Posted on
November 05, 2007 by
jeremyazevedo
CraveOnline talks to Claudio about his new album and comic, Amory Wars.
We had the chance to talk to Claudio Sanchez of “Coheed and Cambira” about his new album, “No Word For Tomorrow”, his “Amory Wars” comic, and the mythology that he seamlessly integrates within the two separate mediums. Whether you’re a long time fan of Coheed, or just checking them out for the first time, you’ll want to hear what Claudio has to say about the past, present and future of the refreshingly imaginative world of “Coheed and Cambria”.
CraveOnline: Many of our readers are interested in the idea of having an overarching storyline that flows through each of your albums. Has this idea of a multi-album epic narrative been the plan from the beginning, or did it sort of grow into that?
Claudio Sanchez: Well the idea was actually created together. About 10 years ago in ‘98 I took a trip to Paris. At the time the band was called “Shabutie”. And I created a side project called “Coheed and Cambria” which kind of chronicled my adventures in Paris, but in a fictitious sense like a science fiction fantasy. I hadn’t ever been anywhere other than Jersey, and I’m from New York, so this was a big thing for me, you know, to go outside the country. So I thought it would be cool to create a project like this where the music would kind of tell the story and then maybe eventually push it into another medium. And it was something that I just started working on, like for instance the songs “Time Consumer” and “Everything Evil” were actually created abroad and were a part of the story. But it wasn’t until 2000 when we signed to Equal Vision that it really became my main focus because the band had decided to change the name and everyone really liked “Coheed and Cambria”. So the idea, the two things, the comic idea and the mythology of the music were actually born together.
Claudio doing one of his best Guitar Hero moves.
CraveOnline: Your new album, “No World For Tomorrow” is billed as being the end of the story you’ve been developing for years now. Can you fill us in on some of the story elements that have led up to this albums narrative?
Claudio Sanchez: Well, “The Second Stage” (Coheed and Cambria’s first album) is where we really visit the characters of Coheed and Cambria. You catch them in their mid-life, they have children, and some of the things that happen in that story lead them to believe that they aren’t who the are, and in a sense that’s true. But there is a bunch of deceit at work here, and they get a bit confused, and eventually it leads them to their demise. The decisions that they make kind of affect everyone within the mythology, within the Keywork and Heaven’s Fence (the fictional setting of the Coheed and Cambria story). The remaining stories in “Keeping Secrets” and “Good Apollo” are about their son’s quest for vendetta and are also kind of a coming of age story in which this nobody becomes like the ultimate entity within this universe, with the power that can either change it all or destroy it all, and in this sense, destroy it all. And then next we’re gonna go on to the prequel album and revisit the characters of Coheed and Cambria and tell their true origins, because “Second Stage” is kinda based on a lot of lies, so you don’t know. You get a sense of where Coheed and Cambria are coming from, but you don’t know the true story, like why they are a couple and things like that. This will all be a part of the band’s next record, which, at the moment, is still untitled.
CraveOnline: After you’ve completed this story and then touched upon the prequel, in keeping with the theme of the band, what comes after that?
Claudio Sanchez: Well I’ve toyed with the idea of pushing into another mythology, and still using the characters of Coheed and Cambria… One of the things I was thinking of, and it probably won’t be the thing that I go with, is making this whole mythology a dream sequence for a character named Coheed in another universe and thus almost re-creating these characters and doing something like that, but I’m not sure that’s the one I want to go with. I feel like that’s the easy way out. The other idea is to push into telling stories of other characters. Like although “No World For Tomorrow” brings us to the ultimate end of Heaven’s Fence and the Keywork, the mythology is fairly large… the systems hold 78 planets, so we can tell stories of other characters in the same timeline, and how they are affected by the decisions of Coheed and Cambria and things like the “Amory Wars”. You know, I’m almost kind of toying with the idea of allowing the audience to kind of choose the adventure in a weird way. Do they want to kind of branch into another mythology, or do you want to meet and visit some of these other worlds that we don’t really touch upon in these stories and meet some of these other characters and that sort of thing…
CraveOnline: Despite the fact that the hero of “Armory Wars” shares your name, Claudio, I am particularly interested in the character of the “Writer”. Does the writer symbolize a part of your self? Are the two characters one and the same or are they mutually exclusive?
Claudio Sanchez: They are one and the same. You see, the thing is with a lot of these stories is that they come from a very personal place. Going back to your first question and talking about the Paris thing, this story actually kind of morphed into something else, it was no longer just a story that kind of paralleled that adventure, it was really more of an autobiographical story. The likenesses of Coheed and Cambria are definitely based after my parents, the symbolism that Dil-Ariuth IX (a desert world that factors heavily into the story) holds is very real it’s a very interesting metaphor, the 78 planets within the Keywork, the Keywork symbol, everything kind of has a real origin if that makes any sense. I think with the first “Good Apollo” where we see the writer, and we see the Willing Well and kind of the parallel between the fiction and the real… I think in a way I was trying to tell the audience that this science fiction story comes from a very real place with using those two different universes, and the two different sides to the characters. It’s almost like you can think of the writer character as almost like the homebody side of me whereas the character within the fiction can be whatever he wants, and eventually will be more of the performer and things like that. And there’s a lot of symbolism and metaphors that run with that. The main one would kind of show the audience that this whole thing is coming from someplace real.
An image from the “Amory Wars” comic.
CraveOnline: That having been said, how much input does the rest of the band have on the writing? Is it a collaborative project, or more of a personal one?
Claudio Sanchez: It’s definitely more personal. The story is kind of something that I created. It’s funny because the band definitely has moments, for example there’s a character inside “Keeping Secrets” and all the continuing stories called Sizer, who’s kind of this character who eventually will come to protect another character called Chase. There’s a relationship between the two, and Sizer I really based off of Travis, because I saw a parallel between their personalities. Sizer being a protector, Travis is very much like that and I thought it would be cool to make them work together, and use a little bit of his personality.
CraveOnline: Speaking of comics, what’s your take on the whole death of Captain America thing? Despite the fact that it happened quite a few months ago, it’s still a hotly debated on the CraveOnline comic section.
Claudio Sanchez: Well aren’t they recreating the character? Isn’t that sort of the continuing story of Captain America? See I’m not really much of a fan of the character, you know, I certainly purchased that book (the death of Captain America) to have in the collection just because “oh, it’s the death of Captain America”. And I can see the symbolism in killing the character, but I just had a feeling that he wouldn’t be dead for too long. It’s just a way to stir up interest in the character. Although again, I can kind of see the parallel between that and what we’re going through as a country. But you know in a weird way it kind of works because you cant help but think that they’re going to bring him back to try to revitalize that hope… you kind of focus in on this character that has this important role as a symbol for our country and then here he comes back super revamped, new costume, all of that.
CraveOnline: As an independent comic producer, do you see yourself ever working on a major Marvel or DC comic title yourself, or do you prefer to be the master of your own creation?
Claudio Sanchez: Hell yeah, dude! I would. Totally, I have a story for Batman actually, that I would love to work on! But right now, my main focus is completing the Amory Wars. But if DC or Marvel approached me for something like that I would totally do it. You know, I grew up on those characters. And certainly Batman is one of my favorites, and I’d like to give him a little sci-fi twist, not necessarily “Batman in Space”, but you know, something in that genre, using the character.
CraveOnline: If you could have any book after Batman what would it be?
Claudio Sanchez: Maybe wolverine? Yeah. I love that character a lot. On of my prize comics is “Incredible Hulk #181”, you know, the first appearance of Wolvie, I love him.
CraveOnline: What are your influences as a sci-fi writer? Do you have any particular favorite books, authors, and movies?
Claudio Sanchez: Yeah of course… you know, writing-wise, I’m definitely a fan of Brian Herbert, with “Dune”, I really like the mending of both religion and sci-fi, I kind of do that a little bit, to some degree, although I’m not religious. Honestly, I’ve never read the bible, I’m kind of drawn to the idea of religion but not to the extent that I’d actually join the church
CraveOnline: So no plans to become the next L. Ron Hubbard then?
Claudio Sanchez: No, no no! But you know I definitely love “Star Wars”, that’s a big thing for me, and Tolkein. I’m also a really big fan of Stan Lee and what he did with the Marvel mythology, in kind of creating an alternate New York… that’s awesome.
CraveOnline: Any plans for a film or perhaps a novel in your own future?
Claudio Sanchez: I’ve toyed around with the idea of doing film…. Not so much with the “Amory Wars” just yet. I’d really like to see it out in graphic novel comic form before ever taking that step. I mean it is a comic first. But my other project, “The Prize Fighter Inferno”, I’ve toyed around with the prospect of making it a comic but then I thought at the same time that this would make a better movie, possibly. I’ve toyed around with the idea of making a screenplay for it. It’s pretty much like a horror story, a “Romeo and Juliet” meets “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” kind of thing. I think it would probably make for a better movie. Hopefully, we’ll see. I haven’t had a lot of time to focus on it but it’s something I’ve been considering.
Coheed and Cambria’s current lineup enjoying a very natural looking blue-screen.
CraveOnline: I know you probably get asked this a lot, but your music doesn’t seem particularly influenced by a lot of the fly-by-night trendy bands out there today. What are some of your influences, and what new bands are you into right now?
Claudio Sanchez: Well you know, I haven’t been keeping up with contemporary music so much. I do listen to stuff, but it just doesn’t stick. Recently Travis turned me on to a band called “A Band of Horses”. I like it, but I haven’t had the urge to go and buy it. I’ve heard it in passing and I like it. Music is definitely my first love, but recently I haven’t been focusing on it, you know I’ve been focusing much more on the conceptual side of things and the comics and that stuff.
CraveOnline: What about the guys you are touring with, “Clutch” and “Fall of Troy”, how’s it working with those guys?
Claudio Sanchez: So far so good man! Now those guys, they’re awesome bands, and really nice guys. I think we’re all gonna have a blast on tour with those guys.
CraveOnline: Ok, so I wouldn’t call your new album “emo”, but it is clear that there is a very emotional undercurrent to it. Is there any one or two songs in particular that is especially meaningful to you?
Claudio Sanchez: They all are, but at the same time they are very much a part of the concept. But they also mirror some of the things that we went through last year with some of the member changes and things like that. There are very personal sides to these songs, which goes back to the earlier question of seeing things from two sides of the writers perspective and getting the audience to understand that this is all coming from a real very place. I think for the new album, I certainly think that “Mother Superior” is one of my favorites, and “Justice in Murder” is another… I think all of the songs are great, but if I had to pick two, those would be the two.
CraveOnline: Coheed and Cambria have been working on helping the fight against Alzheimer’s. Can you talk a little bit about how this came to be and what our readers can do to help?
Claudio Sanchez: Well we got together with the Alzheimer’s Association in New York City because last year my aunt actually passed away from it… and it was about the problems that she endured before her passing… and my mother who was helping and for a while her caretaker that was taking care of her, I just thought, what a horrible thing for anyone to have to go through. And I wanted to do something to help, and so we played a benefit show in Manhattan, which made sense because that’s where my aunt lived, and she loved the city so much. It was my way of saying goodbye to her, because I really didn’t have a chance to. The one thing you can do is just to get information from the Alzheimer’s Association, to learn about the disease. You don’t know, it might happen to you. It’s a bizarre thing to go through. I just wanted to do my part to help.
It’s all about the Panteen Pro-V.
CraveOnline: What’s it like playing live with one drummer, Chris Pennie, and recording with another, Taylor Hawkins? Does that create any particular challenges for the rest of the band?
Claudio Sanchez: Not really, because Chris has been there for the entire album with us, but unfortunately, due to a contractual obligation, he was unable to record with us. With Taylor, he pretty much went off of Chris’ template, so you know he certainly added some flavor here and there but at the end of the day it’s pretty much the same. There wasn’t that much of a departure from what Chris had done originally
CraveOnline: “Welcome Home” is featured on the upcoming game, “Rock Band”. Have you had a chance to play it yet? Does it live up to the expectation of simulating a live Coheed and Cambria performance in the comfort of your home?
Claudio Sanchez: Some of the guys got a chance to play it, because we actually did an article about it, and got a chance to demo the game. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to, but they sure as hell looked funny doing it. So you know I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m definitely a gamer, certainly, and I’m a fan of “Guitar Hero”. I’m sure that “Rock Band” is just as strong.
CraveOnline: One last question before we go: How many bottles of shampoo does it take per week to provide you with such a luxurious mane of hair?
Claudio Sanchez: Ha ha ha ha! Good question. Well actually, I don’t use shampoo that often, it kind of dries it out. The only reason I would ever put product in my hair… really the only thing I ever put in it is conditioner. And even then it just kinda gets brushed through it. And I use Panteen Pro-V, so I guess you can consider that a ringing endorsement!
