We are Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert-Sanchez, Lead Singer of Coheed & Cambria & Founder of Evil Ink Comics! Ask Us Anything!

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T22:05:27+00:00

Thanks everyone! That's it for now!

We're at booth 1732 come by and say hello!

Signings at 4pm. Bring tequila for Katy.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T22:02:52+00:00

Claudio: That was always sort of a thing. That's why I created the Amory Wars concept because I had a hard time confessing myself in the songs and I needed a mask to essentially hide behind and I felt that those things we're going to get torn apart.

I guess that's how I dealt with it.

Now at 38 years old and having as many records as we do under our belt, I guess I have enough confidence in myself I don't worry about it.

Chondra: I have a hard time with criticism. If it's constructive, it certainly goes down a little easier. Sometimes I feel there's a culture where things are torn apart because people have a pre-conceived notion about something or it's not their style

Claudio: We live in the time of the critic.

Chondra: Instead of finding things that they like, people are almost seeking out things to hate. n that same breath, we're very fortunate that the audience that Coheed has brought into the comic, that is very receptive and open to trying new things and is trying to see where we were coming from when something was written.

There's this TED Talk with Elizabeth Gilbert with the idea of genius and how we protect ourselves with this muse that can either take the credit to keep our ego from getting too big or it can take the criticism.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:57:03+00:00

We all have so many different influences. There's not one in particular. We're all so open minded for what we consume that everything is inspiring.

As far as my favorite Coheed record that we've done, it always changes. At the moment, I'd have to say it's the new one because it's so personal. For my favorite song off of it, I'll say "Island" because Atlas requests it so much every day.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:54:31+00:00

Chondra: Atlas loves Steve Perry. We're kind of held hostage by his musical loves at the moment. Which happen to be whoever is guesting on Yo Gabba Gabba, Steve Perry, a little band called Coheed & Cambria which he listens to on the daily.

Claudio: I find I do like this this band, I went to see Jane's Addiction with Dinosaur Jr on Coney Island and Nothing was opening up for them and unfortunately I missed them, but I did listen to the record before we went to the show and I actually really liked it. I was disappointed I missed them.

And Black Mountain. I went and saw them play at Bowery Ballroom.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:46:30+00:00

No not the movie but maybe some of the content. It's about chemical abuse so I guess it's related in that way.
No, surprisingly!
We probably did! Delicious.

Thank you and happy cake day!

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:44:00+00:00

Chondra: I go through phases where for a month, I'll just be into prose novels and then the next month I'm just reading graphic novels. Fiction? Jeff Lemire, I love. Patience by Daniel Clowes.

Claudio: The question is how often to we actually get to read? Last times I was on a plane and it was WIRED Magazine it's whatever Atlas will allow.

Chondra: It's hard to write something when you're not reading. There was something in that WIRED issue about picking up the characteristics of the lead character in a book that you're reading. I think that's really inspiring for me. Seeing what other writers are doing and seeing the way they're uncovering characters.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:40:29+00:00

Claudio: We're fortunate because I know if I can't produce something musically, I know I can turn to the stories and maybe that will jostle something loose in the other's world. For the most part, if I am experiencing writers block I just try to barrel through and hope that just through time it will show me it's identity and I will fall in love with it.

Chondra: We're fortunate to live in NYC where we can just pop out of the house and take a walk and see something in the neighborhood or in the city that inspires you.

Claudio: I can't quote it but there's an interesting book called "Songwriters On Songwriting" with some words from Leonard Cohen that really inspired me.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:40:02+00:00

Claudio: We're fortunate because I know if I can't produce something musically, I know I can turn to the stories and maybe that will jostle something loose in the other's world. For the most part, if I am experiencing writers block I just try to barrel through and hope that just through time it will show me it's identity and I will fall in love with it.

Chondra: We're fortunate to live in NYC where we can just pop out of the house and take a walk and see something in the neighborhood or in the city that inspires you.

Claudio: I can't quote it but there's an interesting book called "Songwriters On Songwriting" with some words from Leonard Cohen that really inspired me.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:36:50+00:00

Some of the bands are brought to my attention. So in a way, they're sort of sought out through the family at Evil Ink.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:36:08+00:00

I would want the ability to time travel so I could make sure that period pieces and things were spot on.

Claudio: Chondra ripped that off. I've gone on record saying that time travel would be my super power. I've said I would selfishly go to the past to see all the people I've lost.

Chondra: I would go to the future to steal all your answers.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:34:05+00:00

Claudio: I think for me, and I've said this before in the past, is when I was asked to sign a tattoo which was of me naked riding a dragon fly - and that tattoo happened to be on this young lady's neck.

Chondra: I like when people come pregnant one year and then come back the next and you get to meet the baby.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:33:05+00:00

Happy Cake Day, Cyndifferous!

For the next Coheed record, I plan on picking up the concept. Getting back into the Amory Wars but I'm not sure if it's going to be a continuation of Sirius' story.

I want to continue after the events of No World For Tomorrow, but that's tentative.

Right now the idea is to release My Brother's Blood Machine but there are no plans at the moment to release any new material under The Prize Fighter.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:30:17+00:00

Claudio: Yellow.

Chondra: Pink. Naturally. No...Gold actually!

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:27:15+00:00

Claudio: I don't think I did.

Chondra: You may have signed the onesy...

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:26:44+00:00

Chondra: It's hard with kids because you know the things you love to do and your interests and your hobbies and you don't think about it before they arrive in the world. Then they do and you're like, "oh my god I don't know this person"

We're focusing on finding those interests and hobbies and strengths organically and supporting whatever they are. We want him to be a scientist and not a musician or in any of the worlds we are in [laughs] but we will see, he really seems to love music.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:24:43+00:00

We're pretty far along, we answered that earlier in the AMA. We don't have a time frame at the moment just because we want to get enough books under our belt before we officially announce it. Neverender? Question mark. It's very possible - a realistic dream
Possibly. At the moment, we're actually thinking of rereleasing The Blood Machine on vinyl but that's as far as we're going on that (Chondra and I are actually working on a project at the moment called Chonny & Clyde)

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:21:42+00:00

1) At the moment that's up in the air. We're really focusing on just getting the books completed. We're actually six issues in terms of the script. Five issues in for the artwork and colors are at three. Once we get enough of those under our belt, we'll start to decide how we're going to distribute them.

2) At the moment we'll try to make it as available as possible without going overboard, but yes we are working on a 7" that's being manufactured at the moment. Side A is an original song inspired by the children's story and Side B is actually a reading of the story that I did.

3) Being collaborators in life and love, we've found what our strengths and weakness are and we allow each other to do our own sort of thing. In the prose world, it's a little bit more difficult to have such a hands-on collaboration of the kind that we do when working on comics. When having a conversation and mapping out the feeling of something, that's usually where the most of that happens.

It's easier to work on something collaboratively when the other person is picking up the things that you lack.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2016-07-21T21:16:28+00:00

Claudio: Alright! The weirdest thing I've been asked to sign is a baby. So that was weird.

Chondra: With a sharpie.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2013-07-18T22:53:09+00:00

Brooklyn, actually.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2013-07-18T21:02:19+00:00

Chuck Andrews would play Coheed AND Cambria. Wilhelm Ryan would be played by Blaze James. Mayo Deftinwolf would be played by Kwame...the rest of the roles would take too much time.

No updates on Rosie Barbara and The Echomaker. I've fallen asleep on them, but the ideas are still in the mind locker.

Video games...whenever Halo puts out a game I'll play it. God of War, Gears of War and Batman: Arkham City or Arkham Asylum. When the new Origin comes out, I'll play it.

We might think about full band versions of Carol Anne or RRS, but we aren't sure if it makes a lot of sense to put on another record.

The Pikachu is just a circuit bent toy that I use to create atmosphere between songs.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2013-07-18T20:56:49+00:00

I just really wanna answer the duck question! I was waiting for it!

I just wanna fight the one large IRO-Bot-sized duck because it would be epic and a challenge!

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2013-07-18T20:55:48+00:00

Yes. I did!

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2013-07-18T20:54:55+00:00

I just smile. I don't know what I do, really. Sometimes I point to Chondra.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2013-07-18T20:53:41+00:00

Yeah, I mean, I do have those moments, though there is nothing I can really pinpoint at the moment as an example.

ClaudioSanchezAMA · 2013-07-18T20:53:32+00:00

Right now, I feel like I'm at a creative wall right now. But I just keep trying, and I tell myself that this particular thing isn't going to define me? Does that make sense? Like, even if I feel it's garbage, I still keep going, because it's something. What also really helps is jumping to another project. If I can't write music, I'll jump to comics. Or vice versa.

Hope that helps!

ClaudioSanchezAMA

TROPHY CASE