Chris Pennie goes back to school

© Scott D. Smith/Retna Ltd./Corbis

Coheed and Cambria head to the UK this week as support on a mammoth bill with Defontes. As the pair prepare to rock audiences nation-wide, we caught up with the ridiculously busy Coheed drummer Chris Pennie, who filled us in on what else he has penned into his schedule. And it's all pretty intense stuff...

What's on your radar for 2011?

"Coheed's doing well and I've got a couple of other projects. One of which has just come out on metal Blade, the band's called Return To Earth. It's getting decent reviews. I've got a couple of other bands n the Dillinger vein and some orchestral stuff, too."

It sounds like you're keeping yourself very busy

"Keeping very busy. I'm constantly working on stuff. The orchestral stuff is investing in a lot of sampling gear and I roll with that stuff on my laptop. My friend and I have just started a production company and we want to license songs and ultimately get into film scoring and that sort of thing."

That sounds pretty intense, is it a case of having leaning about all of this while you're on the road with Coheed?

"It's just like going back to school, trying to learn all of my theory. It feels really good, it's really healthy in terms of taking my education to another level."