Pitchfork: Paul Hinijos Ditches Sparta for the Mars Volta

Paul Hinijos Ditches Sparta for the Mars Volta

Apparently, nostalgia's running deep in El Paso. Hot on the heels of the retrospective At the Drive-In anthology, Paul Hinojos has announced that he will be leaving one ATDI spinoff (Sparta) for its sprawling cousin (the Mars Volta). Hinojos will take over the duties of the late Jeremy Michael Ward, who died from an apparent drug overdose in 2003. In those heady, pre-De-Loused days, Ward primarily handled sound manipulation (a la Martin Swope in Mission of Burma), and according the to Mars Volta's website, Hinojos will begin in much the same role: "Hinojos... will initially be confined to the off stage audio acrobatics that Ward had become reknowned for." However, "band leader Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is adamant that Hinojos will eventually share the stage with his bandmates during live performances."

Hinojos is quoted on the site as saying, "My time with Sparta has run its course, and simply wasn't fun anymore." So much so that Hinojos joined his new band during the middle of their current tour, though news of the move has only surfaced in the past week. A wistful Rodriguez-Lopez commented, "We've been friends since we were kids, played in bands together for years, and Paul was close to Jeremy. It's always been clear to me that Paul was the only person who would be appropriate to take Jeremy's place and fill what we feel is an integral role within the band."

Not so wistful are Sparta fans. Predictably, a move with so much history behind it has sparked bewilderment and even anger for fans, some of whom clearly haven't been this upset since it turned out Mom and Dad didn't love each other anymore. The brief announcement on Sparta's website sparked invectives, good-lucks, pleas for Sparta to remain intact, bickering among the fans, and, of course, graciously opportunistic offers to replace Paul. Sparta, by the way, mentioned in the contentious news item that they will keep working toward a new album and that they "have not yet decided on a replacement." Who knows, maybe Cedric Bixler will get restless under the shadow of Omar's afro-- we can dream, can't we? Anyway, those remaining Mars Volta dates:

06-03 San Francisco, CA - Greek Theater
06-04 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theater
06-07 Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theater
06-08 El Paso, TX - Abraham Chavez Theater
06-10 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
06-16 Hultsfred, Sweden - Hultsfred Festival
06-18 Seinajoki, Finland - Provinssi Festival
06-21 Warsaw, Poland - Stodola
06-22 Prague, Czech Republic - Roxy
06-24 Interlaken, Switzerland - Greenfield
06-25 Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Area 4
06-26 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Rock in Park
06-28 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
06-29 Madrid, Spain - Aqualung
07-02 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-03 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-06 Kristiansands, Norway - Quart Festival
07-09 London, England - Somerset House