Omar Rodriguez-Lopez talks about John in his Guitar Player interview
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta, El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez and a bunch of other projects is talking about what he learnt from John, how he influenced him and what was his role in recording the band’s album Octahedron, which was published back in June.
Guitar Player – What picks and strings do you use?
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – I like the orange Dunlop Tortex picks and I use Ernie Ball strings gauged .013 to .056 with a wound third.
Wow, is that why you don’t use a lot of vibrato?
Maybe. I never realized my strings were so heavy until other guitar players were like “What the f**k are you doing?” When John Frusciante realized I had them he was amazed and kept asking me if I was really doing all those bends using those strings. But if I use lighter strings I really pull them out of tune because as I said I don’t have a gentle touch – and that also affects my vibrato. Someone like John plays with a lot of finesse, so you can hear all those little things that he does with vibrato and everything, whereas my playing is sort of bulldozer-esque.
Speaking of Frusciante, what were his contributions to Octahedron?
Besides being a very close friend of mine who understands what I’m trying to do, John is another musician that I utilize to execute my compositions. What I look for in a musician is the ability to learn and memorize horribly fast, because I’m impatient. And they have to be able to do it without fear or reservations, and to play with all their heart and soul so that their personality comes through. In filmmaking terms, I’m the writer and director and the musicians are actors. THey learn their lines and say them, and then we share the bigger story together.
In what ways has he influenced your playing?
He’s the reason I don’t have the affinity for the guitar that I should: because I know that I’m a phony. John’s one of those people that I’ve always wanted to be. He picks up the thing and there’s no separation between him and the guitar. Every single thing he plays has finesse and beauty to it. He’s a natural, whereas for me it has come through a lot of playing and stubbornness, and thinking that the guitar and I are stuck with each other so we’d better make the best of it.
This is an excerpt of the interview from the February 2010 issue of Guitar Player. If you’re interested in buying the magazine, click here, as it’ll probably be on the front page soon. If you’re, by any chance, interested in the outtakes of this interview, they’re on the GP site, too.
Many thanks to Phil for the heads-up.
