Growing Inspiration From Chaos (And Weed)

"When my wife and I found out that he [the baby] was coming, we were like, 'Okay, we're going to move back out of the city and into our country home'. Just as we decided to do that we found out our house was actually vandalised while in the hands of some renters — they actually turned it into a grow house situation, where they, you know… grow marijuana."

Amidst an identity crisis, doubts over the material he had and receiving news that he would soon be a father, one would expect that a bunch of hooligans growing pot in his country home would be the tipping point for Coheed & Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez, but for the multi-talented artist it turned into a source of inspiration. "It was absolutely a big deal," says Sanchez of the experience, "but, again, that's what kind of spawned songs like You Got Spirit, Kid," the film clip for which features a group of cheerleaders being fooled into consuming some 'special' brownies. 

"That's like the whole idea of Coheed & Cambria: it's about the unification of two people, regardless of concept." 

Consequentially the notion of becoming a father and Sanchez's connection to his wife helped the singer-guitarist re-remember the core of what Coheed & Cambria is. "It's an overall introspection of trying to figure out who I am in my world right now as a middle-aged man, I guess," begins Sanchez, speaking of Coheed & Cambria's latest album The Color Before The Sun. "Am I middle-aged?" he continues, questioning himself. "I guess I would consider myself that. I think all of that comes to clarity when you find out that there's this evolution in your life that is super-important and you're sharing that with someone. That's like the whole idea of Coheed & Cambria: it's about the unification of two people, regardless of concept." 

The Color Before The Sun is the first Coheed & Cambria record not to revolve around a concept. "This crisis was only as big as I wanted to make it," explains Sanchez, who was on the verge of releasing The Color Before The Sun as a solo record before life put things into perspective. "I realised that in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that big a deal." Fans are going nuts for the new material while Coheed & Cambria sell out venues in America with capacities between three and five thousand. "There's a lot of enthusiasm around the band at the moment. It feels really good. The crowds have been super-receptive and energetic. They're really feeding us to perform as well as we can."

The Color Before The Sun is also the first Coheed & Cambria record to be tracked live, which Sanchez attributes to producer Jay Joyce affirming their ability to do so. "This time around we allowed all the blemishes to really give character to the music as opposed to, you know, cleaning them up; letting that live dirt and grime really live with the album and help accentuate the idea that there was no concept and there was no disguise on this album. That's what affected the overall sound."