I
fyou’reafteranindicationofat
theDriveIn’smindsetwhentheysplit
in 2001, consider how Cedric Bixler-
Zavala viewed the hordes of fans who
flocked to the band after the release of
2000’s breakthrough album,Relationship
of Command. “I spent so long trying to
fight for anyone to watch us, so then after
awhileitwaslike,‘Wait,whydoyoulike
us?’Ididn’ttrustpeople,”recallsthesinger.
Thisis,remember,agroupthathad
spent the years since forming in Texas in
1993 in relative anonymity, barely even
registering in underground circles despite
arelentlesstouringregimen,andyetwas
now being hailed as the most exciting band
in the world by hyperbolic journalists.
Today, 42-year-old father of two Bixler-
Zavala says that distrust, and the growing
pains the band experienced during that
whirlwindofhypeattheturnofthecentu-
ry,areathingofthepast.“Everything goes really smoothly now,
andwe’regrownups.Wetakelifelessons
fromthepeoplewe’veworkedforortoured
with.Icandefinitelysayourbigolder
brothersarepeopleliketheRedHotChili
Peppers... One of those life lessons they
teach you is, if you really want to do this for
a long time then you’re going to have to do
thehardwork,whichishavingthosegroup
sessions weekly, or every two weeks, where
you talk about shit like an adult.”
There were issues the band needed to
address on the path from ATDI’s 2012 re-
union shows to this month’s comeback
album,in·ter a·li·a.In2013afalling-out
between Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar
Rodríguez-López led to the split of their
then-group the Mars Volta, and put an
eight-month halt to the ATDI writing ses-
sions.Thecycleoflife,asBixler-Zavala
puts it, in which Rodríguez-López’s moth-
er passed away and Bixler-Zavala’s twinboys were born, helped heal the rift, and
in 2015 the band committed to making
a new album. Co-founding member Jim
Ward opted out, and ATDI recruited for-
merSpartaguitaristKeeleyDavistotake
hisplace.Allthatwasleftwastoremem-
ber how to write together again.
“I think there were times when we start-
edwriting[whereweapproached]itasif,
well,thisiswhatitwouldsoundlikenow,
as opposed to honouring the back cata-
logue,” recalls Bixler-Zavala. “It was fun to
learn how to write like that, to put yourself
in the mindset of what you used to write
like. And to sort of ignore all the rules that
we picked up over the years.
“We agreed for [the LP] to pick up where
weleftoff,butyoucanagreetosomething
and then when the time comes you start
chasing stuff that’s not necessarily what’s
goodforthealbum.Soyouhavetoremind
yourself what the goal was.”Ju ne, 2017 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 19At the Drive In look to reclaim the spirit of their back catalogue
on fi rst album in 17 yearsBY ROD YATESRediscovering the Past