Omar Rodríguez-López

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is the guitarist for The Mars Volta. His debut solo album, A Manual Dexterity: Volume 1, the first of two albums which will comprise the soundtrack for an upcoming self-made film, was released by GSL Records in August of 2004. Formerly of the El Paso based emo-punk outfit At the Drive-In.

Frequently linked with close friend and collaborator Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the pair have played (and often lived) together since their teens, first in At the Drive-In, and then leaving At the Drive-In on "infinite hiatus" to form the prog-rock act The Mars Volta. In addition, Cedric appears on A Manual Dexterity.

As a guitarist, Rodriguez-Lopez is known for a very experimental and un-orthodox style, typified by unusual and complicated chords and progressions, complex time signatures, highly elaborate atonal solos and extensive experimentation with various guitar effects (for details of Rodriguez-Lopez's guitars, amplifiers and equipment see here:[1])

Rodriguez-Lopez claims himself to know very little musical theory, although the elaborate melodies and solo pieces on the Mars Volta's first full length album Deloused in the Comatorium show a great musical talent at work. Thanks largely to his unconventional style; Rodriguez-Lopez is almost unique as a modern guitar player in terms of his innovation and experimentation. Comparisons are often drawn with the Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, regarded by many as the best guitarist of the 90's, who is also known for his innovative style

Rodriguez-Lopez is undoubtedly a great talent - electric live improvisations and the work on Deloused... more than show this. However the most common criticism of him, as A Manual Dexterity in particular showed, is that his creativity can often get the better of him - experimentation and innovation often making the music difficult to at first appreciate.