Claudio Sanchez, the hay bale-haired frontman for progressive rockers Coheed and Cambria, will never look back on 2006 fondly. It was a year wrought with lineup shifts, family deaths and hurdles aplenty. There was even a moment that the sci-fi-leaning concept band wondered if it should even bother carrying on.
In August, the band was forced to nix a European tour, following the departures of drummer Joshua Eppard and bassist Michael Todd, which put things in Coheed land in flux for a spell. In the spring, Todd returned to the fold, and Eppard was replaced by former Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Chris Pennie. Sanchez also lost his aunt, a social worker who'd counseled the band through several challenging times, to Alzheimer's disease; her death was a blow to the entire group.
"It's been an uphill battle," Sanchez explained. "Last year was terrible. It was an interesting time for this band and a very important time, because with all those experiences, I think we have created a very awesome album," the forthcoming Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow, which drops October 23. "We sort of rose from the ashes, which is something we never really had with any of the previous albums, which makes me feel like this is the strongest and makes for the best conclusion for the saga.
"Last year, we went through a lot, and I think, really, at the end of the day, it all helped kind of mold this album," Sanchez added. "Like [2005's Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness], where we kind of saw [the tale of Coheed and Cambria, an epic of love, death and deceit sprung from Sanchez's vivid imagination] from the writer's perspective, and how the writer's reality kind of affected the outcome of the story. This time around, it's pretty much that tenfold. This one's about everything we endured in 2006 and how that kind of translated over to the concept of Coheed and Cambria."
Produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Shadows Fall), No World for Tomorrow features Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who was summoned — the day before the band was scheduled to begin tracking — to fill in for Eppard. Being able to bring the Coheed and Cambria saga to a close has been rather relieving for Sanchez.
"I certainly feel a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders," he said. "Now I am thinking about what will happen in the future, about the prequel album, possible spinoffs." (Sanchez also hinted at bigger things coming down the pike for Coheed, including a possible film adaptation, either live-action or animated, of the albums' overall concept.) "It is nice to know I am closing the center of the whole mythology. Now, with this album, it has been established that, although the [upcoming] prequel is just as important, these four bodies of work really kind of stamp it. They make the mythology."
Surprisingly, despite all the headaches and heartaches the band has experienced in the last 12 months, the album isn't as dark as you might imagine and boasts a few heavy numbers, à la "Welcome Home."
"In writing the lyrics, I found certain lines that, instead of being so on the dark side of things, almost felt very hopeful," the singer said. "To quote some of the lyrics, 'Raise your hands high, young brothers and sisters/ There's a world's worth of work and a need for you.' It's almost like we've gone through all these changes, and we want our fans to know that we have endured and will continue. At the same time, on the conceptual side of things, it's the end of the story, the end of everything, so it's almost, in a weird way, tricking a following into their own demise ... if that makes any sense."
The band has been previewing at least one of the new songs, the disc's likely first single, "The Running Free," during this summer's Warped Tour, and the response has been positive. Look for the record to also contain the cuts "Mother Superior," "The End Complete," "Gravemakers and Gunslingers," the album's title track and "Justice and Murder," a tune inspired by Sanchez's aunt.
"She had a very interesting role in Coheed, especially after [the release of 2002's The Second Stage Turbine Blade], when Coheed actually disbanded for a second due to extensive touring and such. ... We were so overloaded, we kind of imploded," he said. "My aunt happened to be a social worker, a therapist, and we went to her and she helped us sort out our problems and helped us figure out what we wanted to do as a band, and thus, we endured and went on to [record 2003's In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3]. It was such a tragedy, because seeing her pass away and all that we endured in 2006, it was another brick in that wall. It made us wonder, 'Can we overcome this?' because we aren't going to have that help we had before."
For some of the tracks, Sanchez said he experimented with unfamiliar instrumentation, including organs and pianos, to create a sound he described as "Ray Charles on Quaaludes." A few of the songs were actually written on piano and later converted into very intricate guitar parts.
"Musically, I think our fans are going to really enjoy it because there are a lot of callbacks to the other albums," he explained. "But it's hard to say what will happen to this band when the concept is finished. There are so many avenues we could explore, if we really wanted to dive into the conceptual side of things. The solar system that I have created [with the Coheed saga] involves 78 planets, so there are worlds of things we could explore, as well as moving into another piece of fiction or whatever. We're artists — we can find an interesting way to move from this to another thing, if we chose to do that. If I were to say this is the end of Coheed and Cambria, I think our audience would be excited about it."
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Harry Potter 7
Well it has been a while since I have written written on here and I will solely blame myself. I have just been too lazy and I didnt want to buy internet for the summer because CableOne is a monoply and therefore can rape you on price. I usually just go to school a little early and use the internet there for free. I'll bet you can see my motivation.
This past Friday/Saturday was one of the biggest days for Potter fans. The last book in the series was released at 12:01 am on Sat 21. This process had started 2 years ago when I had finished book 6. 2 LONG YEARS! So in order to actually get a book, my story starts at 8am on Friday.
So in order to be able to buy the book on Friday night, you had to have a wirst band, and to get a wrist band, you had to go to Barnes at 9am to stand in line to get the book. So not trusting my narcoleptic girlfriend to complete this first monumental task, I went to get our wristbands at 8:30am. There was already a huge line verging around the corner so I was slightly skeptical. Nevertheless, I got our wrist bands labeled 1-250. This meant we were in the first group of people who could line up inside the store. If we had these wristbands and werent early enough to get inside the store before they reached fire code capacity, we would be at the mercy of the mob outside.
I thoght we should come early to avoid this fiasco, so we arrived at 7:30pm. A little crazy? Maybe. There were already a few people sitting around and dressed up, but we turned heads as we walked in the door. Paige dressed as Professor Trelawney, and I as Lucius Malfoy. This was weird too because total strangers would come up to us and ask for pictures, and in my case, one girl wanted my character's autograph and another girl wanted a hug. Weird.
This past Friday/Saturday was one of the biggest days for Potter fans. The last book in the series was released at 12:01 am on Sat 21. This process had started 2 years ago when I had finished book 6. 2 LONG YEARS! So in order to actually get a book, my story starts at 8am on Friday.
So in order to be able to buy the book on Friday night, you had to have a wirst band, and to get a wrist band, you had to go to Barnes at 9am to stand in line to get the book. So not trusting my narcoleptic girlfriend to complete this first monumental task, I went to get our wristbands at 8:30am. There was already a huge line verging around the corner so I was slightly skeptical. Nevertheless, I got our wrist bands labeled 1-250. This meant we were in the first group of people who could line up inside the store. If we had these wristbands and werent early enough to get inside the store before they reached fire code capacity, we would be at the mercy of the mob outside.
I thoght we should come early to avoid this fiasco, so we arrived at 7:30pm. A little crazy? Maybe. There were already a few people sitting around and dressed up, but we turned heads as we walked in the door. Paige dressed as Professor Trelawney, and I as Lucius Malfoy. This was weird too because total strangers would come up to us and ask for pictures, and in my case, one girl wanted my character's autograph and another girl wanted a hug. Weird.
There were some kiddie games and little things for kids, but we took a picture by a poster, and while Paige was coloring it, a man came up to me and asked if he could interview me for the radio. I said sure, because as an actor, you want to get your voice heard. You can check out his pictures and the audio podcast file here: http://www.trevorhirst.com/weblog/
Find the little audio mP3 icon and click to listen. Then move to about 30 minutes into the podcast and listen.
So after this little surprise they started the costume contest. They started with the adults, which was weird considering there were little kids that went last. Anyway, anyone who wanted to compete lined up and everyone circled up. Moment of truth. We each took a turn and walked out. Paige, who was amazingly dressed, walked out, and being an actor, took control and everyone was clapping and yelling. When I walked out, being an evil character, I was greeted by boos. Long, loud, boos by many people. Needless to say I did not make it to the second round. Paige however got 3rd place. She should have gotten a higher place, but a girl wearing a toilet seat beat her out.
When this was over, we sort of thought ahead and lined up close to the register and waited for everything to happen. Finally people started getting close and then before you knew it there were only 10 minutes until we could buy the book. Then, low and behold, FOX News came up to us and wanted an interview, seeing as we would be one of the first ones to buy the book. We reluctantly agreed and said we would meet them to our left.
Then the final countdown. When they said 3,2,1,0- the store erupted and I was one of the first nine people to buy the book, as I was the first in my line. Wow. About 10 years of my life boiled down to 759 pages. So we moved to the left after buying it, and FOX News was no where to be seen. But we just left and as we did, there was a worker yelling how many people had left to the lady working the door and she would let that many people in to get their book. Crazy.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Coheed And Cambria: 'IV, Volume 2'
Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez has announced the release of the bands next full length for Columbia Records.
The record is titled: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World For Tomorrow, and is due out October 23, 2007! It is the follow-up to Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness, which was released in 2005.
The album was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush).
Though the album marks the debut of drummer Chris Pennie, formerly of the Dillinger Escape Plan, the album reportedly has contributions from Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Bassist Michael Todd, who left the band last August for personal reasons, had rejoined the group and took part in the recordings.
Coheed and Cambria last released Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness in 2005. They'll serve as one of the headliners on this summer's Warped Tour.
Lead singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez recently spoke with comic book news sites Newsarama and Comic Book Resources about his upcoming series The Amory Wars, which adapts the narrative from the band's albums. The inaugural miniseries will adapt Second Stage Turbine Blade and pairs Sanchez with artist Gus Vasquez and cover artist Tony Moore.
The record is titled: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World For Tomorrow, and is due out October 23, 2007! It is the follow-up to Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness, which was released in 2005.
The album was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush).
Though the album marks the debut of drummer Chris Pennie, formerly of the Dillinger Escape Plan, the album reportedly has contributions from Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Bassist Michael Todd, who left the band last August for personal reasons, had rejoined the group and took part in the recordings.
Coheed and Cambria last released Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness in 2005. They'll serve as one of the headliners on this summer's Warped Tour.
Lead singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez recently spoke with comic book news sites Newsarama and Comic Book Resources about his upcoming series The Amory Wars, which adapts the narrative from the band's albums. The inaugural miniseries will adapt Second Stage Turbine Blade and pairs Sanchez with artist Gus Vasquez and cover artist Tony Moore.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Incubus Guitarist Plans A Symphony
It’s too early to break out the tux ‘n’ tails and the conductor’s baton, but Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger is working on a symphony.
The project began in March, after Einziger had surgery to relieve debilitating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. “I couldn’t play guitar for a few months,” Einziger tells Billboard.com, “so I just started studying music again. I started working on (the symphony), and I learned very quickly that there were a lot of gaps in my musical knowledge.”
Einziger began studying five days a week with a teacher and also spent time with a “musical mentor.” The symphony project remained his focus, and he’s working on it during INCUBUS‘ current headlining tour of North America to promote its 2006 release “Light Grenades.”
“I’m just kind of writing it in small pieces, ’cause it’s very intimidating to think of it as a whole body of work,” explains Einziger, who hasn’t titled the piece yet. “It’ll probably be three movements and 40 minutes of music, and that’s a lot of music to write.
“And I completely realize that it can’t just be interesting only because it’s the guitar player of a rock band writing it. It has to stand up to the work of other composers as well. It’s a pretty hefty task for me to endure, but I’m actually excited about it.”
Einziger says Incubus‘ road schedule should give him plenty of time to continue working on the symphony. After wrapping up on these shores, the group will hit Europe and South America in the fall, with Australia, Japan and other parts of Asia slated for 2008.
The next Incubus album is also on the quintet’s radar — especially since any leftover “Light Grenades” material has been used up for B-sides and bonus tracks.
“We’ll be starting completely from scratch,” Einziger says, “but that’s how we like to do it. We like to look at our albums as photo albums from a very specific time and place. We want them to be representative of where we were at a specific time, so including older songs would seem strange. Everything we do next time will be fresh and brand new.”
The project began in March, after Einziger had surgery to relieve debilitating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. “I couldn’t play guitar for a few months,” Einziger tells Billboard.com, “so I just started studying music again. I started working on (the symphony), and I learned very quickly that there were a lot of gaps in my musical knowledge.”
Einziger began studying five days a week with a teacher and also spent time with a “musical mentor.” The symphony project remained his focus, and he’s working on it during INCUBUS‘ current headlining tour of North America to promote its 2006 release “Light Grenades.”
“I’m just kind of writing it in small pieces, ’cause it’s very intimidating to think of it as a whole body of work,” explains Einziger, who hasn’t titled the piece yet. “It’ll probably be three movements and 40 minutes of music, and that’s a lot of music to write.
“And I completely realize that it can’t just be interesting only because it’s the guitar player of a rock band writing it. It has to stand up to the work of other composers as well. It’s a pretty hefty task for me to endure, but I’m actually excited about it.”
Einziger says Incubus‘ road schedule should give him plenty of time to continue working on the symphony. After wrapping up on these shores, the group will hit Europe and South America in the fall, with Australia, Japan and other parts of Asia slated for 2008.
The next Incubus album is also on the quintet’s radar — especially since any leftover “Light Grenades” material has been used up for B-sides and bonus tracks.
“We’ll be starting completely from scratch,” Einziger says, “but that’s how we like to do it. We like to look at our albums as photo albums from a very specific time and place. We want them to be representative of where we were at a specific time, so including older songs would seem strange. Everything we do next time will be fresh and brand new.”
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
News From Coheed
Tomorrow our summer officially begins.
We are done with recording and ready to rock all summer long on Warped tour. We are very proud of the new record we just completed and can’t wait for you to hear it. We are looking to release it in October.
We will have lots of news and fun announcements, contests, and a new song along the way, so keep a look out for stuff. On another note we feel like we have a lot of good new merch for Warped (and more coming as we go). So say hello to our friends Erin and Rory in the Merch booth.
And we’re sure you’ve heard the rumors and they’re true. We would like to welcome our new drummer, Chris Pennie. He is a phenomenal drummer and we look forward to playing with him this summer and beyond. We are very lucky to have him on board, so give him a shout out at the shows.
As the summer progresses, you will start hearing more and more about our new album and we hope you are as excited as we are about it all unfolding.
Love,Claudio, Travis, Mic and Chris.
Co&CA
We are done with recording and ready to rock all summer long on Warped tour. We are very proud of the new record we just completed and can’t wait for you to hear it. We are looking to release it in October.
We will have lots of news and fun announcements, contests, and a new song along the way, so keep a look out for stuff. On another note we feel like we have a lot of good new merch for Warped (and more coming as we go). So say hello to our friends Erin and Rory in the Merch booth.
And we’re sure you’ve heard the rumors and they’re true. We would like to welcome our new drummer, Chris Pennie. He is a phenomenal drummer and we look forward to playing with him this summer and beyond. We are very lucky to have him on board, so give him a shout out at the shows.
As the summer progresses, you will start hearing more and more about our new album and we hope you are as excited as we are about it all unfolding.
Love,Claudio, Travis, Mic and Chris.
Co&CA
Monday, July 9, 2007
Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace
“It has always been my dream to mix Steely Dan with No Means No,” Dave Grohl tells Billboard of the eclectic sound of the sixth Foo Fighters album, tentatively titled “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace” and due Sept. 25 via RCA. “If anybody is going to do it, I’d love to be that guy.”
Indeed, the 12-song set may throw some fans for a loop, as tracks like “Let It Die” and “Erase Replace” make drastic stylistic shifts in a matter of seconds. “There’s four-piece rock band sh*t, but then there are songs where the middle sections turn into this mass orchestrated swarm and ridiculous time signatures,” Grohl says of the new material.
Among the rockers sure to sizzle in arenas this fall are opener “The Pretender" ("It’s a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song, with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it”) and “Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup Is Running" ("That will make festival grounds stomp really hard").
At the other end of the spectrum, “The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” finds Grohl and guest guitarist Kaki King flexing their fingerpicking. “This song is almost banjo-picking style with hammer-ons and pull-offs,” Grohl says. “I showed it to her once and she shredded it 10 times better than I’ve ever played it.”
That song was inspired by two Tasmanian miners who were tapped underground for two weeks and, while awaiting rescue, requested an iPod with Foo Fighters music on it to help lift their spirits. Grohl was alerted of the situation by a staffer at the band’s Australian record company and wrote a note to the two men.
“I was in tears, man,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Hey guys, it’s Dave. You’re in our thoughts and prayers. When you get out, there’s two tickets and two cold beers waiting for you wherever you want to see the band.’”
The men were eventually brought to safety, and when one of them came to see the Foos play the Sydney Opera House, "I thought I’d write something for him," Grohl says. "I came up with this little instrumental thing. After the show, we went and got fuckin’ wasted in the hotel bar and I was like, 'Dude, I promise I’m going to put this on the record.' "
Here is the track list for Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace:
01. The Pretender
02. Let It Die
03. Erase Replace
04. Long Road to Ruin
05. Come Alive
06. Stranger Things Have Happened
07. Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup Is Running
08. Summer’s End
09. The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners
10. Statues
11. But Honestly
12. Home
Indeed, the 12-song set may throw some fans for a loop, as tracks like “Let It Die” and “Erase Replace” make drastic stylistic shifts in a matter of seconds. “There’s four-piece rock band sh*t, but then there are songs where the middle sections turn into this mass orchestrated swarm and ridiculous time signatures,” Grohl says of the new material.
Among the rockers sure to sizzle in arenas this fall are opener “The Pretender" ("It’s a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song, with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it”) and “Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup Is Running" ("That will make festival grounds stomp really hard").
At the other end of the spectrum, “The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” finds Grohl and guest guitarist Kaki King flexing their fingerpicking. “This song is almost banjo-picking style with hammer-ons and pull-offs,” Grohl says. “I showed it to her once and she shredded it 10 times better than I’ve ever played it.”
That song was inspired by two Tasmanian miners who were tapped underground for two weeks and, while awaiting rescue, requested an iPod with Foo Fighters music on it to help lift their spirits. Grohl was alerted of the situation by a staffer at the band’s Australian record company and wrote a note to the two men.
“I was in tears, man,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Hey guys, it’s Dave. You’re in our thoughts and prayers. When you get out, there’s two tickets and two cold beers waiting for you wherever you want to see the band.’”
The men were eventually brought to safety, and when one of them came to see the Foos play the Sydney Opera House, "I thought I’d write something for him," Grohl says. "I came up with this little instrumental thing. After the show, we went and got fuckin’ wasted in the hotel bar and I was like, 'Dude, I promise I’m going to put this on the record.' "
Here is the track list for Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace:
01. The Pretender
02. Let It Die
03. Erase Replace
04. Long Road to Ruin
05. Come Alive
06. Stranger Things Have Happened
07. Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup Is Running
08. Summer’s End
09. The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners
10. Statues
11. But Honestly
12. Home
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Transformers
Okay so back last year when I saw the tiny preview for this movie I actually laughed. It looked pathetic. I was totally wrong. After watching the movie, I remember actually having some of the toys when I was little (so Mom you sould find those for me.) This was by far the best action movie I have seen in a long time. I was disappointed with Spiderman 3, and somewhat mildly interested in Fantastic Four 2, but this took the cake (and it was a 3-tiered chocolate!) The producers must have been working on this one forever. It had a ton of big name actors, an immeasurable budget, and some of the most fluid and realistic special effects I have seen. You really couldn't even complain that it was 2 hours and 30 minutes. My only complaint? Harry Potter. I am scared that Transformers will dwarf what happens next Tuesday at midnight (for which I already have tickets!!) The number one on my list this summer was (obviously) Order of the Phoenix. Now I am worried that it won't win the Grand Champion ribbon at the county fair. In the theatre last night, it got to be a little bit too much when the 35 year old dudes were screaming with joy when certain characters would first make an enterance. I'm not talking living actors. I'm talking the Transformers. Unbelieveable! I just want to know who they are clapping for. Do the CG animators actually place special devices inside the projectors at movie theatres so they, who are sitting at home playing World of Warcraft, can smile and say, "You're too kind! I know I'm the best!"? NO! I've never worked at a theatre, but I bet they get to watch a lot of movies and once I'd see it a couple times, I would make bets with my "friends" to see if they clapped during certain times. Note to everyone- clapping is for live action!
Rating- 9.2 out of 10
Best Part- Animation/Special Effects/Shia LeBeouf
Worst Part- Clapping Shitheads
Rating- 9.2 out of 10
Best Part- Animation/Special Effects/Shia LeBeouf
Worst Part- Clapping Shitheads
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