At the Drive In: Американдық пост-хардкор тобының тарихы

American post hardcore band

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 (vocals), Omar Rodríguez López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums) and Keeley Davis (guitar, vocals). 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. 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.

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. 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. The album was released August 18, 1996, and the band commenced another tour of the United States the following year spanning 100 days (February to June 1997) and 24,000 miles.

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. A combination of excessive hype, relentless touring, artistic differences, and Rodríguez López and Bixler Zavala's drug habits contributed to the demise of the band. 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." Cedric Bixler Zavala took responsibility for the breakup, saying repeatedly in interviews that he felt almost as if At the Drive In was holding him back and that he did not want his music to be confined to punk or hardcore — that it should encompass many genres and be even more progressive, alternative, and "against the grain." Bixler Zavala and Rodríguez López 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 were intent on progressing in a more alternative rock direction.

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. 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 – Ward, Hinojos, and Hajjar – started the more traditional band Sparta. 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.

During an interview with Drowned in Sound in June 2009, Bixler Zavala stated that he had been in discussions with the band's former members and suggested that they could get back together after they sorted 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 response to Bixler Zavala's comments, guitarist Jim Ward quickly quashed rumors of a reunion by stating "I don't think that I'll be answering any questions or doing any interviews anymore, thank you very much. I haven't got much to say about anything except with songs which I will continue to make and release." At the Drive in finally got back together in late 2011 and officially announced their reunion on January 9, 2012. They played their first show since 2001 on April 9 at Red 7 in Austin, Texas, as part of a 4 date tour across Texas with Zechs Marquise warming up prior to performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 15 and 22. Later in the year At the Drive in also performed at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Splendour in the Grass, Fuji Rock and Reading and Leeds Festival. The band had also acquired the rights from Fearless Records to reissue most of their catalogue (three full length albums as well as Vaya EP) and launched their own label, Twenty first Chapter, to handle the reissues. The name of the label is a reference to the chapter omitted from the US version of the Anthony Burgess book A Clockwork Orange. While the reunion shows were met with mostly positive reviews, Rodríguez López received criticism from fans and observers for his evident lack of enthusiasm while playing on stage; initially this was attributed to the recent death of his mother; however, Rodríguez López later stated that he also no longer felt connected with At the Drive in's music. Rodríguez López also ruled out the possibility of the band recording new material, though he reversed this stance in light of the band's 2016 reunion. Following the dissolution of The Mars Volta in 2013, Bixler Zavala and Rodríguez López ceased all contact with each other. Bixler Zavala blamed Rodríguez López for the breakup on Twitter; however, he stated that he was still happy with At the Drive In's reunion: "And for the record I'm still in love with ATDI. Proof was in MY performance. I would never get on stage if my heart was elsewhere." The two subsequently focused their efforts on their respective projects, Zavalaz and Bosnian Rainbows, and remained on non speaking terms until early 2014, when they finally resolved their issues. An initial attempt to restart At the Drive In did not work out, however, so Bixler Zavala and Rodríguez López went on to form Antemasque, touring and recording for the next two years.

In October 2015, At the Drive In agreed on doing another reunion, and an appearance at Rock On The Range festival in the following May was scheduled. In January 2016, trailed by a 15 second video of seemingly new music, the band detailed plans for a world tour and new album later in the year. After initial rehearsals, Jim Ward left the reunited band, and was replaced by his former Sparta bandmate Keeley Davis. Looking back on Ward's departure, in 2017 Bixler Zavala stated that Ward was not ready for a new album and tour: "His head wasn't there. His head wasn't trustworthy. Because of the way Omar and I exploded [with Mars Volta], I completely understood that. You know, you either let it go and keep going forward, or the train goes on without you. We have to honor what is happening now, which is age and the want to do it. I love him. He's a beautiful human being. A beautiful artist. I just wish he would remember that he's an amazing guitar player. I don't know if he does." The band canceled part of their North American tour after Bixler Zavala began to have issues with his voice. On December 8, the band released their first new song in 16 years, "Governed by Contagions", through Rise Records. A new album, in•ter a•li•a, was released on May 5, 2017, preceded by another single, "Incurably Innocent". The Diamanté EP was released on November 24 as part of Record Store Day; it had a limited vinyl release of 4000 copies. In May 2018, the band headlined the Neon Desert Music Festival.

During a show on November 17, 2018, at the Circo Voador in Brazil, Bixler Zavala announced to the crowd that the following night's show would be their final show for the foreseeable future. That night, Bixler Zavala posted on Twitter stating "Maybe it's a sign of weakness to some of you but I had to give a huge thank you to my ATDI family. This was our 2nd to last show. Tomorrow is the last. Don't know when we'll play again. Thank you Rio. How do I even sleep now?" The following day on November 18, 2018, the band played their final show at Bar Opinião in Porto Alegre, Brazil. On November 19, 2018, the band released a statement on their official Instagram announcing a hiatus.

At the Drive In's style is usually described as post hardcore. Their sound has also been called punk rock, emo, and art punk. Some of the group's influences are Indian Summer, Swing Kids, Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate (referred to by Ward as "Fugazi beyond Fugazi"), Bad Brains, and the Gravity Records led post hardcore sound of the 1990s that featured acts such as Antioch Arrow and Heroin. In their last period before their initial breakup, the biggest influences of At the Drive In included bands such as Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, and The Nation of Ulysses, with frontman Bixler Zavala going on to say that "there would be no Relationship of Command without Drive Like Jehu." The band also performed cover versions of songs such as "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" by The Smiths and "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" by Pink Floyd, both included in the 2004 compilation This Station Is Non Operational. Their name was taken from the fact that Bad Brains took their name from the Ramones' song "Bad Brain" (from Road to Ruin), and Bixler Zavala liked the Bad Brains' song title "At the Movies" (featured in Rock for Light), while Ward liked "at the drive in" from the chorus of the Poison song "Talk Dirty to Me" and his suggestion would eventually win out. "Ross was instrumental in bringing out a lot of feeling from us," Bixler Zavala 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." BBC's Mike Diver stated that the success and eventual "landmark status" of the album helped post hardcore position itself as a "vital commercial force," adding that Relationship of Command "is the high against which every post hardcore record since 2000 has been measured." Among the artists who have cited At the Drive In as an influence or expressed admiration for them are And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Thursday, Billy Talent, Biffy Clyro, Underoath, Will Swan of Dance Gavin Dance, Nick Hipa of As I Lay Dying, The Fall of Troy, Jamie Lenman, Rolo Tomassi, La Dispute, Mutiny on the Bounty, sleepmakeswaves, Jarvis Cocker, Night Verses, and St Vincent.