In 2006, Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez released his debut album with his solo acoustic/electronica project, The Prize Fighter Inferno. Nearly 20 years later, Sanchez is launching the first-ever Prize Fighter Inferno tour.
Speaking with ABC Audio, Sanchez shares that he’s both excited and nervous for the upcoming shows, noting that he “just wanted to do something different” in deciding to finally bring The Prize Fighter Inferno on the road.
“For most of my musical career, I’ve been in a wild rock band,” Sanchez says. “But there’s this side of me that I don’t really get to explore or showcase that this project, I’m starting to see, is there for.”
The Prize Fighter Inferno shows will indeed be very different from the Coheed live experience, subbing out prog rock heroics for a quieter, more intimate affair.
“It’s a very exposed experience, unlike the Coheed experience,” Sanchez explains. “Coheed, it’s a loud rock band. There’s a lot of sounds to sort of hide behind. And for this … I feel very exposed, and in a challenging way that I think could be cool for me.”
While he’s played Coheed songs like “Welcome Home” or “A Favor House Atlantic” countless times in concert, Sanchez is still developing his live relationship with the Prize Fighter Inferno songs. In rehearsing for the tour, Sanchez has found that the material puts a brighter spotlight on his vocals.
“The voice is almost more important in this,” he says. “There is so much clarity, there is so much nuance, I think, that needs to be executed.”
The Prize Fighter Inferno tour begins Friday, February 16, in Washington, D.C., and concludes March 2 in San Francisco.