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Few bands in modern rock have built a world as distinct and devoted as Coheed and Cambria. At the heart of it is drummer Josh Eppard, whose playing has driven the band’s sound for more than two decades. In a recent conversation with Derek Oswald, Josh spoke candidly about life on tour, the band’s evolution, and the personal lessons he’s carried along the way.
Touring With Incubus and the Dream of Headlining Arenas
Josh recalls the band’s run with Incubus as a milestone, both exciting and humbling. Playing shorter opening sets could feel limiting, but the experience of stepping onto stages like Madison Square Garden outweighed the frustrations. It was a reminder of how far Coheed had come since the small clubs of their early days. “That’s the dream,” he says, noting that headlining arenas outright remains one of the band’s biggest goals. Even after years of touring, the hunger for those moments hasn’t gone away.
How Coheed and Cambria Fans Shape the Music
Coheed and Cambria’s fanbase has always been a unique one, and Josh lights up when describing it. He frames the live shows as an exchange of energy: the band gives, the crowd gives back, and the cycle feeds the performance. Over time, that dynamic has built not just an audience but a creative community around the band, one that continues to push them forward. He points out how fans often bring their own art, comics, or even tattoos inspired by the music, and that passion reinforces the band’s sense of purpose every time they take the stage.
Josh Eppard on the Evolution of Coheed and Cambria’s Sound
The band’s latest work reflects how far they’ve come musically, and Josh’s drumming is no exception. The parts are more demanding and more layered, yet he’s stayed true to his roots by sticking with a single kick pedal. It’s an intentional choice, proof that growth doesn’t always mean adding more, but often doing more with less. For Josh, that restraint is part of the band’s identity: pushing technical boundaries without losing the directness that made their music connect in the first place.
Revisiting Good Apollo and the Classics
With the twentieth anniversary of Good Apollo on the horizon, Josh admits that revisiting older material has stirred up a mix of nostalgia and curiosity. The idea of re-recording classics isn’t off the table, a thought that longtime fans will no doubt latch onto. Performing those songs now carries a different weight than it did in 2005. “The music grows up with you,” Josh reflects, noting how lyrics and arrangements take on new shades of meaning when revisited years later. For both band and audience, it becomes less about a snapshot in time and more about a shared history that continues to evolve.
Life on the Road With Mastodon and Taking Back Sunday
Touring remains one of Josh’s favorite aspects of the job, especially when it means sharing bills with friends like Mastodon and Taking Back Sunday. Years of crossing paths have turned into genuine camaraderie, and Josh speaks warmly about the memories built along the way. Late-night hangs, inside jokes, and the rhythm of long drives all shape the touring life just as much as the shows themselves. What was once a nerve-wracking part of the career has become a source of joy and stability, a place where the grind of travel is outweighed by the connections made.
Finding Balance Through Drum Set Confessional
The conversation also turned deeply personal. Josh was open about the struggles he’s faced and how finding peace has been a process of vulnerability and connection. His project Drum Set Confessional gave fans a window into that side of him, and in turn gave him a sense of grounding. For Josh, it wasn’t just about performing but about breaking down walls, showing that even someone who’s spent years on big stages has their own battles. It’s a reminder that growth as a musician often runs parallel to growth as a person, and that honesty can be just as impactful as technical skill.
What’s Next for Josh Eppard and Coheed and Cambria
Josh closes the conversation with the kind of perspective only years of experience can bring. He’s proud of what Coheed and Cambria have built, but he’s equally focused on what lies ahead. Whether it’s on stage, in the studio, or through personal projects, he remains committed to creating moments that last. And as long as he’s behind the kit, the story of Coheed and Cambria is still being written. Fans who have followed the band for decades will recognize that determination as the same drive that fueled their earliest work, only now backed by wisdom and perspective.
Transcript
Automatic transcript: names and words may be misheard. Press a time to play from there.
Derek Oswald Hey Josh, thank you so much for joining me today. How you doing?
Josh Eppard I'm good. My pleasure, Derek. Thanks for having me my friend. Absolutely.
Derek Oswald I'm really excited to have you. I saw you last summer with Incubus, and gotta be honest, was a little bummed that it wasn't a dual headlining set, because my fiance and I, we were getting really into it, and then right as we're getting into it, it's over.
Josh Eppard Well, that's kind of just the nature of opening. But even for us in Coheed, getting those opportunities to, be a kind of featured act on an arena tour was just a tremendous thrill, dude. I mean, again, in my eighteen years in Coheed and Cambria, I've never done that. I'd never played Madison Square Garden. I've never never played, the TD Center in Boston. So these were my first times in these rooms and it was a real thrill. I definitely hear the short complaint. It felt short to us too. Right as we got going, it's like, shit, it's over. Okay. But that's just the nature of not being as big as Incubus. And we're really thankful to them for taking us out. And hopefully one day we'll be in those rooms and be able to play a longer set. That's the dream.
Derek Oswald You guys absolutely should be as big as Incubus. Hopefully one day you guys will get your due and be headlining these arenas on your own, I'm hoping. Well, you know, it's not just a matter of like...
Josh Eppard And that's really to me nothing to do with commerce. You know, it's really just about when you start... There was a time my amphitheaters were like, oh, we'll never be in there. That's nuts. Know, in like 2013, we were on an amphitheater tour. I think we were second of four. And I never really dreamed that we could bring a show to life in an amphitheater setting. And now here we are. We're like year seven fully into amphitheaters. And we get to bring this show where you... It's a real extension of the creativity. And when you see a band like Incubus with the lasers and you kinda... You can't help but daydream of the things that you could bring alive. And if we're on the bus talking about it all the time, that's why we're into it. It has nothing to do with like, oh, more money and more, it really doesn't. It's more about, you know, we have really wide imaginations, and in those rooms, that's where that stuff can really come to life. Although this summer, the imagination is in full effect with both US tours, so I'm really excited for those. Yeah. It's gonna be awesome. And again, it's still a dream. I know it sounds really like cliched. You've heard everybody in a band say this, but like, sometimes on those amphitheater stages, I really do have to pinch myself. I don't know that I ever really thought it would get to that place. And I just feel so incredibly lucky for the fans that they care, that they care in the way that they care, that they really absorb the music. And, you know, again, I... And I realize this is like a beaten down path that everybody in a band says this, but I'll I'll do it one better. Coheed fans, there's exceptions to every rule, but Coheed fans by and large are smart, creative, kind, empathetic people. They are. 99... I haven't met one that's not. I'm just assuming somewhere out there there's an asshole Coheed fan. I know sometimes there's some infighting within the group. So somewhere out there is an Assault Coheed fan, but we've really cultivated this community of people that to me, a real badge of honor and getting to bring a show to life that gets absorbed because shows are like an energy exchange. That's why I hope to be in arenas one day, but I'm not bummed about being in those amphitheaters. I mean, god, some of them oddly enough are bigger than arenas. Some of them, hold 23,000... Not that we're selling that many tickets, but, yeah. There's no... It's not like a runner-up situation being in the amphitheaters. I'm still so excited to be in him, and this summer is no exception.
Derek Oswald And just gonna second what you're saying about having very creative fans. My friend Bunny does full on like character makeup. My fiance, she's into coloring books and they're all hardcore fans. So I feel like you guys, like you said, you cultivate these really, really artistic fans for sure.
Josh Eppard You know, maybe if you asked Claude if he really drew it up like that, I think it's just a natural byproduct of making music that's off the beaten path. I'm not gonna keep saying beaten path, but making music that's unique and kind of carving out its own place. And it never really was like ultra flavor of the month. And it's found this audience of fellow creatives and fellow kind of outside the box thinkers. And to me, that is the biggest part of being in a band. I've had too many to count relationships that have really transcend the band at this point. You know, being friends with me, it's not a prerequisite that you like the band. You know, I have some friends that don't like it. Most of my friends do. At least they're honest. Yeah. They're usually like those contrarian friends. They've known me since I was five, so they have to be like, whatever, man. That stuff sucks. And you're like, I really... Because I catch you bopping your head at the shows and then you want tickets. But a lot of my good friends are people I met through the band that they were fans first, and now our relationship really transcends kinda any band fan relationship. They're just my friend Bob or my friend Carrie, and these are people I care deeply about. And the Devons kind of enter that, you know, I care about the Devons, and these are fans that like you just... You get to know them because they come and they share this energy with you. Like before I said, a show for a band is an energy exchange. Not hard to understand, but with Coheed, feels so vital to my life. That's what I would miss about not being in a band. It's it's not like a moment of zen because it's deeply like physical, but in a way it is. And there's these really beautiful peak where I just feel so connected to the audience. But I look out there and I see, I basically got contacts so I could see in the audience and see specific people because I know these people well. There was a time with glasses that I'd take my glasses off or they'd fly off my head, and I'm flying blind. I got contacts basically so I could see in the audience and feel like I'm exchanging with Devin right now. I'm exchanging with Heather. I'm exchanging with other Devin. That's important to me because it's really... I don't really have the words to properly articulate it. It's something... It feels ancient. It feels beyond my vocabulary to describe. Not to be like corny, but it really does. It feels beautiful and and really powerful.
Derek Oswald I love your passion. I hear it on the album. In fact, instrumentally, in my opinion, this album actually has some of your most intense and demanding performances to date. Was that a conscientious idea to push yourself even further this album, or is it just kinda how it happened?
Josh Eppard Oh, dude, that's always the plan. The plan is to always elevate, evolve, and do your best work. And that's true of everybody in the band. And as a band as a whole and us individually. That's the plan on every record, to do the best thing you've ever done. And I got it... You know, I know we have these early classic records that people really love and we really love, and they're great snapshots of that time. But as players, we are... I mean, I love them. It... It's like, whatever you do twenty years later, you're probably gonna be a lot better at it. As players, we are so evolved from that point. It's like a it's like a middle school yearbook or a high school yearbook at this point, those records. I really feel like with the last three records, the three Vaxxis records that we've been able to each time solidly represent ourselves as the musicians we are as as a creative force and as a unit. And I couldn't be more proud. I felt like that with Vaxxis two, and I do feel like that with Vaxxis three. I think it's the best thing we've ever collectively and individually,
Derek Oswald and I'm immensely proud of it. I love it. I really love Vaxxis three. And something one of your fans wanted to know, and I find it impressive as well. My understanding is in your gear setup, you only operate with like a single pedal. You don't have multiple pedals. Yet when you're doing this, it sounds like you're having like a double bass sound. What kind of conditioning and practice goes into
Josh Eppard playing that fast with just a single pedal. Well, God, you know it's funny, man. This is also part of aging up. There are drummers now that have double pedals, but both of their feet are faster than mine. But when I was coming up, not that this is right, this is just when I was a kid, right, it was kind of... I'm hanging out with a lot of older musicians and older musicians back then in the nineties kind of scoffed at double pedals. Because you get a lot of other kids that didn't really know how to use it. Not like the guys nowadays that are absolutely phenomenal with it. So I never used one. To this day, I've never used two kicks. I've never I've never done that. So I think just the byproduct of that was getting a strong right foot. It's also the way you hear things. You know, not to get too drum nerdy on you, Derek, but like if I sat down and something was, I can't quite get that straight, but you can kind of almost swing it in your mind. And if you get it going quick enough, you can kind of fake it, but in the coolest way. Because it is a pride thing to me. I take pride in the single pedal. I'm old school like that. But at the same time, I'm a huge fan of the guys with double pedal. I mean, I watch the stuff they do, and I'm like, I can't do that with my right foot. How the hell are they doing it with their left foot? Like, there are drummers, and that's the natural order, man. There's supposed to be kids that come up that just knock our socks off, and there is, dude. There's drummers that are just like... There's too many to even name. It's like really wild. I like the drummer that I am... You know, I'm a writer first. I try to bring a real sense of drama to anything that I play on and I feel like I've gotten better at doing that over the years. I feel like I enjoy playing the drums more right now at 45 years old than I ever have. But that was also true at 44 and at 43 and at 42. But I... You know, not that there was like necessarily a lull, but like, I don't know. I've tapped into something I think in like the last five, six, seven years that I'm on a good run. My body feels good. I feel healthy. And I'm just enjoying playing more and more every day. And that's really true. And I hope it's a trend that continues. I kind of like have this fear that one day I wake up and be like, alright, I did that, it's over. Because I'm not good at faking things. I'm really not. Like I wish I was better at it. That's the worst part about me is that I'm terrible at faking things. I got paperwork to do, I don't get it done. I got phone calls to make, I don't get it done because I'm just like not good at it and I don't want to. I love playing the drums. I want to play the drums and I feel like that's why the playing does keep evolving because I'm having a good time playing. I enjoy writing with Claudio. I enjoy being in a band like Coheed and Cambria. Every record I'm reminded of how lucky I am that I get to be this creative. I mean, there's drummers out there. You know, I'm friends with some of them that are in bands where their kind of footprint in the band is so simple. And believe me, I'm a big proponent of simple, but they don't feel like they get to express themselves creatively. Where I'm in this band where we've got a seven minute song with 31 parts and I get to really explore different areas and challenge myself too. Coheed albums are challenging. Yeah. I I would never even dream of learning how to play it. Yeah. It's... But, you know, you get to enjoy it. It can be scary. It can be... There's times where I'm like, what the fuck am I gonna do there? I don't even know where the one is. What is happening? And then slowly but surely, it starts to make sense. I have to fall in love with it first. I got to fall in love with... I honestly, if you sent me a song that I bonafide just don't like, I'm not sure that I could play on it. I wouldn't know what to do. How do I make that? How do I fall in love with this and want to elevate this and make this something great? So I gotta love it and that's how it absorbs. Now sure, if you sent me a song that's like a simple four four beat, I'm sure I could get through it. But that's my favorite part of writing with Coheed is falling in love, being a little almost confused at first, then finding it, couple different options, narrowing them down, seeing what feels best to me. And I gotta say on Vaxxis two and three, there's a bunch of parts that I'm like, let me just throw this out there to see what Claude says. And Claude is such a fucking maniac that he's like, I love this. And I'm like, I'm in the best band for a drummer ever because no other band would let the verse drums on Mary of Mercy be that. But Claude let it be that because he is a maniac because he's a lunatic and... Like me. And he likes weird creative music. So I'm so lucky in that way. Really, really lucky. I try to not lose sight of that. And hopefully, never will. I I... You know, I'm extremely blessed and lucky to be in this band at this time with these fans. I'm a lucky son of a bitch. You know, I think it's funny that you tried to shy away from drum nerdiness yet. One of the other submitted fan questions, they wanted to ask, were any triggers used on this album, specifically on the flood? No. So people around faxes too, I told people how it was a useful writing technique for me at home so I don't wake my family up at 01:30 in the morning to play an electronic drum set. That's all. No. Now you're talking about a producer? Ask Zach Serveini if he like sneaks in certain favorite triggers of his... I have no idea. The demo drums of the flood are a raw drum set, and it sounds exactly like it does. By the way, all the drums on this record were recorded in Kingston, New York at my friend's house in his basement. They were so good that the band was like, we don't wanna touch these. Like... And I was like, fucking dope. Let's use them. Like... So there's a real naturalness to it. Listen to all the ghost notes on the flood. That's real drumming. So this trigger electronic thing, you know, Claudia likes to add a lot of digital percussion, meaning like, you know, madness. That's not... I don't view that as like... And I like that stuff. I don't view that as like my part. All of the drums are acoustic drums, and I think more natural than the last record really. But Thaxxus too, also acoustic drums. We recorded at steakhouse with Zach. It was one of the best sessions of my life. I think I tracked the whole record in like a day and a half. So so prepared. I knew the material so well. And at that time, it was the best I'd ever played in the studio. Until this one, I think this is the best I ever played in this. And I'm a studio guy. That's where I feel like I'm the strongest out of what I do. But no, there's no no triggers whatsoever.
Derek Oswald It's funny that you mentioned, by the way, going back to something you said earlier, I've been thinking about this, how you kind of referred to some of your old albums as kind of high school yearbooks. Just by coincidence, Good Apollo is hitting twenty years. How is your perspective on that album changed versus when it first came out?
Josh Eppard Oh gosh. Well, just think in the same way that for a long time fan, I am a long time fan. We all are in the band. I think that there's an an appreciation that kinda deepens over time too. There were things that maybe I didn't, like, fully get that you get in a different way. I mean, in the same way that, like, if you popped on Stairway to Heaven right now, a song I listened to till you just couldn't listen to it anymore when I was 11, I hear it and appreciate it totally differently now. It's very similar. You know, I definitely, for as a musician that made the album, I hear, oh man, why didn't I do it like this? Or why didn't I play it like this? Or then like, production things like, gosh, I wish we like, you know, if it was in the modern time, that would probably be a lot more even or I would have done it like this. That stuff happens. But then you learn to love it for the the snapshot of that time that it is. Somebody said that to me once. An album, what's done? What's... You know, you're talking about a song and it's just a snapshot. I believe it was my father and I'm at my dad's house right now. He said an album is just a snapshot of that time. And it's really true. So like for every time I'm like, oh, why didn't we do this? Well the answer is because you were kid and you didn't know everything at 45. And I dig that, you know? And that's certainly true on like second stage turbine blade. You know? I I... The nostalgia that I feel, I can hear our youth, and I can hear our youth on In Keeping Secrets, and I can hear our youth on Good Apollo. And I dig it for that. I... It's really beautiful. You know, some people might pop open a yearbook. I go put those records on and I'm transported to another time. I mean, is a time machine. You put Good Apollo on and I listen to it and I am quite literally transported back to the past. And it's deeply powerful. But that's just one of the many ways that being in a band is a gift that continues to give because I do that. I throw that on at home or I'll be in my Planet Fitness running, listening to Second Stage Turbine Blade with a damn tear in my eye. I'm just sweating so much. Nobody knows I'm crying. You know, it's it's powerful to me. It's touching. But it's for those reasons, it's this snapshot of time and I can hear our youth bleeding through. Thank God, now our third record is turning 20. It's been a long time Derek, that's awesome, that's cool. Something that Incubus did,
Derek Oswald is they took one of their most well loved albums and completely recorded it with everything they've learned in the twenty something years since it came out. Has there ever been any discussion of you guys that maybe taking that knowledge you learned and maybe rerecording one of your favorite albums?
Josh Eppard Oh, Derek, I wish I could tell you how long we've been. It's been like almost ten years of talking about redoing second stage turbine blade. I think it will happen. I think it's going to happen in a way that is interesting for us. Like, yeah, it would be cool to just go in and redo it as the players we are now. That would be cool. But I have a feeling with Claudia, there's gonna have to be another tier to it. It's not... Even though he's the one really driving the ship, it's him that wants to do that the most. And like, I have a feeling it'll end up being like, it's not just a band that recorded it older. It will be new orchestrations and then take on this life of its own where it's, you know, second stage twenty twenty seven or something like that. But we've talked a lot about doing that. It's something I would really like to do. I just think it could be cool. That's my... That's speculatory on my end, though. Because Claudia was the one really driving the ship that he... I mean, I'm on board. I'd love to do it, but this is... Claude wants to do that. It's gonna happen. It's just about finding the right time. There's been times where it gets off the ground. We're talking about what studio we're talking about. It's just... It will happen. I just have this feeling. This is where the speculation comes in that there's gonna be some kind of other tier to it that really sends him over the moon. And then we're... Then it has to happen. And it's gonna be far more than just new orchestrations because that's something that, you know, I could see us doing. But yeah, we're gonna... Short answer is, yeah, we're gonna do that. And we've been talking about that for a long time. I think it'll be a really neat exercise.
Derek Oswald And I think it'll be a lot of fun for us in the band. I'm sure you're enjoying sitting in your car with this moment of quiet because shortly you guys are about to hit the ground running with a truly insane touring schedule with Mastodon and later taking back Sunday. What are you most excited about with these upcoming tours?
Josh Eppard You know, it's hard to not be ultra excited about touring with my friends taking back Sunday. They're one of our best band friends. They were kind to us when we were just starting out. They were already, I mean they were also just starting out, but they were far more established than us. Know, when we first kind of trekked out there, we were terrified. We were terrified that every band was going to blow us off the stage. We'd never toured before. We were like play a weekend here, play a weekend there. We'd played tons of shows, but we'd never been on tour. You know, we never called it tour. We'd never heard the words tour manager or per diem or all all this new stuff is getting thrown at us and like, taking back Sunday was beyond kind to us. And that matters, man. It matters now. It matters to me a great deal. They were playing to... In clubs, I didn't even know clubs came this size, like 1,200 seat clubs that were sold out in Jersey and we got thrown on the show. And we're just like opening and they were just so damn nice to us. And they came up. Here we are, this weird band. We kind of don't really fit in anywhere. The kids at the time, like some of them are into it, but they kind of don't know what to make of us and we're this different thing. And that kindness will live with me forever. They didn't have to be kind to us. They could have been indifferent and that would have been fine. We'd still would have been friends now. But they weren't indifferent. They were kind and nice and welcomed us and made us feel comfortable. And the byproduct of that is a lifelong relationship and friendship with them. So I'm just excited to traverse. By the way, the biggest tour in terms of people coming out, those pinch yourself moments that Coheed ever did, was Coheed taking back Sunday where we were in rooms that I never thought we'd play with our friends TBS and just, you know, I couldn't believe it. Every night I'd have the tour manager go take a picture of us on stage just in case it never happened again because it was that special. It was that like, you know, it was, hey, there's 7,000 people here tonight. What? Aren't they at the right show? Like, what? It just blew our minds. And then we did over 10,000 a few times, like a number I never thought I'd be a part of. And like... And and then, of course, the fear is like, oh my god. They're all here to see taking back Sunday. And like, we held our own t... And so did TBS. It was a true coming together moment. Both bands really shared the spotlight and it was just beautiful. And I love those guys. Mastodon is our... We're friends with those guys. I'm excited as hell to traverse The US with them again because we toured with... It's funny. In 2018, we did the Take It Back Sunday US tour, 2019 Mastodon. Now we do Mastodon in 2025 and then right after TBS. But I'm excited for both of them, man. I mean, it's gonna be a great... You don't often do two full US tours and then do a cruise. This is a big, big, big summer first. And we go to Europe with taking back sun. There's a lot going on, but I'm excited for all of it. I like work. Touring, it's an acquired taste. It took me a long time to learn to enjoy it. You know, when I was young, I would get really homesick. And there was definitely a bit of like, I don't know, like spoiled rotten brat act behavior on my part. Like not... I don't know, man. I think maybe you're so afraid of the moment and you're kind of trying to conjure up this like cocky attitude because you know, you're terrified. You don't know what else to do. So you're like, oh, would... You know, I'm the man, which anybody with a brain could see right through it. But I I wasn't taking it in. And then the drugs and the girl, all the bullshit, all the like dumb stuff that it doesn't leave you with a lasting kind of fulfillment. I just got lost in all that and didn't really enjoy touring. Certainly not like I do now. I had to learn how to enjoy touring outside of Coheed. And then when I came back to the band, it only really solidified how much I love this. And I'm not like scared of the workload. I'm excited for it. And I like spending time with those guys and I like being on the bus. I could see them watching it and be... And being like, yeah, four weeks in, you're bitching about sleeping in that bunk. And that is true. We are all made up of all things, but I really do ultimately enjoy my job. I enjoy touring. So I'm looking forward to the whole summer, but it's gonna be a doozy, man. It's a lot. And I'm sure you're really gonna enjoy
Derek Oswald going to Coheed Mel later this year if you get some time to enjoy the sights in between getting ready for, you know, some of the shows you're playing on that boat, do you have anything in mind when you dock at Cozumel? Any sightseeing you wanna do?
Josh Eppard Well, no. Because I'm not getting off that damn boat because last time I went and swam with dolphins and it was beautiful and awesome. But like, I was so tired the next day just from like the excursion. It's a lot. It's like taking your family on vacation. I got my wife, my brother, my nephew, my sister-in-law, my friends. It's so much. I think this time when we dock, I'll probably get off and just hang out at the dock where I feel like you actually get to absorb a little bit more of the place anyway. But just being on the boat is such a thrill anyway. It's also one day longer, but those boats are... Those cruises are a lot of work for the band. We're we're pretty busy on that thing. So I gotta rest up, man. I remember being zonked after that. Well, of course, when you're swimming with dolphins, like out in the sun just baking. Then we get back and it's like, my god. Play a show. Holy crap. But... So I'll probably keep it super mellow. But that's okay. The docking is not the fun part of those trips. The fun part of those trips is just like the scope of the ship, being there with all your fans and friends and just like enjoying each other. And it's really, it's beautiful, man. It's like a really beautiful experience. Everybody in the band really enjoys it. And, you know, going into the first one, there were definitely some people in the band that were like, oh, I don't know if I'm gonna like this. I don't like boats. And then they loved it. They loved it because you're with your people. You could feel safe everywhere. You don't ever... What a what a gift. You know? Like, later on when I go to the grocery store in my town of Kingston, like, you know, I'm not, like, overly worried that somebody's gonna be violent or some shit's gonna pop off, but it's in the back of my head. When I'm surrounded by Coheed fans, I feel safe, accepted. I feel loved. And I would hope every fan feels like that. That's what we should always be striving for. So what a gift being on that boat is. I'm never worried on that boat that a fight is about to break out, and I'm... You know, nothing like that. Like, I tend to be kinda neurotic. Like, I feel safe and with my people and that's a really beautiful feeling.
Derek Oswald When you are finished with this cruise, it's gonna be around the holidays. And a little birdie told me that you love to go all out for Christmas decorations. Have you been pre planning ways to top previous years?
Josh Eppard It's like you're in my mind right now. Yeah. And that's been true for years and years and years. I sometimes do these displays that like people come and like they'll take their Christmas card pictures on my property or it's another creative outlet. Like, used to really baffle me like, why am I so into this? But of course I am. It's an extension of creativity. It's never just like Christmas threw up. It's always very pristinely put together. And I... It's also a way to kinda like almost like exercise my OCD in a way. And I do get a little nuts about it, but there's... It's all for that night that the glow of the lights, just like music transports you back to being a kid again. The smell of the snow, you know, my mother who's passed away, that's a lot of what Christmas has become now. I can feel her. In fact, we're clearing out my father's house. The reason I'm on my phone in my car is we're cleaning out my dad's house, and my my brother boxed up the Christmas tree from when we were kids, our fake little four foot Christmas tree. And I'm I'm gonna take that home and that'll be displayed this year. But Christmas is... You know, we do do a lot of gifts and stuff for other people. Me and my wife, we don't even do gifts for each other. We're just like, why? But we we like... It's a great time to show gratitude. But people always say they hate the commercialization. While we do do gifts for other people and stuff, I'm not with the... I'm into the glow of the lights and taking a journey, a voyage back through your past. And I've met, like, I have plenty of Jewish friends that love to put up blue lights and they just love the glow of the lights. To to me, it's a festival of lights and I can't wait. There's gonna be one year that I don't do all the stuff, and I just do it really understated because it's weeks of work. Well, actually, it's months of work. It's weeks of work taking it all down, and I do it all because I'm so particular. My girls at home have learned, like, they don't try to mess with anything because I get ultra particular about it. But it's so much work. One year, think I'm just gonna do one tree and a wreath on the door and see what that feels like. Because I grew up, like I said, with a little four foot fake plastic tree. And that thing I would lay out, at night, one in the morning, two, three, and just lay in the glow of the lights. And it would pull something from me. It would... It drove something in me. It wasn't all sadness. It wasn't all happiness. It was this combination and a really powerful feeling. And that's what I'm trying to get back to every year in the glow of the lights. And, I do really love it. It's... You can't pick what you're fucking stoked on, man. I'm 45 years old covered in tattoos, scented candles, Christmas lights. I don't know, man. I'm into cleaning. I'm a neat freak. I like vacuuming and cleaning and shit.
Derek Oswald You can't pick what you're passionate about. These are the things that turn me on, brother. Sorry to hear about your mother, by the way. Around the time that you and I first spoke, it was only a few months removed from my dad's passing. And a couple of years before that, like my whole childhood leading up to that year, Christmas was always about, oh, let's see who can outdo the other, who can have the most thoughtful and awesome gift and everything else like that. And as I get older, and especially following his passing, it's kind of the same way. I don't know how it was with your mom, but for my dad, was sudden. You never know how much time you have with your loved ones. And I take off the last two weeks of the year, and it's just because I wanna spend time with my family. And I think the holidays are perfect for that reason, because although you try to spend time with your family the whole year around, it doesn't always work that way. So the holidays is the one time where you guys can all just kinda sit down and just enjoy each other's company.
Josh Eppard Yeah. Of course, man. Like I don't... Like that's why I said we do get gifts, but I don't view it as like a thing wrapped up in commerce. To me, it's a way of showing appreciation to someone. Do you know what I do, dude? I travel around like fucking Santa Claus and leave a whole Christmas setup on the porches of people. And to me, I want them to know I appreciate you. You mean something to me. And so I think Christmas is a great vehicle for that. It's really how you focus on it. If you wanna say, oh, it's too commercialized. Well, that can be true. I don't really focus on that. Even though, yes, I go and get gifts. You know, oftentimes my... I don't need any gifts too. I don't want any gifts from people. I like it as a way to express gratitude to people and maybe I do it to a fault. I have had a few times where people have returned gifts. A doctor one time sent a gift back and said that it was inappropriate. And I was like, oh man, that's so weird. And I felt like, I've never, I don't think I've ever told anybody this, but I don't know if she thought like I was hitting on her or something. But here's the thing, I got her PA and her nurse the same exact gift. And when I went back in, I said, hey, like the doc was like mad about... It was a gift. She was new to the area and there's a restaurant right next door to her practice that I know I'm from the area. So I got all three of them gift cards to the restaurant. But I guess there's like this rule. You're not supposed to get your doctor gifts because then you could be like, hey, doc, I need, let's go into business selling drugs together. And she might be. That's the reason. But I do... It's so funny. But the nurse and the PA were like, well, don't say anything. We already spent ours. And I was like, I'm alright. I won't say anything. But I was so embarrassed. That happens to me once a year. One one time I went into Bed Bath and Beyond, and I brought all the ladies that worked there. And they're, like, in their sixties and said, like, all their ladies, they had helped me wrap all my presents. What a wonderful story. They see this guy struggling to wrap one present, and they come over and wrap it for me. I said, man, I wish I could take you guys home with me. I got a truck full of stuff for my daughter. I don't... And they said, bring it in. All stuff I didn't buy at their store, they wrapped all my presents. So, yeah, the next day I come in with three little Christmas trees with gift cards like Dunkin' Donuts, the the bookstore, whatever. Just little things. Not too much. And then they're all so happy. And the manager comes out and says, sir, these aren't allowed. You can... Can't accept these. And I see the disappointment in all their faces. And I'm like, really? Like, that rule is in place so, like, some creep boy doesn't show up to, a young girl, like, hey, baby. I got These are like... They're like my grandmother. Once a season, I get myself in trouble getting gifts. But again, I like the sense of showing gratitude and just giving some energy to someone else. I like that essence. I don't focus on the commercialization even if I am a part of it. I spend plenty of money at Christmas time on stuff. And you know, if we... If the world comes to a place where Christmas is just about spending time with people, I would still love it because that is the light, that is the DNA of the enjoyment, dude. It's spending time just like you said. But it's the same energy, giving a gift to someone. And it's not about the biggest TV. The best gifts are like something you made, something really special. That's always like the best gift. But I like people to know like you're important enough that I think about you. And I want you to know that I have gratitude that you're in my life. But man, you're getting me all weepy thinking about Christmas, man. I love Christmas. I just... I don't know why I'm not deeply religious in that specific lane. I I am a spiritual person. I feel... And I can't believe I'm saying this. I never was the kind of person that would say this, but this is just the truth. I do feel the hand of something else. Although it's not a hand, it feels like the energy from a non being wrapped around me sometimes. I feel close to it. I don't know what the hell it is. And I feel that at Christmas times. Christmas to me wasn't like in the church. I... It's just... That's not how I did it. It's just really about humanity, connection, and appreciation for people. But I do, Derek, make no mistake, I love Christmas dude. I love it. And you seem,
Derek Oswald and I just feel it from listening to you talk, just somebody who really loves to connect with people and and help people, you know, you recently did... Well, recently as in the last couple years, did Drumset Confessional. How does that change your perspective on your own struggles and your own situation when you hear these fans relating to what you've gone through?
Josh Eppard So Drums Act Confessional is still really in its infant stages. It's only barely over a year old, but it's all built upon connecting. And I do have... You hit the nail on the head. I have a deep need to connect. And I think it's because I spent most of my young life kind of unable to connect to a lot of people and feeling really different than everyone else and scared, a lot of fear. Growing up in the neighborhood that I grew up in, a lot of fear for me. So I do. I place a really big emphasis on connection. When people come up to me and like say that they appreciate DSC or that it's helped them, yeah, it means everything to me. It means the world to me. And I want it to be true for them because I know when I was in those meetings I wanted to get clean but I also didn't, that was scary, that was new. I didn't want to get clean, was terrified of what that meant. I never spoke. I was so afraid. If you can imagine somebody that talks as much as me, was terrified to talk to people. I mean I was cripplingly shy. I've had, I don't know, five hospital bound panic attacks in my life. In preschool I can remember them having meetings that I wouldn't talk to any other kid, I'd just cry and follow this one teacher, this one teacher, Teachered Mr. Joe. Mr. Joe felt safe and I'd just follow him around. That's something that I shared with my mom. My mom was crippling Leishai. It crippled her life. If somebody feels comfortable enough to share in the DSC meetings, it means everything to me, dude. It's a really, really impactful important thing to me. And I just wanna be a force for good, know? Now that as corny as that sounds, it's just the truth. And it's because I've been a part of a lot of bad, you know? I sit here in Kingston, beautiful Kingston, New York. You know, I ran these streets for years as a junkie, you know, doing gangster shit. Not good, man. And I'm no gangster, but I... That's who... When you're a junkie and you live a street life, that's who you're with. And I don't, I wanna be as far away from that as possible. I'm a lover. I was always soft, but I worked my ass off to hide that softness most of my life. These last, God it's been so long, I don't know, seventeen years, eighteen years I've gotten in touch with, well I've gotten, I've grown the courage to say like, hey, I'm soft. I'm not a hard guy, I hate violence. When somebody hits somebody it scares me. I get, like my jaw shakes and I don't want to see anyone get hurt. A fight between two strangers, I'm not one of the people laughing going oh, oh yeah. No, I'm one of the people like deeply afraid. Afraid is gonna get hurt and that level of energy being that high and heightened and the anger, I feel it and I like, I, it has always been that way. But when you grow up here and you, and people fight all the time, I said, well, better learn how to fucking fight. You know, if you can imagine, I've been in hundreds of fights, you can imagine that. And you're such a nice guy. You know, you can't help but wonder what's wrong with you. Why can my friends all fight and I can't? That's what would, that would really plague me as a young man. And then every movie I'd watch say, well you stand up to the bully and you win the fight. That's what the movies tell me and I did that and got promptly my ass handed to me and then I had to kind of learn how to fight. I don't think I was really particularly any good at it, but I kinda talked to... Some of my friends I grew up with are like, why do you say that? I I won a lot of fights, but I lost some terribly. But I don't like to fight. And I'm not like the tough guy that says I hate, I really find violence just such a... It's just like the lowest form of expression. It's like, yeah, I... You know, finding ways to express anger does it. It takes nuance and like an understanding of feelings. I possessed that being this kind of like, I always, I felt the same way I do now as an adult. All the feelings were the same. I was terrified to show it. I always loved animals. I always, you know, you ever have an experience where you really kind of realize that you're different than the people that you're around? All the time. Yeah. I've had a bunch. One of the major ones was like I'd come across a video of, something violent, and I'll just keep it at that, it involved animals and it like I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, it like... And perhaps this was really, well not perhaps, it was very selfish of me. I had let some friends see it because not that I wanted them to suffer too, I just was so fucked up from this. Right. And they laughed. They thought it was funny and rewound it. I wouldn't even watch it in the room with them. I was like... And I did warn them like this is awful, that they wanted to see it and and perhaps I didn't wanna be alone in my suffering. But that was one of the moments for me in my young teenage years where I realized I'm a bit different and softer, dude. I am. I'm a soft guy. Adult me is like in touch and I like myself enough to say, hey, I'm soft. I I don't think if I can beat you in a fight proves much of anything. And I don't subscribe to this notion that I'm a bitch because you might have bigger muscles than me or a better... More skilled fighter than me. And I think most like adults that I want to fuck with agree with me on that. You know? You kind of, if you exist in the pond of scum, you start to kind of take on and kind of form into the pond. And it took me a long time to kind of learn to crawl out of that pond. And I did and thankfully a lot of the people that were close to me, the people I love the most also crawled out of that pond and are beautiful, funny people that are, you know, they're probably not as soft as me, but they're in touch with themselves. But yeah, it got really dicey as a kid, man. It got really dicey. And I think, I don't know that I'd change it now because I quite like myself, but it's a lot different than people think. I don't know if people just say, oh, you're a drummer in this kind of progressive, weird science pop band, science fiction pop band. People don't really get that. I'm from a pretty rough neighborhood. Yeah, not the rough neighborhood that middle class kids use to validate their street cred. I'm from the one that you'd work your whole life to hide. And when I was in seventh grade, started a band with kids from the other school. I'll never forget standing on this porch right over here. I'd show you the house, but my dad would probably be upset with me. And my friend gets out of the car and I'm standing on the porch and he's going to get his guitar out of the back seat and his mom says something to him and he leans his head back in. He gets back, he pushes the guitar back in the back seat, closes the door and he turns around and says, my mom says I'm not allowed to be in this neighborhood. And he gets it, drives off and I just like, you know, I wanted to cry again because I'm soft, I feel things, I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed to be me. I was embarrassed to be, now I'm... There's a weird pride. You know? When you're young, you think like a young person. So I'm not I'm not embarrassed anymore about growing up the way that I did. I'm really proud of it. And I'm so glad that my dad... If my dad wasn't my dad, I'm not a musician. My dad's a musician. That's that's to this day. The guy's 71, 72 years old, about to be, and he'll still gig five nights a week. And he's out there playing. He's great. He's brilliant. When me and my brother started our first band, we'd been playing for, like, I kid you not, Derek, like three weeks. And my dad had us in, like, a professional studio after playing for three weeks. And, like, I'd literally been playing drums for three weeks, and I'm in a a thousand dollar a day studio that Jimi Hendrix recorded in because my dad was... He took energy and time and passion because he he it was really like the first time my dad was like turned on by something the kids were doing. And that painted the next whole chapter of my life. And me and Joey, my brother Joey, we signed, you know, we signed to a major label as teenagers and we we had a development deal by the time I was 15 years old with a major label. It was crazy. And it just colored in. That's how I know Claudia and Travis from playing shows with Shibouti. I was in three. Whole life is about that time in this house, strangely. It's really beautiful to talk about that. I learned to play music in this house, as did my brother. Yeah, in terms of the fighting, probably not that uncommon. You come up in a rough neighborhood. Come up in any neighborhood kids fight. Whatever neighborhood you're from, kids can be fucking cruel and awful. But man, dude, you know, there's a lot of fear and a lot... It like kind of echoed into my twenties even. Not that I was fighting a bunch in my twenties, but I try to kind of act like I'm some tough guy. If you can possibly imagine the absurdity of that. But I would in a way. And I just wasn't fooling anybody. And I don't know, one day it clicked like, wait a minute, I'm not tough. I don't wanna be tough. I don't wanna be a... I'm not a fighter. I would much rather say like, I'm not interested in hurting anyone. You seem like you're really upset with me. But at the same time, you know, I did find myself in a situation a few years ago where a guy, drunk guy at grocery store, he pumped me pretty good and it upset me. It did hurt my pride because I realized I could never fight. If a guy really just wanted to fight me, I can't fight him. But I wouldn't even try at this point. But it was upsetting to me. I was almost mad at myself. You know what? I time traveled back to that kid in seventh grade. And I sat in my truck like shaking and tearing up a little bit because it was scary, dude. I was fucking terrified. I was afraid. I was afraid of being hurt. I was afraid of... You know, some people say like, I'm not afraid of getting hurt. I'm afraid of hurting him. No. I was afraid of getting hurt. I could like picture him cracking my faceplate and breaking my teeth and all I did was make a joke that this guy didn't understand. I was agreeing with him. There was two lines for the self checkout and he said something. I said, yeah, they never have it figured out. And then I'm checking my stuff out and he goes, oh, you want to be a wise ass. And I said, oh my god, I think you misunderstood me. No, we could take this out outside, Bob. And he's a big guy with like a 30 pack, and I was terrified. But, yeah, I'm not a tough guy and I don't wanna be. But that was... Sadly, it was a revelation for me. A lot of uncovering and a lot of digging to get to the point where I realized, like, god, fighting is stupid. You probably realized that much earlier in life. It took me a long time, sadly. I'm ashamed of that, but it did, it took me a long time. I mean, kind of like you, I spent a lot of my childhood and school kind of being on the receiving end of things that I didn't wanna be. You never wanna be the one to fight back because that kinda makes things worse. I'm a pacifist, you're a pacifist. You know, violence doesn't really solve anything.
Derek Oswald I love that you've you've kinda been looking back and just, know, talking about your childhood. Because one thing, you know, kinda just to help close things out here. I feel like an overarching theme of this latest album, and maybe it's because Claudio has put himself front and center as the the lead character. It's a lot about looking back and thinking about legacy and what you're leaving the world. What is one thing that you hope you leave legacy wise? You know we sit up and talk about this sometimes,
Josh Eppard and as we get older you think about the footprint you've left naturally, right? I mean, I think I want to leave a footprint of the exact band that we are. A band that was kind of under the radar, that kept reaching new heights. Heights probably a lot of like people in the music business maybe thought were not gonna be, weren't reserved for us. And that's been really kind of gratifying, validating in some ways, but really it's just getting to touch more people and just, you know, through music we live forever. You know, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on it, you know, as like the footprint of just a guy in the band, all I can... You know, I don't get to write any lyrics and I can only try to do the best drumming. And that's, again, in a band like Coheed, I'm deeply proud of the drumming and deeply aware that I'm in one of very few bands that gets to be creative. You know, you got plenty of metal bands where the drummer gets to show off. Does he ever get to play a song like Someone Someone Who Can or even a song like Wake Up from back in the day or these beautiful like ballads and really stretch themselves. And that's a legacy. You know, I want to be known in that world for exactly what I'm doing. And through music, I get to live forever. I just don't do it with words. I think Claudio... I think this is like a natural progression of getting older and looking back, you know? That said, he better not end it now because we're fucking rocking, baby. The band's never sounded better.
