Clip: Omar Rodriguez interview

So after a bit of an unintentional "christmas" break, it now feels like a good time to kick things off again.

To kick off the new year, i'm excited to show this 2-part interview with Omar Rodriguez. He has got to be one of the most interesting and authentic musicians i've ever seen be interviewed, and this is one of the best interviews i've seen with him. It's refreshing to hear some questions based around the big and interesting stuff, rather than the mundane promotional stuff.

I seem to have this fascination with him and what he has to say, and i think it's because: a. I love the music he makes and admire what the mars volta have done, b. He's a successful and hard-working musician who is making a living doing what he loves (something i want to do), c. Most of his beliefs really resonate with me, d. He shares his inner-most perspectives without hesitation or fear, e. Inspiring thoughts are provoked when i tune into his wavelength.
This all gets rolled up into this ball of interesting for me.

Anyway, in this interview, he talks about: What he likes about music, his public image/perception/label, his spiritual beliefs, his life purpose, god, the goal of his music, the significance/insignificance of the opinion of the fans, the live performances, his greatest learning tool, the recording technique, his "dance moves", his part in the creative process of volta, future creativity, traveling, etc.



- Part 2

You don't have to be a fan of Mars Volta to get something out of this.

Omar Rodriguez interview

Here's one for the musicians...
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez from The Mars Volta is one of the most hard working musicians in the world today. He's a great source of inspiration for me, and as an aspiring musician, i absorb a lot of his insights.

In this 3-part backstage interview (filmed in February of 2008) he talks about: the processes of Bedlam, the feeling of an album in the making (which came to be 'Ochtahedron'), the mindset of people on the internet who make up rumours, the mars volta film he's in the process of making, the label, the process of recording covers, his record label, his various album releases, his films, his reasons behind making music, the reason behind firing Jon Theodore (former-awesome-drummer) with Thomas Pridgen (current-even-more-awesome-drummer), the light-hearted side to volta, his home studio apartment, his many unreleased solo albums, and everything in between.

It starts off a bit slow and promotional, but gets really interesting. In my opinion, this is probably the most insightful interview of Omar on the internet.



- Part 2
- Part 3

And with that we are given the quote of the year: "It's not about the end result. It's about the process and having fun doing it."