Chris Pennie

While in high school he was playing in the local New Jersey based band, Prozak. The other 3 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 the various gigs. Chris 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.

On November 2, 2011, Coheed and Cambria announced on their Facebook page that Pennie had left the band. Chris 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.

Chris began working in the studio with rock band Coheed and Cambria, because the 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 Chris Pennie joined the band.

Pennie has 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."

He and guitarist Ben Weinman, along with now-departed singer Dimitri Minakakis and bass guitarist Adam Doll, formed Dillinger Escape Plan in March 1997. He and Ben Weinman wrote the majority of Dillinger'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 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. Pennie describes his band, The Dillinger Escape Plan, as being 'mathcore' where they start each song with no structure and an open palette.

Chris Pennie (born May 31, 1977) 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.

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.