Pierce The Veil (15/08/2012)
Hi I’m Olivia, thanks for talking with The 59th Sound today!
Where abouts is the band at the moment?
I am in San Diego, California at our house. We literally got back a couple of hours ago from the Vans Warped Tour and we unloaded the trailer and the bus; now I’m about to do some laundry!
You must be exhausted!
Where did you find the inspiration for your latest album?
The inspiration came from a couple of things. Lyrically it came from my own personal things that have been going on in the last couple of years. We also get a lot of inspiration from a lot of fans; we get a lot of letters and messages from them. Sometimes they have these really amazing stories about how music has saved their lives and literally keeps them alive and keeps them from harming themselves. A lot of times when we meet kids at “meet and greets” they’ll tell us that the music has kept them from killing themselves, from cutting themselves. It’s when our music becomes a little more than just playing in a band and touring, it becomes something bigger. So that inspired a lot of the album.
The album has been fairly well-recieved by critics, which is great, but how do you deal with their sometimes-harsh feedback?
Well I’m super critical of myself and the music that we make, so any criticisms made I’ve already made it on myself. I don’t really take it to heart coz I have enough to worry about in my own head!
I’m sure fans loved it when you worked with Kellin Quinn on the album’s first single. Can you tell us how that came about and what it was like?
It came about a while ago before we did the record. I kept on getting tweeted at by fans saying that me and this guy Kellin Quinn need to do a song together – this would happen literally ten times a day for a month! So eventually we started talking on twitter and introduced ourselves and the reaction from fans was just crazy. So when we started on the new record I called up Kellin and became friends just over the phone. I really respect him as a singer and when I met him I thought he was a really nice guy. He has a lot of qualities that I see in myself, like just being a positive dude. So yeah we got along well and that’s how it came about. We did the Warped Tour together so we sung the song every day and yeah, it was awesome!
“Collide with the Sky” was leaked four weeks before the release date, which seems to be happening a lot in the music industry lately. How did you and the rest of the band react to the news?
The only thing we were bummed about is that it was released a whole month early – that’s kind of a lot for a leak. But I think we were immediately uplifted by the fact that a lot of our fans would make a point to be like, “Hey, I know it leaked but I’m not going to buy this record until it [officially] comes out.” We had a lot of fans angry about it! So that was cool for us and when the album came out it came #12 on the Billboard charts, which is insane for a band in this genre. The power of our loyal and amazing friends was enough to keep it going.
As you said before, you recently played at the Vans Warped tour. What was your most memorable moment?
There were a few. There was a show, maybe in Chicago – one of the big cities – Taking Back Sunday were playing, we were about to play, and after us was New Found Glory. It was just this surreal moment when we didn’t know how we got there, playing in front of 15,000 people in this giant arena thing. Just being able to play with bands we really look up to on Warped Tour was pretty amazing.
What are some of the bands that you look up to?
I look up to a lot of our friends’ bands for different reasons.
We also just toured with The Used and they’ve been a massive inspiration to me since I was younger. From loving their music to loving their production, it was always a dream of mine to work with their producer, John Feldmann. We actually got a chance to do that on the Punk Goes Pop album that we just did. But yeah that was pretty surreal to meet Bert McCracken and hang out with those guys.
Then bands we do tours with inspire us. We just did a tour with letlive. which is a band that I really, really respect and I ended up asking Jason if he would sing on our album, which he did. It was really cool.
Overall, what’s the main difference between a concert tour and playing at a festival?
I think the main difference is that a festival is usually during the day. When you’re on a club tour you’ve got all the lights and you can hide behind all these theatrics. When you play at a festival you’re just totally exposed – it’s just your band in front a crowd of people and I think that’s a challenge of a lot of bands. It definitely was for me, on the first few that we did, and it still is. It’s a totally different kind of production.
Do you have a preference out of the two?
Not really. I think festivals are cool because you get to play in front of a lot more people. On the Warped Tour we got to play in front of bigger crowds than we’ve ever had. It was crazy – our first time was actually kind of scary! On a club tour you get to be really creative with your production and lighting. We’re a band that loves to play live; it gives us the opportunity to really express ourselves, try do things that other bands don’t do, and push ourselves to do something that’s going to be memorable for people.
Do any of you get a bad case of the nerves?
Yeah, yeah we do! I was talking to some of my friends’ bands at Warped and it’s the five minutes before you go on that is the scariest time because you hear the crowd and you’re just hoping that your guitar works and everything. But then once you go out there it all goes away.
Have you ever had a moment on stage where something happened, like a mic not working?
Yeah!! The other day Tony, our guitarist, was swinging his guitar around like a manic and accidentally hit our friend Eric from Blessthefall in the back of the neck; I thought he was going to die! But yeah he was super strong about it and just shook it off. That was a pretty scary moment! [laughs]
It was released this morning that you’re coming to Australia to play at Soundwave in February. Who are you most excited to see?
I’m really excited to see Blink-182. We used to cover their songs in our rooms when we were younger. It’s definitely an honour to be on the same tour as them.
The band has been to Australia a couple of times as a supporting act. What are you guys most keen on doing once you get here?
I’ve heard a lot of cool stories from my friends who have done Soundwave. I was super jealous and I’ve wanted to do it for so long! So I think I’m just excited to just hang out in the hotel lobby and watch dudes from Metallica hang around! I’ve heard stories about my friends meeting their favourite bands and to chat with some of them would be really cool.
To finish off, are there any chances of Pierce the Veil playing a sideshow?
I have no idea actually; I didn’t know bands did that on tour! We haven’t planned anything at the moment but I’m sure we’ll let everyone know if we do.
Sure! Thanks for talking to me today and I hope you enjoy your break; looking forward to seeing you in February!
Oliva Fusca
Where abouts is the band at the moment?
I am in San Diego, California at our house. We literally got back a couple of hours ago from the Vans Warped Tour and we unloaded the trailer and the bus; now I’m about to do some laundry!
You must be exhausted!
Where did you find the inspiration for your latest album?
The inspiration came from a couple of things. Lyrically it came from my own personal things that have been going on in the last couple of years. We also get a lot of inspiration from a lot of fans; we get a lot of letters and messages from them. Sometimes they have these really amazing stories about how music has saved their lives and literally keeps them alive and keeps them from harming themselves. A lot of times when we meet kids at “meet and greets” they’ll tell us that the music has kept them from killing themselves, from cutting themselves. It’s when our music becomes a little more than just playing in a band and touring, it becomes something bigger. So that inspired a lot of the album.
The album has been fairly well-recieved by critics, which is great, but how do you deal with their sometimes-harsh feedback?
Well I’m super critical of myself and the music that we make, so any criticisms made I’ve already made it on myself. I don’t really take it to heart coz I have enough to worry about in my own head!
I’m sure fans loved it when you worked with Kellin Quinn on the album’s first single. Can you tell us how that came about and what it was like?
It came about a while ago before we did the record. I kept on getting tweeted at by fans saying that me and this guy Kellin Quinn need to do a song together – this would happen literally ten times a day for a month! So eventually we started talking on twitter and introduced ourselves and the reaction from fans was just crazy. So when we started on the new record I called up Kellin and became friends just over the phone. I really respect him as a singer and when I met him I thought he was a really nice guy. He has a lot of qualities that I see in myself, like just being a positive dude. So yeah we got along well and that’s how it came about. We did the Warped Tour together so we sung the song every day and yeah, it was awesome!
“Collide with the Sky” was leaked four weeks before the release date, which seems to be happening a lot in the music industry lately. How did you and the rest of the band react to the news?
The only thing we were bummed about is that it was released a whole month early – that’s kind of a lot for a leak. But I think we were immediately uplifted by the fact that a lot of our fans would make a point to be like, “Hey, I know it leaked but I’m not going to buy this record until it [officially] comes out.” We had a lot of fans angry about it! So that was cool for us and when the album came out it came #12 on the Billboard charts, which is insane for a band in this genre. The power of our loyal and amazing friends was enough to keep it going.
As you said before, you recently played at the Vans Warped tour. What was your most memorable moment?
There were a few. There was a show, maybe in Chicago – one of the big cities – Taking Back Sunday were playing, we were about to play, and after us was New Found Glory. It was just this surreal moment when we didn’t know how we got there, playing in front of 15,000 people in this giant arena thing. Just being able to play with bands we really look up to on Warped Tour was pretty amazing.
What are some of the bands that you look up to?
I look up to a lot of our friends’ bands for different reasons.
We also just toured with The Used and they’ve been a massive inspiration to me since I was younger. From loving their music to loving their production, it was always a dream of mine to work with their producer, John Feldmann. We actually got a chance to do that on the Punk Goes Pop album that we just did. But yeah that was pretty surreal to meet Bert McCracken and hang out with those guys.
Then bands we do tours with inspire us. We just did a tour with letlive. which is a band that I really, really respect and I ended up asking Jason if he would sing on our album, which he did. It was really cool.
Overall, what’s the main difference between a concert tour and playing at a festival?
I think the main difference is that a festival is usually during the day. When you’re on a club tour you’ve got all the lights and you can hide behind all these theatrics. When you play at a festival you’re just totally exposed – it’s just your band in front a crowd of people and I think that’s a challenge of a lot of bands. It definitely was for me, on the first few that we did, and it still is. It’s a totally different kind of production.
Do you have a preference out of the two?
Not really. I think festivals are cool because you get to play in front of a lot more people. On the Warped Tour we got to play in front of bigger crowds than we’ve ever had. It was crazy – our first time was actually kind of scary! On a club tour you get to be really creative with your production and lighting. We’re a band that loves to play live; it gives us the opportunity to really express ourselves, try do things that other bands don’t do, and push ourselves to do something that’s going to be memorable for people.
Do any of you get a bad case of the nerves?
Yeah, yeah we do! I was talking to some of my friends’ bands at Warped and it’s the five minutes before you go on that is the scariest time because you hear the crowd and you’re just hoping that your guitar works and everything. But then once you go out there it all goes away.
Have you ever had a moment on stage where something happened, like a mic not working?
Yeah!! The other day Tony, our guitarist, was swinging his guitar around like a manic and accidentally hit our friend Eric from Blessthefall in the back of the neck; I thought he was going to die! But yeah he was super strong about it and just shook it off. That was a pretty scary moment! [laughs]
It was released this morning that you’re coming to Australia to play at Soundwave in February. Who are you most excited to see?
I’m really excited to see Blink-182. We used to cover their songs in our rooms when we were younger. It’s definitely an honour to be on the same tour as them.
The band has been to Australia a couple of times as a supporting act. What are you guys most keen on doing once you get here?
I’ve heard a lot of cool stories from my friends who have done Soundwave. I was super jealous and I’ve wanted to do it for so long! So I think I’m just excited to just hang out in the hotel lobby and watch dudes from Metallica hang around! I’ve heard stories about my friends meeting their favourite bands and to chat with some of them would be really cool.
To finish off, are there any chances of Pierce the Veil playing a sideshow?
I have no idea actually; I didn’t know bands did that on tour! We haven’t planned anything at the moment but I’m sure we’ll let everyone know if we do.
Sure! Thanks for talking to me today and I hope you enjoy your break; looking forward to seeing you in February!
Oliva Fusca