In Nov. '94, at.the.drive.in's first 7 , Hell Paso
(Western Breed) was released
on the band's own label. The following month, the band trekked 2,000 miles
across the great state of Texas on their very first tour. In June of '95, after a
member change, ATDI's second single, Alfaro Vive, Carajo
(Western Breed),
showed the progress the band had made in such a short time. A '81 Ford
Econoline was purchased and the band hopped in and headed out on a 42
day/10,000 mile US tour.

People began to take notice, friends were made.
(These two 7 s are no longer
in print, but Alfaro... is now available on CD from Jim's very own new label,
Headquarter Records). One of those friends was me, Blaze James. I, along with
other Flipside staff members, eye-witnessed them explode in front of 9 people in
a now defunct LA bar. I was so enthralled, I offered to put out their record that night.
So, ATDI headed out again for a 21 day Southwest tour that ended in LA, where
they recorded Acrobatic Tenement
(Flipside) for $600, a blistering outpouring
of youthful energy and feelings rarely explored by other bands of any genre.

In the months following, Tony and Pall joined the band and Omar moved from
bass to guitar, and as soon as the record hit the stores, the band hit the road.
This time it was a 100 day/24,000 mile US tour
(Feb-June, '97), that included
shows with Screw 32, JChurch, AFI, Still Life, Mustard Plug, Face to Face,
Cosmic Psychos and hundreds of others. Their following began to grow. The
band took a month off before it began rehearsing for the next record/tour. El
Gran Orgo,
(Offtime) a six-song CD EP, was released on September 18, '97
and showed a more melodic side of the band, but the musical depth and
heartfelt emotion was never more apparent. Two days later the band was in
Boulder, CO kicking off a 35 day/11,000 mile tour that included six dates with
Karp and the Young Pioneers. Headlining shows in the midwest the band was
now drawing between 100-350 kids.

Flipside was no longer putting out records, and Offtime couldn't afford too, so
the band literally approached almost every indie label they could think of. No
one would bite. The band was seriously feeling like there would be no next
record, until Bob and Michelle Becker of Fearless Records came to see them
at a bar
(Club Mesa) one night while the band was opening for Supernova. It
was hard to imagine for both the band and Fearless, because of Fearless'
history of putting out mainly pop/punk style bands. But the band felt very
comfortable with Bob and Michelle on a personal level, and the Fearless
camp couldn't deny how much they liked the band, so it was done.

They began recording In/Casino/Out the third day of June, 1998. With Alex
Newport at the helm, they spent the next 4 days recording and two more
mixing what would become the record to establish ATDI as a real band.
The song writing had obviously matured, Jim, who took a break from the
band during the El Gran Orgo recording and tour, was back. This recording
aimed at getting the live sound across on record. How to do that? Record
them LIVE, of course! The entire record, including vocals was recorded straight
to tape, with only a few vocal and guitar overdubs. From the initial blast of
Alpha Centuari, to the heartwrenching epic, Napolean Solo , to the ballad-y

(with Jim singing lead) Hourglass, the band made a record that truly
reflected what they were doing, proudly, from start to finish.

The record was out six weeks later, and the band began a seemingly endless
tour that day, July 24th in Los Angeles with a 4 day stint w/AFI, Good Riddance
and By the Grace of God. They toured. Two weeks with Knapsack in the
Midwest and East. Two Weeks with The Murder City Devils in the West. A
date with Fugazi in Des Moines. Texas with the Archers of Loaf, and so many
dates in between. The tour lasted
(with a few short breaks in between) until
December. They took off a few months to rest and record some songs for
different comps and splits that never saw reality. So the band toured again
in March of '99. This time two weeks of big shows with Jimmy Eat World
through the South and East. Then, three days off before they boarded a plane
for their very first trip to Europe. Six weeks and 11 countries; shows with
Good Riddance, Promise Ring and a whole slew of european bands, and all
new friends to be made. Remi was the tour driver, and Paul Drake came
along to supervise.

The band then layed off touring, except for a 5 day So Cal sweep in late May
and the This Ain't No Picnic festival on July 4th in Irvine Canyon, CA with
Sonic Youth, Get Up Kids, Sunny Day Real Estate and more. ATDI was on
the itsy-bitsy side stage . Still, it was awesome. So, the boys had these
songs that were mostly newly recorded, and now that it had been nearly a
year since their album came out, decided to put them together on an EP for
their beloved Fearless label. Vaya was born on July 13th, 1999. A 7-song
peek at what the band is and will be, Vaya shows the power and the
delicateness of the band's writing capabilities. Like snuggling with a rabid
pitbull. The reaction to Vaya was overwhelming. The tour to support Vaya
began on July 28th in Austin, TX with their friends, Universal Recovered, also
from El Paso.

After 6 days, the band said a fond goodbye to their hometown pals and met
up with Blue Tip
(Dischord), to finish the final 3 weeks of the tour. New York,
San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego were among the Sold Out shows
on this headlining tour. Gary Gersh and John Silva were starting a record
company, and they took notice. They soon signed the band to DEN Records.

As the band was preparing to start writing their next full length record, they
were invited to do a 3 week tour with pop-emo stars, The Get Up Kids... This
began on halloween night in Minneapolis and covered parts of the Midwest
and most of the northeast, including two dates in Eastern Canada where the
band had never been. These shows were even more amazing than expected.
Phenomenal turnouts, passionate fans, great shows, night after night. 22 days
to truly remember. It was on this tour where the band recorded a song with
producer Ross Robinson, during a few days in New York and were truly taken
in by his methods. It was this session that convinced the boys that he was the
guy who could get every ounce of them onto tape, and that he would be the
one to produce the full length.

So once again, it was thought that these were the last shows of the year, until
we got a call from Rage Against The Machine wanting ATDI to open a six date
stint of their tour, two weeks away... How could we pass up this? We had just
played those cities with the Get Up Kids, so it didn't feel like we were forcing
fans to see us in this ungodly large, unintimate atmosphere, and they could
surely come if they chose too. So once again, writing was postponed a little
longer so that we could join the Rage guys for a brand new experience... It
was a great time, though occasionally uncomfortable on stage, but new friends
were made and isn't that what it's all about? Can we get to the new record now??

On January 17th, 2000, the band entered the remote Malibu cabin known as
Indigo Ranch. Over the next seven weeks, the band was pushed to the brink
and back by themselves and by Ross to put their lives and limbs onto tape as
“Relationship Of Command” was created. Sounds corny, but their blood, sweat
and tears were literally laid out for all to see. ROC demonstrates the band
exploding more vigorously and dynamically then ever before. The struggle, the
angst, the sincerity, the joy… everything that comes out in the live performance,
trapped in a jar and pressed on to CD and vinyl, with nothing held back. Andy
Wallace stepped in to mix it all down to a final cohesive package. Near the end
of the recording, the band was alerted that the label known as DEN was merging
with Grand Royal Records, and that Mike D was now involved. This was good news.

After the recording, the band made its initial trips to Japan and the UK
(as well
as a return to the mainland of Europe), and the kids and press over there simply
freaked. Within days of their shows, word spread like a Malibu brush fire throughout
both lands that this was one hell of an exciting band. We’ve been saying that for
years, haven’t we?