Louder AAA
Backcombed bouffants, black body paint, and head-to-toe studded leather. We’d be willing to bet that’s what comes to mind when you think of Black Veil Brides. And we can hardly blame you; when the band made their 2011 major label debut, their vow to ‘Set The World On Fire’ painted them as the next generation’s Mötley Crüe, with many hearing glam metal anthem Fallen Angels and assuming that’s all the band had to offer.
However, the makeup wipes were knocked out well over a decade ago. Since then, the band has carved out a glorious world of intricate and theatrical hard rock and heavy metal, with recent single Certainty drowning in a world of gloriously grisly, macabre melodic metalcore. Armed with fan questions, we sat down with frontman Andy Biersack to address the eyeliner-wearing elephant in the room, discussing decade-old misconceptions, horror punk barber quartets, and Batman.
Was BVB’s early look a deliberate affront to the beery, beardy crowd?
Jo Fleischer, Facebook
“No, it wasn’t to piss anybody off. I find it loathsome when an artist’s objective is to rage bait. I was introduced to music through my dad, who was into Mötley Crüe, as well as punk bands like The Damned and The Misfits who were very goth-oriented and visual. So, for me, I wanted to combine all of that. It was a natural evolution from being a kid who dressed up like The Lords Of the New Church’s Stiv Bators to go to school. We did lean into it a bit when we realised it pissed people off, because I was a little shithead, but when we started, it was sincere and genuine. By 2013 the look had evolve pretty significantly. When the feathers and body paint didn’t feel sincere anymore, we dropped it.”
Which Black Veil Brides song/album did you find the most difficult to sing and why?
Caitlin Bissett, Facebook
“I’d say our 2014 self-titled record, primarily because I was at the height of my alcohol and drug abuse, and I didn’t really know who I was. I was also in a tremendous amount of physical pain, because I’d broken a bunch of bones about a year and a half prior and never did anything about it. There are moments of really great writing on that record, and some songs are inexcusably stupid, because it was a very drunk person trying to basically Mad Libs a rock song.
"2018’s Vale was also hard, because it was meant to be our final record. The last track, Vale (This Is Where It Ends), was genuinely me saying goodbye to Black Veil Brides, and I remember crying the first time I played it to my parents. It also took us almost two years to record, because no one was ever in the same room during the course of making it. Considering the circumstances, it’s a pretty incredible record.”
How has sobriety changed your relationship with your art?
jacketslxxt, Instagram
“I’m better at it now! I’ll never be able to recapture being 20 years old and writing those first couple records from that fucking piss and vinegar perspective of youth. But I think as a lyricist, I’ve improved significantly, and as a singer, I’ve improved. Functionally, this new record is the best record that we’ve made.”
What made BVB go down a heavier route of music for this upcoming album
Liesl.Cl, Instagram
“Jake [Pitts, guitar] and I produced this record, and that’s just where our interests are right now. After this record, I feel like we might lean even more into that, because it’s just what’s inspiring us right now. We’ve made a lot of very anthemic, sweeping, victorious sounding songs over the years. But, at 35 years old, I’m very interested in darker, moodier elements as a vehicle for storytelling.”
If you were to start a project inspired by a guilty pleasure, what would it be?
Nicole Wade, Facebook
“I’m not really someone who has ‘guilty pleasures’. But, as far as starting another project, me and Creeper’s Will Gould have always joked that we’re basically the same person – we love all the same, niche things, and we’ll sometimes send each other pictures from our childhood where we’re wearing the exact same thing, styling our hair the same way. So the dream is for me and Will to start up a horror punk barbershop quartet or something. But, wow, I love Creeper. When I first heard VCR, I felt like a blind man seeing for the first time. It was like seeing the face of Christ. They’re my favourite band outside of my own.”
Is Paradise City, the TV series you starred in, officially dead?
Cheyenne Alexandra, Facebook
“I have no fucking idea. But they announced a sequel to American Satan [the series Paradise City originally spun off from] two years ago, and I found out through Instagram. I’ve still not heard anything, so it’s either not happening or they’ve recast me. I am still acting though; I’m shooting a horror film with a friend soon.”
HAMMER: What’s your dream acting role?
“Batman, obviously. When I was a little boy, I used to get in a full Batman costume and walk around our neighbourhood to try to find crimes. I never found any, but I did get beat up one time by older kids for being dressed as Batman. So it didn’t work out that great. But I did get to do a voiceover for a Batman animated series over the pandemic [Dark Nights: Death Metal]. Another dream role is Sweeney Todd, and I played him in the videos for the Bleeders EP, because I was sick of waiting around for someone to cast me as him.”
Was there a moment where you were like, ‘We’ve made it’?
j.millerfleur, Instagram
“When I was a little boy, I read these punk rock magazines, had posters of AFI and Alkaline Trio all over my walls and ceiling. I remember dreaming of getting to be in those magazines – and, now, I’ve not only been in them, but I’ve got the record for being on the cover the most times. But the dream is ever evolving. There’s a Springsteen song that’s always been really meaningful to me called Working On A Dream, which is about how a dream is something you’re constantly working on and creating every day, and the achievement of the dream is the opportunity to continue the chase of a new dream. So I hope to continue finding new dreams, and moving onto new, exciting things.”
What’s the best fan gift you’ve ever received?
Tiffany Richardson, Facebook
“Somebody once made the most incredible action figure of me! It has fully designed packaging, and it looks like you could buy it in a store. I love a good action figure; I’ve spent almost $1,000 on them this month, and I’ve got a room with professional display cases with 100s in their original box. If I was to get robbed, that’s where the money is. Which reminds me, once we did have a break-in, but the person must have been aware of the band. They only stole Black Veil related stuff, like laminates and…my stage pants...”
HAMMER: Are you into fashion?
“Me and my wife love fashion and designing clothes, but I’m dressed like a cartoon, honestly. I have a rotating selection of about 35 leather jackets and 40 pairs of different pairs of black jeans. During the holidays, two separate family members told me that my closet looked like I was a serial killer because it’s so organised, and everything looks ostensibly the same.”
Does it bother you that gatekeepers call BVB posers and ‘not metal’, without even listening to the music?
Edward O’Connor, Facebook
“It is frustrating when people misattribute what you make. People who only know us from the cover of Set The World On Fire don’t really know what we sound like, or realise the depth in tracks like Fallen Angels, which was written about John Milton’s Paradise Lost poem. Though, the ‘gatekeeping’ has actually benefitted us in the long run. When someone who inexplicably decided what the band sounded like a decade ago based on our aesthetic hears a song, they’re blown away. I started this band when I was 15, so I consider it a pretty significant honour that, even if it’s a misconception, our band still elicits a response in people.”
Vindicate is out now. Black Veil Brides play Download Festival in June
