At the Drive-In

At the Drive-In

At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s post-hardcore scene. They were also recognized for their blend of surrealistic lyrics, unorthodox guitar melodies, and unpredictable shifts in tempo and rhythm.

History

Early years (1993-1997)

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At the Drive-In's first EP Hell Paso was released in 1994.

At the Drive-In was founded in 1993 by guitarist Jim Ward and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala (then credited simply as Cedric Bixler) after they left the band El Paso Pussycats to actively pursue a career in music. The two derived the name from Poison's hit song "Talk Dirty to Me." The newly formed band played its first live show on October 15, 1994 at the Loretto High School Fair in El Paso, Texas. Not long after, At the Drive-In released its first studio recording entitled Hell Paso, a 7" EP issued in November 1994. Following Hell Paso’s release, the band members embarked on their first tour – a 2,000 mile trek across the state of Texas. After a drummer change, At the Drive-In released its second EP ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! in June of 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. Accepting the offer, the band first headed out on another 21 day tour of the Southwest before ending in Los Angeles again where they recorded their debut full-length album titled Acrobatic Tenement for $600.

Following the recording of Acrobatic Tenement in July 1996, the final line-up of At the Drive-In fell into place with the addition of Tony Hajjar and Paul Hinojos and with Omar Rodríguez-López transitioning from bass to guitar. The album hit stores August 18, 1996, and with its release the band commenced another U.S. tour the following year spanning 100 days (February to June, 1997) and 24,000 miles. This tour included shows with hundreds of other bands such as Screw 32, JChurch, AFI, Still Life, Mustard Plug, Face to Face, and Cosmic Psychos. At the Drive-In’s fan base began to swell with every show it performed. Following this tour, the band members took a month vacation (Jim Ward remained on vacation until the recording of In/Casino/Out) before rehearsing for their next record and subsequent tour. At the Drive-In’s third EP titled El Gran Orgo was released on September 18, 1997, and “showed a more melodic side of the band, but the musical depth and heartfelt emotion was never more apparent.” Two days after its release, the band was in Boulder, CO playing a show with Welt to kick of its next 35 day, 11,000 mile tour that also included six dates with Karp and the Young Pioneers, and one-offs with Guttermouth, The Criminals, Piss Drunks, and the Humpers. At the Drive-In’s popularity at this point was undeniable, with headlining shows in the Midwest drawing between 100 to 350 fans.

In/Casino/Out and Vaya (1998-2000)

When the time came for At the Drive-In’s next recording, Flipside quit producing records and Offtime was financially unable to, "so the band literally approached almost every indie label they could think of." When hope was almost lost and the possibility of another record seemed dim, Bob and Michelle Becker of Fearless Records saw At the Drive-In open for Supernova at a bar named Club Mesa. Despite Fearless’s history of producing mainly pop punk bands, the band members "felt very comfortable with Bob and Michelle on a personal level" and a deal was signed. Consequently, At the Drive-In began recording its second full-length album titled In/Casino/Out on June 3, 1998. With producer and mixer Alex Newport, the band spent four days recording and an additional two days mixing the album. This album marked a notable maturation in At the Drive-In’s sound and is special in that it was recorded live with just a small amount of overdubs. In/Casino/Out was chosen to be recorded live because, according to some sources, At the Drive-In struggled to capture the intensity and emotion of its live shows in the recording studio.

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At the Drive-In was known for its extremely energetic and emotional live shows.

In/Casino/Out was released on August 18th, 1998, although the band toured almost non-stop from July until December, playing shows with bands like Knapsack and The Murder City Devils. At the Drive-In took a couple month break until March, 1999, at which point they kicked off another tour with a two week stint with Jimmy Eat World in the U.S. until they headed to Europe for a six week European tour spanning eleven countries. Upon returning to the U.S., At the Drive-In played a handful of shows before returning to the studio to record their fourth EP entitled Vaya, which was released on July 13, 1999. Without missing a beat, the band kicked off another tour on July 28 in Austin, TX with Universal Recovered, another band from El Paso. This tour included shows with bands like The Get Up Kids and Rage Against the Machine. Later, in April 2000, At the Drive-In released a split EP with Sunshine. The five song EP only contained two tracks by At the Drive-In.

Relationship of Command (2000-2001)

Recording for At the Drive-In’s third and final full-length album Relationship of Command began on January 17th, 2000. The recording took place at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California with producer Ross Robinson (and mixer Andy Wallace), who the band had met in an earlier tour and who had "convinced the boys that he was the guy who could get every ounce of them onto tape." Relationship of Command was recorded over a seven week period and featured Iggy Pop with minor parts in a couple of the album’s songs. It was released September 12, 2000 to critical acclaim, and catapulted At the Drive-In into the mainstream musical spotlight. The album is now seen as one of the most influential rock albums of the decade, with it being ranked 47th in the 50 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century in Kerrang!, number 83 on Spin Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums 1985 - 2005, as well as being ranked at number 90 on MTV 2's greatest albums ever list.

Though In/Casino/Out was recorded live, "Relationship of Command may very well be the first record to harness the chaotic balance of adrenaline and intellect of ATDI's live performance." "Ross was instrumental in bringing out a lot of feeling from us," Bixler recalls. "We channeled a lot of emotion into this record. He pushed us farther than we thought we could go. I learned to cut loose the way we do live and not to be afraid to break something or whatever." While capturing the essence of At the Drive-In's live shows in a way never before seen, Relationship of Command also featured some of the bands most experimental songs, including "Rolodex Propaganda," "Non-Zero Possibility," and "Invalid Litter Dept."

In addition to touring worldwide in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. following the release of Relationship of Command, At The Drive-In also 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.

Breakup

On November 12th, 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 and traumatized for the rest of its career, none of the members sustained serious injury–although Tony and Cedric were taken to the hospital for minor injuries and later released. Later, 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 spectators in attendance to calm down and observe the safety rules against moshing. After the refusal of the crowd, frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala told the crowd, "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. Later that day, teenager Jessica Michalik died of asphyxiation during a crowd surge in the now infamous Limp Bizkit Big Day Out set. The following month, At the Drive-In cancelled the last five dates of its European tour, citing "complete mental and physical exhaustion" of the band members as the reason.

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At the Drive-In performing live at the Big Day Out music festival in 2001.

In March 2001–less than a month away from a U.S. tour set to commence 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 21st, 2001. A combination of excessive hype, relentless touring, artistic differences, and Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala's drug habits all contributed to the demise of the band. Commenting on the hiatus, guitarist Omar Rodriguez 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."

Cedric Bixler-Zavala took responsibility for the breakup of the band, saying repeatedly in interviews that he felt almost as if At the Drive-In was holding him back, and that he didn't want his music to be confined to 'punk' or 'hardcore' – that it should encompass many different genres and be even more progressive, alternative, and "against-the-grain." Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez had stated that they wanted their next album to sound like Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, while the other members of the band were intent on progressing in a more alternative rock direction.

Following the break-up of At the Drive-In, Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez started The Mars Volta. This project was a departure from their previous work, as it pursued the progressive rock sound that they had been interested in. Meanwhile, the other members of At the Drive-In–Ward, Hinojos, and Hajjar–started the more traditional band Sparta. Hinojos later left Sparta and joined Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López in The Mars Volta from 2005 to 2009.

Possible reunion

During an interview with Drowned in Sound in June 2009, Bixler-Zavala stated that he has been in discussions with the band's former members and suggested that they could get back together after they sort 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 an interview by skullcandyTV, Jim Ward was asked if he and Cedric were still really close he responded by saying, "We went through the not talking thing...you know when your band part ways for a while but we are all still good friends..."

Regarding the relationship between the band members, Omar Rodríguez-López stated to The Skinny in July 2009 that:

The fact of the matter is that we’re in our thirties now and that breakup happened ten years ago. As a human being you just don’t want that kind of karma. We did a lot of shit talking, and they did a lot of shit talking, so I just called everybody up and invited them to my house and said ‘hey, listen, we’re in our thirties now, I’m sorry for whatever I said, I’m sure you guys didn’t mean what you said–you guys were upset because I split up the band and we were upset because of whatever. Let’s be friends again. But do I want to reunite and play fucking 15 year old songs? Well, it would be like asking you, ‘do you want to get back together with your first girlfriend?’ You learn some amazing things together, but I just shudder at the thought. We were a band that went out on top, which is good, but it’s just a coincidence. We were also a band that had been together for seven years, and for six of those years played to nobody and had a great time but were also on the verge of splitting up many times before that. It’s an old relationship. People would like to think of it as unfinished business because to them we went out when we were most popular, but that has nothing to do with the creative element. As far as the creative element went, it very much was finished business. That’s why I ended the band! Now, thank god, fucking ten years later, we’re not holding a grudge and we’re all cool with it. People pick up on the difference of attitude and think ‘oh, this could mean a possible reunion’, but that’s just them projecting their own desires upon us.

Musical style

Although heavily influenced by their native Texas hardcore and punk scene and post-hardcore in the vein of Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu, and Nation of Ulysses, there is a strong progressive rock influence as well. Additionally, ethnic musical styles such as Latin Salsa and Lebanese Chaabi occasionally feature into At The Drive-In's sound. Furthermore, on their later release—Vaya and Relationship of Command—the band incorporated elements of electronica and dub into their sound. Singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala's lyrics are renowned for their surreal, cryptic quality and usage of a wide vocabulary. Although At the Drive-In's lyrics have been interpreted as political, specifically leftist, in nature, Bixler-Zavala has been quoted as saying "We're not Communists, we're not pinko... we can't be, 'cause you pay to come and see us and we sell t-shirts at our gigs".

Legacy

Before At the Drive-In broke up, the band seemed to be heading toward mainstream success and fame, with some hailing them as "the next Nirvana". Nearly a decade after their breakup, they are still considered the most important band of the post-hardcore scene, and many independent and critical music websites (for example, Sputnikmusic and Rateyourmusic) consider Relationship of Command to be one of the best albums of the 21st century. This has led to the band having something of a cult following. They have been critically acclaimed, and are listed by Acclaimed Music as the 539th greatest musical artist of all time. "One Armed Scissor" was named "Best Contemporary Punk/Emo" single of the decade.

Members

Final lineup

• Cedric Bixler-Zavala – lead vocals, occasional guitar, melodica (1993–2001) (currently in The Mars Volta)
• Jim Ward – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1993–2001) (currently in Sleepercar)
• Omar Rodríguez-López – guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar on Acrobatic Tenement (1996–2001) (currently in The Mars Volta)
• Paul Hinojos – bass guitar (1997–2001) (currently in Dios Kilos)
• Tony Hajjar – drums, percussion (1997–2001) (currently in The Strange Atomics)

Former

Guitarists

• Adam Amparan – guitar on Acrobatic Tenement (1996)
• Ben Rodriguez – guitar on El Gran Orgo (1997)

Drummers

• Bernie Rincon – drums on Hell Paso (1994)
• Davy Simmons – drums on Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (1995) (current member of Fires in Roam)
• Ryan Sawyer – drums on Acrobatic Tenement (1996) (current member of Eye Contact, Stars Like Fleas, Tall Firs, and Lone Wolf)

Bassists

• Kenny Hopper – bass guitar on Hell Paso (1994) and Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (1995) (current member of Crime in Choir)

Discography

Main article: At the Drive-In discography

Studio albums

• Acrobatic Tenement (1996)
• In/Casino/Out (1998)
• Relationship of Command (2000)