DILLINGER DRUMMER NEW ESCAPE PLAN

Dillinger Escape Plan has rotated almost all its members, and the band talks about Coheed And Cambria snatching up drummer Chris Pennie.

Dillinger Escape Plan are set to release their new effort, Ire Works, on November 13, and one of Mike Patton’s (ex-Faith No More and Mr. Bungle) favorite bands has undergone change once again. The collective has gone through member changes at guitar and at drums, with drummer Chris Pennie being snatched up by Coheed and Cambria.

Greg, vocalist for the jazz-metalers, talked about that very situation being an obstacle for Dillinger Escape Plan to complete Ire Works.

“Well that’s a very, very easy question. The biggest obstacle for getting our record done was the loss of one of our founding members, Chris Pennie. As far as personnel goes, even the people that were already in the band are better friends because of having gone through that chaotic time. And the two new guys, Gil and Jeff, our new guitar player, we couldn’t ask for a better fit musically or personality-wise.”

So does Dillinger hold it against Coheed for stealing their drummer? Bassist Liam Wilson explained.

“Well, we had some interband drama. There was talk of, ‘OK, we’re going to take a little bit of a hiatus,’ (guitarist and founding member) Ben wanted to take some time off and just kind of heal from some injuries, and I think Chris just took advantage of that. We all knew that, ‘OK, I’m going to go back to my jobs because we’re not going to tour,’ and Chris was like, ‘I wanna play,’ and they made him an offer. It was at the point where it became that we were the side project or that we were the second priority that things got kind of hairy. It was always an issue to try to get him to explain what the situation really was. I don’t think that they were doing anything that was really illegal, so to speak. I think they were just looking out for their own interest. Chris gave an inch, and they took a foot.”

New drummer Gil Sharone, talked about taking Pennie’s place in the band.

“It was overwhelming because just from a drummer’s point of view, The Dillinger Escape Plan is a drummer’s drummers band. It wasn’t like I got hit up by this Top 40 band. It was pretty heavy to see, like, wow this is an opportunity and my band Stolen Babies was really supportive. That (the music)’s the thing that made this really easy to step into because there wasn’t a few songs that I really liked and then a few that I was like, ‘I don’t really like that stuff.’ Or the guys, a couple of guys that I liked and then a couple I didn’t like. It was like everything was really cool. So it was…everything was pointing in that direction– do it, go for it. This was made for me.”

After two dates in Canada, Dillinger Escape Plan begins the U.S. portion of their North American tour in Detroit on December 3. Dates currently run through December 20 in Portland, Maine.