Periphery Look Back at Summer Slaughter Trek, Name Their Dream Tour Mates + More

Hot on the heels of their run this year’s Summer Slaughter tour, Periphery are hitting the road again this fall for a headlining run of dates.

During the Summer Slaughter New York stop at Best Buy Theater, we had a chance to speak with Periphery members about fun moments throughout the massive trek and more. Frontman Spencer Sotelo and guitarist Mark Holcomb also revealed which acts they would love to tour with, as well as bands that inspired them to pursue music in the first place.

With Summer Slaughter’s massive lineup, how would you describe your relationship with all of the bands?

Mark Holcomb: It’s been great, definitely like a summer camp vibe.

Spencer Sotelo: Yeah, especially the Revocation guys, whether we see their shows or they come out to our shows we feel like no time has passed.

MH: They’re like brothers to us, we love those guys. It’s just been a party.

SS: Everyone gets along really well, everybody likes beer, we got lots of pot.

MH: You know who we don’t get along with? Animals As Leaders, we don’t know those guys very well. [Laughs] No we love those guys. Thy Art is Murder, they’re hilarious, too.

How are you guys traveling around? Sharing a bus or in a van?

SS: We’re actually in a bandwagon, it’s like an RV. It’s cool because it has a shower in it and most buses don’t even have showers.

MH: It’s so worth having a shower even though it’s a smaller vehicle.

Share a funny tour story from the Summer Slaughter experience.

MH: The other day, during Animals As Leaders last song, me and Misha [Mansoor] crashed their set and did the robot…onstage. We got between Tosin [Abasi] and Javier [Reyes] and we f---ed their whole vibe up onstage. They weren’t even that mad, so I guess that shows the vibe on tour. What’s a dirty story that we can tell, there’s got to be a dirty story. Revocation has some dirty stories.

SS: They have stuff that makes everything we do look like child’s play.

MH: I don’t want to spill their dirt. They’re the hardest partiers on this tour, by far.

When did you realize you wanted to be in a metal band or that you had the chops to do so?

SS: I don’t know if I ever realized I had the chops to be in a metal band or do anything technical. I think the band that did it for me and it may sound a little cliché  and a lot of other people would say the same but it would have to be Metallica. I was 16 years old when I got into Metallica and I was in a band at the time and we’d do Metallica covers. That’s when I was like “I want to be in a f---ing metal band.”

MH: I knew I wanted to do it early because of Metallica and Pantera but I didn’t know I could actually do it until I was actually doing it. It took me a while to settle in and learn the ins and outs. I wasn’t convinced that I could do it until I started doing it, it’s not a conventional lifestyle by any stretch. I think people think it’s what they want until you realize it’s a 24 hour job and there’s a lot of sacrifices that you have to make.

The sophomore record 'Periphery II: This Time It's Personal' came out just last year and it still fresh, but are there any gears turning for new music?

MH: Yeah, there’s a lot. We’re constantly writing. The thing about this band is that the biggest challenge is not to write and just get through a lot of content. We’re always writing, every single one of us write. The challenge is finding out what works best together. What goes best with Spencer’s ideas?

Do you spend your time writing on tour or do you wait until you go home to get everything out?

SS: A little bit of both, usually whenever inspiration hits us. We always take advantage of it, if we feel it.

What's one band you would love to tour with whom you haven’t toured with yet?

SS: Slipknot.

MH: Where do we start, there’s a list.

SS: Slipknot, Incubus, that’ll never happen.

MH: Oh Meshuggah, we’ve played with Meshuggah but we’ve never toured with them. That might actually happen.

SS: Killswitch Engage? We’d love to tour with those guys.

If the Killswitch tour happens, you’d need to do the robot with Adam Dutkiewicz onstage.

MH: I think he’d kill us at the robot. He’d destroy us all.

What is one thing you must have on tour with you, no electronics.

MH: Dildo? That’s electronic?

SS: Fleshlight.

MH: That’s also electronic.

SS: Pop Tarts, raspberry, cherry and chocolate, strictly. Those are my three flavors of Pop Tarts. I don’t eat them when I’m sober but at the end of the night that’s my go to.

MH: You know what’s an underrated answer? Pillows, towels and socks, not a lot people bring their own towels and you’re stuck with the really shot venue towels.

SS: And underwear, underwear is a hot commodity on tour. I’m not wearing any right now because I don’t have any clean underwear. It sucks.

It’s okay, no one knows.

MH: Now you do, now all your readers know Spencer’s not wearing any underwear onstage tonight.

SS: Half the time when I’m onstage, there’s no underwear there.

Periphery's 'This Tour Is Personal' headlining trek kicks off Oct. 11 in Baltimore. Born of Osiris, Dead Letter Circus and Twelve Foot Ninja will be along for the ride. See all the dates here.