De Facto (band)

History

The band originated from small jam sessions held after At the Drive-In shows. The original lineup consisted of Rodríguez-López, Bixler-Zavala, and Ward, who played local shows around their hometown of El Paso, Texas. Bixler-Zavala noted that an early incarnation was called the Sphinktators, which was more rock-oriented, with Rodríguez-López on vocals. For their first recording, the name De Facto Cadre Dub was brainstormed and later shortened to De Facto. The lineup shifted: Bixler-Zavala played drums, Rodríguez-López played bass, and Ward handled samples, vocals, and occasional guitar. Ralph Jasso, who had moved to keyboards, soon left the band. The self-titled recording was released as a limited vinyl pressing in 1999 and re-released in 2001 as How Do You Dub? You Fight for Dub. You Plug Dub In. through Headquarter Records. Rodríguez-López met Ikey Owens at a hip hop show; Owens joined De Facto midshow as keyboardist and later became a full-time member after the band relocated to the West Coast. Following At the Drive-In's breakup in 2001, Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala focused on De Facto. That year saw the release of the 456132015 EP, produced by Mario Caldato Jr., and the full-length album ¡Megaton Shotblast! on Gold Standard Laboratories. Légende du Scorpion à Quatre Queues, the final album, was released the same year through Modern City Records. Both albums combined studio recordings from 2000 with live recordings from a European tour in 2001. In 2001, the members formed The Mars Volta with bassist Eva Gardner and drummer Blake Fleming, though De Facto continued to play live shows. Rodríguez-López met John Frusciante at one such show, and Frusciante once guested on stage. The band released no new material after 2001, and Jeremy Ward died in May 2003 from a drug overdose.