Chris Pennie (born May 31, 1977) is an American musician who is the former drummer for the progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria and former drummer and co-founder of mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan.
Background Pennie began playing drums at the age of 13, and at age 16 decided to pursue music seriously. He grew up in Randolph, New Jersey and graduated from Randolph High School, and spent two years at Berklee College of Music where he received a diploma in Music Synthesis, which focuses on electronic music composition and manipulation.Staff. "Chris Pennie" , Sick Drummer Magazine, August 30, 2006. Accessed September 21, 2015. "After graduating from Randolph High School in 1995, Chris attended Berklee College of music in Boston Massachusetts, where he majored in music synthesis."
Influences and legacy Pennie has cited drummers Lars Ulrich and Stewart Copeland as his main early influences. In regard to his current playing, Sean Reinert is one of his biggest inspirations. He has also emphasized on several occasions that listening to and playing a diverse assortment of music has been an integral part in developing his style, noting such eclectic influences as 1970s jazz-rock fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra, technical metal bands Meshuggah, Cynic, and electronic-influenced groups such as Nine Inch Nails and DJ Shadow.
Many drummers have cited Pennie as an influence or expressed admiration for his work, including Brann Dailor, Richard Christy of Death, Peter Wildoer, Dave Witte, Tyshawn Sorey, Charlie Zeleny, Dan Searle of Architects, Andy Dalton of See You Next Tuesday, J. R. Conners of Cave In, Craig Reynolds of Stray from the Path, Jean-François Richard of Ion Dissonance, Andrew McEnaney of Structures, Tobias Persson of Visceral Bleeding, Stephen Carr of Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, Stefano Ghigliano of Stigma, Danny Grossarth of Candiria, Eric Schnee of Paria, Darren Pugh of Collibus, Eli Litwin of John Frum, Chris Golding of Sulaco and Corey Melom of The Crinn.
Bands While in high school he was playing in the local New Jersey–based band, Prozak. The other three members of Prozak were 8–10 years Pennie's senior, and in order for Prozak to play the local bars and clubs, Pennie's father would accompany him to their gigs. Pennie played with Prozak from 1993 until he began attending Berklee School of Music in 1995. He recorded ten songs with Prozak during his time with the band but they were never commercially released.
Pennie also spent time with the pop-punk group Boxer. Formed in 1995 with another Berklee graduate, Jeremy McDowell, they became the first band to be signed to the now famous Vagrant Records. They released one album, The Hurt Process, in 1998, and broke up in late 1999. Pennie also recorded drums for his former tourmates in experimental metalcore group All Else Failed on their 2004 album This Never Happened.
He and guitarist Ben Weinman, along with singer Dimitri Minakakis and bass guitarist Adam Doll, formed Dillinger Escape Plan in March 1997. He and Weinman wrote the majority of the band's material and Pennie called Weinman his "musical soulmate". Pennie also took care of a lot of the electronic influence in the band's material in the studio as well as onstage, triggering effects and loops with footswitch pedals.
Pennie began working in the studio with rock band Coheed and Cambria, after drummer Josh Eppard had left the band. Due to contractual obligations, Pennie was not allowed to record for Coheed's 2007 album Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow. Instead, the band recruited Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins for the task. On June 28, 2007, Coheed and Cambria announced on their Myspace that Pennie joined the band.
On November 2, 2011, Coheed and Cambria announced on their Facebook page that Pennie had left the band. Pennie also announced he had parted ways with Coheed and Cambria, in order to focus on other projects such as Return to Earth and Fight Mannequins.
Other projects
Pennie lent his talent to the predominantly electronic band Idiot Pilot on their 2007 album Wolves. MTV reported: "the Dillinger Escape Plan's Chris Pennie appears on the album, augmenting several of Wolves' tracks with his drumming prowess. Anderson said the one-two punches of Hoppus, Robinson, Barker, and Pennie are bringing something new to Idiot Pilot's established sound."
Equipment
Drums (Mapex Saturn Series in Black Cherry Sparkle finish): 20-inch × 22-inch bass drum 9-inch × 12-inch rack tom 16-inch × 16-inch floor tom 7-inch × 14-inch Mapex snare drum Cymbals (Sabian): 14-inch HHX Groove hats 18-inch HHXplosion crash 19-inch HHXplosion crash 21-inch HH Raw Bell dry ride 19-inch Paragon Chinese Sticks (Vater): Vater Xtreme Design 5B Bass Pedals (Mapex): Mapex Falcon double bass pedal
Discography
With Dillinger Escape Plan 1997: The Dillinger Escape Plan 1998: Under the Running Board 1998: Split with Nora 1999: Split with Drowningman 1999: Calculating Infinity 2002: Irony Is A Dead Scene 2002: Black on Black: A Tribute to Black Flag – cover of "Damaged, Pt.s I & II" 2003: Cursed, Unshaven and Misbehavin': Live Infinity 2004: Bring You to Your Knees: A Tribute To Guns 'N Roses – cover of "My Michelle" 2004: Miss Machine 2005: We Reach: The Music of the Melvins – cover of "Honeybucket" 2006: Plagiarism 2019: Live Infinity
With Coheed and Cambria 2008: Kerrang – Maiden Heaven (Iron Maiden tribute record) – "The Trooper" 2009: Neverender: Children of The Fence Edition 2010: Year of the Black Rainbow
With Return to Earth 2007: Captains of Industry 2010: Automata 2022: Oblivion
Others 1998: Boxer – The Hurt Process 2005: Getaway Car – "Getaway Car" Mass Appeal 2004: All Else Failed – This Never Happened 2007: Idiot Pilot – Wolves 2010: The Armed – Common Enemies 2010: New World Man – A Tribute to Rush 2011: The Armed – Young & Beautiful 2012: The Armed – Spreading Joy 2016: Joseph A. Peragine – Diagnosis: Schizophrenia 2018: Joseph A. Peragine – Vol.2 (Diagnosis: Schizophrenia) 2018: Joseph A. Peragine – Vol.3 (Diagnosis: Schizophrenia) 2018: Joseph A. Peragine – Vol.4 (Diagnosis: Schizophrenia) 2020: Greg Puciato – Child Soldier: Creator of God (provided drums on "Creator of God" and "Fire For Water") 2023: Joseph A. Peragine – Mantra 2024: Joseph A. Peragine - Epithet
References
External links Dillinger Escape Plan official site Return to Earth official site Vagrant Records official Boxer site All Else Failed on MySpace Interview with Chris Pennie by Ferrante's Power Equipment – Picture source Interview with Chris Pennie by The Drum Report Interview with Chris Pennie by Empty Words Interview with Chris Pennie by Silent Scream Interview with Boxer by Lollipop Magazine Sibelius – Software used to create musical example Original 1993–1995 recordings with Decker, Holden, Pennie and Zuccolo The Armed video Trailer with Chris Pennie