The "De Facto" Era
The death of At the Drive-In and the birth of The Mars Volta are not clear cut points in history. Many fans even have the erroneous, but reasonable conception that Omar and Cedric's dub outfit De Facto clearly separated the two bands, like a wall blockading two distinct points in musical history. Rather, De Facto is a connecting fiber that overlays At the Drive-In's end and The Mars Volta's beginning. De Facto has a speckled and unclear history, operating in a nebulous sense prior to the brief period where there was hard commitment to it. Originally called the Sphinkators and then De Facto Cadre Club before being shortened to De Facto, the dub group originated in playing after show parties and small gigs in El Paso. There is little known about this part of the band's history, its beginnings, or its frequency of activity.
All we have is their initial release, 1999 the self-titled and then retitled How Do You Dub? You Fight for Dub, You Plug Dub in, to go off of. The album was recorded in June 1999 during a brief month long break in touring. For all we know as fans, this era is little more than myth and legend, another footnote in the lengthy novel of the El Paso DIY music scene of the 90s and 2000s.
De Facto as a serious force did not begin until 2001, playing two shows in early January 2001. Considering At the Drive-In had only finished touring in 2000 in mid-December it is incredible that Cedric, Omar, Jeremy, and Ikey, playing drums, bass, sound manipulation, and keys, were able to assemble a live performance in such a short period of time; even recording the first gig and releasing it on DVD.
Much ink, literal and digital, has been spilled regarding the final days of At the Drive-In, a chaotic month and a half of touring that led to their implosion. Considering the band had toured seemingly non-stop for about six and a half years, the fact that it took this long for everything to collapse is relatively shocking. The band's success story is also one in self-care and compassion, as we watched five young men destroy themselves for their art, but then suffered the obvious repercussions of their drive. At the Drive-In player their last show before their initial hiatus on February 21st, 2001. The remaining European, United States, and Japan shows were cancelled due to the sheer exhaustion and lack of desire to play the music anymore.
One would naturally assume this would lead to all five members flying home, resting, recovering, and preparing to return to action or even just stopping altogether. In what would become a typical move for Cedric and Omar, their form of self-care and escape from their music would be to engage in new and different music. Jeremy and Ikey would fly out to Europe, joining Cedric and Omar and beginning an aggressive month long tour of Europe, an echo of what would happen with Bosnian Rainbows a little more than a decade later.
De Facto would return to the United States, beginning one of the most interesting years in the history of Cedric and Omar. While the fate of At the Drive-In was still uncertain, the duo would spend months formulating and developing The Mars Volta. Before that first show in October, however, De Facto would continue to play semi-sporadic shows in California and Texas and release two more albums and an EP, documenting their studio and live efforts. An additional album, Black Hot Chrome, has been cited as recorded by Mario Caldator Jr., but allegedly was shelved after the closure of Grand Royal. The few shows that did happen and are documented are fun low key affairs.
More so, Omar would venture into film making and some of his earliest solo efforts. A Manual Dexterity Vol. 1, Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus, Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Jeremy Michael Ward were all recorded in 2001, making it a year of significant musical exploration.
Without further clarity it is hard to fully determine the investment De Facto was given or how the band viewed the trajectory of the group. Was this intended to be the next full investment for these four? Touring clubs, growing their fanbase, and playing lowkey slots at festivals, or was it always assumed to be a curious side project, a safe haven for these four when the pressure of their careers became to crushing. The initial The Mars Volta tour, planned to be called "De Facto presents The Mars Volta" was slotted for August of 2001, but cancelled due to Blake being fired from the band, is a curious footnote that grants greater evidence to De Facto being thought of something bigger and not bound by their dub energy.
Then again, that could easily be another intention that was dashed and tossed aside, such as the previously mentioned Bosnian Rainbows, ANTEMASQUE, Zavalaz, Nadie Sound or DEIMOS. Omar and Cedric are bottomless pits of creativity, which often leads to some short lived, but well intended ideas that are scrapped when the next exciting thing comes along.
De Facto would continue to exist into 2002, reforming when a breath of fresh was needed, and in reality that is how De Facto is remembered best, a reminder to breathe when the world becomes to cruel and demanding, a sonic down tempo trip that demands the reduction of heartbeat and the appreciation of the slow moving parts of our world.