Sir Jon Theodore recently sent me an e-mail concerning Letter Never Sent, it went roughly as follows:from: a badass drummer with a badass band
to: FJDelgado
hi FJDelgado,
thanks for the kind words.
nice blog dude.
thank you for being so kind.
jon
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The Mars Volta are an incredibly talented rock band in the spirit of Yes, the Who, Rush, and Jane's Addiction, but with a unique approach and sound. I've been following them for quite some time because their drummer, Jon Theodore, is the son of a friend of my father. Jon grew up around here (ten minutes away from me) before embarking on his trip to the West Coast and a rock band with big expectations.
Mars Volta's newest full length release, Frances the Mute, has gotten a good deal of critical praise, including a glowing four-star review from Rolling Stone, and they've already been the supporting act for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and System of a Down on major U.S. tours.
Frances also made Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records of 2005 list in the December 2005 edition - the issue with King Kong on the cover - and Spin magazine frequently refers to the Mars Volta as a leader among the younger generation of musically virtuous bands.
Jon also has a reputation as an amazing drummer; many magazines and fellow musicians consider him to be one of the very best to surface in a long time. In fact, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, himself a pretty damn good rock rhythm-section man, has called Jon Theodore the best drummer he's seen in ten years (scroll to bottom).
I've e-mailed Jon a handful of times and he seems like a down-to-earth guy, and it's definitely interesting to watch a band evolve and get glimpses of that from one of its members first-hand. While their recorded and live material may be difficult for the casual music fan - Frances the Mute is only 5 songs despite being a full-length LP - this band is without a doubt worth checking out if you enjoy concept albums and musicianship of high level.
More blogs about Jon Theodore.
The Mars Volta official website
Windows Media stream of "The Widow" here
2 comments:
You know his dad?
-Well can you please find out whether they are playing a sideshow (i.e., in Addition to the Big Day Out) in Australia in 2006?
Cheers man!
TMV have a very strong following... very few people know that Frances debuted at #4 on the Billboard chart in the U.S., and that their fan base is dedicated.
either way, D, you are correct about bloggers ignoring the band - they are too talented to miss and they deserve some more exposure.
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