Mars Volta Labels Western Media Swine Flu Coverage “Terrorist”

The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López has spoken out against the negative tone of foreign press against the Mexican outbreak of swine flu. He told NME:

“It’s not the hysteria that the right-wing media are making you think it is. It’s less dangerous than a common cold. This has been a perfect moment for right-wing republican media to say: ‘You see! You see these filthy people? You see what they’re doing? This is very scary!’”

Rodríguez-López thinks that the Mexican economy has been damaged due to the media coverage, and said that “it’s another act of terrorism, it’s another terrorist tactic.”

“There’s more infected people in the United States – in New York – than in all of Mexico City, (…) and New York has not issued an emergency,” he justified. “The fact of the matter is that it’s [swine flu] completely treatable and more people have died from the common flu.”

Does Omar have a point? Is the media playing on people’s fears?

The guitarist also commented on The Mars Volta’s new album Octahedron, saying that he was influenced by Syd Barret, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake. “It was an interesting exercise for me to make all the songs acoustic based,” he said. “In fact, now I’m finding that it’s a limitation that I have: I don’t know how to write in major keys! That’s why a lot of my songs end up sounding dark, and sad, and melancholy.”

Octahedron is scheduled for release on June 22, can the band handle a more happy, uplifting acoustic style?

Source: NME