The Mars Volta are not afraid of "losing fans" if said fans don't like the musical direction they've taken on their new eponymous album, their first new album for more than a decade, the release of which was confirmed earlier this month.
In an interview with The Guardian last week, the band's Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala said that they have gone for a more pop-orientated sound with the new material. “I’m not bound by genre", added Rodríguez-López, “the only thing that matters is if music makes you feel something".
After Bixler-Zavala noted that he had seen some negative reactions to the new music online, Rodríguez-López continued: “Losing ‘fans’ is baked into what we do. I don’t know a greater happiness than losing ‘fans’. A true fan is someone interested in what’s happening now, and then there’s everyone else trying to control what you do or project on to it".
“I have an aversion to that", he went on. "That sounds like school. That sounds like the government. That sounds like the police. And unfortunately that’s what a lot of people who think they’re fans end up thinking like".
So, to conclude, The Mars Volta are happy to lose some fans, but only because they're not 'true fans'. And, if you're a Mars Volta fan not impressed with the new material, well, that's you told.