Ola Englund - guitarist for The Haunted and the founder of Solar Guitars - sat down with Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor at NAMM 2019 earlier this year. The interview below features discussion about the financial realities of playing in a metal band. He also reveals how the band takes on the money-making side of the industry while retaining creative independence (thanks Ultimate Guitar):

Mansoor: "The industry has shifted, so there's no money. When we were first talking, there was already no money, and that's when, like, there was some people buying CDs, but now, the streaming model... I think one of the fundamental differences between my point of view and a lot of other people is that people would've called me a cynical asshole, because they were, like, 'You know, this CD thing can't last forever. It's gonna come around, there's gonna be a change.' And I was, like, 'Yeah, there's gonna be a change, and it's gonna suck for artists.' 

So I told everyone in the band, 'We're probably never gonna make money from this band and if that's a problem, it's cool, I get it that maybe it's not for you.' And everyone who wanted to be in the band understood. 'Alright, let's do this because it's fun and exciting; playing shows, you get to play your own dumb music in front of people,' like, that's awesome.

I sort of became a music producer by accident, just by helping Tosin (Abasi) with the first Animals As Leaders album, but it was just basically trying to find any way I could make money that didn't involve me having to have my 9-to-5 job. Everyone starts there and then you're, like, 'What can I do to spend more time (on what I love)?'. There's a dark side to that as well, which I don't talk about a lot, which is, like, you get sucked into that machine, it can actually take out all the fun. Before you know it, it's a job. And it's not that music is a better job once it's a job, because anything that's a job, when you have to do it, especially if it's something that you kind of rely on inspiration, it's, like, 'It doesn't matter, you gotta do it, here's your deadline.' It's a very dangerous thing to play with, you have to find a good balance."

Periphery released their fifth album, Periphery IV: Hail Stan, on April 5th via their own 3DOT Recordings. The band offer a second preview with the song “Garden In The Bones”.

“Garden In The Bones” is the second song to be premiered from the nine-track album, with Periphery kicking off news of the forthcoming album’s release by debuting “Blood Eagle” (see video below).

Periphery IV: Hail Stan marks two significant firsts for the band: the first Periphery release on their recently formed label, 3DOT Recordings, as well as a change in the way they approached writing and recording. “We finally spent a year on a record,” explains guitar player/programmer Jake Bowen. “We’ve never been able to do that. The quality and pacing of the work show we took our time with this one. That’s an important note about this. We really got to do everything we wanted to do in the space we had to do it.” Mark adds, “I think you can hear the adventurous intent behind much of this material as a result. We’re all the happiest we’ve ever been with a release, and it’s no coincidence. Can’t wait for you all to hear it.”

Pre-orders, which include several limited-edition vinyl and merch bundles, are available here (physical) and digitally via iTunes here. Digital pre-orders include an immediate download of “Blood Eagle” and "Garden In The Bones".

Periphery IV: Hail Stan is the first release to follow the band’s 2017 Grammy Award nomination in the “Best Metal Performance” category, for Periphery III: Select Difficulty album opener “The Price Is Wrong”. The 2016 album tallied 35 million cumulative streams and marked their third consecutive debut in the Top 25 of the Billboard Top 200. It represented the apex of a tireless decade-long grind. In between the touring, endorsements and appearances, they also launched a summer camp of their own, Periphery Summer Jam.

Periphery IV: Hail Stan tracklisting:

"Reptile"
"Blood Eagle"
"CHVRCH BVRNER"
"Garden In The Bones"
"It’s Only Smiles"
"Follow Your Ghost"
"Crush"
"Sentient Glow"
"Satellites"

“Blood Eagle” video: