The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is one of the most prolific, yet enigmatic, characters in rock and roll today. The man released six solo albums in 2009 but still remains somewhat of a mysterious entity.

Talking to him from his messy Belgian hotel room, I attempt to dissect the band’s live shows, find out where the band’s at now and whether At the Drive-In will ever get back together. Just don’t ask him where he gets his inspiration from.

2009 was something of a contradiction for The Mars Volta. They released Octahedron to critical acclaim and were awarded a Grammy for – œBest Hard Rock Performance’, but in the process fired their drummer Thomas Pridgen. Omar won’t tell me why (it’s “family stuff”) but I do know that the band are currently in the process of trying out new drummer Dave Elitch; who will likely use the Australian shows as practice.

I ask whether it’s tough for the band to go through line-up changes, with such intricate and demanding songs. “Sure yeah it’s tough, but it’s also exciting,” he observes. “It’s like getting a new girlfriend; finding someone who is a great person, intelligent, funny, with a good sense of humour, fun, beautiful, all of that. It’s fun. You have a lot of dumb conversations along the way but once you get there it’s all worth it.”

The band will be in town over January for Big Day Out, where At The Drive-In made headlines in 2001 when Cedric Bixler-Zavala labelled the crowd “sheep” for heavy moshing and walked off stage after only a handful of songs. The Mars Volta will only play a few songs too, but for different reasons – their live songs clock in at anywhere between five and 50 minutes.

Fans can expect new material at the band’s Australian shows, and Omar also points out that the live shows aren’t as improvised as people might think. “Most of it’s worked out already before we play. A big misconception is that we do hours and hours of improvisation, which just simply isn’t true. I put a set-list together based on what I feel like playing; songs that I still think are fun to play. Then I’ll throw in themes from new songs, so it’s also a way of rehearsing them onstage. If you listen to the history of the band you’ll always hear certain melodies or parts or little sections that later appear on records. There’s so much time on stage when you’re on tour, it’s a great healthy time to rehearse new material.”

Looking back at the band’s past, chaos has always seemed to be the way of life for both the band and Omar himself. The band’s 2008 album The Bedlam in Goliath was plagued with various problems, including the engineer suffering a nervous breakdown, the studio flooding and tracks disappearing. With constant line-up changes, the band seems almost as volatile as the music itself.

“Chaos has been a way of life since I can remember,” Omar elaborates. “Chaos has always been attracted to me and it’s not something I can choose. I think a lot of people around me over the years have thought I’m attracted to chaos, and I thrive off of it or it’s how I perform the best, but I just think for whatever reason it’s what’s been chosen for me. It’s what I’m used to.”

So, is there a new album on the way? “Yeah, I scrapped one, made another one and scrapped that too. I’m in the middle of another one now and this one’s looking like a real winner,” he says, giggling. I can’t decide if his laugh is one of genuine excitement or sarcasm, but I’m looking forward to it either way.

After talking about new material, I decide to turn the conversation towards the past. It’s with a healthy dose of trepidation that I ask whether now would be an ideal time to re-form At the Drive-In, with the recent departure of Thomas Pridgen and sister band Sparta effectively disbanded. I get a lengthy laugh in response.

“Oh man,” Omar says. “That’d be like if you were married and you were settled in and you’ve got a house, would now be an ideal time to get back with your high school girlfriend again? It’s a funny question. It’s funny the way people view bands, as so disposable, like – œNow you should have a reunion.’ These are human relationships we’re talking about.”

So, where does the man get his inspiration from these days? The band has a well-documented history of drug use, but these days the answer is much simpler… at first.

“It’ll sound stupid but…it’s called living,” he begins. “I know it sounds really dumb and cheesy, but inspiration is really that simple. There’s nothing grandiose about it. Inspiration is simply information that’s coming in.

“For example, I have an addictive personality, and at the moment I’m doing interviews but I can’t stop thinking about waffles. I ate three or four yesterday and now I can’t stop thinking about them! This is inspiration, this is happening right now. Then once you start digging beneath the surface, the waffles thing is just the surface. You start posing a lot of questions to yourself, like, – œWhy can’t I stop eating waffles?’ You come up with answers or you come up with more questions – there are only two options there.”

Being so widely creative, would Omar want to be remembered most for his solo stuff or The Mars Volta? “I don’t know, it’s a weird question,” he muses. “It’s all the same to me, the solo stuff and Mars Volta. It’s all my music and I do all of it I guess. I don’t separate one from the other. It’s all just images and portraits; it’s all expressions. I don’t know if I’ll even be remembered, so I don’t know what I’ll want to be remembered for. I guess I hope it’s something positive, and that I was a good person.”

The Mars Volta is about to land in Australia for the Big Day Out tour, plus three sideshows proudly presented by FasterLouder.

Sunday January 17th – Gold Coast Parklands
Monday January 18th – Tivoli, Brisbane
Wednesday January 20th – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Friday January 22nd – Sydney Showground
Monday January 25th – Festival Hall, Melbourne
Tuesday January 26th – Melbourne Flemington Racecourse
Friday January 29th – Adelaide Showground
Sunday January 31st – Perth Claremont Showground