Pre-Pre-Production: Pierce The Veil

As soon as California post-hardcore outfit PIERCE THE VEIL finished their run on this past winter’s Rockstar Taste Of Chaos Tour, the brothers Fuentes and the gang immediately settled back into their home studio, cutting off all (well, most) ties to the world. PTV are writing the follow-up to 2007’s A Flair For The Dramatic, and although the new album’s content might be about personal love and loss, the band are writing each song with someone else in mind–you. Vocalist VIC FUENTES let MICHELLE ABBASCIANO in on the extremely early stages of what’s in store.


PHOTO: Adam Elmakias



Where are you guys in the writing process?

We’re pretty much right in the middle of it, actually. When we got home from Taste Of Chaos, we set up our home studio here in San Diego and started working on the new album. We haven’t taken any breaks or any time off. It’s just been straight writing every day as much as we can. Hopefully, we’ll get into the actual studio pretty soon and start recording the new record.



How many songs do you have so far?

I have a lot of songs. They’re all kind of scattered, though. I couldn’t even put a number on it. They’re kind of in bits and pieces right now; a lot of random stuff. I basically just keep writing. I never stop, so the songs kind of form themselves as I go. I try to get as much material as possible and make songs out of them.



Did you write any new songs while you were out on the tour?

We tried to. It’s so hard when you’re in such close quarters with the band. There’s literally no privacy, and it’s really hard to find somewhere to think. We try to write a little bit on the road, but we haven’t quite mastered road writing. We tried to write when we were home in between tours, but pretty much all of the writing is happening on this break, when we can actually set up our studio and really concentrate; we cut off all shows and everything.



What direction are you going in with this record?

This album is going to be completely inspired by our fans, and all the amazing shows we’ve had during the past three years. We’ve been touring so much and have formed such a close relationship with them that we want to make a record that’s really fun to play live every single night. So there’s going to be lots of upbeat songs, lots of parts to sing along to and lots of meaningful lyrics. We’re trying to bring a lot of passion into this record. We figure that you make the record, and then you tour on it, so why not make a bunch of songs that we’re going to enjoy playing every single night? It’s not that we want to make a live-sounding record, it’s that we want to make songs that are fun to play live. We’re writing with our fans in mind and with the shows in mind that we’re going to be sharing with them.



What kind of sound?

Well, I wouldn’t say it’s harder, because we’re not really a heavy band, but there will be plenty of melodies and it will be upbeat. We like playing upbeat songs. It’s going to bring an exciting vibe to the shows, I think.



Any word on a producer?

We’re still thinking about it. We want to make sure to go with someone that is as passionate about the music as we are. We’ve been talking to a lot of people and we’ll probably be making a decision pretty soon, but we just want to make sure we’re working with people who are passionate about what they do, and make sure we have the right person.



What are some of the songs about?
I think lyrics are the most important part of the songs. I know that we can make music and write guitar riffs and stuff, but all the lyrics are going to be within us. I’ve been steadily working on the lyrics since we finished the last album. I think the concept for this album, lyrically, will mostly be about being in love and destroying it. I think a lot of us have seen both sides of that. The last record was super-personal, and I think this one is going to be the same way.



What bands have you been listening to while you’ve been writing?

I really love the new record by Fun. They’re super-cool; tons of cool production. I’ve always loved bands that have tons of detail and you can tell that they could have spent years writing their songs. The new Thrice record is really amazing. The new Third Eyed Blind is awesome: I’ve been waiting for that for six years now.



What can kids expect from this record?

What we hope for is that each record will progress so that we keep making better music. I feel that every band should try to push themselves and try to be better musicians than they are now. Since we started touring, I’ve been taking singing lessons; my brother even started taking drumming lessons to try and learn new things. These are things that I think people need to do. We like to learn from other people as much as we can, so we definitely want to just progress. This record will be better than the last. I think you’ll notice when you hear it that we’re trying to push things further and trying to be the best musicians and the best band that we can be. We want our fans to know that since we miss them so much when we’re home, so we started doing an online chat on Fridays at 4 p.m. We call the show “I’d Rather Be Touring.” It’s a great way to chat with our fans and be able to keep in contact with them. We just started it last week, and we’re going to keep it going, hopefully until we start recording and touring. alt