Coheed and Cambria
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Coheed and Cambria

New York natives Coheed and Cambria are set to release their first non-concept album next month. The Color Before the Sun (out Oct 16) is a deliberate departure from the sci-fi themed narrative that has formed the basis of all their previous recordings. “We’ve always been known as a progressive band,” says drummer Josh Eppard. “People say ‘Oh, it’s a Coheed record – it’s going to have some really weird interludes and there’s going to be a couple of eight minute songs’. That’s become our normal, right? So we see it as more progressive to now do something different.”
The lead single ‘You Got Spirit, Kid’ offers the perfect introduction to the band’s new direction. “I gotta tell ya – I never know how honest I’m allowed to be in these interviews, but nobody’s told me what not to say so I’m gonna give you the truth. I always knew it would be the first single,” Eppard says. “As soon as Claudio [Sanchez, lead vocals and lyricist] showed me the demo I said ‘You want your single – there it is’ and he said ‘Really?’ It’s crazy – sometimes Claudio writes these things that I think are just brilliant and he’s like ‘Ahh I just put this together real quick’. I love that song – I think that beyond the pop elements it’s wrapped in a bolder package and it’s an interesting contrast.”
The video clip is a homage to eighties teen flicks – the quartet play a bunch of misfits who ultimately get revenge against their tormentors (think Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Revenge of the Nerds). “We had so much fun making it! It’s fuckin’ stupid – it’s hilarious,” he laughs. “So hopefully it translates and people dig it.
“I sometimes think that because we have a very serious and a sci-fi element to our band, people think we’re a weird bunch of people with sticks up our asses! We like to have fun too.”
The latest single ‘Here to Mars’ is undeniably a love song dedicated to Sanchez’ wife, writer Chondra Echert. “I know that for Claudio it’s a very personal record. He recently had his first child and I think that had a lot to do with his mindset, but you’d have to ask him. I can say that whatever he puts his mind to, he can do.”
The Color Before the Sun
was recorded and produced in Nashville with the help of Jay Joyce. “He [Joyce] said he’d never worked with a band that was so prepared. He’d make jokes like ‘I don’t know what to do – you guys have it all figured out’. He’s had bands coming in with a guitar riff and no lyrics and here we were coming in with full songs, well thought out. But that’s just how we are – we tend to overthink everything but it’s worked so far, so that’s what we keep doing.
“I think Nashville seeped it’s way into the record – I don’t see how it couldn’t,” Eppard continues. “You’re around all this music and people that love music so it just naturally made its way into the DNA of the record. When you walk to get a cup of coffee you pass three guys carrying guitars heading to their gigs – there’s live music everywhere. Even in the building that we recorded in, there were songwriters working in the offices below. They would come upstairs and be like ‘Dude, you guys fuckin’ rip man!’ It was very inspiring.”
Written by Natalie Rogers
Release: New Album The Color Before The Sun out October 9