Tony Hajjar

Tony Hajjar
Hajjar at the Frequency Festival 2017
Background information
Born	(1974-08-17) 17 August 1974 Beirut, Lebanon
Origin	El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Post-hardcore alternative rock electronica
Occupation	Drummer
Instruments	Drum kit samplers
Years active	1996–present

Tony Hajjar (born August 17, 1974) is a Lebanese-born American drummer, best known for playing in At the Drive-In and Sparta. As of 2016, he is playing in the reformed At The Drive-In, as well as the new group, Gone Is Gone. Tony also produced and drummed on the forthcoming New Language record. Both New Language and Gone Is Gone made their live debuts on April 27, 2016 to a sold out crowd at the Dragonfly in Los Angeles.

Biography

Hajjar was born in Beirut, Lebanon. His family fled Lebanon during the Civil War, moving to the United States and settling in El Paso, Texas. When Hajjar was fourteen his mother died from cancer and his father, who had been distant, left the family. His brother, only 18 years old at the time, assumed responsibility for the family and raised Tony and his sister.

Hajjar joined post-hardcore band At The Drive-In in 1996, becoming the band's fourth drummer. He remained with the band until they split up in 2001. During breaks from touring Hajjar taught chemistry. Following the demise of At The Drive-In Hajjar formed the band Sparta with fellow ATD-I members Paul Hinojos and Jim Ward. He also played on several other bands' recordings, including Jimmy Eat World's "Disintegration" on their "Stay on My Side Tonight" EP. As a drummer, his technique is particularly unusual. He plays a right-handed set up, playing right-handed, but switching to his naturally more dominant left hand during fills and rolls.

In 2006 Hajjar released a 16-minute short film entitled "Eme Nakia" (Arabic for Mother Nakia, Hajjar's mother's name) as part of a special edition of Sparta's album, Threes following Hajjar's early life story.

Discography

With At the Drive-In

• El Gran Orgo (1997)
• In/Casino/Out (1998)
• Vaya (1999)
• Relationship of Command (2000)
• This Station Is Non-Operational (2005) [compilation]
• in•ter a•li•a (2017)
• Diamanté (2017)

With Sparta

• Austere (2002)
• Wiretap Scars (2002)
• Live at La Zona Rosa 3.19.04 (2004)
• Porcelain (2004)
• Threes (2006)

With Nakia

• Nakia (2004)

With New Language

• Come Alive (2017)

With Gone Is Gone

• Gone Is Gone EP (2016)
• Echolocation LP (2017)
• If Everything Happens for a Reason... Then Nothing Really Matters at All LP (2020)