Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
Encyclopedia
Marcellus Rodriguez-Lopez is a multi-instrumentalist musician and younger brother of Omar Rodríguez-López
.
, conga
s, Drum
s, cymbal
s, Maracas, keyboards
and Shekere
.
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez currently plays in The Mars Volta
and the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
with his older brother Omar Rodríguez-López
. For a few years he contributed only percussion to both bands, though he now is the keyboardist for both. He played keyboards on Omar's self-titled record, though performed drums for the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet with the inclusion of Money Mark
for that 2005 tour. Marcel is also the drummer for El Paso band Zechs Marquise, which includes his other brother on bass, Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez. He formerly played in the band Thieves Of Always, which is led by Ralph Jasso, who was a member of The Mars Volta on tour in 2002.
Marcel also played live with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
during The Mars Volta's Amputechture
tour, contributing bongoes to "Hump de Bump
" and congas to "Charlie
." He has also appeared along with the band for the Gnarls Barkley
tour, playing nearly every song of the set, starting with the Dallas show, January 13, through the Sunrise, Florida show on January 31, 2007. Marcel also played clavinet
during performances of "Warlocks," which was originally played by Billy Preston
on the studio recording of Stadium Arcadium
.
In addition Marcel has acted in his brother Omar's film The Sentimental Engine Slayer
.
At a show of Zechs Marquise, Marcel had this position on fast playing musicians:
"You see some guys playing their death metal, but they play really soft with the volume turned up loud to play fast. That doesn't take as much skill as playing loud and fast. If you can play loud and fast, that's a whole new level".
Omar Rodríguez-López
recently spoke out about the relationship with him and his brother:
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
.
Biography
He has been noted as to playing the bongosBongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
, conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s, Drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, Maracas, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and Shekere
Shekere
This article is about the musical instrument. for the musical genre, see Sekere.The shekere is an instrument from West Africa consisting of a dried gourd with beads woven into a net covering the gourd. Throughout the continent there are similar gourd/bead or gourd/seed percussion instruments. Some...
.
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez currently plays in The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
and the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
The Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group is the main side project of Omar Rodríguez-López. The group is most often a live entity to perform the various outlets of his solo music aside from The Mars Volta.-History:...
with his older brother Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
. For a few years he contributed only percussion to both bands, though he now is the keyboardist for both. He played keyboards on Omar's self-titled record, though performed drums for the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet with the inclusion of Money Mark
Money Mark
Mark Ramos-Nishita aka Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. He also appears on the first Banyan album in 1997 as the "Freeway Keyboardist".-Career:...
for that 2005 tour. Marcel is also the drummer for El Paso band Zechs Marquise, which includes his other brother on bass, Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez. He formerly played in the band Thieves Of Always, which is led by Ralph Jasso, who was a member of The Mars Volta on tour in 2002.
Marcel also played live with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
during The Mars Volta's Amputechture
Amputechture
-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
tour, contributing bongoes to "Hump de Bump
Hump de Bump
"Hump de Bump" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium. The song is the fifth and final single released from Stadium Arcadium and final single the band would release with John Frusciante, who quit the band two years later...
" and congas to "Charlie
Charlie (song)
"Charlie" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It is the third track on the first disc of their double album Stadium Arcadium. Kiedis has stated in interviews that the song is about a person's imaginative spark or inspiration.-Music video:...
." He has also appeared along with the band for the Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls Barkley is an American soul duo comprising Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green. Their first studio album St. Elsewhere was released in 2006; along with its first single "Crazy". Both single and album were a major commercial success and have been noted for their large sales by download...
tour, playing nearly every song of the set, starting with the Dallas show, January 13, through the Sunrise, Florida show on January 31, 2007. Marcel also played clavinet
Clavinet
A Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
during performances of "Warlocks," which was originally played by Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
on the studio recording of Stadium Arcadium
Stadium Arcadium
Stadium Arcadium is the ninth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released on May 9, 2006, on Warner Bros. Records. The album produced five singles: "Dani California", "Tell Me Baby", "Snow ", "Desecration Smile", and "Hump de Bump"...
.
In addition Marcel has acted in his brother Omar's film The Sentimental Engine Slayer
The Sentimental Engine Slayer
The Sentimental Engine Slayer is the directorial film debut of Omar Rodríguez-López, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock group The Mars Volta. Rodríguez-López wrote, produced and scored the film, as well as starring as its protagonist, Barlam...
.
At a show of Zechs Marquise, Marcel had this position on fast playing musicians:
"You see some guys playing their death metal, but they play really soft with the volume turned up loud to play fast. That doesn't take as much skill as playing loud and fast. If you can play loud and fast, that's a whole new level".
Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
recently spoke out about the relationship with him and his brother:
With The Mars Volta
- Frances the MuteFrances the MuteFrances the Mute is the second studio album by progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in the US on March 1, 2005. Though not as commercially successful as De-Loused in the Comatorium, it received considerable critical praise...
(2005) - ScabdatesScabdates-CD pressing:-Source of recordings:05/12/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Haruspex"* "Cicatriz"05/13/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Caviglia"05/05/2005 – Roseland Ballroom – New York City, NY* "Abrasions Mount the Timpani"...
(2005) - AmputechtureAmputechture-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
(2006) - The Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records...
(2008) - OctahedronOctahedron (album)Octahedron is the fifth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on June 23, 2009. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records in North America and Mercury Records worldwide...
(2009) - TBA (2012)
With Omar Rodríguez-López
- Omar RodriguezOmar Rodriguez (album)Omar Rodriguez is the self titled second solo album by The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and the first in the "Amsterdam series" . Most of the overdubs and mixing were done on the road in September 2005...
(2005) (Drums & Percussion, Gong, Keyboards) - Please Heat This EventuallyPlease Heat This EventuallyPlease Heat This Eventually is a 12" EP from Gold Standard Laboratories and is a collaboration between Omar Rodríguez-López Group and Damo Suzuki of the group Can. It features both live performance from a date of the group's first "Quintet" tour of Europe in 2005, and studio recorded elements...
(2006) (Drums) - Se Dice Bisonte, No BùfaloSe Dice Bisonte, No BùfaloSe Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo is a 10-track full-length album by Omar Rodríguez-López and the second in the "Amsterdam series". It was written and recorded in 2005 in California and Amsterdam, and was released May 29, 2007 by Gold Standard Labs on both vinyl and CD. A limited edition, brown marble...
(2007) (Drums & Percussion, Synths, Clavinet) - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Lydia LunchOmar Rodriguez-Lopez & Lydia LunchOmar Rodriguez Lopez & Lydia Lunch is a collaboration between Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group and spoken word artist Lydia Lunch. The EP was released on October 8, 2007 in Europe....
(2007) (Drums & Percussion) - The Apocalypse Inside of an OrangeThe Apocalypse Inside of an OrangeThe Apocalypse Inside of an Orange is the fourth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the third released in the "Amsterdam series". The double LP was released on November 20, 2007. The CD version followed in March 2008...
(2007) (Drums & Percussion) - Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)Calibration is the fifth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the fourth released in the "Amsterdam series". The album was released in Japan on December 15, 2007 with a following U.S. release later on February 5, 2008, merely a week after The Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Goliath...
(2007) (Drums & Percussion, Synths, Clavinet) - Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes AheadMinor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes AheadMinor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead is a mostly instrumental record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings. Recorded in 2001-2002, shortly after completing the Tremulant EP, the album was initially made available only to friends on minidisc format.-Track listing:#...
(2008) (Drums) - Old MoneyOld Money (album)Old Money is a studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Stones Throw Records in November 2008, and is the musician's first album on that label...
(2008) (Drums & Percussion, Synths, Clavinet, Keyboards) - MegaritualMegaritualMegaritual is a record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings.Megaritual is the fifth and final album in the series initiated and recorded by Omar Rodriguez Lopez in Amsterdam in 2005...
(2009) (Drums & Percussion, Synths, Piano) - Los Sueños de un HígadoLos Sueños de un HigadoLos Sueños de un Hígado is a live album by Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group which was recorded for the BBC on March 11, 2009 at Maida Vale Studios, England. The album features Omar Rodríguez-López, Thomas Pridgen, Juan Alderete de la Peña, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Ximena Sariñana and Mark Aanderud and...
(2009) (Percussion) - XenophanesXenophanes (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)-Release history:...
(2009) (Percussion, Keyboards) - Solar GamblingSolar GamblingSolar Gambling is the thirteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. On December 1, 2009 the recording was released digitally via the Rodriguez Lopez Productions website along with a limited pressing of 1,500 colored vinyl...
(2009) (Synths, Piano) - Sepulcros de MielSepulcros de MielSepulcros de Miel is the twenty-first release by Omar Rodríguez-López, guitarist, band leader, and producer of The Mars Volta Group. Released under the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quartet name, this record features fellow Mars Volta members Juan Alderete & Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez as well as John Frusciante...
(2010) (Drums & Percussion) - TychozorenteTychozorenteTychozorente is an album by Omar Rodríguez-López. It was digitally released on September 14, 2010, and physically released by Rodriguez Lopez Productions in Europe on November 18, 2010. This record is Omar's first collaboration with DJ Nobody and, oddly enough, one of the few Omar's releases to...
(2010) (Mellotron) - Cizaña de los AmoresCizaña de los AmoresCizaña de los Amores is the seventeenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. The was released on October 18, 2010 on CD and vinyl by Rodriguez Lopez Productions on Koncurrent in Europe, then November 18 through the US hello merch store...
(2010) (Drums, Synths, Piano, Organ) - DōitashimashiteDōitashimashiteis a live album released by artist Omar Rodríguez-López which was recorded in USA over four nights in September 2010. It is the second live album to be released by the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, with the first being the live BBC studio session Los Sueños de un Hígado...
(2010) (Keyboards) - Un Escorpion PerfumadoUn Escorpion PerfumadoUn Escorpión Perfumado is the nineteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. Marcel Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks, who toured with the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group in 2010, are featured on the album...
(2010) (Synths)
With Zechs Marquise
- 34:26 (2006)
- Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare (2008)
- Getting Paid (2011)