An Interview With Claudio Sanchez Of Coheed And Cambria

Over the last 25 years, few heavy rock bands have traversed levels of varied ground like Coheed and Cambria. With a flair for the dramatic and an effortless way of combining heavy metal, alt-rock, prog, and more, Coheed has spun off records that will forever define an era.

One listen to The Second Stage Turbine Blade (2002), Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV (2005), Year of the Black Rainbow (2010), and A Window of the Waking Mind (2022), among others, will reveal one simple truth: Coheed is dealing in levels of iconisism reserved for the few and far between.

At the heart of it all is Claudio Sanchez, who pens most of Coheed’s songs and rips it up on guitar. “It’s about what places and roads we haven’t traveled,” Sanchez tells ClassicRockHistory.com. “But it’s also about what roads should be traveled.”

Sanchez says that for most of Coheed’s existence, his guitar playing has taken a backseat to his songwriting. But that’s changing… kind of. “I pulled a guitar I had in high school out of storage,” he says. “It’s a Fender Stratocaster with EMG pickups like David Gilmour’s.”

“I’ve kind of fallen in love with this guitar that I had as a teenager again,” he adds. “I’m actually traveling with it and taking it everywhere! It’s like this weird meta thing where I’m taking my teenage self to see the world. [laughs]”

As for how his period of six-stringed rediscovery has impacted Coheed’s latest record, 2025’s The Father of Make Believe, he says: “It’s funny. It’s like self-discovery of the instrument as I sit and play the things I’ve never played before and try to use that in my toolkit of songwriting.”

“It’s wild,” he says. “It’s wild how it’s changed. In hindsight, I look at it kind of like, ‘Oh, wow, I just never really played guitar that way ever since I became the frontman.’ Since then, it’s always just been me picking up the guitar just to write songs.”

As passionate about guitar as Sanches may be, at his core, he’s a full-spectrum artist. Not only does he write songs, but he tells stories. To that end, Coheed has many more to tell—and there’s no ground he’s afraid to cover. “I don’t think anything is off-limits,” he says.

“I might say that rapping would be a little tough,” he laughs. “But I’m also not saying that I’ve never done it! So, we’ll see. I mean… I’m open to all sorts of stuff, you know? I can never say ‘never.’”

What’s the story behind Coheed and Cambria’s new record, The Father of Make Believe?

I just kept writing after A Window of the Waking Mind. Some of the songs had been percolating around that recording, so I kept writing with no real idea in mind of what the final was going to be. In doing that, I collected about 30-odd songs, and I think that sparked a lot of questions for myself in a world where maybe I didn’t exist, or my wife didn’t, and how the future would look in that instance.

I was sort of asking myself questions about a world with a concept where that didn’t exist, and in that world, how Covid would have been digested by the public. These are just the questions that it kind of sparked and revealed themselves to me when finishing the record and that I think are commonplace when you get older and start to experience the exit of loved ones.

Coheed albums are always an adventure, sonically. Does one impact the next, or is it always a clean slate?

Some of the songs had kind of existed to some degree or were in different phases around the time of the last record, but for the most part, I try to be as objective as possible when going forward. But at some point, I need a new sense of objectivity because I’m so connected to the material from its inception to its finish—I’m always there.

How do you use the guitar to help tell the story?

For me, guitar is mostly the way the songs start; it’s always kind of the nucleus. When I think of my career, I was a guitar player first before I became the frontman of this band. Typically, I’ll start the songs with that instrument, and from there, it’ll usually inform the melody in the lyrics, and whatever the lyrics are will usually take shape. Usually, at some point, I’ll construct an idea of what the lead is to help the next sections of the song while keeping the vocal in mind.

Keeping in mind that you’re a bit of a metalhead at heart, what are the key pieces that shape your tone?

I typically lean more toward a humbucker-type guitar. When it comes to more lush, distorted situations, when I’m recording the guitar, there’s a series of methods. Sometimes, I will go straight or direct into software so we have a clean tone to then be able to re-amp in the mixing process. But most of the time, if I’m recording with a mic or into a real amp, I lean toward a combo amp with a pedal in front of it.

You’re generally seen playing Gibson Explorers. Is that what you generally look for in an electric guitar?

Honestly, whatever is around the house! When I’m writing and recording stuff, it’s usually at the same time, so I’m following an impulse. I don’t have time to curate… if the idea is there, I’ve got to capture it as soon as possible. Sometimes, those ideas make the final cut because there’s just something about the intensity and the honesty of that moment that can’t be replicated by sitting in a studio doing it over and over again.

When you look back at your journey as a guitarist, how would you describe your progression as a player—and how is that best represented on this new record?

You know… I still suck. [laughs]

I don’t know about that!

It’s wild because back when I started, I my craft was clearly guitar playing. I started when I was a kid, and I didn’t refer to guitar playing as a “craft,” though, you know what I mean? But that was my focus, and songwriting was kind of not my world. It was more riff writing; I think there’s a difference.

Dig into that for me. What’s the difference?

Now, I’ve really become fixated on the song. As I became the focal point and songwriter of this band, at some point, my proficiency on the instrument kind of took a backseat. The song became the driver of what I do; it’s funny because recently, I’ve just started to get back into playing guitar!

I’m not just picking up the guitar to write songs, which has been my life since Second Stage when I just became the frontman of the band. That’s just what I’ve done—I pick up the guitar to write songs, not even to really like learning the instrument. I kind of lost that connection when I became the frontman.

How has your relationship with Coheed’s other guitarist, Travis Stever, evolved?

It’s definitely changed over time. Songwriting has become so important to me, and melody has become so important to me—and the message being carried by the melody has been important. So, in a weird way, I’ve stepped more into the producer’s role with my with relationship with Travis.

What’s that like?

Ensuring his lines are his identity—but that his identity doesn’t compete with the melody and message of the song if that makes sense. There’s a very delicate balance between being guitar dueling people and allowing the melody and message of the song to have its place without distraction. So, it’s become a very nuanced relationship.

When it comes to writing the sections, Travis and I will sit together and microscope things in real-time to ensure the parts are tight overall and do everything to speak as guitar players but also speak as a unit. Because, as a unit, the messages and the lyrics in that melody mean the most.

Which of Coheed’s new songs best represents you as a guitarist and songwriter to this point?

Oh, man. That’s tough because the band jumps around so much. It’s just a product of our desire to not be pigeon-holed in any one sort of way, you know? When you go from one song to another here, we’re taking some real leaps sonically and emotionally! So, I mean… I guess I’d have to say “The Flood” if I had to answer the question. I think “The Flood” covers a lot of ground. It’s just such a hard question to answer because there’s so much elasticity between the songs and the desire to be artistic.

What ground do you see yourself covering next?

I don’t know… the other day, I was playing something that reminded of… Coheed is pretty wild and out. [laughs] But I think about being a teenager, and the band that I was in before, which became Coheed, and I was playing some things that felt very unique to me, and I was wondering if that kind of style should be explored more. So, I don’t know, but it was certainly on the exterior of normal. We’ll see. I’m not really sure… but I’m exploring.

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