RHCP bassist Flea forms Antemasque supergroup with the Mars Volta
Following collaborations with Thom Yorke and Damon Albarn, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has now formed a new band with founding members of the Mars Volta and At The Drive-In.
Flea, the perma-topless slap bassist from Red Hot Chili Peppers, has been busy recently with extra-curricular activities in breaks from his regular band, forming a series of supergroups. First there was Rocket Juice & the Moon, formed with Damon Albarn and Tony Allen to play whimsical Afrobeat, and also electronic outfit Atoms For Peace, with Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich.
Now he’s playing in a combo with Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López, founding members of millennial math-punk stars At The Drive-In and prog rockers the Mars Volta. Their band, Antemasque, have posted a video trailer as well a pair of rehearsal videos, running through their song 4AM. Skateboarding brand Volcom reports that news of the song’s release will appear on the band’s Twitter page.
4AM is more towards the energetic, poppy sound of At The Drive-In, with strident power chords and yelped vocals; Flea contributes virtuosic flurries of percussive bass notes amid chugging rhythm lines. The first of the rehearsal videos focuses on Bixler-Zavala’s vocals, while the second focuses on Flea, with some typically dextrous playing and chat about his pearl-inlayed axe.
As well as being yet another project for Flea, the band marks a reunion of Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López, who split the Mars Volta after the latter formed a new band, Bosnian Rainbows. Bixler-Zavala voiced his frustration last year in a written statement posted via Twitter, saying Rodríguez-López had resisted a Mars Volta tour to focus on his new project: “What am I suppose to do be some progressive house wife that’s cool with watching their partner go fuck other bands? We owe it 2 fans to tour.”
Source: The Guardian
