Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s new band headlining Neon Desert; Best Coast, Interpol member among performers announced

El Pasoan Omar Rodriguez Lopez and his new band, Bosnian Rainbows, will headline the third annual Neon Desert Music Festival on May 25.

Festival organizers are releasing names throughout the day. In 2012, more than
12,000 fans attended Neon Desert Music Festival.

Advance tickets can be purchased on the Neon Desert website or at all Western
Beverages Liquors locations in El Paso for $55. VIP tickets are available exclusively
on the Neon Desert Music Festival website for $150 and full package details
and incentives are also listed on the festival’s website.

Other performers announced: Molotov, Martin Solveig, Wolfgang Gartner, PXNDX, Best Coast, Dragonette, Paul Banks of Interpol, Carla Morrison, STRFKR, A Band of
Bitches, Nortec Collective presents Bostich + Fussible, The Royalty, Viernes, Electric
Social, The Black Coats, Ribo Flavin and Johnny Kage

Bosnian Rainbows’ debut album will be released on June 25.

In an interview with ABC-7 in mid-January, Rodriguez Lopez talked about different musical projects involving members of At the Drive-In.

“So there’s all sorts of exciting stuff happening. Sparta’s making a record right now, Cedric has made an incredible solo record which he’ll be touring (behind) that people will be very excited about. For all of us who’ve known each other and been through arguments – superficial arguments – it’s really an exciting time. We get to do these different projects and help each other out. Jim (Ward) just had a crisis with the Pro Tools rig they were recording on and I was able to lend him my studio and he lent me his space (Tricky Falls to shoot my film).”

Listen to the first track of Bosnian Rainbows’ debut album here.

Rodriguez-Lopez said ATDI members are now all open to something happening with that band beyond last year’s reunion tour of festivals and a smattering of club gigs.

“I think now we got past the stage of the whole reunion thing and playing old songs,” Rodriguez-Lopez said before alluding to his subdued demeanor during the tour. “And I was going through some very difficult things in my personal life with my family at the time and other people were going through other things. So now we’ve come out of that and we’re able to see it in hindsight and so that’s always a good thing. So now we’re open to all sorts of possibilities.”

“But right now everybody’s really excited about their current thing,” Rodriguez-Lopez said. “Cedric’s really excited about his project and he’s going to tour all over the world for it. It’s exciting not only to him but it should be exciting to the people who are going to see him, to see him in a different context and see how versatile of an artist he is. Same thing for Sparta. Sparta has now regrouped and are doing things. Life gives you perspective. When you’re creating music and you’re playing, it’s like that’s what you’re expressing. You’re expressing everything that’s happening in your life. The gears have been turning and now something new is coming out. And as that changes and grows then we all come back together with all that information, all that data and we’re able to make At the Drive-In something even bigger for us. Not in terms of success, exterior success but something emotionally for us, than it ever was at any point in our youth. So that’s something that has us all really excited.”

In late January, ATDI singer Cedric Bixler Zavala announced via Twitter he was no longer a member of Mars Volta, the band he and Rodriguez Lopez founded after ATDI’s breakup in 2001.

Rodriguez Lopez talked to Billboard magazine about Bosnian Rainbows and the demise of the Mars Volta, including Bixler Zavala’s comments.

“I heard about it at the time,” Rodriguez-Lopez told Billboard. “I was making a film and heard about it hours later; people were like, ‘Are you OK?’ I understand where he’s coming from; I’ve known the guy for 22 years. I’ll always respect and support any decision he makes. If that’s how he wants it, I totally get it and I support it. I learned a very valuable lesson from (the At The Drive-In reunion). After all those years of being negative and saying, ‘I’ll never play with those guys again,’ I learned that you don’t know anything — just shut up and enjoy life and be happy people still care, 11 years later, about something you did with your best friends when you were teenagers. That’s how I feel about everything.”