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Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Born	November 4, 1974 (1974-11-04) (age 33) Redwood City, California, U.S.
Origin	El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Genre(s)	Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, post-hardcore
Occupation(s)	Vocalist
Instrument(s)	Vocals, drums, maracas, tambourine, guitar
Years active	1993-present
Associated acts	The Mars Volta De Facto At the Drive-In

Cedric Bixler-Zavala (born November 4, 1974 in Redwood City, California) is the lead singer and lyricist of The Mars Volta, and was previously the lead singer, lyricist and sometimes guitarist of At the Drive-In, and also, the drummer of De Facto.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Discography 2.1 With Foss 2.2 With Los Dregtones 2.3 With Phantasmagoria 2.4 With The Fall on Deaf Ears 2.5 With At the Drive-In 2.6 With De Facto 2.7 With The Mars Volta 2.8 As Alavaz Relxib Cirdec 2.9 Guest appearances 3 References

Raised in El Paso, Texas, Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Mexican-American singer/lyricist, who fronts the acclaimed progressive rock group The Mars Volta. He was also the lead singer of the seminal post-hardcore band At the Drive-In which broke up in 2001.

Bixler-Zavala's lyrics are often abstract to the point of seeming nonsensical. These lyrics often blend contrasting metaphors, usually dealing with grotesque, speculative fiction imagery. He has cited a variety of influences, such as Werner Herzog, Luis Buñuel, Neu!, Doctor Who, Syd Barrett, Damo Suzuki, and Mexican folk tales. He has also experimented with bilingual lyrics, switching from English to Spanish several times within the course of a song. The Mars Volta's album De-Loused in the Comatorium was accompanied by a short novel of the same name, written in the same metaphorical style his lyrics are arranged by Cedric and Jeremy Ward. A lot of his vocal work operates in the higher register (displayed in songs such as Inertiatic ESP), but he also operates competently at a normal pitch.

Bixler-Zavala frequently does somersaults on stage, swings his microphone (once unintentionally hitting band mate Ikey Owens in the head), salsa dances, sarcastically mocks the audience for fun (during At the Drive-In days), and plays the maracas. Previously Bixler-Zavala was a heavy drug user, but he has now quit using opioids along with bandmate Omar Rodriguez-Lopez following the overdose and death of Jeremy Ward, former sound manipulator of The Mars Volta.

Multi-instrumentalist Bixler-Zavala also played the drums in the experimental reggae dub group DeFacto, and occasionally played guitar and drums with At the Drive-In.

Bixler-Zavala demonstrated very strong views on moshing and crowd surfing. He infamously walked off stage 10 minutes into an At The Drive-In performance at the 2001 Big Day Out festival. He had previously asked the audience to calm down and observe the safety rules. After the refusal of the crowd, Zavala told the crowd, "I think it's a really sad day when the only way you can express yourself is by slam-dancing!", followed by cries of, “You're a robot, you're a sheep!” and proceeded to baa like a sheep at them several times before the band left the stage.^[1] Later that day Jessica Michalik died of asphixiation after being crushed in a mosh pit.

Under the pseudonym "Alavaz Relxib Cirdec", Bixler-Zavala contributed a 2-song single to the GSL Special 12 Singles Series, released in December 2005. The inversion of his name is very appropriate, seeing as the musical styles shown on his GSL single would be unexpected to an uninformed fan of his more mainstream contributions. Closer to the Dub of De Facto and the ambient experimentation shown in Omar Rodriguez-Lopez records than the prog-rock of The Mars Volta, the two songs Bixler-Zavala has produced under this alias are entirely instrumental, with the exception of samples of speech that can be heard on "Live Private Booths". "Live Private Booths" is a funky Fela Kuti-style jam featuring flute, drums, bass, guitars and samples, while "Sapta-Loka" is a more ambient exploration of eastern-style drones, with subtle, haunting instrumentation.

• El Paso Pussycats

• 5 Song Alibi (1994)

• The Fall on Deaf Ears EP (1996)

• Hell Paso (1994) - re-release EP
• Alfaro Vive, Carajo! (1995) - EP
• Acrobatic Tenement (1996, re-release 2004) - LP
• El Gran Orgo - (1997) - EP
• In/Casino/Out (1998, re-release 2004) - LP
• Vaya (1999, re-release 2004) - EP
• Relationship of Command (2000, re-release 2004) - LP
• This Station Is Non-Operational (2005) - Compilation

• How Do You Dub? You Fight For Dub, You Plug Dub In LP (1999/2001)
• 456132015 EP (2001)
• Megaton Shotblast LP (2001)
• Légende du Scorpion à Quatre Queues LP (2001)

• Tremulant - EP (2002)
• De-Loused in the Comatorium - LP (2003)
• Live EP - EP (2003)
• Frances the Mute - LP (2005)
• Scabdates - LP (2005)
• Amputechture - LP (2006)
• The Bedlam in Goliath - LP (2008)

• The Special 12 Singles Series - Single (2005)

• Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three - Various Artists backed by the Rollins Band (2002)
• Decomposition - Thavius Beck
• Plasticity Index - Sand Which Is
• A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1 - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (2004)
• White People - Handsome Boy Modeling School (2004)
• Omar Rodriguez - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (2005)
• Blood Mountain - Mastodon (2006)
• I'll Sleep When You're Dead - El-P (2007)
• Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group (2007)
• Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far) - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (2007)

v • d • e The Mars Volta
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez · Cedric Bixler-Zavala · Isaiah Ikey Owens · Juan Alderete · Thomas Pridgen · Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez · Adrián Terrazas-González · Paul Hinojos Eva Gardner · Jeremy Ward · Jon Theodore
Studio albums	De-Loused in the Comatorium · Frances the Mute · Amputechture · The Bedlam in Goliath
EPs	Tremulant EP · Live EP
Live albums	Scabdates
Singles	"Inertiatic ESP" · "Televators" · "The Widow" · "L'Via L'Viaquez" · "Viscera Eyes" · "Wax Simulacra"
Related articles	The Mars Volta tours · At the Drive-In · De Facto · Gold Standard Laboratories · John Frusciante · Julio Venegas · Money Mark

v • d • e At the Drive-In
Cedric Bixler-Zavala · Jim Ward · Omar Rodríguez-López · Paul Hinojos · Tony Hajjar
Studio albums	Acrobatic Tenement · In/Casino/Out · Relationship of Command
EPs	Hell Paso · Alfaro Vive, Carajo! · El Gran Orgo · Vaya
Splits	ATDI / Aasee Lake · ATDI / Sunshine · ATDI / Burning Airlines · ATDI / The Murder City Devils
Compilations	This Station Is Non-Operational
Singles	"Metronome Arthritis" · "One Armed Scissor" · "Rolodex Propaganda" · "Invalid Litter Dept."
Labels	Flipside · Fearless · Grand Royal
Related Articles	Discography · The Mars Volta · Sparta · De Facto · Sleepercar · Omar Rodríguez-López Quintet · The Fall on Deaf Ears