Rolling Stone magazine recently talked to AT THE DRIVE-IN drummer Tony Hajjar and lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, where they explain why they decided to get back together after they called it a day back in 2001.
What motivated you guys to get back together right now?
Bixler-Zavala: For me, the mending of an old marriage, really. We just sort of left an old marriage behind and never finalized it in a divorce, so it was good to finally come back and be like, “Take me back, baby!” [Laughs]Has it been difficult at all getting back into that old rhythm?
Hajjar: Actually, it’s been a lot easier than we thought. Last November, we decided to get in a room and play no old songs. And just jam. We did that for four or five days and it just went wonderful. That’s how we knew. After day four, we made a phone call and I just said yes to Coachella. And that’s how it all started at that point. You know, we’ve always been lucky because we always have a lot of chemistry in the room when we are together, so we knew in the first five minutes that we were ready to go and we were going to start doing this again.
How would you describe the difference between doing shows then and now?
Bixler-Zavala: It’s a new rhythm. I like to think I take care of my body a little bit more, I’m not screaming as much. I like to think that it’s a different version of what we did 10 years ago. That’s a little different maybe; that’s up front to everyone. I think it’s just figuring out a new way to get back to the old way that we presented it. I approach it differently now.
The rest of the interview can be read here.
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