Rick Florino from the Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival sat down with COHEED AND CAMBRIA guitarist Travis Stever to discuss their latest albums The Afterman: Ascension and The Afterman: Descension. A portion of the chat can be read below:

Florino: What was the curation process for which songs would end up on the respective halves of Afterman?

Stever: “That had a lot to do with the way it flows conceptually. I definitely think the music was heavily taken into consideration though. It was a balance of feeling the music should flow and having the concept go with it. It worked out perfectly the way it was lined up with the concept too. We wanted to drift more towards becoming weirder at the end. If you think about the concept, Sirius Amory comes home in the second half and has to deal with all of this insanity and losing his wife in the accident. It’s almost like the music is this crazy, psychedelic madness going along with the madness of this character’s life. That’s how it moves as a record. It’s more concise. There’s definitely weirdness to the first half, but it gets weirder and weirder as the story gets weirder. At the end, we tie it back up with more straightforward songs. Even though “Iron Fist” is longer and has more of an experimental side to it, the basis of the song is an acoustic ballad. With the soundscapes we explored, it’s a little weirder. Next, you have ‘Dark Side Of Me’ and ‘2?s My Favorite 1’. You hear what you get. They’re songs you can connect to. It worked out perfectly in that sense. You’re giving the listener a musical journey.”

Florino: What’s your favorite song on the album right now?

Stever: “I loved it the first time Claudio played it acoustic for me. However, the band version of ‘Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry The Defiant’ seems like it’s a landmark in the set right now. It’s really cool because we’re mixing a lot of our new songs in the set. There was a familiarity for kids when they heard the demo version and live version of ‘Sentry’ Claudio did acoustically a year ago. We began doing it live last spring, knowing it wouldn’t be until this was released that people would hear it as a band. They were hearing it acoustically. They had no idea of the nuances we were adding. It’s cool to have it out there. When something is played live, it registers, but you don’t really get it until you hear the studio version. I’d say that’s the song I’m most excited about and stoked to play. Then, of course, there’s ‘Dark Side Of Me’. We just played it on Conan. I enjoy playing those two, and I’m really proud of them.”

Florino: Have you been writing lately?

Stever: “Absolutely, I’ve been working on new DAVENPORT CABINET material. Generally, I see where Claudio is at. If he’s written some material, I can generally see where his mind is at and start messing around. That doesn’t put restriction. He’s writing too lately. As you can tell with The Afterman, even if there is a theme, we want to stray and go and every direction possible. We don’t like staying stagnant. Everybody is continuously playing.”

To read the rest of the interview visit Rockstaruproar.com.

The fourth annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival is set for shows across North America from August 9th through September 15th. The touring rock music and lifestyle festival - which boasted total attendance of nearly 300,000 in 2012 - will feature performances from multiplatinum superstars and breaking talent on the Rockstar Energy Drink Main Stage and the Ernie Ball Festival Stage.

Acts confirmed currently include:

Rockstar Energy Main Stage - ALICE IN CHAINS, JANE'S ADDICTION, COHEED AND CAMBRIA, CIRCA SURVIVE.

Ernie Ball Festival Stage - WALKING PAPERS (featuring Duff McKagan), MIDDLE CLASS RUT, NEW POLITICS, DANKO JONES, CHUCK SHAFFER PICTURE SHOW, + Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands winner in each market.

The current Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival tour dates are as follows:

August

9 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
10 - Hartford, CT - The Comcast Theatre
11 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
13 - Saratoga, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
14 - Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center
16 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
17 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
18 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
20 - Toronto, ON - Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
22 - Tinley Park, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
23 - Noblesville, IN - Klipsch Music Center
24 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theater
27 - Oklahoma City, OK - Zoo Amphitheater
28 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
29 - The Woodlands, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

September

1 - Denver, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
2 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheatre
7 - George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre
8 - Ridgefield, WA - Sleep Country Amphitheater
11 - San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
13 - Phoenix, AZ - Desert Sky Pavilion
14 - Chula Vista, CA - Sleep Train Amphitheatre
15 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater