Pierce the Veil is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 2006. It was founded by brothers Vic and Mike Fuentes after the disbanding of Before Today, which formed out of the San Diego punk scene. Jaime Preciado and Tony Perry joined the group in 2007, on bass and lead guitar respectively.
Pierce the Veil has released five studio albums and has toured worldwide since the release of their debut album, A Flair for the Dramatic in 2007. The band released their second full-length studio album, titled Selfish Machines in 2010. Their third album, Collide with the Sky, was released in 2012, and is their first album released by Fearless Records. Featuring the hit first single "King for a Day", the album debuted at No. 12 on the US Billboard 200. Their fourth album, Misadventures, was released on May 13, 2016, and after a hiatus, their fifth album, The Jaws of Life, came out on February 10, 2023.
History
2006–2009: Early years and A Flair for the Dramatic
Pierce the Veil was founded by Mike Fuentes and Vic Fuentes in 2006, after the disbandment of their band Before Today (formerly known as Early Times). The brothers continued to write songs together and eventually came up with enough material for a new full-length album. Still backed by their label, Equal Vision Records, they wrote and recorded an entire album on their own in Seattle with producer Casey Bates. The brothers released the album A Flair for the Dramatic on June 26, 2007, under a new name: Pierce the Veil, which is derived from a song of the same name from Before Today's album, A Celebration of an Ending. Soon after, Pierce the Veil acquired Tony Perry (lead guitar) and Jaime Preciado (bass) as members. Pierce the Veil toured vigorously for about 3 months after the release of A Flair for the Dramatic. They have toured with bands including A Day to Remember, Chiodos, From First to Last, Emery, pop-punk band All Time Low, Sleeping with Sirens, The Devil Wears Prada, and Mayday Parade.
In November 2007, Pierce the Veil performed one date on the Vans Warped Tour 2007, and were on the entire tour in 2008. They played the Bamboozle Left in 2008. Their first headlining tour, called The Delicious Tour, which took place in October–November 2008, featured Breathe Carolina, Four Letter Lie, and Emarosa. They ended their record cycle with the Taste of Chaos 2009 tour along with Bring Me the Horizon, Thursday, Four Year Strong, and Cancer Bats. Vic and Mike Fuentes with Ayrton Jara confirmed to be included in the new project and supergroup Isles & Glaciers, featuring vocalists Craig Owens of Chiodos and Jonny Craig of Emarosa. The "supergroup" released its first EP titled The Hearts of Lonely People on March 9, 2010. However Isles & Glaciers has broken up, saying "Isles & Glaciers was only a one time thing".
2009–2011: Selfish Machines
During August 2009, Pierce the Veil announced that they were currently in studio recording new material for their next album. After a few months off the road and building anticipation for their sophomore release, the band moved to Los Angeles to record their album Selfish Machines with Producer Mike Green. Singer and lyricist Vic Fuentes stated, "The title refers to human nature and the animal-like qualities inside all of us that we try and hide, but should just learn to accept. We are all selfish machines and we all have natural tendencies to want, love, and take." Selfish Machines was released on June 21, 2010, under Equal Vision, and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. In support of the release, the band played a number of festivals including the Bamboozle Left, South by Southwest, Never Say Never Festival, and the Vans Warped Tour. The band also contributed a cover of Blue Öyster Cult's classic song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" to the Punk Goes Classic Rock compilation, released on April 27, 2010. They were a part of the Take Action Tour with Attack Attack! going to New Zealand and Australia, and played on the Versus Tour in Japan with Confide. They played the "This Is a Family Tour" with Emmure, In Fear and Faith, Of Mice & Men, and Attack Attack!, which lasted until late December 2010.
Pierce the Veil played at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California as a surprise appearance as part of the Alternative Press Tour 2010 with August Burns Red, Bring Me the Horizon, Polar Bear Club, Emarosa, and This Is Hell. On November 1, 2010, the band announced that they would be kicking off 2011 touring with Silverstein, Miss May I, The Chariot, and A Bullet for Pretty Boy on the "Winterizer Tour". Throughout March and April, "The Gamechanger's Tour" with A Day to Remember, Bring Me the Horizon, and label mates We Came as Romans followed. They also co-headlined the second leg of Escape the Fate's headlining tour "The Dead Masquerade". After taking the summer off to spend some more time on writing new material, the band was supposed to head out on their first ever South American Tour supporting Sum 41 in September; however, due to illness of Sum 41's frontman, the tour was cancelled. They finished up the year touring Europe with blessthefall and co-headlined the No Guts No Glory Tour with Miss May I afterwards. They once again contributed to a "Punk Goes..." album, Punk Goes Pop 4, covering the song "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, which was released on November 21, 2011.
2011–2013: Fearless Records and Collide with the Sky On August 23, 2011, Pierce the Veil signed with Fearless Records. On December 22, 2011, a video update revealed in that in early 2012, the band would be going into the studio to record their third studio album. On December 26, 2011, Vic Fuentes announced on the band's Facebook page that the band had finished writing the songs for their third album, which they began writing during the summer and while on tour with Miss May I, Woe Is Me, The Amity Affliction, and letlive during November and December, and they would now be choosing a producer to work with on the album in early 2012. On February 27, 2012, The band issued an update on their official Facebook page saying that they have chosen to work with producers Dan Korneff and Kato Khandwala at the House of Loud in New Jersey on their upcoming third album. On April 20, 2012, it was announced that the new album would be titled Collide with the Sky and would be released through Fearless Records on July 17, 2012. On May 17, 2012, the album cover and the track list of the new album were revealed along with the announcement of the band's first ever UK headlining tour in September 2012. The first single from the new album, "King for a Day", features Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens and was released on June 5, 2012. The second single, "Bulls in the Bronx", was released three weeks later on June 26, 2012.
In order to promote the album, the band appeared on the Vans Warped Tour from June 16, 2012, to August 5, 2012, playing the event's main stage for the first time. They were regularly joined on stage by Kellin Quinn to perform the song "King for a Day". After Warped, Pierce the Veil embarked on their first headlining tour in the UK, selling out almost all of the dates. Their following headlining tour in the US, The Collide with the Sky tour, saw a similar success. They ended the year appearing at No. 33 in Rock Sound magazine's best albums of 2012 list as well as winning nine categories in the best of 2012 reader's poll conducted by Alternative Press, including Best Live Band of the Year, Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. On January 9, 2013, Vic Fuentes released information that he had recently been in the studio writing new songs with Tom Denney.
On January 7, 2013, Pierce the Veil and All Time Low announced that they would be co-headlining the Spring Fever Tour in Spring 2013. Both bands toured across the United States, along with opening acts Mayday Parade and You Me at Six, an English band. The tour began on April 11, 2013, and ended on May 12, 2013. Toward the end of the tour, on May 7, 2013, the music video for Pierce the Veil's song "Bulls in the Bronx" was released.
2013–2015: This Is a Wasteland and World Tour
On September 23, 2013, the band announced plans to release a documentary on November 11 about their first world tour. It included live footage from their world tour, three music videos, and additional content. The band released a statement on the documentary: "Our first world tour was absolutely the craziest experience of our lives.. [sic] and we filmed EVERYTHING! Follow along as we visit uncharted territories in search of the best shows and thrilling experiences we could absolutely find along the way. This DVD is for the fans and the fans only. Thank you for letting us travel the world and share this adventure with you!" - Vic, Mike, Tony, and Jaime On October 18, 2013, the band launched pre-orders for their documentary with a new release date of November 25.
On July 21, Vic Fuentes and Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens announced a co-headlining world concert tour. The tour started on November 5, 2014, in Fresno. They first announced the first North America leg with 20 concerts with support from Beartooth and This Wild Life. A month later, on August 22, 2014, the band confirmed the second leg of the concert tour which took place in Europe. Between March 20, 2015, and April 11, 2015, Pierce the Veil played concerts in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, and the UK. According to Epitaph Records, all of the concerts in Europe were sold out. Before going to Europe the band played a second U.S. leg with support from PVRIS and Mallory Knox.
2015–2018: Misadventures and departure of Mike Fuentes The band's fourth studio album, Misadventures, was released on May 13, 2016 through Fearless Records. Produced by Dan Korneff, the album spawned the singles "The Divine Zero" and "Texas Is Forever".
In November 2017, drummer Mike Fuentes was accused of soliciting nude photos and statutory rape by a young woman. The incidents were alleged to have occurred roughly a decade prior over the course of several years. The pair allegedly initiated contact on MySpace before meeting for the first time at a Pierce the Veil concert. Fuentes was 24 at the time, while the girl was 16, a legal minor in the state of California. The woman stated they had sex after meeting again at a concert during Warped Tour. The relationship was said to have lasted until she turned 18.Hysteria Mag: PIERCE THE VEIL // Mike Fuentes Accused of Assaulting a Minor
In December 2017, a second woman accused him of requesting nude pictures when she was a minor. She accused him anonymously on Twitter. The woman claimed they first met at Warped Tour in 2008, when she was 14 years old where they exchanged phone numbers. When she turned 15, Fuentes allegedly requested nude photos from her.Loudwire: Pierce the Veil’s Mike Fuentes Accused of Sexual Relations With a Minor
In light of the allegations, Fuentes and the rest of the band released a statement later that month, stating that Mike Fuentes was to step down as drummer to "concentrate on his personal life". The band announced a hiatus and cancelled their planned 2018 UK tour with All Time Low. No formal charges were brought publicly against Mike Fuentes for either allegation.
2018–present: Hiatus and The Jaws of Life