Periphery guitarist Jake Bowen recently spoke with Music Radar and offered his five tips for becoming a better 7 successful guitar player. Followingis an excerpt from the feature.

Don’t get too hung up on what other people think

Bowen: "We are in the age of the unsolicited opinion and everybody wants to be heard. I think it is just a reaction to the fact that these phones and social media are just reflections of the fact that we don’t have any control, and that we are lost in a sea of opinion. This is gonna sound a bit nihilistic, but (we should) remember that we are all just creatures, that we are animals growing on a rock, floating through space. Really, nothing we do is very important in the grand scheme of things, so to take somebody’s feedback to heart and really let it eat away at your essence - I guess that’s the best way to put it - is just not worth your time and it’ll just distract you from doing what you want to do. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t listen. Like, definitely listen. It’s a barometer. Because you are only in your own mind, and you are only really influenced by the people around you, it’s good to have a different perspective. It’s healthy. But it’s not healthy to obsess over it.

We do have an element to our sound that is of a technical nature, so when you have that element you tend to draw people who will appreciate that element, and those people are very discerning customers; if you are not on your game 100 per cent at all times they are going to take notice and they are going to comment about it on the internet, and that feedback gets back to you and it harms the ego, and it makes you really think about what you are doing. Not to say that we take all that feedback and it’s messing with us all the time - it’s not - but we definitely do keep our finger on the pulse.”

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Periphery will release their fifth album, Periphery IV: Hail Stan, on April 5 thvia 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:

Periphery embarks on a brief tour to coincide with the release, joining Dance Gavin Dance for a 15-date North American trek on March 30th.

Tour dates:

April
3 - Phoenix, AZ - Van Buren
5 - Dallas, TX - South Side Music Hall
6 - San Antonio, TX - Alamo City Music
7 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
9 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
11 - Silver Springs, MD - The Fillmore
12 - New York, NY - Playstation Theater (Sold Out)
13 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall
14 - Worcester, MA - Palladium
16 - Cleveland, OH - Agora
17 - Detroit, MI - Royal Oak
18 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues (Sold Out)
19 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues (Sold Out)
20 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall

# - Swan Fest with Dance Gavin Dance, Crown The Empire, Don Broco, Veil of Maya, Intervals, Volumes, Hail The Sun and more

Periphery is:

Jake Bowen (guitar, programming)
Matt Halpern (drums)
Mark Holcomb (guitar)
Misha Mansoor (guitar, programming)
Spencer Sotelo (vocals)