Progression and innovation, two aspects of music which are difficult to achieve. While some are comfortable within the bubble of playing it safe, others like Maryland based band Periphery relish in the challenge of expanding their horizons. Well recognized as a pioneer of the Djent scene, the band expand far beyond the ideals of one respected genre as they mix Metal, Rock, Pop, Jazz, and everything in between into their music. Making an impression with their debut self-titled album in 2010, 2012’s Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal would capitulate the band into further mainstream success breaking the top hundred in the Billboard 200 list. Now in 2015, they stun their growing fanbase again with an unprecedented double release of Juggernaut: Alpha and Juggernaut: Omega. Unconventional and brave, Periphery hold no reservations about who they are and that is part of their unique quality that has people coming back for more. Recently we sat down with lead guitarist Jake Bowen for a closer look into the world of Periphery, the idea behind the new material, their preparation prior to live shows, and more.
CrypticRock.com – Periphery was formed a decade ago and has developed into one of the most talked about Metal acts on the scene today. Looking back, when you joined the band in 2007, what was your expectations for Periphery?
Jake Bowen – My expectations were pretty high, because I joined the band as a fan. I just knew that the music that Misha, the founder of Periphery, was writing was something that I would be pretty stoked about playing. Writing additional stuff with him, it just seemed like the right move for me. Getting involved in it was something I took very seriously. I am actually from New York, I actually moved from New York to Maryland to join Periphery, because I just believed in the music. So I did have pretty high expectations.
CrypticRock.com – Well it seems to have worked out well. The band’s sound can best be described as Progressive Metal. Many people talk about the Djent scene and look to Periphery as a pioneer of the movement. What do you think of this offspring of Metal music, and does the band find labels limiting?
Jake Bowen – I think to actually actively go after some sort of monickers, it is a little bit of a self defeating process to do that. Where, if you just accept the fact that that is what people want to call you, then it is cool. It is nice that our fans are people who recognize the music, thinks it deserves its own designation. For me, especially as somebody that composes, I do not want to be locked into one style or certain expectations. As I am sure a lot of musicians say a lot of this cliche stuff but, I mean it as much as they do. One day I might not feel like writing this kind of stuff anymore, or I want to change it a little bit, or add something fresh to it, well my interpretation of fresh. I think it is nice, but as a band, we do not really say, “We play Djent music.” We are a Progressive band. You will hear Metal, Pop, Groovy stuff, Fusion stuff, and whatever inspires us really.
- Sumerian Records
- Sumerian records
Crypticrock.com – Right, exactly, no one wants to be pigeonholed. What is very interesting about Periphery is while the band is obviously part of the Metal genre, they have been accepted by Hard Rock fans as well with heavy airplay on SiriusXM Octane. Many times Rock and Metal fans can be very polarized. With that said, is the band surprised by the positive response from the Hard Rock world?
Jake Bowen – I would even go beyond styles, they are like lifestyles even. People tend to make the music that they listen to the soundtracks to their lives. So Hard Rock listeners and Metal listeners do not always follow the same paths in life. Just like Punk Music or Hip Hop, or whatever, you have people that are just not going to see the world the same exact way, but there is a common thread there with the Hard Rock stuff. We all grew on Hard Rock, Metal, Punk, Hardcore, and all the various styles because we are hungry for music. We did not really care and feel like we had to owe allegiance to just one style of music. We come from a lot of different backgrounds in that sense. I feel that is why the Hard Rock people and the Metal people can dig on Periphery, because it is influenced by both those things.
CrypticRock.com – It is very diverse. The band recently released a double album Juggernaut: Alpha and Omega. Boldly, the band decided to release this as one album when they could have easily done separate releases. Was it a unified decision that this piece of work had to be put out there as one release?
Jake Bowen – Initially, it was all going to be on one CD. Then we realized two things, fitting it on one CD would be physically impossible, and the other thing was, when we were doing our listen backs to the finished recordings we said, “Wow, track ten is exhausting.” As much as we take music seriously, and are serious musicians, we are also casual music listeners for a lot of our listening time. We felt once people get to track ten, they will be so over it and fatigued, as it were. So if we divided it into two releases, you can have an Alpha and Omega side, which is what we named them. You get a full experience with whichever one you want to listen to. It also enabled us to expand the artwork. It is a concept, we wanted to have two different covers because it would be nice for each one. Just something to enable us to allude to the story even more, because we are still not telling people what the story is about. We are letting the fans try to figure it out, the clues are in the artwork.
- Sumerian Records
Crypticrock.com – It is cool leaving things open to interpretation like that. Sometimes working within the parameters within a concept record could be difficult because you are trying to fit within that concept. Did the band at all hit any walls in creating this concept?
Jake Bowen – No, I think we had so many options, that was the bigger challenge. We had so much music to choose from. Spencer, our singer, wrote the concept and we had to make sure that the musical side that the rest of us were writing flowed. We all wrote together but, to try to fit the two pieces together, the concept and lyrics to the music we had, to choose the right compositions, they had to flow a certain way. They had to have texture too because the subject matter is pretty dark. Especially from our last two records, there are some songs that are upbeat and fast tempo, this one is slow and brooding at times. To make sure, picking the right music, I think was the biggest challenge, but everybody in the band is happy with what we did. I think we succeeded.
- Sumerian Records
CrypticRock.com – The record came out excellent. It is very diverse. The band obviously stands strong in the scene now with a record like that; not a lot of bands do that. Now that the recording is done, how exciting is it for you guys to get out there and perform these live?
Jake Bowen – It is such a relief because we spent so much time in the studio just trying to get everything as good as we can get it. It really took a lot of time, effort, and hard work. Once the hard work is done, you can sit back and start reaping the benefits of the hard work. Also, performing it really strengthens the band’s bond with the music they just recorded. It feels really good.
CrypticRock.com – Exactly, Periphery certainly is a spectacular band to see live. With the music as intricate as it can be, is it at all difficult to execute this music live, and what is your preparation?
Jake Bowen – It is extremely difficult, it is not difficult to the point where it is not enjoyable. It is challenging, and I think all of us as musicians like to be challenged. Getting ready for a tour, especially when playing new material, is like everyday waking up, making coffee, going over all of the songs. Making sure you are playing every part tight. How we learn the songs, at least the guitar players learn songs; we get together a few days out of the week and we each have riffs, I have to show my riffs to Mark and Misha; the other two guitar players, and they have to show their riffs to me. What we do is, we take our cell phone cameras, film the other person playing them and then we go take them home and sit in front of our computers and figure it out visually. We then get together a week before the tour starts and set up all of our gear, get everything going and start jamming out the song.
There is a lot of prep work, especially when we are playing new stuff, to make sure it is going to come out right live. We do not like to go out unrehearsed. There is a lot of prep work for that. After that, it is just a matter of being aware of what you are playing while you are playing it live. The live setting changes everything so much from the way that it feels to what you are actually hearing, trying to be in the moment as well as understanding what you are playing. Everyday, all of us are making mental notes, “I kind of slopped through that one part, let me go back and tighten it up.” That is how we practice while we are on tour when we think about parts that are giving us trouble and we go over them on our own time. It is a lot of administrative work, I describe it as, to make sure everything is tip top.
CrypticRock.com – It sounds like you do put a lot of thought into it. You briefly mentioned that you have diverse musical tastes, tell us more about your musical tastes.
Jack Bowen – Personally, I like a lot of different styles of music, if you saw my iPod you would be like, “What?” Right now I am listening to Bobby Brown. I have the Don’t Be Cruel (1988_ album and it is great. I know I am not necessary listening to it for the cutting edge music obviously. I am just listening to what I feel is a moment in time. I have been really digging on that. I like more standard stuff like Pantera, He is Legend, and Nine Inch Nails. I listen to a lot of Electronic music like Telefon Tel Aviv and Prefuse 73. I could go on and on about all of my weird stuff, but anything that sounds good.
CrypticRock.com – That is great that you can keep yourself open. A lot of musicians do that for the most part. Most people do not want to limit themselves when listening to music.
Jake Bowen – It is funny because when I am listening to this stuff, especially the stuff that does not inspire the Metal world at all, for example Bobby Brown, I am listening to the way that the songs are arranged and the quality of the actual takes in the recording. I try to think about it in a Metal capacity like, “Man what would this sound like if there were a really heavy drum sound, instead of the bass lines, if there was a guitar following it.” I try to Metalize things when I am listening to it so I can interpret them. Sometimes it is cool to actually do that because you get these Metal covers in Pop songs, they are pretty cool. It is a different perspective, when I sit down to write Metal stuff, I can transpose these sounds into a Metal sound.
- MCA Records
- East West
Crypticrock.com – You can take something from everything. My last question for you is pertaining to movies. CrypticRock.com covers music and Horror films. You clearly find inspiration in literature, but if you are a fan of Horror films, what are some of your favorite Horror films?
Jake Bowen – I am super picky about Horror films and I do enjoy the genre, but I am not well-versed. I watched a couple of good Horror films recently. I think my two current favorite ones are V/H/S (2012) and V/H/S/2 (2013). As far as older stuff, the first couple of A Nightmare on Elm Street movies and Friday the 13th. I thought House of 1000 Corpses (2003) was pretty gnarly too. I am not well-versed on Horror movies, but when I find ones that I like, I really like them.
CrypticRock.com – There seems to be a lot of remakes lately, you mentioned a lot of classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Friday the 13th (1980); growing up to these movies, what is your approach to these remakes?
Jake Bowen – Somehow, I always end up watching them, not because I want to watch them, they just happen to be on or somebody else is watching it. I sit down and I am like, “Alright, I will check it out.” I do not want to say this about any remakes that are going on, I see what they are doing, trying to capitalize on this former glory and keep going this legacy of original characters and story writing but, I kind of wonder, are we ever going to get, new things? It is not necessarily a Horror movie but, they keep rebooting The Terminator (1984). I want the next thing that is going to be as groundbreaking as The Terminator or Alien (1979), or The Matrix (1999). I do not understand it. I want people to come up with new things instead of rebooting these old franchises. I am a huge fan of these things, I will stay loyal to them anyways. I get it, but I do not get it because I wonder, are we going to innovate again or go after the same glory?
- Paramount Pictures
- New Line Cinema
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