The Adventures of Misadventures with Pierce The Veil
Interview & Words by Ally Fisher
Photos by Sammy Roenfeldt
A decade as a band in the making, a top ten album amongst another top 20 and a fanbase that reaches to just about every edge of the world, Pierce the Veil is a force daring to be reckoned with as they continue dominating the world with their widely acclaimed fourth studio album, Misadventures.
An album that took nearly four years to complete, Misadventures has taken Pierce the Veil to places unimaginable for a small post-hardcore band from San Diego, California. Since the album’s release this past May, the band has taken on various radio performances, numerous chart topping positions and even a late night TV performance on Conan, which lead singer Vic Fuentes argues has been a significant highlight of his ten year long career.
“[It] was something I could never dream of doing and especially playing ‘Circles,’ it had a lot of meaning all around,” Fuentes recalls.
A song with a heavily-weighted subject matter of the Paris terror attacks and one written with Fuentes’s best friend, he recalls the importance of playing such a personal and powerful song on national television.
“I remember when we were making the album, I’d finish the day and put Conan on to bring some positivity into my life,” Fuentes says. “…I actually gave Conan my guitar as a gift. We signed the back of it because it was our first TV performance. It was a cool, really surreal experience.”
But while a live major television performance is certainly a peak in events since the release of Misadventures, Fuentes is adamant on admitting the reality of how hectic the band’s life has been the past four months.
“We went from zero to a hundred since the moment I called the guys and told them I finished recording. It’s been madness [and]I don’t think we really stop until right before Christmas.”
From an album release show in Mexico City to a brief stint in South America and all the way to Australia, the band has been around the world and back promoting and touring on the album. Most recently, Pierce the Veil has toured the land down under, which Fuentes animatedly discusses talking about being a band for ten years and only now playing their first real club-show headliner in Australia. Previously, the band has only really conquered Perth, Australia’s music festival Soundwave, but three songs into their set, they got cut prematurely and were not allowed to finish, even amongst a high protests from the fans.
Also within the recent months, the band released the first must video from Misadventures for the hit single, “Circles.” While the song tells the narrative of two friends living through the Paris terror attacks, the music video shows a more lighthearted side, where the band gets naively trapped inside a haunted-yet-fun house run by an all seeing evil innkeeper.
“It was based off of an old cult classic called Nothing But Trouble I remember watching while growing up. We had a lot of trouble coming up with a concept, every time we met with a director, we told them not to take [the song]so literal and yet all we got were all these horrible ideas from multiple directors,” Fuentes says. “We had to end up coming up with something on our own. So we came up with the haunted hotel idea, which then became the premise of the music video.”
However, amidst all the traveling, publicity and even filming that went along with Misadventures, was some well deserved national recognition, as the album went straight to #4 on Billboard’s Top 200 list. The album also earned the band numerous #1 positions in various other charts such as the Alternative, Hard Rock, Rock and Independent charts.
“[The album’s success] was definitely a representation of our amazing fan base because people don’t have to buy records these days,” he expresses. “[Whenever I buy an album], it has to be something I really, really want. It’s not like back in the day where you just buy whatever, it has to be something you really want. It shows how amazing the fan base is and how amazing they are.”
Misadventures also went to #3 on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart as well, concreting Fuentes’s claims on just how powerful fans can be, regardless of a four year gap between albums.
Though fans were impatient throughout the extensive wait for Misadventures, constantly badgering band members for any bit of information they could get, it was unarguably well worth it. The album displays Pierce the Veil with a sound and style that’s far more experimental than anything they have ever released. During the years it took to record Misadventures, Fuentes travelled across the United States in search of inspiration, staying in an abundance of AirBnB’s as well as even engaging on a world tour when the States seemed out of stories to tell. Fuentes gathered memories and experiences that would help create Pierce the Veil’s best album to date.
“The longest thing that took a while for Misadventures were the lyrics. I didn’t think I had more stories to tell. That’s why I waited and traveled around, looking for more inspiration,” Fuentes explains. “You can’t get inspiration from sitting in a little room.”
If you have ever listened to a Pierce the Veil song, it’s easy to become mesmerized by the pure artistry that exudes from Fuentes’s lyrics.
“I only like to write about things that are really intense, emotionally for me, good or bad,” he says.
Containing powerful imagery and delicate themes, it’s easy to recognize the amount of effort Fuentes puts into his lyrics–while recording an album or just on the road.
“I’m always writing stuff down for later,” he says. “If I’m watching a movie, or hear or see something. I have this whole big list of a million lines and things that I can use to inspire songs and imagery. I like to write lyrics where you can hear it and paint a picture.”
With Misadventures, the songs are traditional to the band’s post-hardcore genre such as “Today I Saw the World” and “The Divine Zero,” but there are also songs that leave an undeniable impression, the ones that are different, yet still capture the pure essence of the band. Songs such as “Floral & Fading” and “Bedless” contain a seemingly more pop sound–one that is foreign to the band but nonetheless works. Fuentes credits the variation in sound to the simple gesture of time they had to create the album.
“It’s the best representation of the quality of the sounds and playing,” he comments. “Obviously we get a little better as we go along and get a little better with producing and getting into the record. [Laughs.] With [Misadventures] we were really able to get deep in the sound and the sonic parts. We were really able to get into the sound and making it the sonically best sounding record we’ve ever had for sure.”
Fans in the States were able to hear the album in it’s entirety this past June when the band toured the album in full, but this fall Pierce the Veil is on the road (yet again) with support from U.K. rockers Neck Deep and I Prevail.
“This is kind of our first tour back since Collide with the Sky. This is like the first tour for Misadventures where we have the whole set list and big production and really put all of our energy and time in it,” he says with excitement in his voice. “We’re definitely going bigger and crazier than ever… And more expensive! It’s gonna be really cool!”
Could you say Pierce the Veil are at the top of their career? Definitely. But would you say that it will be short-lived? Definitely not. The four-piece from sunny San Diego are just getting started, regardless of their already established and stable fanbase as well as decade long career with countless tours under their belt. The band is here to take the world by storm. So whether it takes Fuentes and the rest of Pierce the Veil 5 years to complete their next album or 10, fans will be eagerly awaiting their hauntingly beautiful lyrics and avant-garde sound, ready and willing to take them to the absolute top of the charts.
