Omar Rodriguez Lopez

CLASH MAGAZINE: Live Review of Bosnian Rainbows - London, UK

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:13:00 -0400

The word “supergroup” can be a tricky term. It’s one of those words that has a habit of raising expectations, and that’s not always a good thing. Bosnian Rainbows are certainly an act who fit firmly into the supergroup category, made up of former The Mars Volta members Omar Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks, plus Le Butcherettes vocalist Teri Gender Bender, and Nicci Kasper on keys.

Considering this musical prog-punk pedigree, it’s no wonder how hard it is to get close to the stage of London’s 100 Club for the band’s headline set. This intimate venue has built its reputation on being the place where numerous punk legends, such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Adicts, have cut their teeth.

This proves to be a fitting lineage for tonight’s show. The low ceiling and tightly packed crowd give proceedings a sweaty house party feel. And as Bosnian Rainbows take the stage, cheers are hushed into near silence and the band launches straight into the sinister synths of ‘Eli’, the opening track from their forthcoming self-titled album.

The fact that the band have been constantly on tour since their inception in 2012 shines through as the four-piece instantly come together like a tightly honed machine. Rodríguez-López’s virtuoso guitar work fits seamlessly with the pounding beats and rhythmic synths of Parks and Kasper.

It’s clear, however, that the stage belongs to leading lady Teri Gender Bender. Having a name reminiscent of ’70s punk icons like Poly Styrene is no accident. Her stage presence is drenched in gloriously exhibitionist spirit as she dominates the stage like a cross between Alice Glass and Patti Smith.

As the pulsing intro to ‘I Cry For You’ starts, she stands, head bowed with her arms visibly shaking. It’s as though she’s channeling the sound with her body and directing it out through the speakers like a disheveled voodoo priestess.

At one point during the song she begins lurching forward, before hitting herself square on the head with the microphone and launching herself off the stage and onto the crowd.

The intensity between the four-piece mounts as they break into ‘Torn Maps’, standing close and shooting knowing glances at each other. Then the full force of the track bursts forth and Gender Bender runs across the stage to meet the dumbfounded front row, before hurtling back to to join the rest of the band for an extended version of ‘Turtle Neck’.

The closing track, ‘Mother, Father, Set Us Free’, which also serves as the closing track to their album, proves to be a well-chosen end point. Its dark pulses of fuzzy synths build insidiously under Gender Bender’s visceral delivery. She breaks into an anthemic crescendo that sees her climb on top of the huge guitar amp at the back of the stage, standing aloft, gesturing wildly and smiling manically at the crowd. A point at which nobody is entirely sure what she’s going to do next.

This ominous air of suspense is fitting to the intense tone of the night. Bosnian Rainbows deliver pure, unadulterated energy and inject enough adrenaline to keep the crowd going for days. “Supergroup” may be a tricky term, but tonight, this band earns it.

Words: James Appleyard

See all Photos by: Andrew Novell

Bosnian Rainbows announce more US Shows and EU Festivals

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:04:59 -0400

Bosnian Rainbows have just announced more US shows and some more European & South American festival plays in support of their upcoming debut album release on June 25, 2013 on Sargent House and in Europe on Clouds-Hill on June 28th. The album is now available for Pre-Order on Vinyl, CD and digitally on Itunes in the US and in Europe HERE.

SEE ALL BOSNIAN RAINBOWS SHOW DETAILS HERE

BOSNIAN RAINBOWS 2013
May 25, 2013 - El Paso, TX @ Neon Desert Music Festival
May 28, 2013 - Dallas, TX @ Trees w/ Zorch
May 29, 2013 - Austin, TX @ Red 7 w/ Zorch
May 30, 2013 - Houston, TX @ HOB - Bronze Peacock w/ Zorch
June 21, 2013 - Schiphorst, DE @ Avantgarde Festival
June 24, 2013 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
June 25, 2013 - Los Angeles, CA @ First Unitarian Church
June 26, 2013 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
June 27, 2013 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
July 01, 2013 - Bogota, Columbia @ Rock Al Parque Festival
July 10, 2013 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
July 12, 2013 - Washington DC @ U Street Music Hall
July 13, 2013 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
July 14, 2013 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
July 16, 2013 - Hamden, CT @ The Spaceland Ballroom
July 18, 2013 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
July 19, 2013 - Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s
July 20, 2013 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar
July 21, 2013 - Columbus, OH @ The Basement
July 23, 2013 - Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre
July 24, 2013 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Aug 02, 2013 - Cork, Ireland @ Indiependent Festival
Aug 16, 2013 - Groningen, Holland @ Noorderzon Festival
Aug 17, 2013 - Hasselt, Belgium @ Pukkelpop Festival
Aug 31, 2013 - Copenhagen, DE @ Vega w/ Tomahawk
Sept 01, 2013 - Oslo, Norway @Rockefeller Music Hall w/ Tomahawk
Sept 02,2013 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser Media w/ Tomahawk
Sept 04, 2013 - Helsinki, Finland @ Circus w/ Tomahawk
Sept 06, 2013 - Berlin, Germany @ Berlin Festival
Oct 26, 2013 - Asheville, NC @ Mountain Oasis Festival

Rolling Stone Interview with Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:26:00 -0400

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is a restless creative force, with endless musical projects as guitarist and producer, his own label and an accelerating sideline as an experimental filmmaker. In the past, he’s walked away from popular bands just to follow his muse into some unexpected directions, but says a brief reunion tour last year with At the Drive-In mattered more to him than many of us will ever know.

The raging, hard-rock quintet grew up together in El Paso, Texas, recorded for Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label, traveled the world and had a frenzied radio hit with “One Armed Scissor” before breaking up in 2001. Their reunion tour was short, but the band is active in other ways. This week came the wide release of reissues of ATDI’s 1996 album debut, Acrobatic Tenement, and the career-defining (and final release) Relationship of Command on their brand new label, Twenty-First Chapter.

At the Drive-In – which also includes singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, guitarist Jim Ward, bassist Paul Hinojos and drummer Tony Hajjar – have scattered to other projects, leaving the future unknown. The Mars Volta, the post-ATDI post-punk/prog act led by Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala, is officially broken up, too, but the guitarist is already deep into Bosnian Rainbows, his band with singer Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes. Next week, Bosnian Rainbows begin a European tour with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (plus a few dates in Texas and California) and release a self-titled debut album on June 25th.

Rodriguez-Lopez spoke with Rolling Stone about his new band, making music and movies and his eternal attachment to At the Drive-In.

A year ago, you were in the middle of a short reunion tour with At the Drive-In, starting with Coachella. How was that for you?
It’s the best thing that could have happened at that moment. For me personally, it was the most trying time in my life, the hardest obstacle to overcome in my life. In terms of being around loving people I grew up with, I couldn’t have asked for a better situation.

What were you going through?
A week before having to get onstage, my mother passed away. I barely even talk about it now, a year later. At the time, just to get onstage was a chore. So I was around these guys, practicing in my friend’s garage. It couldn’t have been a better group of people to be with.

Is there something special about playing with guys you grew up with?
The level of trust and the feeling that a group of people truly know you can never be replaced. We spent seven years in that band. We grew up together, so it’s that feeling that these people truly love you. Right at the end of the band, we played our last show in L.A. at the Palace, and Wayne Kramer [of the MC5] said, “Man, you love these guys. You’ll go on to do many things in your life, but cherish these moments because it’s never like this again.” That sums it all up for me.

Was the plan always for a limited reunion of At the Drive-In, or is it open-ended?
We didn’t want to force anything. We had already been hanging out together over the years. We just decided to hang out more and eventually, OK, let’s hang out inside a room with musical instruments. That day, we realized this feels really good. Let’s not make plans and force anything on ourselves. We did one show, which was Coachella, taking it a step at a time. We only did about six shows: Coachella, Chicago, England, Spain, Japan and Australia. We could have booked the rest of the year playing At the Drive-In, but the main thing was, let’s finish the tour that we never got to finish [in 2001].

Is the band still active?
We don’t talk about it that way. It’s there; we have possibilities. Everybody’s doing something right now. Cedric has a record coming out, Tony and Jim in Sparta are doing stuff. We’re just trying to feel again when the moment opens up where nothing is forced and nothing is an obligation.

What inspired putting out these At the Drive-In reissues now?
We finally got our masters back. We were able to put that in the contract way back then, which we were really proud of. We just wanted them to be out again and reissue it on our own label – and make those records that were a little bit obscure more available. Maybe nobody will like it as much as us, but it’s the original version of Relationship of Command – the original board mixes. Every time we finished a song, the engineer would make a rough for us – it was coming straight off the two-inch [tape], so there was absolutely nothing added, and it was such an amazing sound.

Do you have a lot of reissues planned?
We only made three records and two EPs. It’s really the board mixes with a lot of cool pictures that Danielle Van Ark and Paul Drake took. Both were very close friends of ours and they were on the tour nonstop with us. But at the time we were together, we put out everything that we had. We loved our music so much that it was really hard for us to wrap our heads around what people called B-sides – stuff that didn’t make it to the album.

What made At the Drive-In special?
Our chemistry as people. The music is just a byproduct of the people involved. When you heard that music coming out of the speakers, the music was truthful. It was everything we loved about each other, that annoyed us about each other, our brotherhood. We did a five-month tour once – one of many times – and we slept on park benches and shared a bowl of beans and rice. That stuff is the very heart and soul of what you hear coming through the speakers.

It was announced recently that the Mars Volta has ended.
The band ended, but there’s still lots of music. Cedric has an incredible record coming out. We can look back on all the cool stuff we did together. It’s like At the Drive-In, with that realization that when you’re working with someone, you’re at your absolute best. With Mars Volta, I know for a fact now that the best stuff I did was because of what Cedric wrote. That’s what made it classic and memorable. I can’t talk about one with talking about the other, because that goes back all the way to when Cedric and I started hanging out every day. I learned almost everything I know about playing and the guitar from him and through the group. Then you go out in the world.

Not everyone is willing to walk away from a popular band to try different things, but it seems to come easy for you.
Yeah, because I’m most interested in living life. There is this hyper-awareness of success by numbers – the biggest fan base, the most tweeters or Facebooks. If you don’t equate high numbers with success, then it’s a whole different ballgame. And it’s good to have perspective. Look at what happened with At the Drive-In: having the time away from each other gave us immense perspective and understanding.

How did you end up doing Bosnian Rainbows?
You have to venture out and experiment. If you look at Mars Volta, with the long songs and elaborate arrangements, it would seem only natural in that context that it would be exciting to do something completely stripped down, short and to the point.

You also bring other people along, like Teri from Le Butcherettes, who is now the singer in Bosnian Rainbows.
That’s what’s exciting. Me working on the two Le Butcherettes records that we made, I’ve seen all her other compositions that weren’t necessarily right for that. We get to see different sides of each other, especially when you push each other. At the Drive-In was really great at always pushing each other. That communal experience – man, nothing can compare to it.

You have a Bosnian Rainbows record coming in June. How would you describe what you do with them that you don’t in At the Drive-In or Mars Volta?
It was really inspired by my time in At the Drive-In. It’s a completely communal, collaborative experience, everybody’s writing bass lines, lyrics, drum lines, guitar lines. It’s that thing that we had then, but now being a little older and having learned a little bit more in the last 15 years. Long live the collective experience.

You recorded a new album as producer and bassist with Le Butcherettes a year ago that hasn’t been released. What’s happening with them?
We’re going to put it out. They’re really cool songs and we’d like fans of the band to hear it. [But] Bosnian Rainbows has a record coming out, so we’re going to be touring that.

Is Bosnian Rainbows taking up most of your time right now?
Yeah, that and filmmaking.

What are your plans as a filmmaker?
It’s that same spirit again – cinema is literally something you cannot do on your own. You can get greedy with music, and we’re living in the time of people making records in the bedroom and on laptops. But you can’t do it with cinema. You have to collaborate. You need various people and locations and weather. It’s awesome.

Bosnian Rainbows head back out on tour starting May 6th

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:47:39 -0400

Bosnian Rainbows continue their non stop touring and will head back out starting on May 6th in Berlin with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs playing some club dates of their own before returning to the United States for Neon Desert Festival in El Paso on May 25th to kick off their Texas shows with Zorch. Newly announced album release shows are in June on the West Coast. Then in August they head back to Europe for more Festivals and shows with Tomahawk. We will be announcing many more shows soon, so stay tuned. Bosnian Rainbows self titled debut album comes out on June 25, 2013 on Sargent House and in Europe on June 28, 2013 on Clouds Hill.

SEE ALL BOSNIAN RAINBOWS SHOW DETAILS HERE

BOSNIAN RAINBOWS 2013
May 06, 2013 - Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle w/ Yeah Yeah Yeahs
May 07, 2013 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
May 08, 2013 - Paris, France @ Olympia w/ Yeah Yeah Yeahs
May 09, 2013 - Brussels, Belguim @ Magasin 4
May 10, 2013 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Rotown
May 12, 2013 - London, UK @ 100 Club
May 14, 2013 - Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
May 25, 2013 - El Paso, TX @ Neon Desert Music Festival
May 28, 2013 - Dallas, TX @ Trees w/ Zorch
May 29, 2013 - Austin, TX @ Red 7 w/ Zorch
May 30, 2013 - Houston, TX @ HOB - Bronze Peacock w/ Zorch
June 24, 2013 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
June 25, 2013 - Los Angeles, CA @ First Unitarian Church
June 26, 2013 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
June 27, 2013 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Aug 02, 2013 - Cork, Ireland @ Indiependent Festival
Aug 16, 2013 - Groningen, Holland @ Noorderzon Festival
Aug 17, 2013 - Hasselt, Belgium @ Pukkelpop Festival
Aug 31, 2013 - Copenhagen, DE @ Vega w/ Tomahawk
Sept 01, 2013 - Oslo, Norway @Rockefeller Music Hall w/ Tomahawk
Sept 02,2013 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser Media w/ Tomahawk
Sept 04, 2013 - Helsinki, Finland @ Circus w/ Tomahawk
Sept 06, 2013 - Berlin, Germany @ Berlin Festival

COS Rock it out blog: A Video conversation with Bosnian Rainbows

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:50:41 -0400

Rock it Out! Blog recently caught up with Bosnian Rainbows, the new band led by Omar Rodríguez-López and Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes, prior to their show at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago. We spoke about the state of The Mars Volta, the formation of Bosnian Rainbows, and how Teri feels connected to outer space when performing.

Los Chidos limited engagement week long of screenings at Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:23:00 -0500

Los Chidos, the latest film by Omar Rodriguez Lopez debuted in the narrative competition at SXSW 2012 will now make its Los Angeles debut with a special limited engagement of a week long of screenings at the Downtown Independent located at 251 S. Main Street - Los Angeles, CA. Opening night is March 29th and will also have a Q&A with Omar Rodriguez Lopez and drinks after that evenings screening. Make sure to get your tickets reserved. Additional screening times for each play are below.

LOS CHIDOS at Downtown Independent

Friday, March 29th: 8pm screening
*Q&A with Omar Rodiguez Lopez at 9:40pm, drinks 10:15-11pm*
Saturday, March 30th: 4pm
Sunday, March 31st: 5:30pm
Monday, April 1st: 9pm
Tuesday, April 2nd: 7pm
Wednesday, April 3rd: 9pm
Thursday, April 4th: 1pm

RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW

Bosnian Rainbows to play Mexico & Neon Desert Music Festival

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:23:11 -0500

Bosnian Rainbows head to Mexico next weekend to play at the Vive Latino Festival in Mexico City on March 15th then off to Guadalajara to play with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on March 16th. The band has also just been announced to play in El Paso, TX on May 25th at this years Neon Desert Music Festival. (photo above by Dustin Rabin)

SEE ALL SHOW DETAILS HERE

Check out some live video of Bosnian Rainbows in Chicago below

Billboard: Interview with Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 23:02:00 -0500

Even as he gets his latest band, Bosnian Rainbows, up and running, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez says he’s not closing the door on any of his other endeavors — including the now on-ice Mars Volta and even At the Drive-In, which reunited briefly last year for a handful of high-profile festival shows.

“I’m open to anything as long as there’s positivity involved,” Rodriguez-Lopez tells Billboard. “I love music, and it’s not like this is politics or something where lives are at stake. It’s so much fun, and we’re lucky we get to do this for a living. I’m open to collaborate with anyone that’ll have me. It’s so much fun.”

He is, however, keenly aware of onetime bandmate Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s angry online comments about the end of the Mars Volta.

“I heard about it at the time,” Rodriguez-Lopez says. “I was making a film and heard about it hours later; people were like, ‘Are you OK?’ I understand where he’s coming from; I’ve known the guy for 22 years. I’ll always respect and support any decision he makes. If that’s how he wants it, I totally get it and I support it.”

But, Rodriguez-Lopez adds, no bridges have been burned between the two. “I learned a very valuable lesson from (the At The Drive-In reunion),” he explains. “After all those years of being negative and saying, ‘I’ll never play with those guys again,’ I learned that you don’t know anything — just shut up and enjoy life and be happy people still care, 11 years later, about something you did with your best friends when you were teenagers. That’s how I feel about everything.”

He’s certainly feeling love for Bosnian Rainbows right now. Formed last year as the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Band and woodsheded during a month living in the same house in Germany — “We’re more like sleepover roommates than band members,” he says — the quartet has so far released a pair of tracks online (“Tour Maps” and “Turtle Neck”) with its debut album due in May. And given the all-star nature of the lineup — which includes Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes, Mars Volta drummer Deantoni Parks and Nicci Kasper, who works with Parks in Dark Angel — Lopez-Rodriguez says Bosnian Rainbows offers very much as a band.

“It’s been very organic,” Rodriguez-Lopez says. “Mars Volta was just Cedric and myself. But in this (band) I wanted to have a group where everyone’s writing. Everyone here is an engineer. Everyone’s a producer and (records) tracks. We really do quite a bit of throwing stuff around as well as throwing stuff away. It gets kind of messy — but in a good way. It’s a very, very creative situation.”

As for the group’s sound, Bosnian Rainbows will markedly different from the mathematical, proggy expanse fans heard in the Mars Volta.

“I wanted things to be elemental, which really means stripping them down a lot and where everything fits in its perfect place — that was a big part of the concept,” Rodriguez-Lopez explains. “Having everything be elemental and not just ‘more’ was really important. If the right amount of notes is only, like, three notes, then that’s what we’ll play. There will be room (to expand), but not just for the sake of doing it.”

Bosnian Rainbows wrap up a U.S. tour on Feb. 27 in Madison, Wisc., but is planning more touring to support the album, including summer festivals.

by Gary Graff

Associated Press Interview with Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:48:25 -0500

MEXICO (AP) — El guitarrista Omar Rodríguez-López fue el más sorprendido cuando supo que el vocalista Cedric Bixler-Zavala, con quien 12 años antes formó la popular agrupación de rock The Mars Volta, anunció su salida del proyecto a través de su cuenta de Twitter.

Ante el asombro de los seguidores de la banda, Bixler-Zavala publicó hace unos días una serie de mensajes donde acusó a Rodríguez-López de ser uno de los principales responsables de la ruptura, tras haber dedicado su tiempo y energías a su nuevo proyecto, Bosnian Rainbows.

“Así como nuestros seguidores, yo tampoco he logrado entender muy bien los mensajes de Cedric, pero por lo que él escribió, The Mars Volta no existe más. Él dijo que ya no era un integrante del proyecto, y como su amigo y compañero, respeto su decisión”, dijo el guitarrista puertorriqueño a The Associated Press en una entrevista exclusiva vía telefónica desde la ciudad estadounidense de Atlanta.

Con un tono sentido, el vocalista mexico-estadounidense agradeció en Twitter el apoyo y cariño a los seguidores del grupo formado en El Paso, Texas. “Gracias a todos los fans de The Mars Volta, ustedes merecían más… Traté de seguir con toda mi fuerza pero no puedo sentarme aquí y seguir fingiendo. Ya no soy más un integrante de The Mars Volta. Les agradezco que hayan comprado nuestros discos y que hayan venido a nuestros conciertos”, escribió Bixler-Zavala en la red social de microblogueo el 23 de enero pasado, mismo día en que Bosnian Rainbows estrenó el sencillo “Torn Maps”.

Rodríguez-López dijo que intenta tomarse con calma la decisión del cantante, a quien considera su hermano, y afirmó que lo apoyará en cualquier circunstancia.

“Creo que tenemos que vivir nuestras vidas y ver hacia adelante, siempre ver pa’ adelante, y si hay una persona que necesita un descanso, debemos respetar ese espacio”, señaló el rockero de 37 años en la entrevista realizada el jueves.

Para el músico boricua, considerado por la revista especializada Rolling Stone uno de los mejores guitarristas de los últimos 30 años, la relación con Bixler-Zavala va más allá de ser compañeros de un grupo musical. “Él es mi hermano, quizá no de sangre, pero si de la vida. Con él crecí, con él soñé tener un grupo, compartimos la casa, la ropa, e incluso el dolor de haber perdido a otros de nuestros amigos y a mi madre”, dijo.

“La forma más clara de decirlo es que, aunque en apariencia The Mars Volta siempre fuimos Cedric y yo, en el momento en que grabamos un disco y lo lanzamos se convirtió en una cosa de los demás. The Mars Volta no me pertenece a mí ni a Cedric; el proyecto es de la gente”, subrayó Rodríguez-López, quien regresará a México para presentarse con Bosnian Rainbows el 15 de marzo en el Foro Sol de la capital mexicana, en la 14a edición del Festival Latino.

Además de Rodríguez-López, Bosnian Rainbows está integrado por la vocalista de Le Butcherettes, Teri Gender Bender, el baterista Deantoni Parks y el tecladista Nicci Kasper. El grupo, formado a mediados de 2012, lanzará de forma independiente su disco primer disco homónimo en junio.

La relación entre la mexico-estadounidense Gender Bender y Rodríguez-López no es nueva. El guitarrista fungió como productor del disco debut de Le Butcherettes, “Sin Sin Sin”, en 2010.

“Bosnian Rainbows es el resultado de juntar a cuatro músicos líderes donde todos somos compositores y productores y es un proyecto del cual puedo aprender mucho, estoy en una banda donde todos somos iguales”, dijo el puertorriqueño.

“Puedes ser un músico increíble, pero cuando dejas tu instrumento, eres una persona insensible, entonces no tienes mucho que ofrecer”, añadió. “Las cualidades que yo encontré en estos tres músicos parten del enorme corazón que tienen como personas”.

Tras haber formado el grupo de punk-rock At The Drive-In en la década de 1990, Rodríguez-López y Bixler Zavala crearon The Mars Volta en 2001. La banda, que se caracterizó por sus impresionantes ejecuciones musicales en vivo, producto del trabajo de una serie de músicos virtuosos como colaboradores, editó seis discos de estudio que incluyen “De-Loused in the Comatorium” y “Frances the Mute”.

En 2009, The Mars Volta ganó un Grammy al mejor tema de hard rock por su tema “Wax Simulacra”, que se desprende del disco de 2007 “The Bedlam in Goliath”.

Omar Rodríguez-López es considerado uno de los músicos más interesantes e influyentes de la escena rockera contemporánea. Entre sus múltiples colaboraciones, destaca su trabajo como productor y músico invitado de Calle 13, John Frusciante, Erykah Badu, Le Butcherettes y Apolo.

También ha incursionado en el cine como músico y realizador: dirigió la película “Los Chidos” exhibida en los festivales South by Southwest (SXSW) y Sundance en 2012, y como compositor trabajó en la música original de “El búfalo de la noche”, basada en la novela homónima de Guillermo Arriaga.

Rolling Stone premieres "Turtleneck" from the new Bosnian Rainbows forthcoming LP

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:17:53 -0500

The Mars Volta have split and At the Drive-In’s reunion came and went, but Omar Rodríguez-López has been hard at work with his new group, Bosnian Rainbows. Their new song “Turtle Neck” shimmers with wavy, lush guitars and unhurried percussion before shifting to sprawling textures and morphing tempos. It cuts loose in the second half, turning into a spacey post-hardcore assault of jagged chords and gut-punching drums.

“Turtle Neck” is on Bosnian Rainbows forthcoming debut album, out this spring. They’ll hit the road for two weeks starting February 15th in Atlanta and continuing through February 28th in Minneapolis, before playing the Mexico City’s Vive Latino on March 15th.
SEE ALL TOUR DATES HERE

click above to hear “Turtleneck” at Rolling Stone

Chicana from Chicago Exclusivo! Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s Los Chidos trailer

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:41:00 -0500

This savage satire written, directed and produced by Omar Rodriguez Lopez topped my list of most excellent American Latino films that popped up in 2012. Los Chidos cracked people’s faces when it premiered in competition at SXSW last year, as you can tell by the savvy mainstream and hard core cult film critic quotes in the trailer. Having seen the film thrice, I can appreciate this sneaky and clever approach in contextualizing the film’s mad provocation. Thanks to Adam Thomson (editor/producer) for giving me a first look. Enjoy. More screening play dates to be announced soon and a unique distro plan is likely. Follow @ORLProductions if you are not already trying to keep up with Omar’s progressive and nonstop music and film creating endeavors.

Bosnian Rainbows Tour Starts on Feb 15th

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:25:07 -0500

Bosnian Rainbows will be heading East to play some shows in February 2013. Joining them on all shows as support will be Marriages.

BOSNIAN RAINBOWS US / CANADA SHOWS 2013
Feb 15, 2013 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Feb 16, 2013 - Asheville, NC @ Asheville Music Hall
Feb 17, 2013 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Feb 18, 2013 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
Feb 19, 2013 - New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Feb 20, 2013 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
Feb 22, 2013 - Montréal, QC @ Cabaret du Mile-end
Feb 23, 2013 - Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club (Early Show)
Feb 24, 2013 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
Feb 25, 2013 - Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
Feb 26, 2013 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Feb 27, 2013 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
Feb 28, 2013 - Minneapolis, MI @ Fine Line Music Cafe

Mar 15, 2013 - Mexico City, Mexico @ Vive Latino Festival

SEE ALL SHOW DETAILS HERE

What the critics have been saying about Bosnian Rainbows Live
Here was a band welcomed as new heroes. It was amazing to be part of - so all-inclusive and intimate. It felt like many in the audience had just discovered their new favorite band.” - Stuff (New Zealand - Live Review)

“Omar, clearly a man who constantly requires brand new blood to sustain him, he hasn’t been this energized since The Mars Volta early days, and with an album due to drop in 2013 this just might be the most exciting project yet” - Rock A Rolla - Live Review London, UK

“The London show is actually the second time I’ve seen Bosnian Rainbows and they continue to be exceptional. The music the band produces is a mercurial, dizzying, electroclash-but-not-quite, future-punk monster of a sound. Teri has such a huge stage presence beyond any lame comparison music journalists may wish to concoct. Charismatic, domineering and a voice in a deeper register, but just as bold and talented as Kate Bush. ” - Musika - Live Review London

“We’d be delighted if you’d be good enough to have us back [after we release our album],” said the man with so many career highlights to date. With Bosnian Rainbows being right up with the best of anything the man has done before – and I know how bold a claim that is – we wouldn’t hesitate to ask you back.” - Golden Plec - Live Review - Dublin, Ireland

“El Paso’s own Omar Rodriguez Lopez had the best performance of Fun Fun Fun Fest in my opinion.”
El Paso Times - Live Review - Fun Fun Fun Fest - Austin, TX

“It never ceases to amaze me how many times I can be surprised by music. Last night at the Triple Door was maybe the biggest surprise of all. All week long people have been talking about Omar Rodriguez Lopez and his genius with a guitar. I believed them. I was ready to get rocked. However, I wasn’t even remotely prepared for Bosnian Rainbows…At least a dozen times throughout the show I found myself with some serious goose bumps.” - The End - Live Review Seattle - City Arts Fest

“It was a bold move, fantastically executed by perhaps the most forward-thinking composer of our time, and one that I’d go see again tonight in a heartbeat.” Seattle Weekly - Live Review - City Arts Fest

“Last night’s Bosnian Rainbows set was some of the most innovative and beautiful pop music that has ever been created. Very few artists have ever become so prolific, and it’s always refreshing to hear musicians push the edge of acceptance”. - The Scenestar Live Review - UC Riverside

“Bosnian Rainbows has the potential to rival, and possibly even eclipse, any other band Omar has been a part of.” - FLAB MAG- Live Review - Sacramento, CA

“Whether it be any of his past groups, I don’t need to name them. Alas, Thursday’s performance by Bosnian Rainbows contradicts all the latter terms, this is music that marries feelings of nostalgia with the power of the future. This is the type of music we have all been waiting for.” - Sound Colour Vibration - Live Review - Los Angeles

N.M.E. : Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-Lopez unveils new band Bosnian Rainbows' first song - listen

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:48:00 -0500

At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez has unveiled the first track from his new band Bosnian Rainbows. The track is titled ‘Torn Maps’ and you can hear it below

Rodriguez-Lopez, who announced in late 2012 that he and At The Drive-In frontman Cedric Bixler had placed The Mars Volta on hiatus, is joined in the new outfit by drummer Deantoni Parks, keyboardist Nicci Kasper and singer Teri Gender-Bender, who is also a member of noise experimentalists Le Butcherettes.

Speaking to NME about his new band, the axeman revealed that the band’s debut album was recorded in Germany in late 2012 and will be released later this year. He said: “We recorded the record over in Europe, we did a tour across Europe and we recorded the album in Hamburg, Germany. It’s been done for a while and we’ve decided to put it out this year. We’re really happy with it.”

Rodriguez-Lopez has previously collaborated with Gender-Bender on his 2012 solo album ‘Octopus Kool Aid’ and has also recorded extensively with Kasper. Speaking about this, he said: “I’ve collaborated with all three of these artists before. I worked with Teri from Le Butcherettes on a solo record of mine, maybe a year or two ago. I also worked with her on the second Butcherettes record, I realized just how wonderful a musician she is.”

He continued: “I invited Deantoni Parks into The Mars Volta as our drummer, as a hired musician. But, as I got to know him, I realised ‘Wow, this guy is a brilliant composer’. He works as hard as me and he’s got thousands of songs in his catalogue. We must have made six records together over the years. It’s the same thing with Nicci Kasper, we all love writing music. It’s really something else.”

The guitarist also spoke about the different approach he has taken when it comes to writing material with his new band, compared to his days in The Mars Volta, adding: “It’s the classic thing, you stick with one way of doing things for so long that you start to crave a different way of working.”
He continued: “I did eight years in At The Drive-In being in a collective, so after that I wanted something where I was in charge and no one asked me any questions. After 11 years then in The Mars Volta of doing that, I found myself feeling very lonely and I felt like I abandoned my friendships, so I’ve decided to focus on this band.”

Rodriguez-Lopez also spoke about Bixler and revealed that the singer is currently working on his debut solo album, which will mainly consist of acoustic. Asked if he was missing working with Bixler, who he has worked with for almost 20 years, the guitarist said: “It’s been very strange being without Cedric. It’s one of those bittersweet moments, it’s great for both of us because he’s making this great solo record, which is more of an acoustic thing. I’m really excited to hear another side of him and to work on music without me. He’s composing all the music, playing all the instruments, literally doing everything himself, rather than just singing over the top of my songs.”

Bosnian Rainbow’s as yet untitled debut album is due for release later this year. The band are set to tour extensively in support of the record.

SEE ALL TOUR DATES HERE

Omar Rodriguez Lopez's The Sentimental Engine Slayer" now available on DVD

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s film The Sentimental Engine Slayer on DVD is now available to order. We also have a special bundle deal that includes a choice of shirt and the limited edition poster. ORDER yours now HERE

12.28.2012

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:38:00 -0500

http://omarrodriguezlopez.bandcamp.com/

Brooklyn Vegan Feature: Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group now called Bosnian Rainbows, touring in 2013 (dates)

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:03:23 -0500

Bosnian Rainbows live in Tokyo, Japan earlier this month (photo by Kazumichi Kokei)

Bosnian Rainbows, who used to operate under the title Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, and who now call the amazing Le Butcherettes vocalist Teri Gender Bender a full-time band member, are set to embark on a 2013 North American tour. That tour will begin in mid-February and will reach the Highline Ballroom on the 19th of the month. Advance tickets for that show are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

As discussed on bvChicago, you can look forward to the release of Bosnian Rainbows’ debut LP in early 2013. While the group featuring the Mars Volta / At the Drive-IN guitarist were rehearsing for a fall European tour at Clouds Hill Studios in Hambourg, Germany, they record a half hour-long live session. That live session was just recently released on 10” vinyl and DVD as a part of the Live at Clouds Hill box set, which also includes a collaboration between Omar Rodriguez Lopez and Faust. You can purchase the box set via Clouds Hill’s webstore.

All Bosnian Rainbows tour dates and a couple of videos are below…

Bosnian Rainbows / Omar Rodríguez-López Group - “The Eye Fell In Love” live

Bosnian Rainbows - “Better Off” + Omar Speech (Berlin, 10.09.12)

Bosnian Rainbows — 2013 Tour Dates
Feb 15, 2013 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Feb 16, 2013 - Asheville, NC @ Asheville Music Hall
Feb 17, 2013 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Feb 18, 2013 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
Feb 19, 2013 - New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Feb 20, 2013 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
Feb 22, 2013 - Montréal, QC @ Cabaret du Mile-end
Feb 23, 2013 - Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club (Early Show)
Feb 24, 2013 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
Feb 25, 2013 - Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
Feb 26, 2013 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Feb 27, 2013 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
Feb 28, 2013 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
Mar 15, 2013 - Mexico @ MexicoForo Sol (Festival Vive Latino)

SEE ALL SHOW DETAILS HERE

ORLG IS BOSNIAN RAINBOWS: US & Canadian Shows Announced

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:11:00 -0500

Omar’s new band Bosnian Rainbows will be heading East to play some shows in February 2013. Don’t miss them.

BOSNIAN RAINBOWS US / CANADA SHOWS 2013
Feb 15, 2013 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Feb 16, 2013 - Asheville, NC @ Asheville Music Hall
Feb 17, 2013 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Feb 18, 2013 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
Feb 19, 2013 - New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Feb 20, 2013 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
Feb 22, 2013 - Montréal, QC @ Cabaret du Mile-end
Feb 23, 2013 - Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club (Early Show)
Feb 24, 2013 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
Feb 25, 2013 - Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
Feb 26, 2013 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Feb 27, 2013 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
Feb 28, 2013 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe

Mar 15, 2013 - Mexico City, Mexico @ Vive Latino

SEE ALL SHOW DETAILS HERE
*Please note some venues may promote or list the shows as Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group - Bosnian Rainbows is that group.
Here’s what the critics have been saying about them so far
Here was a band welcomed as new heroes. It was amazing to be part of - so all-inclusive and intimate. It felt like many in the audience had just discovered their new favorite band.” - Stuff (New Zealand - Live Review)

“Omar, clearly a man who constantly requires brand new blood to sustain him, he hasn’t been this energized since The Mars Volta early days, and with an album due to drop in 2013 this just might be the most exciting project yet” - Rock A Rolla - Live Review London, UK

“The London show is actually the second time I’ve seen Bosnian Rainbows and they continue to be exceptional. The music the band produces is a mercurial, dizzying, electroclash-but-not-quite, future-punk monster of a sound. Teri has such a huge stage presence beyond any lame comparison music journalists may wish to concoct. Charismatic, domineering and a voice in a deeper register, but just as bold and talented as Kate Bush. ” - Musika - Live Review London

“We’d be delighted if you’d be good enough to have us back [after we release our album],” said the man with so many career highlights to date. With Bosnian Rainbows being right up with the best of anything the man has done before – and I know how bold a claim that is – we wouldn’t hesitate to ask you back.” - Golden Plec - Live Review - Dublin, Ireland

Tone Deaf AU: Chat's with Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:40:45 -0500

Calling in to chat to Omar Rodriquez-Lopez, one expects to be passed from manager to a few other various assistants, put on hold and eventually being connected to the artist.

In this case, the guitarist/actor/director/composer surprisingly answers his own phone with a chirpy “yes, this is Omar.”

Not only does he take his own calls, Rodriguez-Lopez quickly proves himself to be an intense, passionate and wildly intelligent soul.

Bouncing from the critically acclaimed At The Drive-In, to The Mars Volta with ATD-I bandmate Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and then onto his own solo projects. His most recent project, Bosnian Rainbows, is quickly gaining momentum not to mention a solid following during their first Australian tour.

Having recently visited Australia in July this year for the anticipated At The Drive-In reunion shows at Splendour In The Grass, Rodriguez-Lopez is quick to point out that the experience is much different this time around.

“One show is not the same as a tour,” he begins. “When you do these one-off shows you don’t really get to see anything or go through the process of enjoying that like a real tour around the country. The last time I toured Australia was last December so it’s almost a year later and so I’m crazy to go back, for me it has been too long.”

For the Rodriguez-Lopez, it’s as much about catching the in-between moments of transit. “Even if you’re doing a smaller tour and you have to be on the go the whole time to make it work, just being in the van for those long drives and actually seeing the countryside – it might sound like ‘whatever’ to somebody else, but it is such a defining part in the experience of travelling the country. “

After touring extensively as the Omar Rodriquez-Lopez Group, this tour sees the maiden voyage of Bosnian Rainbows, a prospect which excites the guitarist. “I have put together a whole new group that I will be pretty much touring indefinitely.”

“I’m not a musician, I’m not anything really, all I can aspire to is to be everything.”

The lineup consists of Le Butcherettes’ Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes), current Mars Volta drumming wizard Deantoni Parks, and Nicci Kasper “who is sort of this New York City legend of electronic and hip hop music,” explains the ringleader.

While Rodriguez-Lopez may be happy to describe the act as “a four piece, very stripped down affair,” the combination of his energetic, frenzied playing style coupled with Teri Gender Bender’s ferocious stage presence is nothing short of electrifying.

The new group has also put on a different spin on the way the guitarist crafts his sound. “I think the sound changed just depending on whatever mood I was in or what material I wanted to play. Now, definitely with this new group, the sound will have a new spark to it because it is a whole new, exciting experience, it is collaborative and it’s a whole different type of energy,” he explains.

He concedes that “I’ve spent the last 11 years just doing whatever I wanted or just sort of dictating the parameters of everything, having things very set and controlled.”

2012 has also seen Rodriguez-Lopez indulge his other passion: filmmaking. His most recent offering Los Chidos, is making its Australian debut at the Hola Mexico Film Festival.

Relishing the different experience he admits “it’s nice to take a break from touring. For me it’s all the same I guess. I’m not a musician, I’m not anything really, all I can aspire to is to be everything. It’s a really nice change of pace because it is a whole different experience and you live in a very different way.”

As far as getting into creating cinema, Rodriguez-Lopez says simply: “it is always what I wanted to do… Filmmaking was just something that always spoke to me since I was little.”

“I made my first film in 2001 and I have been making films since,” says Rodriguez-Lopez, “It’s nice too because after the film is made you can go travel to the places.”

With a fatigue inducing touring schedule, as well as a seemingly endless creative output, one would be forgiven for thinking Rodriguez-Lopez is at best – a workaholic, at worst – a control freak.

According to the man himself he is neither. “I take lots of breaks from it. I know there is this outside perception, I get asked this a lot – ‘when do you have time to sleep’?” he laughs.

“The point I want to make is that I have all the time in the world. I mean I make films, I make music, I write books, I have wonderful conversations with people, I have hours of just sitting there staring at trees, I go to the beach, I have days off just sitting in and literally doing nothing; all that stuff that anyone sane does. The point that I want to make is that it’s not that I do a lot of stuff – others do very little.”

He elaborates, “that gives the perception that I’m working all the time but it is again just going back to this media fed stereotype of a record being made every three years, and then you have me, and I put out eight records a year and people think ‘oh my god, you do so much’ but it’s like ‘no, those guys put out one record in three years’. It’s crazy, it’s fucked up.”

“Just think about it,” he stresses, “most of us who have been lucky enough to play music for a living now, we were doing it since we were kids or teenagers and everybody was telling us that ‘You have to decide on your major, you have to decide on what it is you’re going to do in life’ and then one day a person comes to you and says ‘do you know what? We’re going to pay you to do music, you can do music for the rest of your life’- what would you do? Would make one record every three years or would you make eight records in a year? What sounds healthier?” The 37 year-old asks incredulously.

“There are 12 months a year, 365 days, 24 hours in a day. I have been making records for 19 years, if it takes you more than a month to make a record, you might want to consider a different profession.”

“It all comes down to parameters and why people are doing what they’re doing. I make records, I make films and I have plenty of time for my family, for doing nothing, for doing something, for going out and seeing a movie – you know?”

So what is it that spurs on the never ending creative well? “Death.”

Perhaps realising the finality of his statement, he goes on to clarify the point. “Like everyone else, it is death and the fear of death and love and sex, the same things that drive everyone else. The only people who aren’t expressive or creative are the people who are really, really suffering. That is the kind of guy or girl that ends up lashing out at the world and creating a lot of destruction. Destruction can be walking into a mall with a gun or drinking yourself to death.”

Rodriguez-Lopez waxes philosophical as the call comes to an end. “We are all trapped inside these bodies and we are all confined by language and by culture, and yet we are all having the same worries and the same thoughts and the same penetrating questions like ‘What is death? What comes after?’ so we each start to pick something to believe in,” explains the musician.

“I happen to have picked existence” he pauses, appearing to weigh up what he has just said, and then laughs loudly “people are only limited by what they see.”

For Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’ many ventures, head to rodriguezlopezproductions.com

The Music: Video Interview with Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Teri Gender Bender of Bosnian Rainbows

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:20:36 -0500

Bosnian Rainbows to Play Vive Latino March 2013 - Mexico City

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:18:21 -0500

Vive Latino 2013 has announced its lineup with Morrissey, Underworld and Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlining, with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Japandroids, Tame Impala, and Silversun Pickups and Bosnian Rainbows - the new band of Le Butcherettes frontwoman Teri Gender Bender and The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez Lopez and Deantoni Parks amongst the acts surrounding the three day lineup, happening March 14-17, 2013 at Foro Sol in Mexico City, Mexico.

The lineup is as follows:

CARTEL VL 2013

!Deladap
A Band Of Bitches
Aiken
Alex Anwandter
Apolo
Arianna Puello
Armando Palomas
Arreola + Carballo
BalkanBeatsMX
Banda de Turistas
Bengala
Blur
Bomba Estéreo
Bosnian Rainbows
Cabo San Roque
Camila Moreno
Carla Morrison
Celso Piña
Centavrvs
Chicha Libre
Chico Trujillo
Comisario Pantera
Corizonas
Dapuntobeat
Dardo
División Minúscula
Dorian
Dread Mar I
El Cuarteto de Nos
El Mató a un Policía Motorizado
El Tri
Enjambre
Esteman
Faltosos Crew
Fenómeno Fuzz
Flip Tamez
Fobia
Francois Peglau
Franny Glass
Garrobos
Gepe
Golden Ganja
Here Comes The Kraken
Inclanfunk
Japandroids
Jenny and the Mexicats
Jovanotti
Juan Cirerol
Kchiporros
La Banderville
Lazcano Malo
Le Baron
Leider
Liber Terán
Los Aguas Aguas
Los Amigos Invisibles
Los Auténticos Decadentes
Los Cuchillos
Los Daniels
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Jaigüey
Los Macuanos
Los Punsetes
Los Viejos
Love of Lesbian
Mala Rodríguez
Max Capote
Mompox
Monsieur Periné
Morrissey
Mostro
Motor
Nabuzenko
Naftalina
Negros Vivos
Nortec Collective: Bostich + Fussible
Ocean’s Acoustic
Odisseo
Ondatrópica
Orka
Orquesta Garash
Panteón Rococó
Pegasvs
Pez Diablo
Porter
Puerto Candelaria
Quinto Sol
Radio Kaos
Rarefolk
Real de Catorce
Renoh
Románticos de Zacatecas
Salón Victoria
Señor Loop
Seward
Silversun Pickups
Ska-P
Sonido Changorama
Sonido Gallo Negro
Sonido Landon
Soziedad Alkoholika
Split Heave
Sussie 4
Tame Impala
Tex Tex
The Dragulas
Tío Gus
Twin Tones
Ulises Hadjis
Underworld
Vía Rústica
Violadores del Verso
Volcán
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yokozuna

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.mx.