Tony Hajjar

Tony Hajjar
Hajjar at the Frequency Festival 2017
Hajjar at the Frequency Festival 2017
Background information
Born (1974-08-17) 17 August 1974 (age 52)
Beirut, Lebanon
OriginEl Paso, Texas, U.S.
Genres
OccupationDrummer
Years active1996–present

Tony Hajjar (born August 17, 1974) is a Lebanese-born American drummer, best known for playing in At the Drive-In and Sparta. He is also a member of the supergroup Gone Is Gone.

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, and was a part of the band's subsequent reunions in 2012 and 2016-2018. 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.

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.

Hajjar has been a member of the experimental supergroup Gone Is Gone since 2016.

He performed on the track "Grey Area" for Puscifer's 2023 remix album, Existential Reckoning: Rewired.

Hajjar has been composing music since 2009, with his work appearing in hundreds of movie trailers. He also helped compose the 2013 action-adventure game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

Discography

With At the Drive-In

With Giant Prophet

With Gone Is Gone

With Nakia

With New Language

With Sparta

With Tü Edge

Guest appearances

Soundtrack

References

  1. ↑ Tony Hajjar, (Sparta) June 2002, thenitmustbetrue.com
  2. 1 2 "Mastodon, At the Drive-In, QOTSA Members Form New Band Gone Is Gone". Rolling Stone. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  3. 1 2 3 Gormely, Ian (20 June 2017). "At the Drive-In". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 2025-10-04. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  4. ↑ Chick, Stevie (2017-02-24). "At the Drive-In pick up where they left off – sounding like the future". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  5. ↑ Stone, Rolling (2012-08-07). "Q&A: At the Drive-In on Their Reunion Tour, Aging in Rock & Roll". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  6. ↑ McMahan, Tim (March 26, 2002). "Sparta: Phoenix Without Ashes". Lazy-i. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
  7. ↑ Tony Hajjar Internet Movie Database
  8. ↑ Berman, Stuart. "Gone Is Gone: Gone is Gone". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  9. ↑ Editor (2020-08-06). "At The Drive-In's Tony Hajjar on Gone Is Gone's new music and being a "quarantine band" before Covid - Soundsphere magazine". Soundsphere magazine. Archived from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2026-08-24. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ↑ Mahmud, Abir (2022-09-15). "News: Puscifer Enlist Trent Reznor, Justin Chancellor." New Noise Magazine. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  11. ↑ Feb 2017, Ben Meyer On 23rd. "Tony Hajjar". Modern Drummer Magazine. Retrieved 2026-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Audeze. "Audeze talks to composer, producer and drummer Tony Hajjar". Audeze. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  13. ↑ "Tü Edge, by 501w33rd". 501w33rd. Retrieved 2026-08-23.