A Vague Concept

Growing up a diehard music lover, I’ve been bemused by many things associated with this art form that can be achieved so simplistically at times, yet in some cases, can afford its participants the opportunities to indulge in a deeper, more confusing delivery of their songs. KISS was always appealing to me simply because they put so much time into their alternate personas that you couldn’t help but ignore their music, mainly because it was horrible. Pink Floyd is a band that I respect only for the theory that you can play the entire Dark Side of The Moon album alongside The Wizard Of Oz, but I really have never liked much of their music. You sometimes get to the point where you’re not sure if these musicians are genuinely mysterious and are presenting these themes because they are artists, or if they just want to become the stuff that legends are made of. Luckily for me, the prospect of a band whose concepts finally equate with their musical prowess has surfaced, and according to Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitar), they couldn’t be more surprised at the level of notoriety they’ve attained in the last year.
“It’s been a big surprise, and it’s a good one. We didn’t really expect to do as well as we’ve been doing. I think sometimes the band is a little bit of a hard act to swallow for some people,” admits Sanchez. A self-professed pessimist when it comes to analysis of his band’s work, Sanchez elaborates; “Some people aren’t really into the high voice or the length of the songs. In past experiences, things that I’ve read, it’s always the bad things that stick out first.”
Coheed and Cambria, the band, alternate between a truly progressive-rock sound and an undeniably distinct indie-pop that has seen its share of criticisms. In the face of the traditional two-minute rock song, complete with whiny lyrics and minimal aptitude, Coheed and Cambria instead relish in six-to-10-minute epics involving an intricate yet vague plot that features two main characters; Coheed and Cambria.
“It’s basically a love story,” begins Sanchez. “These two characters end up finding out that they’re not exactly what they thought they were and they’re given this ultimatum that sends them on this journey to either save or end the world.”
The result, expectedly, is pretty hazy at this point in the band’s career. “I try to make it as vague as possible just because I’d rather the story tell the concept. I don’t want to give too much away,” adds Sanchez.
In the band’s latest release, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, the story is fleshed out a bit from the band’s first release, Second Stage Turbine Blade. To assist listeners of the album who may be confused, which should be all of them at this point, the group has plans to release a series of comic books for each album to convey the story more clearly.
“Once the comic books come out, for those who really want to inquire about the story, those will be available to them. The story will definitely make more sense, especially with the songs that I believe, on the lyrical end, [are] pretty obscured,” states Sanchez.
Perhaps the proverbial thorn in the side of any new band is the unwanted comparisons to bands of yesteryear. In the case of Coheed and Cambria, the comparisons came early on that they were the new Rush. Ostensibly, anyone with soaring vocal range and a distinctly high registered delivery, not to mention an admitted prog-rock influence, must be a fan of the archetypal prog-rock kings, right? Not so, surprisingly.
“There was a time when I wasn’t too into getting compared to Rush. Nobody in the band was a fan of Rush at all. Our last tour, we had so many comparisons to Rush that I decided ‘It’s time to go out and buy some Rush records’ to see what this was all about. Of the four records I bought, two of them I actually fell in love with. So, I consider it a great compliment now. Honestly, I think the real comparison lies in the vocals. There are prog-rock elements in Coheed, but I think we cater a little bit more to the pop side of prog-rock,” asserts Sanchez.
It is notable that for a band to explore the jumbled world of a concept album, the purveyors of this form of art may be influenced not so much by other bands’ attempts at theatrics and storytelling, but by movies and books, an influence that Sanchez admits to indulging in on a consistent basis.
“I like records that have a lot of ups and downs and that are dramatic. A long time ago, I had said to our producer, just joking around, I was probably drunk or something, ‘We’re not here to make fuckin’ records, we’re here to make movies!’ So, sometimes I like to look at it like that,” explains Sanchez.
With a finished product as cohesively devised as any saga written in music in the years since rock ‘n’ roll became mainstream, Coheed and Cambria’s unique approach, and ultimately brave endeavor to break the confinements of an ever-burgeoning, and often debilitating “emo” tag serves as a reminder that popularity doesn’t exactly produce innovation. And with at least two more albums expected by this talented group, it appears the story has just begun.

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