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News

The Mars Volta Break Up

Cedric Bixler-Zavala confirmed via Twitter last night that The Mars Volta have broken up. This past fall the group announced that it would take some time off with Omar Rodríguez-López focusing on Bosnian Rainbows, a new group with Deantoni Parks. Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López founded The Mars Volta in 2001 from the ashes of their previous group At the Drive-In. The band (which may have played the loudest set in the history of Bonnaroo’s Which Stage back in 2009) released its sixth album,Noctourniquet, last spring.

Bixler-Zavala’s successive tweets last night read: “Thank u 2 all VOLTA fans u deserved more especially after the way u rooted for us on this album. I tried my hardest to keep it going…But Bosnian Rainbows was what we all got instead…I can’t sit here and pretend any more. I no longer am a member of Mars Volta…I honestly thank all of you for buying our records and coming to our shows. You guys were a blast to play in front of…We could never had done it with out you. My dream was to get us to the point were Jon Theodore and Ikey Owens came back but sadly it’s over…Thank u a million times over for ever giving a fuck about our band…For the record I tried my hardest to get a full scale North American tour going for Noctourniquet but Omar did not want to….I guess a break from mars volta means starting another band and ignoring all the support the fans gave us. I tried my hardest guys…All I can do is move forward with my music and just be happy that mars volta ever happened at all. God Damn we had a blast. Thank u again.”

Comments

There are 7 comments associated with this post

Ross LaMore January 24, 2013, 13:41:21

GREAT! after hearing about the Ween breakup last year this is just more Icing on the crap cake. Next you are going to tell me that The Flaming Lips died in a space ship crash and that Thom Yorke is leaving Radiohead to concentrate on Atoms for Peace. I was at that Volta show at Bonnaroo in ’09 and regrettably it was the only time I ever caught them live. It was a blast and considering all of the great bands that I have seen play at Which Stage it is quite an accomplishment for them to have been the loudest. I have been a fan of the Volta since I first heard the Tremulant EP and this is very sad news, especially since I was so sure that I would see them again at some point in my life. Best wishes to all of the members of the band and I hope to catch one of your side projects if they ever come this way. P.S. A fun thing I found with some friends a couple years back, If you play this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUnKqv4msWQ then kill the volume on the video player. At 24 seconds in to the movie start the album Frances the Mute. It TOTALLY SYNCS UP! like Dark side of Oz, only with trippy Mars Volta music overdubbing a movie about giant aliens :)

McBrooksie January 24, 2013, 14:08:03

Bixler-Zavala is definitely not my favorite person. My first impression of him was when I saw Volta open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Pontiac, Michigan. I think he was upset that they were not co-headlining that tour, or that no one was really feeling their set, or that they sounded like crap in that big arena, or a combination of all of the above, but he would sing facing away from the crowd and I think I remember him raising his middle finger and saying “if you aren’t into our music, than f*** you!” Really, dude? And now here he is tweeting these whiney statements about his ex-bandmates and how they are the ones to blame. I’m sure he didn’t do anything to help the synergy/harmony/rapport within the band with his negative attitude and snide remarks. Maybe he should be wondering why his bandmates didn’t want to work with him anymore ...and his PR is a little off. Maybe it’s just me, but these Tweets just come off as immature and annoying. It definitely doesn’t influence me to want to look into his new undertakings.

Dan January 24, 2013, 14:22:24

really shitty news…the mars volta was one of a kind and i’ll certainly miss them. glad i got to catch them a few times. still gonna blast their albums!

who cares January 24, 2013, 20:37:59

the shit was over years ago. not that anyone is even listening at this point…

Chris January 24, 2013, 22:40:54

Everything comes to an end. The Mars Volta will be on whatever listening apparatus I have for a very long time. Some people have posted some really critical shit and they have a point to make but fuck them anyway. I wish luck to all the members of The Mars Volta and Im interested to hear their new projects. Time to listen to Day of the Baphomets in celebration of the life of one of my favorite bands. R.I.P. Volta.

Ross January 25, 2013, 17:25:30

McBrooksie, I had some friends at that Pontiac show and I did hear that they were booed off the stage. I also read that they were playing really shitty that night because a good friend of the band had died the night before. In fact I have also read that this same friend’s journal was the inspiration for all of the lyrics for the album Frances the Mute so obviously this was a pretty important person in their life. If it was me I probably would have taken a few nights off on the tour but you have give them some credit for their perseverence, even if it did result in a shit show.

Peace and Love January 28, 2013, 12:01:57

Gotta wonder what happens when band members’ relationships degenerate to a point like this. What a difference between a “mutual” breakup or “time off,” (Dispatch, Phish, Ween?) and something like this (Pink Floyd, Supertramp). How DO band members come to hate each other so much? I definitely agree with the previous comments that Bixler-Zavala should have taken some time to cool down before tweeting things that almost certainly make people in the music industry think twice about working with him in the future. He comes off like a whiny asshole who refuses to accept any responsibility for “his” band.