At The Drive In TShirTS,

At The Drive In PosTerS

At the Drive-In was an American band from El Paso, Texas that existed from 1993 to 2001.
Influenced primarily by the likes of Fugazi[citation needed] and Drive Like Jehu[citation needed] as well as their native Texas hardcore scene, At The Drive-In crafted epic, musically complex songs laced with cryptic and strongly metaphoric lyrics. Founded in 1993 by guitarist Jim Ward and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, At the Drive-In's first studio recording was Hell Paso (Western Breed), an EP issued in 1994. At the Drive-In played their first live show on October 15, 1994 at the Loretto High School Fair in El Paso, Texas. Much touring would quickly develop a following as intense in loyalty as At the Drive-In was on stage. At the Drive-In aggressively sought shows and publicity in its early days, even going to the point where members pretended to be a polka chapel band in order to obtain an appearance on a local television show called "Let's Get Real". This reputation for hard work, the release of perhaps their best-known album (Relationship of Command) and their minor hit radio single "One Armed Scissor" (which had a music video in circulation on MTV) received positive attention in the rock press towards the end of their career. At the Drive-In's first nationally televised performance was on FarmClub, a now defunct television show which aired late at night on the USA network. After that performance At the Drive-In also appeared on Later with Jools Holland, Late Night With Conan O'Brien and The Late Show With David Letterman, performing their single "One Armed Scissor" on national television.
In 2001, at the peak of their popularity and following a world tour, At the Drive-In broke up, initially referring to the split as an "indefinite hiatus." The band played their last show at Groningen's Vera venue on February 21, 2001.

Cedric Bixler-Zavala took responsibility for the breakup for the At the Drive-In, saying repeatedly in interviews that he felt almost as if At the Drive-In were holding him back, and that he didn't want his music to be confined to 'punk or 'hardcore' - that it should encompass many different genres and be even more progressive, alternative, and "against-the-grain". Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez had stated that they wanted their next album to sound like Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, while the other members of the band were intent on progressing in a more typical rock direction. Following the break-up of At the Drive-In, Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez started The Mars Volta. This project was a departure from their previous work, as it pursued the prog-rock sound that they had been interested in. Meanwhile, the other members of At the Drive-In —Jim Ward, Paul Hinojos, and Tony Hajjar—started the band Sparta. Hinojos has since left Sparta to join Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez in The Mars Volta. Both bands have been very successful in their own right; Sparta's music is somewhat similar to At the Drive-In original work, while The Mars Volta deviated by changing into a more progressive hard/Latin rock group.

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