Talk:Omar Rodríguez-López

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Contents

[edit] Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo

If you're going to add the specific release date at least link us to the source so we know you're not just making it up. Zopwx2 18:53, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

http://www.goldstandardlabs.com/bands/omar_rodriguezlopez.html#...

thanks Zopwx2 01:36, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Omar selling drugs?

"He also worked as a secretary and sold acid and other various drugs." It would be nice to have some kind of source listed for this kind of claims. Especially this kind. 88.157.200.40 21:52, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

> Just signed up for wiki and don't quite no my way around this, but I have the source. Used it when I did my tribute speech to him.

here's the link http://harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm?article_id=4807

It's toward the end of the article.

[edit] Not playing guitar much anymore

Rollingstone.com recently ran an article (8/8/06) which explained how the Red Hot Chili Pepper's John Fruscante has pretty much taken over guitar duties for the next Mars Volta album/tour. From the article:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11111847/mars_volta_share_bill_guitarist_with_red_hot_chili_peppers

On the Mars Volta's latest disc, Amputechture (due September 19th), guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez solicited his friend (and RHCP guitarist) John Frusciante to step in for him. "I've never thought of myself as a guitar player," explains Rodriguez-Lopez. "I don't like the guitar. I always felt like I got shafted and stuck with the instrument." This might come as a shock to fans, considering the band is perhaps best known for its moody, meandering guitar soundscapes. But with the exception of a few killer solos, Rodriguez-Lopez has stepped back from the lead-guitar position altogether, opting instead to play composer and musical director.

This is a pretty new development, so I think it should be added to Omar's page. This really changes his role in the band and also might change the tone of this wiki entry. I think it's pretty interesting, considering how this wiki article plays up his guitar work, that Rodriguez-Lopes says he doesn't "like the guitar."

WRongsauce. Omar played guitar on the album and is playing it live. I saw them live on monday and I can tell you without a doubt Omar is not putting down the guitar any time soon. Zopwx2 02:42, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
    • Yeah, a lot of people are really getting worked up about this, and the press aren't helping in the way they're reporting it. John played a lot of guitar on the new album so Omar could concentrate on producing it, but he still does appear on the album and is still the guitarist for the band, as shown by the recent live shows. --Olliemilne 10:05, 13 August 2006 (UTC)


Omar also said that he IS BEGINNING to like it, as with amputechture...he did all the solos and he said hes becoming very comfortable with it.

Yeah i read that as well. So I second it

[edit] Equipment section?

You know some place where we can stick his guitars and pedals, etc. Someone removed some of that info and I want to find a place for it. This link will provide more TMV equipment info. Zopwx2 04:16, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Do you really think an equipment section is necessary? All the information before was only about his guitar. Having an equipment section with just his guitar under that section wouldn't make it worth really adding. Maybe you could expand it to include: pedals, amps, and his guitar, and not just his guitar. That would probably make it worth actually putting in an equipment section. Leo Collin 08:00, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Thats what I was saying, only I don't know anything about his equipment so I guess its just going to be a suggestion until someone who knows what they're doing adds it in. Zopwx2 11:52, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Back-and-Forth

You cannot seriously compare Omar to Jimi Hendrix.

~You cannot seriously compare anyone to Jimi Hendrix

  • Jimi Hendrix will not always be the best. I say Omar has more talent than Hendrix, so deal with it.*

~You say Omar has more talent:

Omar is the best musician i ever known

~You haven't known that many musicians.

Omar is awesome. you don't think so cause do don't know THAT much about him

Omar is awesome, Jimi is awesome. I think they are both really good, but i dont think Omar is as good as Hendrix was. Listen to the song Machine Gun and then listen to Omar's best guitar song.


Jimi, to be quite frank, sucks. Can you teenagers in the 70's please stop having orgasmic nostalgia dreams and wake up to see that he is not that good-er guitarist? Omar could own him any day. 20:42, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Heroin

Someone changed "drugs" to "heroin" and unless someone provides me with proof that he was addicted to heroin, i'm going to change it back to drugs, to keep it more ambiguous until we have verifiable proof of it being specific drugs.

We know for sure TMV member Jeremy Ward OD'd on heroin and the band members agreed to go clean afterwards... but other than that someone needs to find more info. Zopwx2 06:25, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Please refer to the link I posted under "Omar selling drugs?"

I quote, "As the Mars Volta began playing out live in the fall of 2001, it was all but intervention time—the shows were inconsistent and both Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez had begun shooting dope and smoking crack at an increasingly alarming rate." (near the beginning)

and "We didn’t have that stigma that comes with shooting dope or smoking crack" - Omar (near the end)

Jesus

[edit] crappy article

blatantly written by a sycophant --86.141.50.205 16:51, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Then fix it. Zopwx2 20:48, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree the article needs to be fixed to be a little less reverent and a little more realistic about Omar's guitar skills.


Thie below quote, from the main article, kind of bothers me and I may remove it:

"Rodriguez cites the comedian Lenny Bruce, the film-maker Werner Herzog, and the New Age anthropologist Carlos Castenada as three important influences. The fact that these people are not musicians highlights Rodriguez's unconventional approach to his medium, differentiating him from many other rock guitarists of this and past eras."

That's just incorrect. Artists always get inspiration from works of art outside their own medium. If you asked Hendrix or Jimmy Page about their influences, aside from musicians they would also list literary and film figures (Jimi was a fan of sci-fi and Zeppelin was very Tolkien-influenced) so I don't see Omar's citing non-musicians as influences as being all that revolutionary or "unconventional". A lot of musicians get inspiration from visual art, film, theater, and literature, and likewise many visual artists get influenced by music. I don't think Omar's influences really set him apart from other musicians, as this article suggests,, and it's kind of arrogant in the way it insists that Omar is different from "other rock guitaristts of this and past eras" because of what he said in an interview.

  • The Guilty Undertaker: ^the thing that makes him different, or unusual in this sense, is that he rarely, if ever, cites any musical influences other than Larry Harlow. Jimi Hendrix always talked about Buddy Guy and all of those blues guys, and Jimmy Page constantly cited Robert Johnson as an influence. Omar, however, likes to keep it ambiguous I geuss.

[edit] another image

there is a problem with the picture's file

[edit] Biography cleanup.

As people have already said, the biography for this page was obviously written by a fanboy and written poorly at that, particularly the paragraph regarding style analysis. It stated that "Rodriguez-Lopez is known for his very experimental style [...] and extensive, restless experimentation". Vague, qualitative adjectives such as "creative" and "unusual" were used. I'm no music professor but I'm sure my description is less biased and more informative.

And sorry if I've broken any rules. I don't edit often at all.

83.71.46.228 00:05, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A Manual Dex.

Does his CD Remind anyone of early Aphex Twin? i mean aside from obvious and already noted latin salsa influances

[edit] What is this?

What on earth happened to this article? It was never great but now its just ridiculous. Where is the source for the fact Omar was a drug addicted "bum"? And is it really relevant to talk about how he engaged in "dumpster diving"? Not in my opinion. It needs a serious re-write at some point.

-Omar did use to bleech his hair.

Olliemilne 02:04, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

It's been stated in many interviews and a article that I'll try to dig up that he was in fact a drug addict. The March of Flames 03:30, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

I found these passages about his drug use in an article about his film: "Rodriguez-Lopez knows firsthand the importance of understanding the consequences of one’s actions and has himself struggled with drug addiction for many years. Since forming The Mars Volta, he has stayed drug free, but his days of being an addict are not forgotten. The concept for the film was inspired by the time he spent in the drug culture." and "I was a junkie and doing a lot of hard drugs and smoking a lot of crack cocaine." http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2004/1209/film2.htm Joseph haley

[edit] Equipment Overhaul

Alright, a few hours ago I completely redid the equipment section. Its much more detailed now and has details on all his major projects. I've sourced the info from the previously existing info, interviews, pictures, videos, and the comatorium's forum. If anyone cares about sources, post here and I will try my best to find you proof. But take my word that this is all legit. And people have already begun adding pedals i missed off, which is awesome. --Olliemilne 04:52, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox

It fit nicely in that white space there and was doing it's job. Why remove it? CanbekEsen 11:43, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

I didn't think it was necessary, I went to other biography pages like einstein and they didn't have infoboxes so I took that as guide. But if enough people want it back then wtvr. Zopwx2 03:56, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
You may want to note that Einstein has an infobox.MozzaC 08:05, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kirk Hammett?

Rodriguez-Lopez's playing style has been acknowledged by guitar legends such as Joe Satriani and Kirk Hammett

I would like to know who thinks of Kirk Hammett as a legendary guitarist. James Hetfield is better than him and Hetfield is not even the lead guitarist. Albeit successful and rich, Hammett is not legendary. Jimi, Stevie, Phil Keaggy(Jimi called him the best guitar player in the world), Metheny, Angus Young, Chet Atkins, John Scofield, Brian May, Doyle Dykes(Check him out), Charlie Hunter, some of my personal favs. Think about it.

Oh god. That Jimi praising Keaggy thing is bullshit. Seriously, look it up. -st. noignoramus

[edit] Bochum, Germany video?

  • With At The Drive-In
    • Guitars:
    • Squier Super-Sonic (Right-handed model, strung left-handed)
    • Fender Mustang
    • Maton MS542 (Discontinued model, used in the Bochum, Germany video)

I searched for any stuff related to a mars volta or omar Bochum video, but i found nothing... has anybody more information about that? -- 84.60.127.65 13:27, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

  • Yeah, its a live video of At The Drive-In playing in Bochum, Germany, ripped off MTV2, which is floating around the net, albeit its quite hard to find, you wont get it on things like Limewire. Try looking on The Comatorium forum (www.thecomatorium.com) in the trading section or ATD-I section (probably the ATD-I section) and asking or looking for the video. You probably found nothing because he was in At The Drive-In, not The Mars Volta at the time, plus its not the kind of thing you can just search on Google for. But its definitely out there. Olliemilne 05:50, 5 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Criticisms Section

I just added to the criticisms section. I tried to make it clear why its wrong for Omar to take credit for all the band's music, with a source on the comatorium. I also tried to say why it was bad that omar had taken over production duties for the band, but I can't find a source for that (I wouldn't expect there to be an article on the net for how the drums are hard to hear in amputechture though, not the sort of thing you write about unless its on a blog or something, which doesnt really qualify for a source) I left the neutrality warning on though, as I still think the section qualifies for it. However it should NOT be removed, they are perfectly valid points and I'm pretty fed up of fanboys who think that omar could fill in on drums for theodore because it says he writes all the parts on the albums. If you want to remove the section, please leave a message for me here with a valid reason, don't just take it down with no reason or I'll put it back. Granted the section isn't perfect but these views are shared by a lot of fans, particularly the old ones who've been around since before DITC. Thanks! Olliemilne 22:08, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

-The section was good but then people kept adding to it and took it too far. I definatley think it needs to be made mention of somewhere.

I agree its a little long, but its difficult to cover all the points and keep it concise. I'll try to shrink it down at some point and put it back. Yeah, me again. I keep forgetting to sign things, sorry. Olliemilne 19:18, 22 November 2006 (UTC)


Woah dude, I didn't even start the criticism section, I just tried editing it and it came out much longer than I'd hoped and did seem that I was laying into omar too much. The thing is, criticism are always difficult to back up in these cases, unless a scholar or music expert writes an article on "why omar sucks" then it's going to be slightly POV, hence the neutrality warning is on the section. Not every musician does need a criticism section because there is little to be critical about; they play music, write songs, etc, whereas Omar appears to be lying (or Jon, but based on evidence it seems like Omar) about who writes the band's songs. When I edited I included a source on The Comatorium in which Jon said he sat down and wrote the songs with omar, and therefore it is not possible that omar writes all the music, especially as omar claims he knows no music theory and cannot play the drums. A lot of people agree with the criticisms and were annoyed that Omar and Cedric consider only THEMSELVES The Mars Volta and everyone else is The Mars Volta "Group", when to the fans The Mars Volta was every single member of the band, Jon included. He had been there from the beginning (yes excluding the small amount of time when Blake was the drummer but they only produced two demos before he left anyway) and been with them on every single release, gathered critical acclaim for his playing, become a regular fixture in several drumming magazines for his work, etc... Omar and Cedric didn't feel the need to say this on the first three release, why now? Also many other bands in which the songwriting is done by a few people do not claim to be the whole band, unless they're having an ego trip (which is essentially what Omar and Cedric say The Mars Volta is these days). Does Axl Rose think he IS Guns N Roses? Quite probably yes, but to the public would most probably disagree. I think it adds to the article, but it isn't the most essential info in the world. But as the article has become a litlle better in recent times, its no longer full of unfounded praise for Omar's playing ability (i think the John Mclaughlin section could go really, he doesn't sound a lot like him nor does he have his chops, someone like Greg Ginn of Black Flag is a closer comparison, perhaps not stylistically but in their punk backgrounds). You can delete it if you want to, I am now happy to keep it as well as get rid of it, I just think this info is nice for people to know. Olliemilne 03:10, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

0.02: Criticism is really hard to justify in a wikipedia article but people kept sprinkling anti-omar comments all around this article in random places. So it helps to have one consolidated place for those kind of things, especially since people can work to help make it more encyclopedic rather than opinion. Because I'm sure many people will get angry and start revert wars for whatever reason if I just removed all anti-omar comments outright, even though I'd be justified as they are opinions and not facts. Zopwx2 04:06, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Absolute Pitch

Just interested, is Omar an Absolute Pitch possessor?

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 195.113.79.25 (talk) 11:51, 6 December 2006 (UTC).

-I highly doubt it. Omar claims to know no music theory, and the fact that many of his solos are atonal (i.e. he just plays anything) would suggest he has no formal knowledge for how harmony works. He probably has relative pitch like most guitarists who have been playing for a while would possess, but this really isn't particularly uncommon or worthy of inclusion in the article, especially as there is no source. Many musicians can pick out certain notes with no reference because they hear them constantly. Olliemilne 16:52, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

The fact that the music is atonal adds to the music, I play atonally at times and I know a lot of musical theory. I know he knows no musical theory, BUT atonality is a harmonic concept and he uses it well.

-Maybe, thats just your opinion anyway, but thats irrelevant to whether or not he has absolute pitch. Olliemilne 23:24, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Splitting section "The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet" into it's own article.

The "Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet" section should be split into it's own article. It's terribly out of place where it is, and should be moved. It would also serve to sharpen the focus of the article, as well as shorten it, which wouldn't be a bad thing. Grim-Gym June 15 2007, 12:15 (UTC)

It's not really a full fledged band, but if you're going to split it, hes calling it "The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group" now. I guess the 5 person band wasn't set in stone.Zopwx2 00:35, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
I changed up the article a bit, so it doesn't need to be split anymore imo. Zopwx2 19:13, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] OMAR'S MYSPACE

Okay, Lee does not run ALL Mars Volta sites. He runs the Comatorium, The Mars Volta.Com, The Mars Volta Myspace. That's it. It is GSL runned with Omar checking every once in a while, and I mean once in a blue moon. 24.191.216.241 20:46, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

Some proof would be nice to why it is official. A GSL Statement or something. I won't believe its real until it has been properly confirmed.

[edit] New film project, Sentimental Engine Slayer

Omar's been filming a new project, entitled "The Sentimental Engine Slayer" in El Paso. You can read about it (in Spanish) here: http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=58502636edff483965d5f1d5e93269ad. Thought it should be included. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CinematicESP (talk • contribs) 19:35, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Image

I don't edit wikipedia, haven't signed up and would have no idea how to do this, but could we possibly get a picture for Omar? The article looks empty without it :(58.178.30.20 23:42, 8 October 2007 (UTC)shommy)

I would but the wiki-police keep deleting them. Zopwx2 23:44, 8 October 2007 (UTC)