
Coheed and Cambria, from left: guitarist Travis Stever, drummer Josh Eppard, guitarist and singer Claudio Sanchez, and bassist Zach Cooper.
From fantasy to reality, guitarist and singer Claudio Sanchez charts a new course on The Father of Make Believe, the newest part of the concept rockers’ Vaxis series.
When it came time to record Coheed and Cambria’s latest release, Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe, guitarist and singer Claudio Sanchez first sat down and listened to their last album, Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind, and realized he wanted to recapture some of that winning formula. “Even though Windowwas a Covid baby, and there were hurdles that we had to face, I was so proud of that record,” he attests. With the exception of cutting the drums in a Los Angeles recording studio, A Window of the Waking Mindwas a remote project, a new experience for Coheed and Cambria, but one worth repeating, according to Sanchez. “The material on The Father of Make Believe has the same DNA, so I was like, ‘Let’s just copy what we did last time, and we’ll deal with the future later.’"
For 25 years, Coheed and Cambria has been forging a musical path that tears at the very fabric of categorization as they’ve built a mythological universe based on a series of science-fiction comic books called The Amory Wars, created by Sanchez and Chondra Echert, and published by Evil Ink Comics. The multifaceted lyrical arc of their albums that follows the comics is quite possibly the longest-running concept story in music history, with each studio album detailing a chapter in the saga. Along with their genre-hopping approach to songwriting, The Amory Wars throughline has allowed Coheed and Cambria to carve out a unique niche for themselves by being hard to pigeonhole stylistically and brazenly fantastical lyrically.
SoundStream
Formed in Nyack, New York, in the early 2000s by Sanchez, lead guitarist Travis Stever, and drummer Josh Eppard, Coheed and Cambria also includes current bassist Zach Cooper. The band first gained attention with their debut album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade (2002), which introduced The Amory Wars storyline. Their sophomore album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003), established their presence as a progressive rock act, combining elements of pop, heavy metal, post-hardcore, and emo, and reached No. 52 on the Billboard 200. With the exception of 2015’s The Color Before the Sun, all of Coheed and Cambria’s subsequent albums draw on The Amory Wars narrative. Their newest is the third part of a series that was introduced with Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures (2018), and Act II featured “Shoulders,” the first song in their career to reach the top 10 on Active Rock radio charts.
Claudio Sanchez (with drummer Josh Eppard behind) and his Evil Instruments Jackhammer, which is manufactured by Dunable for the guitarist’s own brand.
Photo by Stuart Garneys
Musically,The Father of Make Believe fits neatly into the band’s existing sonic milieu, with yowling guitars, drums that beat like cannon waves, and Sanchez’s ethereal, high-pitched, and powerful voice centering conceptual moments both tranquil and turbulent. Where the album pioneers new territory is in how Sanchez reorients the lyrics and assumes the role of the main antagonist—he literally casts himself as the Father of Make Believe, questioning the efficacy of the fictional world he’s constructed with The Amory Wars. Besides lead-off single “Blind Side Sonny”—arguably their most aggressive track to date—and “Meri of Merci,” which were written in Paris, all of the songs on The Father of Make Believe were written in Sanchez’s home studio in Brooklyn, New York. Eppard’s drums were cut in Woodstock, New York, Cooper tracked bass in Florida, and Sanchez and Stever put their guitar parts together in Brooklyn. Sanchez mixed the record in LA with producer/engineer Zakk Cervini, who also produced/mixed A Window of the Waking Mind.
“As I get older, I’m recognizing how it feels good to be a little more transparent.”
One thing that sets The Father of Make Believe apart from the band’s past records is that Sanchez is writing more transparently about his own life and its influence on the narrative. As a result, he’s recently reflected on whether or not The Amory Wars storyline is an obstacle to reaching a broader audience. “I feel like there’s this limitation when people see this big grandiose concept tied to these records,” he admits. “I’m really curious about how this band would be perceived if the concept had not been a diversion. As cool as The Second Stage Turbine Blade sounds, it’s just a part my dad worked on in a factory when I was growing up, and the dragonfly [Turbine album cover artwork] resembles a syringe because my dad was a recovering addict. These are topics I wasn’t ready to talk about at 22 years old, so it was very easy for me to construct this narrative that I could use as a diversion. But as I get older, I’m recognizing how it feels good to be a little more transparent.”
Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believeis the third part of a series the band started back in 2018 with Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures.
Such realizations presented a challenge when it came to visualizing a follow up to A Window of the Waking Mind. And while Sanchez’s own desire to be more transparent, and the success of that album, presented distinct hurdles, recent personal losses and the deeply introspective questions that arose from grieving lost loved ones really affected his creative process. “My uncle passed away and his wife was widowed,” he says. “It reminded me of my grandfather’s situation when his wife passed away and he ended up living 35 to 40 years of his life without my grandmother. It just got me thinking about what life would look like if I passed away.” Faced with his own mortality, Sanchez couldn’t help interrogating Coheed and Cambria’s achievements thus far. “As death becomes very real, I started questioning where I’m at in my life and asking, ‘Is Coheed entirely how I envisioned it?’”
“Everything is a tool.”
Sanchez relies on a Mac/Pro Tools setup for recording in a Brooklyn home studio that also features a lot of outboard gear, including preamps, compressors, and combo amps. “If I’m trying to drive an actual amp, my main one is the Peavey Special 130,” he explains. “For clean tones, I have a Dual Reverb and a Blues Junior [both Fender], as well as a vintage Ampeg J-12 Jet.” He also employs stereo reel-to-reel and cassette four-track tape machines to help him break-up his signature crunchy rhythm sounds.
All that outboard gear doesn’t necessarily mean Sanchez is a purist when it comes to guitar tone. What listeners hear on Coheed and Cambria records is ultimately a hybrid of analog and digital. “I do use plugins here and there,” he admits. “We’re usually going direct with plugins so that when we go to LA for mixing, we can re-amp. There’s some cool dimension that comes out of the immediacy of the plugins mixed with the air from these amplifiers.” Recently, he’s even started incorporating Universal Audio UAFX guitar pedals into his signal chain. His reasoning for combining digital and analog resources to achieve the desired tone results is quite simple and based on some insight from a friend. “Somebody told me years ago, ‘If Jimi Hendrix was around right now, do you think he wouldn’t use all this stuff, being as creative as he was?’ There’s some wisdom in that. Everything is a tool.”
Claudio Sanchez's Gear
A pair of Gibsons for Coheed. Sanchez sports his white EDS-1275, while guitarist Travis Stever opts for a black Les Paul.
Photo by Stuart Garneys
Guitars
- Evil Instruments Jackhammer
- 1980 Gibson E2 Explorer
- Gibson EDS-1275 Doubleneck
- 1963 Gibson LP Custom SG
- Gibson Flying V Custom
- Gibson Baritone Explorer
- Gibson SG Special
- Gibson Explorer ’76 Reissue
- Gibson J-45 acoustic
- Taylor 512e Acoustic
Amps and Effects
- Fractal Audio Systems Axe-Fx III
- Fractal Audio FC-12 Mark II
- Mission Engineering Expression (pedals)
- Matrix GT-1000FX
- Shure Axient Digital wireless system
- Radial JX-42
- Mesa Boogie Road King 4x12
Strings and Picks
- Ernie Ball Slinky RPS (.010–.046)
- Dunlop Tortex .73 mm
Sanchez’s main “tool” is a signature model Jackhammer guitar he designed on his iPhone; it’s currently manufactured by Dunable under his own Evil Instruments brand. “I was on a plane to see my in-laws in Florida and started collaging the body type on my phone,” he recalls. “I went to Kevin Allen, my tech for many years who is also a luthier, and asked him, ‘Can we mimic the scale profile using my E2 [Explorer II] and make one just to see if this is worth exploring?” Allen built a working prototype that Sanchez took on the road, affirming his concepts. “I was like, ‘We can make this happen. Let’s find somebody who’s got the infrastructure to do it.’” They met with Dunable in California and proposed the idea to them—the rest is history. “I wanted to make sure it was something that I would play. I didn’t want it to just be something to put my name on. I want to play it.” The imports come stock with Alnico 5 humbuckers, and the American custom models feature the Bareknuckle pickups that Sanchez typically installs. While the body looks like a cross between an Explorer and a Flying V, the headstock is similar to a traditional three-and-three SG headstock.
Sanchez applies the same intuitive design acumen to his songcraft and says he basically has the identity of each song complete from his home studio, except for the drums. “I don’t play drums like Josh does,” he chuckles. “I’m also not trying to exclude their identities from the final pieces, so even though I might have some idea about where a rhythm sits, I’ll pass it around and get everyone’s feedback.” The most delicate balancing act is trying to find a middle ground between the guitars and the vocals. “That’s one of the big reasons why Trav comes in here [his home studio],” he explains. “So we can make sure we’re not stepping on the vocal too much, which is one of the hard parts about what Travis does. His frequency range is right where the vocal sits. We try to find a place where his identity can be expressed but also doesn’t take attention from away from what’s being sung because that guides the experience of the listener.”
“I wanted to make sure it was something that I would play. I didn’t want it to just be something to put my name on.”
Vocal and guitar interplay is clearly Sanchez’s wheelhouse. Though he was a guitar player at first, he considers himself more of a songwriter than perhaps anything else. “When I became a singer, I stopped learning how to play guitar and learned instead how to write songs,” he explains. “In high school, my dad got me a cassette four-track, and that changed my world, even more so than the guitar, because I started thinking about melodies and song structures and trying to create things.” In his first band, before he was a singer, he learned to play by writing songs, mostly eschewing covers (exceptions were made for “Blister in the Sun” by Violent Femmes and “She” by the Misfits). As far as influences go, he listens to just about everything, including classic rock, hair metal, death and thrash metal, grunge, and pop music. “When I write music, I never want to limit myself,” he confesses. “I never want a genre to dictate what my creative output is going to be. It’s just more colors for the palette.”
That kind of stylistic non-conformity is a hallmark of Coheed’s brand, but it can be equal parts blessing and curse according to Sanchez. “I imagine it’s a little perplexing to go through one of our records,” he admits. “But being a unique entity has a lot to do with the longevity of the band, and it’s afforded us really interesting tours, from Slipknot and Linkin Park to Primus and Incubus.” The musical ambidexterity that makes Coheed and Cambria unique among their peers probably also works to their advantage in the digital age of streaming and curated playlists. “Streaming is much different than when you had to take a chance on a record,” he says. “Right now, you can try as much music as you want with a subscription, which works in our favor because there’s versatility in Coheed that mimics the idea of a diverse playlist, not because we’re thinking that way. It just feels like it’s moved in our direction, and people are willing to explore more.”
YouTube It
Sanchez works the doubleneck last summer during “Welcome Home,” from Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness.
On our season two finale, the country legend details his lead-guitar tricks on one of his biggest hits.
Get out the Kleenex, hankies, or whatever you use to wipe away your tears: It’s the last episode of this season of Shred With Shifty, a media event more consequential and profound than the finales of White Lotus and Severance combined. But there’ll be some tears of joy, too, because on this season two closer, Chris Shiflett talks with one of country music’s greatest players: Vince Gill.
Gill’s illustrious solo career speaks for itself, and he’s played with everyone from Reba McEntire and Patty Loveless to Ricky Skaggs and Dolly Parton. He even replaced Glenn Frey in the Eagles after Frey’s death in 2017. His singing prowess is matched by his grace and precision on the fretboard, skills which are on display on the melodic solo for “One More Last Chance.” He used the same blackguard 1953 Fender Telecaster that you see in this interview to record the lead, although he might not play the solo the exact way he did back in 1992.
Tune in to learn how Gill dialed his clean tone with a tip from Roy Nichols, why he loves early blackguard Telecasters and doesn’t love shredders, and why you never want to be the best player during a studio session.
If you’re able to help, here are some charities aimed at assisting musicians affected by the fires in L.A:
https://guitarcenterfoundation.org
https://www.cciarts.org/relief.html
https://www.musiciansfoundation.org
https://fireaidla.org
https://www.musicares.org
https://www.sweetrelief.org
Credits
Producer: Jason Shadrick
Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis
Engineering Support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudion
Video Editor: Addison Sauvan
Graphic Design: Megan Pralle
Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.
New RAT Sound Solution Offers a Refined Evolution of Distortion
ACT Entertainment ’s iconic RAT brand has unveiledthe Sterling Vermin, a boutique distortion guitar pedal that blends heritage tone with modernrefinement. With a new take on RAT’s unmistakable sound, Sterling Vermin delivers a new levelof precision and versatility.
“The Sterling Vermin was born from a desire for something different — something refined, withthe soul of a traditional RAT pedal, but with a voice all its own,” says Shawn Wells, MarketManager—Sound, ACT Entertainment, who designed the pedal along with his colleague MattGates. “Built in small batches and hand-soldered in ACT’s Jackson, Missouri headquarters, theSterling Vermin is a work of pure beauty that honors the brand legacy while taking a bold stepforward for creativity.”
The Sterling Vermin features the LM741 Op-Amp and a pair of selectable clipping diodes.Players can toggle between the traditional RAT silicon diode configuration for a punchy, mid-range bite, or the BAT41 option for a smoother, more balanced response. The result is a pedalthat’s equally at home delivering snarling distortion or articulate, low-gain overdrive, with a wide,usable tonal range throughout the entire gain spectrum.
The pedal also features CTS pots and oversized knobs for even, responsive control that affordsa satisfying smoothness to the rotation, with just the right amount of tension. Additionally, thepolished stainless-steel enclosure with laser-annealed graphics showcases the merging of thepedal’s vintage flavor and striking design.
“From low-gain tones reminiscent of a Klon or Bluesbreaker, to high-gain settings that flirt withBig Muff territory — yet stay tight and controlled — the Sterling Vermin is a masterclass indynamic distortion,” says Gates, an ACT Entertainment Sales Representative. “With premiumcomponents, deliberate design and a focus on feel, the Sterling Vermin is more than a pedal, it’sa new chapter for RAT.”
The RAT Sterling Vermin is available immediately and retails for $349 USD. For moreinformation about this solution, visit: actentertainment.com/rat-distortion .
$149
Marshall 1959 Super Lead
The very definition of classic, vintage Marshall sound in a highly affordable package.
There’s only one relevant question about Marshall’s new 1959 Super Lead overdrive/distortion pedal: Does it sound like an actual vintage Super Lead head? The answer is, simply and surprisingly, yes. The significant difference I heard within the voice of this stomp, which I ran through a Carr Vincent and a StewMac Valve Factory 18 kit amp for contrast, is that it’s a lot quieter than my 1972 Super Lead.
The Super Lead, which bore Marshall’s 1959 model number, debuted in 1965 and was the amp that defined the plexi sound. That sound is here in spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts. Like the Super Lead, the pedal is easy to use. The original’s 3-band EQ is replaced by a single, rangeful tone control. The normal dial and the volume, which together mimic the character created by jumping the first and second channels of a plexi head, offer smooth, rich, buttery op-amp driven gain and loudness. And the high-treble dial functions much like the presence control on the original amp.
The pedal is sturdy and handsome, too. A heavy-duty metal enclosure evokes the classic black-with-gold-plate plexi look and a vintage-grille-cloth motif. Switches and knobs (the latter with rubber sides for slip-free turning) are ultra solid, and—refreshingly—there’s a 9V battery option in addition to a barrel-pin connection. Whether with single-coils or humbuckers, getting beefy, sustained, historic tones took moments. I especially delighted in approximating my favorite Super Lead head setting by flooring the high treble, normal, and tone dials, and turning back the tone pots on my Flying V, evoking Disraeli Gears-era Clapton tone. That alone, to me, makes the 1959 Super Lead stomp a bargain at $149.Two guitars, two amps, and two people is all it takes to bring the noise.
The day before they played the coveted Blue Room at Third Man Records in Nashville, the Washington, D.C.-based garage-punk duo Teen Mortgage released their debut record, Devil Ultrasonic Dream. Not a bad couple of days for a young band.
PG’s Chris Kies caught up with guitarist and vocalist James Guile at the Blue Room to find out how he builds the band’s bombastic guitar attack.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Devilish Dunable
Guile has been known to use Telecasters and Gretsches in the past, but this time out he’s sticking with this Dunable Cyclops DE, courtesy of Gwarsenio Hall—aka Jordan Olds of metal-themed comedy talk show Two Minutes to Late Night. Guile digs the Dunable’s lightness on his shoulders, and its balance of high and low frequencies.
Storm Warning
What does Guile like about this Squier Cyclone? Simple: its color. This one is also nice and easy on the back, and Guile picked it up from Atomic Music in Beltsville, Maryland.
Crushing It
Guile also scooped this Music Man 410-HD from Atomic, which he got just for this tour for a pretty sweet deal. It runs alongside an Orange Crush Bass 100 to rumble out the low end.
James Guile’s Pedalboard
The Electro-Harmonix Micro POG and Hiwatt Filter Fuzz MkII run to the Orange, while everything else—a DigiTech Whammy, Pro Co Lil’ RAT, and Death by Audio Echo Dream 2—runs to the Music Man. A TC Helicon Mic Mechanic is on board for vocal assistance, and a TC Electronic PolyTune 3, Morley ABY, and Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 3 Plus keep the ship afloat.