Tony Perry

Tony Perry
Perry performing in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Cesar Antonio Perry Soto
Also known as	Turtle
Born	(1986-02-25) February 25, 1986 Tijuana, Mexico
Origin	San Diego, California, U.S.
Genres	Post-hardcore pop punk experimental rock emo
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Guitar
Years active	2006–present
Member of	Pierce the Veil
Formerly of	Trigger My Nightmare
Website	piercetheveil.net
Spouse	Erin Perry ​ (m. 2021)​

Tony Perry is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Pierce the Veil. He is also a co-owner of Living The Dream Foundation alongside bandmates Vic Fuentes and Jaime Preciado.

Early life

Perry was born in Tijuana, Mexico, but moved across the US border to San Diego, California with his family at a young age. He joined Pierce the Veil in 2007 at age 21.

Career

For a brief period prior to joining Pierce The Veil, Perry was in a band known as Trigger My Nightmare alongside bassist Jaime Preciado, who also left alongside Perry to join Pierce the Veil in 2007.

Perry joined Pierce the Veil in 2007 for the release of the band's first full-length album A Flair for the Dramatic. In the following years, he released four albums with the band, Selfish Machines, Collide with the Sky, Misadventures, and The Jaws of Life.

He has toured in North America, South America, Australia, Asia and Europe several times. Perry has performed at multiple major music festivals such as Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, Reading and Leeds, Warped Tour, Soundwave Festival and Slam Dunk Festival. Pierce the Veil has shared the stage with acts such as Bring Me the Horizon, Black Veil Brides, All Time Low, Sleeping with Sirens, Tonight Alive, A Day to Remember and Blink-182

Perry has cited Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Slash as his main influences. Perry's style takes on a mix of 2000s pop punk, metalcore and hardcore, along with Eddie Van Halen-esque styles seen in songs such as The Boy Who Could Fly. Perry's style also distinctly interworks flamenco guitar from his native Mexico, giving Pierce The Veil its signature "Mexicore" sound.

Equipment

Perry in 2013 with one of his ESP Viper guitars.

When Perry initially joined Pierce the Veil, he heavily used a Gibson SG, which can be seen in the music videos for 'Chemical Kids and Mechanical Brides' and 'Yeah Boy and Doll Face', both off of A Flair for the Dramatic (2007). Perry later became an endorsee of ESP Guitars around the release of Collide with the Sky (2012) after heavily using a silverburst ESP EC1000 on the Selfish Machines tour, and later got his own signature model, the ESP Viper Slimer . Perry began using Fender guitars heavily with the release of Misadventures (2016), in particular a modified American Professional Fender Jazzmaster with a Seymour Duncan pickup and hardtail bridge conversion.

Since Pierce The Veil's return following the departure of founding drummer Mike Fuentes, Perry has very heavily used Fender Stratocaster guitars, including a collection of neon-painted Jim Root Stratocasters, which have been heavily used on music videos for The Jaws of Life (2023) and also during live sessions with Triple J in Sydney, Australia in July 2023.

As of the launch of their run on Blink-182's One More Time... North American tour, Perry is running a collection of Jim Root Stratocasters for different tunings, continuing the use of the pale green (Drop C#), neon orange (D# standard), Black and Pink Cheetah pattern (Drop D/E Standard) and His custom 'Funeral' (Drop B) Stratocaster guitars from the Creative Control and The Jaws of Life tours.

Perry used Marshall Amplification amplifiers prior to the band's hiatus, often using vintage Marshall Plexi heads fitted with the 'Dookie' mod, popularised by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. Following Pierce the Veil's return, Perry has used Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, including the iconic Dual Rectifier, which was popular among Nu metal, Grunge and Pop punk guitarists.

Perry uses Ernie Ball slinky strings, as Pierce the Veil are endorsed by Ernie Ball, largely due to bassist Jaime Preciado using Music Man StingRay basses, and Ernie Ball's endorsement of Vans Warped Tour, where Pierce the Veil gained a majority of their initial traction.

Early in his career, Perry heavily used EMG pickups in his guitars, but has since switched towards Seymour Duncan JB pickups.

Discography

Pierce the Veil

Main article: Pierce the Veil discography

• A Flair for the Dramatic (2007)
• Selfish Machines (2010)
• Collide with the Sky (2012)
• Misadventures (2016)
• The Jaws of Life (2023)

Awards

• AP Music Awards, Best Guitarist 2016 (won)

External links

• Tony Perry on Twitter