5, 2009. Vocals written and performed by Bixler-Zavala were recorded in 2008. The lineup for this entity is: Omar Rodríguez-López on guitar,
Cedric Bixler-Zavala on vocals, Zach Hill on drums, Jonathan Hischke on synth bass, and
Juan Alderete on bass. The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group toured Europe in March 2009, supported by Zechs Marquise. At the end of 2009, Rodríguez-López released three albums,
Los Sueños de un Hígado,
Xenophanes and
Solar Gambling digitally through Rodríguez-López Productions. While
Xenophanes was also released on CD and vinyl,
Los Suenos De Un Higado and
Solar Gambling only had a limited vinyl release. Rodríguez-López also created a video for "Asco Que Conmueve los Puntos Erógenos", from
Xenophanes, and posted it on YouTube on November 30, 2009. In January 2010,
Ciencia de los Inútiles was released under a new group, El Trio de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. The trio features Rodríguez-López on acoustic guitar,
Ximena Sariñana on vocals and Aaron Cruz on upright bass. A video for "Miércoles" was also released. In May 2010, he released a collaboration titled
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante with
John Frusciante, free of charge through his website, with the option to donate. All money raised will go to the Keep Music in Schools programs. On May 30, 2010, the album
Sepulcros de Miel by
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quartet was digitally released, which also featured Frusciante. The album
Tychozorente was scheduled for release on November 1, 2010; however, it received an early release on September 14, 2010, as a digital download. Another album, titled
Cizaña de los Amores, was digitally released on October 11, 2010. CD and vinyl versions of both albums are only available in Europe.
Mantra Hiroshima, another Omar and Zach Hill collaboration, was digitally released on November 29, followed next day by
Dōitashimashite, album of live material recorded in September during the
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group's first US tour. A video for "Agua Dulce de Pulpo" from the album
Un Escorpión Perfumado was also released during that period, and the album itself was released on December 20 in digital form, with CD and vinyl versions to follow. On April 16, 2011, Omar released
Telesterion, a compilation album featuring 38 songs from Omar's solo albums. Although this has been the only release of 2011, other projects have been hinted at, such as
Двойственность вздохов (Russian for
Duality of Sighs), a documentary about the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group's Russian mini-tour, directed by Omar and shot by Paco Ibarra. The Vinyl edition of
Telesterion also contained artwork for 6 solo albums that have yet to be released, and featured a new track, "Cásate Colmillo", off of an album supposedly titled
The Somnambulis. On July 7, 2016, Ipecac Records announced that they would release 12 albums by Omar, fortnightly, until December 2016. They were recorded in the period 2008–2013 and one featured The Mars Volta line-up and a guest appearance by John Frusciante. The first album
Sworn Virgins was released digitally on July 15, 2016, and featured the single "To Kill a Chi Chi". Recorded in El Paso and
Zapopan, the other titles include
Corazones,
Blind Worms Pious Swine,
Arañas En La Sombra,
Umbrella Mistress,
El Bien Y Mal Nos Une,
Cell Phone Bikini,
Infinity Drips,
Weekly Mansions,
Zapopan,
Nom De Guerre Cabal, and
Some Need It Lonely.
Bosnian Rainbows and Antemasque (2012–2018) In 2012, with Mars Volta going on hiatus, Rodríguez-López formed a solo band that eventually took the name
Bosnian Rainbows. It consists of
Deantoni Parks (drums, keyboards),
Teri Gender Bender (vocals) and Nicci Kasper (keyboards). They released one
self-titled album in June 2013. On April 8, 2014, Omar announced a new musical project called
Antemasque with former At the Drive-In and Mars Volta bandmates
Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals) and
David Elitch (drums) as well as
Flea, the bassist for the
Red Hot Chili Peppers. The group released their first song, "4AM". Flea said that Antemasque is a project between Omar and Cedric, and that he is only a contributing artist. , both Bosnian Rainbows and Antemasque have essentially been put on hold due to touring commitments of At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta. ==Other media==