RISING ROCKERS PIERCE THE VEIL PLAY TOMS RIVER ON THURSDAY NOV. 20

There are high expectations for Pierce the Veil’s fourth album, which is set to drop early next year and is already generating strong buzz as one of the most anticipated releases of 2015. The anticipation is justified. The San Diego band’s dynamic amalgam of hardcore, rock, punk, metal and alternative has been winning fans over since brothers Vic (vocals, guitar) and Mike (drums) Fuentes formed the band in 2006. Pierce the Veil is rounded out by bassist Jaime Preciado and guitarist Tony Perry.

Following five years of constant touring and musical growth, Pierce the Veil delivered their breakthrough third album, “Collide with the Sky,” in 2012. The disc, recorded in Elmwood Park in Bergen County, hit No. 12 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart and topped the Hard Rock, Modern Rock/Alternative and Rock albums charts.

This month the band received a Gold Record for the single, “King for a Day,” which has sold more than 500,000 units. Other accolades include the band taking home the 2014 fan-voted Alternative Press Music Awards for Best Live Band, Best Bassist (Preciado) and Best Drummer (Mike Fuentes).

While fans will have to wait a few more months for new music, the band is currently on a co-headlining trek with Sleeping With Sirens. The tour includes a sold-out show on Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. Pierce the Veil returns to the area on Feb. 17 for a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan.

We spoke with bassist Jaime Preciado.

What can you tell us about your upcoming new album?

We recorded it in Long Island with Dan Korneff, the same producer who made our third record. It’s the first time we’ve worked with the same producer. I think he brings a sound to the band that we found on “Collide with the Sky.” He pushes us musically.

“Collide with the Sky” was such an accomplishment, artistically and commercially. Did the band feel a sense of, ‘how are we going to top that?’ when you started the new record?

Not necessarily. I don’t think we’ve ever necessarily felt we’ve tried to top what we’ve done. We just want to be better as songwriters and musicians. The new album is definitely a Pierce the Veil record. It has its fun, fast parts, heavy parts. It’s all there. In terms of pressure to be better, I think that’s like fuel for us. I think our goal is to get better every year. We’re not a band that just showed up and became popular. We’ve worked super hard for the past nine years. We’ve learned from mistakes we’ve made along the way.

The band is from California but has recorded its last two records in New Jersey and New York. Does that make the process easier in terms of there being fewer distractions when you’re away from home?

We all really like it. Recording the new album in Long Island, we were literally living in the studio, sleeping there. It was like a little child orphanage upstairs. You wake up, you work, you go to bed and do it again. There are no distractions and it does keep you focused.

You recorded “Collide with the Sky” here in New Jersey, in Bergen County. Do you have any favorite stories from your time here?

We got lost all the time (laughs). We’re not used to your highway system. We saw a lot of North Jersey since we kept getting lost, but it was great.

One of Pierce the Veil’s strengths is how you incorporate different aspects of punk, hardcore, rock and metal into your music. It seems like you have a great deal of crossover appeal when it comes to different genres. Do you think that has helped the band grow its audience?

We are really lucky to not be pigeonholed in a genre. We’ve gotten to tour with a diverse range of bands, from Bring Me the Horizon and A Day to Remember to All Time Low. There are huge differences between styles in those bands, and we try to have that diversity in our music and also on this tour. The opening band, This Wild Life, has an acoustic vibe and then you have Bearthooth, which is thrash punk, and then Sleeping With Sirens and us. You have all the spectrums on the scale.

You’re known as being road warriors and the band is currently booked well into next year. Does touring ever get tiring for you?

We have this cycle where we’re on tour for a year, two years straight. We played 280 shows in 2013. When you get to the tail end you want to go home. Then you’re at home for a day and you want to go back out. We enjoy it. We’re trying to hit as many places as we can and taking advantage of that. For a band that’s not a national act or radio band, to play Southeast Asia and Australia and South America is amazing.

Can you tell us about the connection Pierce the Veil has made with fans by touring so much?

Like any other band, we say we have the best fans in the world, but I honestly believe that. We learned really early in the band’s career to just be ourselves and connect with the audience on a human level. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. We’re just very outgoing, regular dudes that play rock music. I’m glad the music we’re making is working. With the Alternative Press Awards we got in 2014, our fans were still talking about us and voting even though we didn’t have a new album out and were not touring. That shows how awesome our fans are.

More info: piercetheveil.net