Austin Pierce Guerra, better known as the maestro behind PIERCE, makes the type of music that both instills terror in soccer moms and bloodthirsty euphoria in bassheads – the type that sounds like it could come straight from a steel factory, yet drives thousands of bodies into a frenzy on the dancefloor.
We caught up with PIERCE, and spoke to him about his upcoming EP, and talks about the time when he decided to become a DJ/Producer.
T.H.E – Hey Austin! Welcome to T.H.E – Music Essentials. How’s it going for you, and what have you been up to?
PIERCE – Hey Guys! Just been working even harder finishing up some official remixes and tons of more originals for single releases.
T.H.E – When did you realize that you want to become a DJ/Producer and what influenced you to take a decision?
PIERCE – I always connected to music ever since I was in middle school when a friend of mine showed me hip-hop for the first time. He showed me 50 Cent’s single HEAT from his first album, Get Rich and Die Tryin’, and I was blown away from it. As soon as that, I spent every day after looking for more types of music other than what was on the TOP 40 whether it was Hip-Hop, R&B, Rock, Pop, Metal, etc. The only music I listened to at the time was what was ever on tv or the radio from car-rides with my mom and dad; so that was a huge awakening from the norm for me. After that, when I was 13, I realized around in my freshman year of high school after seeing a fellow senior djing during a school event that I wanted to do that. I wanted to be able to play a curated list of songs that I found and show others songs they might have never heard before. I wanted to expand people’s taste in the world of sound. By the end of high school, I was doing well in my community; whether it was spinning everyone’s parties, events around town, and even playing clubs at the age of 17/18. I knew that the next step was to pursue production and learn how to make music so that I could advance to the next level in my career.
T.H.E – You recently released ‘Death Note’ from your upcoming EP that is titled – Flesh. The track names seem to be inspired by horror. What is the message there?
PIERCE – The message is the last section apart of my 7 piece story EP where it tells story of a man about a man who’s trying to balance the good and evil when he’s been fucked numerous times over and over, and he just lashes out and escapes which is flesh and is looking for what/who has done him wrong, and trying to resolve that pain so he can grow.
T.H.E – How long has the EP been in the works and what can fans expect from it?
PIERCE – I spent about 6 months working on this, from February-July 2018, and just wanted to push myself sonically via telling a story in songs as well as push the boundaries in my sound design. What fans can expect is a nonstop bass heavy story where every song is a true banger.
T.H.E – A lot of your productions are perfect for bass heads. Do we see you branch out to other genres as well, sometime in the future?
PIERCE – Yes, in the grand scheme of things. I’ve have made tons of music in more of an R&B/chill and hip-hop vibe, but it won’t be for a while till those tunes are released. The real reasoning why is that I’m just starting to grow in the dubstep/bass music scene, and if all of the sudden I start randomly releasing music that is part of a completely opposite vibe; my fans won’t understand and don’t know what type of sound/music the PIERCE brand is all about. The other styles of music will definitely come out, but for right now, I’m going to push harder and harder into making weird crazy style bass music, and most importantly make it slam and make them just more than a “DJ TOOL” or a throwaway banger, but real songs.
T.H.E – Apart from bass music, which other genres do you listen to?
PIERCE – I listen to a lot of Hip-Hop & R&B if I’m not listening to EDM. Those are preferably the ones, besides those 3, anything really.
T.H.E – Time for some fun ones. Tell us the 3 best and worst things about you.
PIERCE –
Best: driven, kind-hearted, and funny (in my opinion lol)
Worse: gets distracted easily, sleep a lot, and sometimes pretty loud.
T.H.E – Tell us the 3 celebrities that you most and least, admire.
PIERCE – For his musical creativity in not only hip/hop and just being groundbreaking overall in the music industry, it would have to be Kanye West. Besides the drama with his political views and some other things that have been taken negatively, you can not deny his impact by creating a movement with fashion, sneakers, and most importantly; the sound of The Weekend, Travis Scott, and Drake’s R&B movement that has become a staple in modern music within the last decade.
The middle would probably be like Leonardo Dicaprio. He’s my favorite actor, and one of the best actors in my opinion. His movies are phenomenal and he’s also a great world activist and wants to make the planet a better place, as well as reverse the effects the human race has done to earth.
Least admirable would be someone like Logan Paul where he’s a babbling idiot who has gotten famous from just being loud and very “extra” where millions of pre-teens love his content while he keeps constantly doing horrible things and getting away with it.
T.H.E – What’s the most beautiful place you have ever been?
PIERCE – Maui, Hawaii. My family used to do trips every year when I was younger there for a few weeks. If you ever wonder what true paradise looks like, then Wailea, Maui is the place.
T.H.E – Which historical figure would you like to be?
PIERCE – Umm.. Not really sure on that. If I had to pick a figure, I’d probably pick someone like Obama, or any other historian figure that has a great impact on the country or the world overall.
T.H.E – What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
PIERCE – Probably just walk around and see people for their true selves when alone. I don’t know really haha
T.H.E – Thanks, Austin! Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us this year.
PIERCE – Thank you guys, can’t wait to share :)
Listen to ‘Tyrant’ by PIERCE here.
