At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López, Paul Hinojos, Tony Hajjar and Keeley Davis. After several early line-up changes, the band solidified into a five-piece, consisting of Bixler-Zavala, Rodríguez-López, Jim Ward, Hinojos and Hajjar.
At the Drive-In released three studio albums and five EPs before breaking up in 2001. Their third and final album before their split, 2000's Relationship of Command, received a number of accolades and is cited as a landmark of the post-hardcore genre, alongside producing the successful single "One Armed Scissor". Following the breakup, Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López formed the Mars Volta while Ward, Hinojos, and Hajjar formed Sparta; Hinojos would later join the Mars Volta.
At the Drive-In reunited in January 2012 and played the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as well as the 2012 Lollapalooza Festival. In 2016, the band reunited for a second time, with guitarist and occasional lead vocalist Jim Ward no longer participating. He was replaced by Sparta's Keeley Davis. The band released their fourth studio album, in•ter a•li•a, in 2017. The band announced an indefinite hiatus in November 2018.
History
Formation and ''Acrobatic Tenement'' (1994–97)
At the Drive-In was founded in 1994 by guitarist Jim Ward and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The newly formed band played its first live show on October 14, 1994, at The Attic, a venue in El Paso, Texas, followed up by a show on the 15th at the Loretto High School Fair. Not long after, At the Drive-In released its first studio recording entitled Hell Paso, a 7-inch EP issued in November 1994. Following Hell Paso release, the band members embarked on their first tour – a 2,000-mile trek across the state of Texas. After a drummer change due to Bernie Rincon's death, At the Drive-In released its second EP ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! in June 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.The album was released August 18, 1996, and the band commenced another tour of the United States the following year spanning 100 days and 24,000 miles. This tour included shows with hundreds of other bands such as Screw 32, J Church, 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 before rehearsing for their next record and subsequent tour. 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. 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, Colorado, playing a show with Welt to kick off 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 and 350 fans.
''In/Casino/Out'' and ''Vaya'' (1998–1999)
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 figuratively 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 at Doug Messenger's, in North Hollywood, Revolver Recordings in Costa Mesa with Engineer Andy Troy for Fearless Records, and an additional two days mixing the album at Paramount, in Hollywood. 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 number 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.In/Casino/Out was released on August 18, 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 United States until they headed to Europe for a six-week European tour spanning eleven countries.
Upon returning to the United States, 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 at Emo's in Austin, Texas, with El Paso band Universal Recovered and Austin band Schatzi opening this show.
At the Drive-In signed with Digital Entertainment Network, known as DEN, an internet-focused entertainment company whose music division was led by music industry veteran Gary Gersh. In October of 1999, the band relocated to Los Angeles. November and December of that year saw At the Drive-In open for Rage Against the Machine, getting the chance to play arenas for the first time. Afterwards, the band toured with the Get Up Kids.
''Relationship of Command'' (2000–2001)
Recording for At the Drive-In's third and then-final full-length album Relationship of Command began on January 17, 2000. The recording took place at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California, with producer Ross Robinson. Relationship of Command was recorded over a seven-week period and featured Iggy Pop with minor parts on a couple of the album's songs.While At the Drive-In was working on the album, however, DEN went under. Relationship of Command would instead be released by the Beastie Boys-founded Grand Royal, which Rodríguez-López described as "our dream come true," since the band had long admired Grand Royal and had hoped to sign to them long before being approached by DEN. The album, released on September 12, 2000, was met with critical acclaim.
In addition to touring worldwide in Europe, Japan, and the United States following the release of Relationship of Command, At The Drive-In 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. By 2002, Relationship of Command'' had sold 273,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Breakup and other projects (2001-2009)
On November 12, 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, none of the members sustained serious injury – Hajjar and Bixler-Zavala were taken to the hospital for minor injuries and released. 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 attendance to calm down and observe the safety rules against moshing. After the refusal of the crowd, frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala told them "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. The following month, At the Drive-In cancelled the last five dates of its European tour, citing "complete mental and physical exhaustion" of the members.In March 2001—less than a month away from a United States tour set to begin 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 21, 2001. Commenting on the hiatus, guitarist Rodríguez-López 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." However, in 2002, Hajjar stated that the hiatus was "just press crap", and that the band was truly broken up.
Though many of his bandmates, including Bixler-Zavala, have cited exhaustion due to excessive touring as the main factor behind At the Drive-In's dissolution, Rodríguez-López has disputed this. Instead, Rodríguez-López has pointed to creative differences, noting, "we broke up at least three or four other times before we finally broke up. There were three or four times where I or Cedric or Cedric and I both talked about leaving the group because our desires were so different ." Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López stated that they wanted their next album to sound like Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Following the break-up of At the Drive-In, Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López focused on their dub side-project De Facto, before starting The Mars Volta. Ward, Hinojos, and Hajjar formed Sparta in June 2001. Hinojos would then leave Sparta to join Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López in The Mars Volta from 2005 to 2009. The Mars Volta disbanded in 2013, and Rodríguez-López went on to play with Bosnian Rainbows, while Bixler-Zavala started a new band called Zavalaz. Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López eventually reunited once again and formed Antemasque in 2014.