Seven years after their last visit, Pierce The Veil finally returns to Brazil for a single performance in São Paulo on April 9th. The show, initially scheduled for Carioca Club, had to be moved to the Audio venue, which has double the capacity, due to high fan demand. Tickets are still available on the Clube do Ingresso .
The group, currently formed by Vic Fuentes [vocals, rhythm guitar], Jaime Preciado [bass] and Tony Perry [lead guitar], also recently released their first album in seven years, The Jaws of Life (2023). We spoke with bassist Jaime Preciado about the new album, their return to Brazil, and a possible collaboration with pop artist Lizzo .
Check out the full interview:
Wikimetal: Pierce The Veil has a show scheduled in Brazil very soon, and you had to change the venue to a larger one due to high demand. Did you expect this kind of reception?
Jaime Preciado: These things are very unpredictable, especially for us who have been apart for so long. Honestly, we have no idea what to expect. We didn't think we wouldn't be able to do shows for a long time during the pandemic and everything else. We had no idea what we were going to do regarding the shows, so it was quite scary.
So, knowing that we have this kind of problem – needing to go to a bigger venue because so many people want to come to the show – is a great feeling. You never get tired of hearing that. We're very excited. It's been too long since we went to South America and played in Brazil, and it's about time. I think right now we're very excited and feel re-energized as a completely new band. We feel this is incredible.
WM: As you said, you went a long time without releasing anything new and without coming to Brazil. How does it feel to see that your audience has actually grown in that time?
JP: It's incredible. We're very grateful. We're very happy and grateful to be able to step away for a while to deal with our issues and to come back feeling like the band is bigger than ever, as you mentioned. We don't underestimate that, you know? It means a lot to us.
Especially nowadays, with songs being so fast-paced and you need to keep everyone's attention because of social media. It's shocking to me that people still care [about us]. I think it's a testament to our fans.
They've been loyal since day one. They've always supported us, and growing up with them has always been incredible, so this is no different. We're very excited and, obviously, excited to meet the new fans. For us, as I said a moment ago, we feel like a new band and we're also playing for a lot of new people. So we want to put on the best and biggest show we can. That's very important to us.
WM : I want to talk a little more about this because, obviously, Pierce The Veil is one of the most important names in the emo scene that emerged in the 2000s, and a while ago there was a surge of “King For A Day” on TikTok and social media, which I believe caught the attention of new fans. Do you feel that Pierce The Veil has grown in popularity in recent years because of this so-called “emo revival”?
JP: I think there's definitely a bit of that. All the activity on social media, seeing so many people participating, was incredible. I remember coming downstairs and my wife saying, 'Hey, Lizzo is singing your song.' Things like that were kind of like, 'Wait, what was that? That's crazy.' It was very special for us, especially because we were just starting to release new music, so the timing was perfect.
But I think, again, most of it comes from the fans. I think they've helped us a lot to achieve this and everything we've done over the years. It's impossible to say that enough. We're very happy, we're very grateful. We feel like little kids, we're so excited [laughs]. And now comes the fun part, which is playing these songs for everyone around the planet, and we certainly don't want to wait that long to release new music again. We don't want to wait that long to travel to Brazil and South America. We're trying to get back into the swing of things, and I think people deserve to hear music.
WM : I want to talk a little about the new album, The Jaws of Life . I felt a strong nostalgic element in the record, but it also reflects a lot of who you are now and how much you've matured. What does this album represent for you?
JP: Funny, I said something similar in the last interview, but I feel like this album is a really good picture of us back then. We went through a lot at that time and, obviously, everyone had to deal with the pandemic, which was insane.
But for us, in the meantime, we got married, our lead singer is a father now… A lot of things happened, and that’s important to us, you know? We expanded our family. But not only that; I think we also got much closer to each other during this album when we got together after the pandemic and lived in a house in New Orleans for almost two months. I think that was special.
I think we hadn't realized how much we needed to be together in the same environment to feel connected. And I think this album was that kind of connection for us. Being able to work on the songs and bring in new things, but things that weren't exactly new to us because it felt right – it felt like the things we were listening to and enjoying. It was very special and I'll never forget it.
For me, that was almost as special as the songs we made. It was the time we spent there and the moments when, [for example], the producer would go home and we would stay up late just talking about life. Things like that were very special to us.
WM : When did you decide it was time to make new music and start a new album?
JP: I think we finished the tour in 2018 or 2019 and immediately started developing ideas and thinking about what we wanted to do. We already had the name The Jaws of Life . We started with that idea and began creating random parts and random sounds. Vic [ Fuentes , vocalist] traveled a bit, went to Seattle to work on some things, and we kept sending ideas and snippets to each other.
We only really started working on it after the pandemic, when we got together and jammed a bit. It kind of happened like that, we just had a bunch of ideas. We came up with a bunch of songs, worked with our producer, Paul Meaney … Obviously, he’s from Mutemath and we’d never worked with an artist like him before. It was something new for us.
We started navigating [our ideas] and trying to fill the board with songs that we thought would be on the album. That was an interesting part because you're trying to choose which are your favorite songs, which are everyone's favorites, ideas to make them bigger and better than what you want. That's kind of how it started. And, of course, working every day in a house in New Orleans for two months was cool too.
WM : Many artists say that when they spend time together, that's when the work becomes more interesting and exciting. It's great that you have that.
JP: You create something new every day. There's always something exciting happening, and now we can celebrate that because the album is ready. We have it in our hands, the whole world has it. So now we can play our favorite songs from the album, and that's going to be great. That's why we did what we did. We're excited.
WM : What's your favorite song on the album?
JP: That's a great question. The last interviewer asked it too. Oh man… It's like asking 'Who's your favorite child?' [laughs]. I like the first track on the album [“Death Of An Executioner”]. I think it's great, but I feel bad because that's what I answered last time, so I'm going to change it [laughs].
I'd say "Shared Trauma." That's one of my favorites. It wasn't going to be a Pierce The Veil song, it was just something I was working on… On this same computer, actually. Then our vocalist heard it and said, "Wow, what's this? I like the sound." And we kind of recorded a demo, but we didn't think it would be on the album. It was just something fun that sounded cool.
And then our producer heard it and said, “Wow, what is this? This is really cool. We should develop this. This has to be on the album.” So we took a chance and tried to do something different from what we normally do, but it’s still kind of the same. I’ll say [“Shared Trauma”] because of how different it is for us. But it lives in my heart, for sure. It has a really cool vibe. I love the sound of Vic’s voice on it. It’s so different. I always wanted to do a kind of lo-fi sound with programmed beats and it ended up being really cool.
WM : I won't go into details about that, but on this album you worked with a slightly different band lineup, now with 3 members out of the original 4. I wanted to know what the biggest difference was between the process of making this album and making the other albums that came before?
JP: I believe that whether there are 3 or 4 of us, we're always trying to do something different, trying to improve and not necessarily do the same thing we've always done. So every time we go into the studio it's different, it's never exactly the same. This time was no exception.
We're working with someone we've never worked with before, Paul Meaney, who, as I said, is an artist, so it was fun to see how his creative side works. And that was challenging in several ways because he has very strong opinions, and we wanted him to have strong opinions too. It was really cool because it pushed us forward.
We worked with Brad Hargreaves , he played drums on the album. He was the drummer for Third Eye Blind . We'd also never worked with him on a record before, so it was also something new for us and it was very exciting. Seeing him play and do what he felt was natural and give some suggestions… And he's so professional, so amazing, it was a lot of fun. Different, but still the same kind of new and fun thing. And that's what we want, you know? And the next album we make will probably be very different from this one in terms of how we prepare for it and what we'll do.
I'm excited to see what happens and how everything unfolds. But every time we make an album it's a little different, and that's what we want, you know?
WM : You mentioned Lizzo doing a cover of one of your songs, so I was wondering if you guys consider working with any artists who are completely outside your usual sphere? Lizzo recently sang a Rammstein song.
JP: If any artist wants to work with a bunch of Mexicans from San Diego playing rock, we're always available. We love teaming up with different artists from different genres. We love it when people sing our songs, we like to sing other people's songs sometimes. It depends on what feels right and what makes the most sense.
I don't necessarily have any dream collaborations in mind, but I don't think I'm opposed to anything. That's the beauty of music, you know? You can mix various things and do what feels right and what sounds right. The sky's the limit, you can do whatever you want. But that's it… Lizzo, if you're free, we could use some flute. She plays the flute very well. We could put it on the album.
WM : Last but not least: What can we expect from the show in Brazil? What will Pierce The Veil bring to us?
JP: We're going to try to bring The Jaws of Life to South America and try to put on the best and biggest show we can. It's been a long time coming, way too long, and we're trying to put together the best show possible, and it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited.