Back in September I was excited to see Scary Kids Scaring Kids on their headlining tour. Admiring the opening bands, one in particular stuck out in my mind. That band was Pierce The Veil. I had my back turned away from the stage when they ran out and in seconds started jamming. I was doing photographs at that show, and I was so entranced watching them I almost forget to start snapping. Needless to say they blew me away with their miniature 20 minute set.

It has only been within the past year that Before Today changed the name and lineup to become what Pierce The Veil is now. I was super stoked to receive a call on the day of their show this November asking if I wanted to snag an interview with singer/guitarist Vic Fuentes. Jumping to the occasion, I scribbled down some questions in two minutes and this is what I got…

Shout!: Can you give a brief description on how you all got together?

Vic Fuentes: Sure! The band was formed by me and my brother Mike, he’s the drummer. We were in a previous band called Before Today on Equal Vision Records and that band had broke up. We wanted to do another record so Mike and I started writing and ended up recording an album from just me and him in Seattle. That was produced by Casey Bates who produced the new Chiodos album and Gatsbys American Dreams’ new album. So, we did that and then we needed members to tour with and fill the band up. We met our friend Tony at Guitar Center and he is a really great guy and a great guitarist. We tried him out and he was awesome. He was in another band and ended up bringing his bass player to us. So we got everyone together put out the album and started touring.

S!: You haven’t had any lineup changes…so why do you think you all work so well together?

Vic: I think it is just commitment to being in a band and it being your life. The problem with our old band was when it got all serious and came down to it, it got really hard for some people. When we started this band, we wanted to make sure everyone was fully committed. All our personalities mesh really well together too since we’re all so laid back.

S!: I noticed you all work really well on stage too.

Vic: Oh yeah, since Tony and Jaime were already in a band together they work really well and just from the few tours we’ve had we all get into it. It was good for us to get settled in.

S!: What have you had to sacrifice to get where you are now?

Vic: Personally, I ended up dropping out of school. I was a graphic design major in college and that was my big thing since I always wanted to graduate and I don’t get to now. Being in a band is just something you can’t pass up though and it is a great thing and not everyone gets to do it. All the members also have to leave their friends and family so it can get really hard. I mean, Tony and Jaime have girlfriends back home and I know it is hard for them.

S!: How do you feel about your latest album A Flair For The Dramatic?

Vic: I’m very proud of it because it is very special to me since it was just me and my brother. Being able to do an album with your family is just awesome. It is kind of unique in itself and we had that connection in writing music and whatnot. That was really cool.

S!: How did you approach the writing style since it was in fact just you two?

Vic: It was mix really. We would just come to each other with different parts and work on them. We both had a lot of ideas that were brought to the table. We both had studios in our house where we could go and mix and jam on something. That made it really easy and that was just a day to day thing. We would get to talking on the phone or I could be at home by myself doing something. So yeah, a mix.

S!: How did you get involved with the Bone Palace Ballet Tour?

Vic: We were actually invited by Chiodos. I’ve known them for four or five years now because we were on Equal Vision at one time and I watched them get singed and freakin’ blow up. So it was really cool to see our friends get to do that and they invited us for their new album.

S!: After this tour, what can your fans expect from you next?

Vic: In a couple days, we jump on a tour with From First To Last which we’re excited about. That goes for a couple weeks and then we go to Mexico with The Devil Wears Prada and that will be pretty sweet. Then we have a couple more things that we are booking now so just keep checking on us.

S!: Wow, so you’ll be doing some nonstop touring! What do you do to pass the time on the road?

Vic: [Laughs] We stay really busy with the drives themselves. Every night we have to drive like eight hours so we spend 80% of the time just driving. When we do get some time to ourselves we play video games and watch movies. Just little things like that, or we’ll stop and goof around and play soccer or something and hang out with the other bands. We just got the new Tony Hawk game and it is crazy because we are in the game.

S!: That was my next question! How does that feel to be in the game?

Vic: It’s really weird. It’s kind of like we don’t believe it’s really there and when it comes on the game we think it’s like on the iPod or something. It’s surreal.

S!: Any last words you’d like to say to your readers out there?

Vic: Go pick up the album out there at Hot Topic, Best Buy, iTunes, and come out to a show since that’s all we’re going to be doing!

• Official Site: http://equalvision.com/artists/show/6
• MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/piercetheveil