Periphery’s Sotelo praises band chemistry on new album

Periphery frontman Spencer Sotelo has praised inter-band relationships while recording their latest album Periphery III: Select Difficulty.

It was released in July, with Sotelo now revealing it was the first time he and the other members have “been on the same page” when putting the pieces together in the studio.

Sotelo tells Loudwire: “We’re in a really good place personal relationship-wise between everybody in the band at this point in time. When we were together writing it just felt like a bunch of friends hanging out and writing music for fun.

“It hasn’t been like that in a long time. I won’t get into specifics, but there have been things in the past that have hindered writing or recording because of the relationship thing with working with the band.

“This is the first time where everybody has been on the same page and everybody is in good spirits. It felt like just a bunch of brothers writing. I think that’s something I’ll take away and never forget about this whole Periphery III: Select Difficulty process.”

Sotelo previously reported the band didn’t have “any sort of direction” when they entered the studio, and says what was originally supposed to be sessions for an EP blossomed into a bigger project as they were having so much fun together.

He adds: “We got together with the band to write just purely out of fun. I think with a lot of things in life, you tend to be more creative and more driven in general without having that stress.

“Everything came together so fast that we had a lot of material and just decided to do a whole record instead of an EP.”

Periphery are currently on tour across the US with Sikth, Chon and Toothgrinder.

Periphery remaining tour dates 2016

Aug 24: Milwaukee Turner Hall Ballroom, WI
Aug 25: Grand Rapids Intersection, MI
Aug 26: Detroit St Andrew’s Hall, MI
Aug 27: Pittsburgh Mr Small’s Theatre, PA
Aug 28: Philadelphia Theatre of the Living Arts, PA
Aug 30: Boston Paradise, MA
Aug 31: New York Irving Plaza, NY
Sep 01: Baltimore Baltimore Sound Stage, MD

Periphery say fan approval of new music is 'irrelevant'

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.