A Conversation with Zach Cooper of Coheed and Cambria

I was given the opportunity to speak with Zach Cooper of the group Coheed and Cambria.  Zach is the bassist for the band and its newest member, having just been introduced to their legions of fans via an enjoyable video short showing bits of his audition and members’ reactions to his talent.

The band was in San Diego, a little more than halfway done with their current tour in support of their new two part album The Afterman: Ascension and The Afterman: Descension. Even though he only joined the band less than a year ago, he has already logged some serious time on the road, having played in Europe and the States previous to the current tour.  Zach was very complimentary of the group’s fans and how welcoming they have been overall to him as the new guy.  Coheed and Cambria are known to have a very dedicated fan base including Richard Christy of The Howard Stern Show.  Richard is known for being such a super fan of the band that he admitted to wetting himself during one of their shows rather than miss any songs.  Zach said he has not had the pleasure of meeting Richard yet, but has heard rumors that he would be making it to one of the shows left on the tour, so keep an eye out for a man proudly wearing adult diapers in the crowd!

If you are not familiar with the music of Coheed and Cambira, it also goes along with a set of graphic novels, The Amory Wars, which is written and illustrated by lead singer, Claudio Sanchez.  Zach said he does not contribute to any of the story lines of the songs, that is Claudio alone.  But if you are not familiar with the stories, do not let this discourage you from seeing the band live.  The live show is an experience on its own, and while the songs do follow a narrative, they each still stand alone and you will not be lost.  The shows cover songs from all of their albums and don’t have to be played in any particular order to stay with the story. The Amory Wars have become popular enough to be picked up by Leverage Entertainment to be developed into a movie, so if you are a fan, keep an eye out for more news as it develops.  If you have not read them, you still have time to catch up.

With the digital age of music altering the face of music and how bands deliver their projects and how the public is able to access music, Zach said that the dedication of their fans to the story of their albums as a whole have kept them buying the entire record rather than just downloading random singles.

Oh and for all the fellow bassists out there, I did ask him what his favorite strings are and he said he was a dedicated user of DR strings round 45-105.

Coheed and Cambria are on a United States tour through April, with a stop in Dallas at the Palladium Theater on Sunday, March 3rd.

by Reanna Streater