Tattoos, turtles and misadventures

8/31/2016

American post-hardcore band Pierce the Veil, formed by brothers Vic and Mike Fuentes in San Diego in 2006, has been on a steady rise in recent years. The band’s 2012 album, “Collide with the Sky,” reached No. 12 on the Billboard Top 200, with the song “King for a Day” becoming the band’s first Gold-certified single. The band headlined 2015’s Warped Tour and brought home honors from the Alternative Press Music Awards, Kerrang! Awards, and a Revolver Golden Gods Award. But success hasn’t stopped the band yet. The group’s fourth full-length album, “Misadventures,” which was released in May, made its way into the Billboard Top 40 on the strength of its first single, “Circles.”

Tony Perry, lead guitarist for Pierce the Veil, spoke with Cityview about “Circles,” a song that was inspired by the Paris terrorist attacks; and what to expect at the band’s upcoming show at the 7 Flags Event Center on Sept. 14.

CV: You’re touring in support of the new album “Misadventures,” which was released in May. What song on the album has the most interesting story behind it?

TP: I guess that would be “Circles,” the single we have out right now. It was one of the last songs that I think Vic [Fuentes] finished. When he was finally able to write the lyrics, it came to him while he was traveling around to different cities to find some inspiration. He said that the Paris terrorist attacks were weighing pretty heavy on his mind. And so that’s what he ended up writing the song about. He wanted to put more of a positive spin on it, so he wrote the song about two friends trying to help each other to get out of a bad situation. Because there were so many people that were more concerned about helping their friends.

CV: You’ve toured internationally before. How do your international show experiences differ from say a show in Des Moines, Iowa?

TP: It’s kinda hard to generalize that, because it just depends on where we go. If we go to somewhere like Mexico, it’s nice cause the kids down there… there are not as many music scenes it doesn’t seem; it feels like everyone is just into rock music. There are not a lot of bands going down there, so they’re pretty hungry for a show like that.

CV: Last year you suffered serious injuries in a mountain biking accident, including a collapsed lung. What happened?

TP: Uhhh… I don’t want to talk about that [laughs]

CV: Those experiences often become pivotal moments, a point in our life that is so impactful it changes the course of your life from that point forward. What was another pivotal moment in your life, related to music?

TP: I guess it would be when I was working at a guitar store and met Mike [Fuentes] and found out that he had a band that was looking for a guitar player. And we went and decided to jam with him and Vic. From then on, this is what we’ve been doing.

CV: Pierce the Veil was born?

TP: Pretty much. They already had a band together, and a couple members had left, so they were trying to keep doing things, and that was around the time I met them.

CV: How often does Vic get asked if he’s Dave Grohl, or related to Dave, or the love child of Dave?

TP: I don’t know. I’ve never heard him say he’s been asked that [laughs]. If he has he hasn’t told me about it.

CV: There’s definitely some banter about it. If you look online — which you know when you have people talking about you online you’re never supposed to Google yourself — but that’s one of the things people talk about, and there are some similarities.

TP: Yea, I can see that, especially since his hair is pretty curly these days.

CV: Are you aware of the Pierce the Veil fanfiction?

TP: I’m aware. I’ve never read any of it. I’ve heard weird stories about it [laughs]. Like you said, you have to stay away from reading about yourself on the Internet.

CV: I guess that’s when you can say you’ve made it, when people are creating fanfiction about you, right?

TP: [Laughs] I guess so.

CV: How many tattoos do you have?

TP: I have no idea. I have never counted. I have one big one.

CV: How many more do you plan to get?

TP: I don’t know. I have lots of stuff that just needs to be finished. I haven’t even really thought about getting anything new. I haven’t even been getting tattoos. It’s been a couple years.

CV: What’s the big one?

TP: The biggest piece is my back. It’s from the top of my shoulders down to the back of my knees. It’s a huge samurai riding a horse, but it’s a Ninja Turtle instead, because in the third movie they go back in time and they’re all samurais, so I got that picture all the way down my back.

CV: What is your favorite tattoo?

TP: I have an owl on my throat; it’s the one I like the most.

CV: Are there any body parts that aren’t tattooed?

TP: Yea, I still have some room left on the top of my legs, my thighs.

CV: Lastly, why should people come out to the Iowa show?

TP: We’ve got some awesome production planned, a cool tour package. It’s gonna be a good show. It’s been a long time since we played. Hopefully people can come out and check out some of the new songs from “Misadventures” and also some old stuff, too.