Interview #606: Coheed and Cambria

Since bursting onto to the rock scene in 2001, Coheed and Cambria have gone from strength to strength, touring with the likes of Slipknot and Linkin Park and releasing five concept albums, all of which reveal a science-fiction based story line developed by lead singer Claudio. Fusing progressive rock, metal and slices of punk into their music, Coheed and Cambria place a high importance upon intricate musicianship, a standard set higher still with the release of their fifth album Year of The Black Rainbow in April 2010.

I Like Music caught up with drummer Chris Pennie during Coheed's recent visit to the UK. We chat about their innovative 2008 Neverender Series tour - which saw them play their first four studio albums in succession across four nights, the Coheed process of writing, learning and developing the band, advice for young musicians and music Chris has been listening to lately.

"I Like Music because… it’s pretty much the only thing in my life that I’ve experienced that doesn’t let you down and is always there for you. It’s a philosophy; anything that you put into it you get an answer out of it. It helps me to cope and identify with things. When things are bad I know through what I’ve experienced that I’ve just got to sustain it, and then I put my energy into something that I love and kind of control. There’s always something to look forward to by putting something into music, that’s quite a rewarding relationship and a very humbling thing. At the end of the day I feel like it’s always there and you get what you put into it. It’s what I live for. I feel like it’s my purpose in life and it makes me feel really good about everything.” Chris Pennie, Coheed And Cambria

ILM: Hello! How has the tour been going?

Chris: Things are good, the shows have been good. For me personally it’s been a trying day…even though we’ve only been over here for like three days, I found out that for some reason my phone bill is $3000! So I’m wondering what the hell that’s all about! I’m a little pissed off about that…but other than that I’m good.

ILM: Oh dear! I hope you get it sorted. Other than that, does touring live up to its enviable reputation?

Chris: It depends on what you wanna do. It’s just like with anything, if you’re going do that sort of thing eventually it’ll run out. Especially in this world, things move very fast. There are drawbacks and advantages to being on tour, just like everything else. The advantage is the travel, you get to play and share the stage with people that you admire and who were your heroes growing up. But there are also other things – if you take anything in excess it’ll come round to bite you in the ass. The best road to stay on is to keep an even head. I’ve always kept that mentality, I think everyone in the band has. Just work hard, think what’s going to happen down the road and try to keep things in perspective.

ILM: Is it easy to lose perspective?

Chris: Yeah, when you get out on the road you can easily get caught up in a lot of the drama and the things that come with it. Steering clear of that has been part of the key to the success of the band. Just remembering that first and foremost you’re here to play, that the most important thing at the end of the day. We don’t really dabble in all the other stuff; we might have done it when we were younger but now all of us just want to keep exploring and learning and trying to get better at what we do. That’s my perspective at least. If you’re gonna go hard, you’re gonna burn out quick, but if you’re smart about things and handle business right, you’ll be able to find yourself in the game for a little while.

ILM: What is it that you look forward the most about playing live?

Chris: We’ve definitely travelled a lot seen a lot of things. But I think the best thing is the whole process. Making new tunes, seeing how they work in a live setting. In the downtime on tour we write more and learn more about our music. Then when we go back to working and writing on another record, we’ve become a little smarter or there are other things that we want to tackle creatively. It’s just an ongoing process all the time, and that’s exciting! Plus, being able to meet people that you grew up listening to is great.

ILM: You’ve toured with some huge artists, which have been some of the most inspiring?

Chris: Being on the Deftones tour. Deftones for all of us have been a very inspiring band that we really loved growing up and still do to this day. For me as a drummer, I’ve always loved Abe’s playing. Being able to sit and chat with him or watch him from a real close distance – those are the moments that I enjoy the most, the things I really live for.

ILM: The Neverender tour series was an amazing idea; would you do something similar again?

Chris: I think we will, there have been talks about it, but nothing definite yet. It might be something a little bit different. The whole experience was great for me. It was quite a challenge, being the newest member and only in the fold for really about a year and a half. There were a bunch of tunes that I had to learn. But it was cool because the band hadn’t touched some of the songs for a long time, so we re-discovered them together. It was really cool to span all the four records, to play and just hang in the city for like four nights. We all live very close to New York, but Chicago, LA and obviously here in London; we were able to just hang out, be in the city and relax.

ILM: When did you first discover your passion for music?

Chris: I think I was about 13 or 14. I met a couple of kids from school and some from another. We kind of fused all these people together that later became the early incarnations of The Dillinger Escape Plan. I think right then and there, when we all got together, I knew it was what I wanted to do. We played a lot of Slayer and a lot of metal covers early on. It’s pretty interesting that it’s led this far. There’s still so much that I want to accomplish and be a part of. It seems like it’s pretty never-ending; there’s always a set of goals that I want to achieve and that I feel the band want to achieve as well. There’s a lot to work towards, it’s always an ongoing process.

ILM: What are some of those big goals yet to come, what are you working towards?

Chris: New records I guess. We’re going to finish up this tour and maybe have a bit of downtime, so then we’ll be writing. For me personally, I just want to be doing a whole lot of drumming; just always acquiring knowledge whether it’s Jazz or Latin or Indian music. Things that may not directly deal with the band but will find their way in somehow, once I study them I feel I can digest it and in an indirect way work into some of the parts in the band. I’ve also really been into composing and film-scoring. There are a lot of avenues to take.

ILM: What type of things do you want to work on, any set genre of film?

Chris: I’d rather do a generalist thing than something specialist. I’m pretty adept in most things so I’d rather be ready on a lot of different levels. Then if someone threw some work my way, I’d try my hand at a bunch of different things. There’s not one specific topic…

ILM: What are some of your inspirations outside of music?

Chris: A lot of it is music-related. I also think my parents – they’ve always been supportive and there for me. Then there’s the people I surround myself with, including the guys at Coheed and a couple of close friends and musicians who are all brutally honest with me. I really appreciate that. If something sucks or if it’s good they’ll tell me. I’m influenced by drummers and musicians constantly. I’m always interested in seeking out and investigating how people make great music, how they arrive at their decisions, why they would choose this sound or apply that groove. I think that’s one of the biggest motivating factors – the continuation of trying to understand the process.

ILM: How would you describe the Coheed and Cambria process of making music?

Chris: We kind of have a system, and that usually arrives in the form of a riff or a basic melody. There have been different systems for it. With demoing No World, I was just coming into the band. Even though I wasn’t able to record, files were passed around and we’d add parts and toss them back and forth. It’s all about making time; if we have an hour or two of downtime we usually fill that in with writing or talking about the set, or talking conceptually about what we’re trying to achieve musically. We also work on things on our own and then bring them to the table. It can be a very hectic schedule with interviews, signings, sound checks, playing, travelling to the next town…We usually tour eight or nine months out of the year so we have to make time, but it’s not too bad because we enjoy doing it!

ILM: What have you been listening to lately?

Chris: I’ve been listening to a lot of my friend’s band, this guy Mark Juliana. He’s got this record called Beat Music which is a very avant-garde, jazz-ish, funky-ish kind of thing. He’s just a phenomenal drummer! He’s played with a lot of jazz artists. I’ve been listening to a lot of soundtracks too and older stuff like Nine Inch Nails, that’s always in the playlist! DJ Shadow, occasional metal too like Meshuggah, that sort of thing. Just keeping it varied and open, not getting into one genre and listening to a million bands in that category. It’s like maybe one metal, one rock, one hiphop, one electronica, that sort of thing…

ILM: Out of all the gigs you’ve played, which have been some of the most unforgettable?

Chris: I could pick a handful! The first couple starting out with Dillinger were great, playing at festivals like Reading and Leeds on the main stage as the first band to go on was definitely unforgettable. There have been small gigs where drummers that I’ve looked up to and really admire have come along and said they really enjoyed it. Definitely opening for Linkin Park at Madison Square Gardens when it sold out! I’ve seen a lot of sporting events there and I’ve been there plenty of times with my parents, so to be on that stage in that particular was pretty amazing. And coming back less than a year later with Slipknot – a band that growing up I really enjoyed… Those are the gigs that particularly stand out.

ILM: What would be your advice to young musicians?

Chris: My personal opinion is that it’s really tough, and even harder nowadays to be able to do it on a consistent basis. I feel very fortunate to be in the position that I am but you kind of have to surrender yourself to the process of it. There are certain sacrifices that you’re going to have to make. It depends on what you feel is important. To me, being able to make music all the time is pretty much the ultimate thing I want to do. That means surrendering time with friends, having a girlfriend… It’s very hard because no matter how many people say they understand, it’s a very few percentage of people that really, totally get what you do and the physical and mental sacrifice that goes with it. It takes a lot of time and everyone is constantly thinking about the process. People don’t take well to that; it’s not like a 9 to 5 job, it’s a 24 hour job. My point is that if you want to do it and make it a career, you’ve got to keep your head clear, always be thinking about the process in spite of all the temptation and bullshit, take everything in moderation and work hard at it. Then you’ll have a good chance of surviving.