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by Dylan MorosesSan Diego quartet Pierce The Veil stood

dormant under fans’ watchful eyes lastyear, but amidst the little activity in theend of 2014, the multifaceted metalcorepop-punk band was gearing itself up fora musical eruption in 2015.Pierce The Veil exploded onto the scene

back in 2012 with their outstanding albumCollide With The Sky, which musicallypacks both emotional ferocity and fragility,highlighted by the vivid portrayal ofrelationship anguish and rock star realities.After constant touring in 2013, lyricist,

vocalist and guitarist Vic Fuentes, hisyounger brother and drummer MikeFuentes, lead guitarist Tony Perry andbassist Jaime Preciado took nearly all of2014 to spend time working on their newalbum, due out later in 2015.Just a few months ago in November,

Pierce The Veil rocked the area duringthe first leg of the Rockstar sponsoredWorld Tour, co-headlined by theircounterpart of similar sound and stature,Sleeping with Sirens, who have a newalbum due out in March. Now, the band is back around to electrify

the area a second time with Sirens, bringinga new set, stage and new supporting acts,before they start the craze and thecountdown to the new Pierce The Veilrecord when they finally decide to releasenew music.While stopped over in Seattle during

the beginning of the second leg, I spokewith Preciado about the World Tour’sprogress and success, the recordingprocess on the upcoming album,inspirations from fans, and the joys ofperforming live.Pierce The Veil just finished up the firstleg of their World Tour. It’s been a shortbreak, but are there any highlightslooking back?It’s pretty tough because we just finished

it, and we’re right back on the second leg,so it’s not so much that it’s finished for us.We got to tour with some amazing bands. On the first leg we took out Beartooth

and This Wild Life, so we were really stokedon having them then, and on this secondleg we have Mallory Knox from the UK,which is their first time in the U.S., andthen we have a band called PVRIS.It’s really been a nonstop, crazy

awesome time. All those bands have beengreat with us, and being out again withSleeping With Sirens is just like having acamp that you’re a part of, where you getto see your friends for a long time. It’spretty cool.The tour so far has looked prettyelectrifying, from the recent photo andvideo updates.Just in general, both bands are at really

good spots in each career and it’s beenreally cool to make this tour happen, justto be a part of it.When you had the chance to spendsome time at home for the holidaysbetween concert dates, what were youbusy doing?Well we were obviously getting ready

for the second leg. We try to do everysingle tour a little bit different than the last,so we’re adding a couple things for theshow, but other than that, just enjoyingthe time off. We all kind of do our own littlethings, and we’ll get together. We enjoybeing home because we know we’re notgoing to be there for a while.What sort of things do you guys try toswitch up in your live performances?Is it just different songs in the setlist,or other elements like stage props?We like to keep everything kind of

different, just to make kids want to comeback every time. I think that’s our maingoal, to keep things exciting so that fanscan really look forward to seeing us again. It’s not the same show over and over

again, so we’ll dabble with adding differentsongs, even production parts, whether itis confetti or changing set looks. We tryto do whatever we possibly can to makethings a little bit different than the timebefore.If you saw a show on the first leg, this

show is almost completely different, maybenot 100 percent, but we definitely try toswitch it up a good amount. We try andswitch it up not just for the kids, but alsofor us personally, too. We’re playing everysingle night, so we want to look forwardto doing that, and we do, but having thatkind of theatrical aspect really helps.You and the rest of the band really stayactive on most social media outletslike Twitter, Facebook and Instagram,connecting with fans on a constantbasis. How hard is it for you to stay upto date on all platforms, and what sortof inspiration does that communicationprovide?Honestly, it goes back to when we

started the band, all these things werehappening. A couple years ago, Instagramwasn’t a thing, Twitter wasn’t a thing; allthat stuff kind of happened when we weregrowing up as band. We kind of learnedas we went along. I always kind of joke around about if we

started the band today, how hard it wouldbe to keep up, because there’s so manyoutlets, so we were really fortunate tohave that learning curve. Plus, we havealways tried to just be honest and not postthings as like a different person. We reallyjust try to be us, and I think that’s helpedfans look into our lives a little bit more andsee us as four regular dudes as opposedto this untouchable celebrity.Back in the day you just didn’t know

what these musicians were doing, and atthe end of the day they were probably justsitting on the bus, waiting to play a showand do a couple interviews here and there.

Now, kids need that feedback, and weenjoy it because we grew up doing thatstuff.Speaking of your social media activity,the band has provided an inside lookinto much of the recording process forthe upcoming album, posting photosof the Long Island studio and the bandrehearsals. How has this approachto songwriting and recording differedfrom Collide With The Sky or SelfishMachines?This is actually the first time we’ve kept

the same producer going into a record.On Selfish Machines we recorded withMike Green [The Color Morale, All TimeLow], and on Collide With The Sky wewent with Dan Korneff [A Day ToRemember, Chiodos, Sleeping WithSirens]. On this next record, we went back with

Dan, because we loved working with himon Collide so much. So that awkward firstmeeting was gone; we were alreadycomfortable with him, he knew what wecould do, he knows what we like, what wedon’t like, so we were able to hit the groundrunning.It was similar to the way we did Collide.

He used to be in New Jersey but nowhe has a studio in Long Island, which waswhere we were. We just set up in awarehouse studio that he built, and weset up first day in a big circle, and kind ofjust hashed out every single new songthat we had. We completely broke eachsong down all the way to the bare bones,and just kept building it up, almostexhausting every possibility for each song,just to see what the song could become.We were really lucky to be able to do

that, because a lot of bands don’t havethat kind of time. Dan’s such a smart dude and a risk

taker. We told him in the beginning whenwe doing Collide and with this new record

that we’re the band that likes to experiment;I mean, obviously not do anything toocrazy, but tastefully experiment with differentthings. We basically were saying to himif there was anything that he wanted toever do on a record, that this was therecord to do it on. Anything from differentsounds, different techniques, differentwhatever. We’re really open to that, andI think our music kind of lends itself to that.We don’t play just one style of music, sowe were really lucky to all have thatmentality going into recording, and Danreally helped us out a ton.You recently made comments abouthow this new album is morecollaborative amongst the guys in thegroup. Each member in Pierce The Veilhas their own distinct musicalinfluences, whether it is Tony’s metalbackground or your pop and hip-hopproduction experience. How did eachmember play off each other whencrafting these new songs?We built up a ton of different ideas,

whether they originated off a riff or a partor we kind of liked, and just stemmed fromthere to become songs. For us, like I saidearlier, we’re not just one style of music,so not every song calls for a heavy part,or a cool pop part, it really depends onthe song.We try to make a complete record, and

we joke around and say, “Oh, it’s the newestPTV record!” and, “It’s the newest versionof us!” I mean, there’s always going to bethe fast, punk stuff, the heavier stuff,the more sing-along parts. That’s kind ofhow we looked at it.Musically, is there any sort of singularinspiration for the album, or anyparticular songs?Every record we stress on getting better,

musically, as songwriters, musicians andpeople. That’s what I think the goal in lifeis, you want to be a better version of you.

feat

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PIERCE THE VEIL WILL PERFORM AT THE ELECTRIC FACTORY IN PHILADELPHIA ON FEB. 14 AND 15, AND THE HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM IN NYC ON FEB. 17. THE BAND’S UNANNOUNCED ALBUM WILL RELEASE LATER IN 2015. FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO TO PIERCETHEVEIL.NET.

PHOTO BY ADAM ELMAKIAS

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We had a ton of different songs, and some songsobviously didn’t make it, and some did, because atthe moment that was the vibe we were trying to putout and work on and spend time with.Being on tour so much as well, you hear different

styles of music, you experience different things, andwe try to make it as real as possible on the record.The sort of collaboration is something recognizablesince you and Tony worked on an album beginningwith Selfish Machines, and is produced well bothon record and on stage. Are you writing songsto incorporate different genres, or is it morenaturally a testament to each musician’sindividuality and skill?I think individually every person takes pride in what

they’re doing. They know not everyone can beshredding all the time. We understand that whenpeople hear the band, they hear the entire band; it’snot just one person shredding the entire time. Werealized that at an earlier age.We make it a point to complement each other on

certain parts. I think that’s always been our mentalityand the way we’ve done things. I really enjoy beingin a band like that, and look up to bands that hadoverall solid musicians. Bands where it wasn’t justlike one guy doing everything. Bands where everyonecarried their own weight and were good at what theywere doing. I think it keeps balance when someone’snot taking over all the time.What would you say was the most difficult thingfor you to achieve on the upcoming album?I think it was difficult to fill up the record with songs,

because we ended up deciding to cut a few songs,which made us have to write new ones. It got downto the wire, with us having to physically write brandnew stuff in the studio, which we’ve never done before,but it turned out awesome. That kind of pressure forced us to be creative. It

was kind of crazy and if you asked me again, I probablywouldn’t do it again in that scenario, but it was a lotof fun, and I think we learned what we could do.Just a few weeks ago, you began the second legof the tour in your hometown San Diego at theViejas Arena. What was the reaction like?It was great, man. Definitely a breath of fresh air,

because hometown shows are always crazy stressful.You’re trying to get all your family and friends in, thatthey’re taken care of and not lost in some tunnel. Itwas pretty crazy. Once you go through that tunneland on stage, though, you immediately know howawesome it is to play your hometown. There are nowords to describe it. Every time we play San Diego,it shows us how lucky we are to be part of such anamazing city that’s really taken us in. It’s gotten tothe point where we feel like we’re San Diego’s dudes.Pierce The Veil is known for an exhilarating live

show, showcasing the band jumping off the wallswith as much intensity as the audience. Is thereanything difficult about playing with that muchenergy?There’s nothing really hard about it. We try to take

it pretty seriously and put on the most exciting showwe can. We really want kids after the show to just belike, “Wow!” We’ll do anything we can on stage to incrowds. I think that really comes from us being the underdog

for so long. We used to be opening band, go on tourswith bigger bands, and you kind of get shoved off ortossed around, so being in that position where weknow the hard work has paid off for us, we have tocontinue playing that way. We can’t just half-assanything anymore.That’s how bands were that I saw when I was

younger. I was the kid in the crowd going, “This bandis doing it! They’re killing themselves on stage for theentertainment of these kids,” and I was that kid.You can’t fake that kind of stuff. People will come upto me and ask me, “Is that a real smile on stage? Orare you faking that?” and there’s no way I could fakethat smile.What are you most excited for looking ahead tothe upcoming World Tour dates?For us, we were in the studio for such a long time,

writing nearly all of 2014 and recording the last couplemonths, so we’re excited to be out on tour. It was kindof a tease to do the first leg, because it was over anddone so fast, and we went home for the holidays forlike three or four weeks.I think we’re always in this cycle of wanting to be

on tour, and then touring for almost two years straightand thinking maybe we need a break. Then you wantto start writing songs, and it’s just this crazy cyclethat we’re in, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.This is what we love to do, and we’re excited peopleare along for the ride.Pierce The Veil are planning to release a newalbum this year, their first new music in threeyears. What sort of growth does the recordrepresent for the band?I think it’s a natural one. We respect bands more

that grow up with each and every record. We’re nottrying to put out another Collide, but we’re not tryingto completely rewrite the book on our band. We’re taking it slow, and in my opinion the best

bands did that, and did it right. They grew with everyrecord, and every one was different, because theychanged and became who they are now. While you’re on the road, are there any plans torelease new music?There are always talks about it, and we have to

figure out the main plan for how we’re going to do itall, but yeah, new music is coming soon.

“Every record we stress on gettingbetter, musically, as songwriters,musicians and people. That’s whatI think the goal in life is, you want tobe a better version of you.”