The Mars Volta—Isaiah “Ikey” Owens, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala—combine hardcore, progressive/psychedelic rock and free jazz and can be found on their new album, Frances the Mute. Owens uses a Korg CX-3 Combo Organ onstage.
He says, “Playing live, all of the band’s songs are pretty organ-heavy. The Korg CX-3 is kind of like the second guitar. Whenever there’s a heavy part, I’m playing the organ. A feature that I especially like about the CX-3, compared to other organ modules, is that I have the ability to switch the drawbar settings quickly. Once I set up my favorite sounds, it’s like having another version of them immediately available.” Owens also plays with the band Free Moral Agents and collaborates with artist and producer Danger Mouse. The Mars Volta has scheduled a fall U.S. tour supporting System of a Down.
For more information, please go to www.themarsvolta.com and www.korg.com. For more touring news, visit mixonline.com/livesound/tours.
