Exclusive Interview with Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides
by Michelle Oberg
I caught up with Andy “Andy Six” Biersack pre-Sunset Strip Music Festival. After I professed my love mid-interview for his acid-tongued wit and New York Times crossword-worthy dialogue, he shared the highs of being in their prime and the lows of being a young ‘tween’ patiently waiting for his big break. Patience is a virtue, and Andy mastered the art.
RUKUS MAGAZINE: How was Warped Tour?
BLACK VEIL BRIDES: Yeah, it was great. Some of those shows aren’t necessarily rock shows, they’re trials to see if you can survive. Everything is hot, everywhere you go is hot but it’s whatever. I think everybody gets used to it, knowing that day in and day out it’s going to be hot. But we enjoyed it and we had a good time
RM: We were at the Pomona, CA show and there were moments where I thought I was going to pass out.
BVB: Yeah, I don’t know how bands do it; it’s incredible to me. I don’t think we have the stomachs for it.
RM: Most importantly, tomorrow is SSMF. What are your expectations?
BVB: My expectation is to go on stage for a half hour and play a bunch of Black Veil Brides songs and I think that expectation is going to come true. There aren’t too many specific expectations, you just have to have fun.
RM: Being on the main stage and Mötley Crüe headlining as this years 2011 honorees, I have to make the connection of your image. Your look is very Kiss meets Nikki Sixx. Where did your image branding inspiration come from?
BVB: For us, it was never a sit down and have a conversation about if we wear make up; it’s just us. We grew up loving the Misfits and Mötley Crüe and Kiss and The Damned and those kinds of bands. So naturally when we formed the band, we just wanted to do it this way. We like the theatricality of it and having fun and we love music and putting on a show. That last 10 to 15 years it seems the less you give a shit the more people like it. I think people are sick of it and it’s a transitionary time where people are looking for the more theatrical and show driven music. Most people don’t go to rock shows anymore, they just stand there with their arms crossed. But the idea about rock and roll is about rebelling and having fun and going to a show to enjoy yourselves, forgetting about the drudgeries of work and school or whatever. The image goes hand and hand with our music.
RM: I saw you perform at the House of Blues in Hollywood and the energy that you guys bring in is something I haven’t seen in a very long time. Did you expect that your band would emerge so triumphantly as it has?
BVB: We were going to do what we wanted to do and we weren’t trying to appease the cool people or the critics; we were trying to make music for our audience and us. I’m excited that young people are getting behind the rock bands instead of the top 40 pop songs with no message behind them. The younger part of our audience, being fan girls or what have you, I think it’s generally something that gets behind them and if you can get behind a rock band that dresses up in head to toe black paint that addresses rebellion than that’s a step forward for kids understanding music. And in a lot of ways we act as a gateway for kids to find stuff. Like a lot of kids are listening to Justin Beiber and then they hear BVB music and its more of the world being brought in.
RM: What is the message with music and lyrics that BVB is trying to put out?
BVB: Well, so many bands out there are bitching in their songs about how shitty their life is and how crappy their girlfriend is. It’s not a very responsible message. Rock is something that is cool to you and the general message of rebellion and having fun. Sometimes bands forget that you don’t pay the audience to bask in the artistry, the audience pays money to come watch a show and we try to put on a fun show and get people involved and feel confident about themselves. That’s the most important thing. No song has ever changed anyone’s life. It’s always the catalyst and the catalyst can inspire what someone becomes in life. No one becomes a doctor from listening to a song but they can hear a song that inspires them to go out and do those things. So we try our best to be that catalyst for our audience.
RM: How did you and your band mates get linked up?
BVB: I moved to L.A. in my car when I was about 17 and I lived in my car and didn’t really have any money. I always had a feeling that the band was going to succeed and through the way I met various people, although I’ve kept the band name Black Veil Brides since I was 14. Through meeting these various people I met the band in the usual way, similar interests, and we got together in a very simple story of just a common cause. We are fortunate that we got together with all the same interests and we were all in to the same bands and in to the same ideas growing up. We grew together because we’ve always been the outsiders in terms of something like Warped Tour that is such a tight community. Everyone is set and knows each other and the music is so similar. But when you have a band like us that looks and sounds the way we do we’re always kind of walking on egg shells because we know were not the most liked people, but we’re all so close that we became best friends.
RM: Are there any artists that you are looking forward to seeing tomorrow at SSMF?
BVB: Our friends in Escape the Fate are playing and obviously we’re fans of Mötley Crüe, but above anything, we’re just excited to play our show and see our fans. We haven’t played a hometown show in a while, so it’ll be fun.
RM: When you are not on stage are you usually still in character and full make up?
BVB: No. It’s not that different, I suppose, but in day-to-day life I don’t wear any make up. It’s usually residual eyeliner from the night before. Right now I’m not wearing any black. I think the idea of having a stage persona allows you to differentiate your stage life from your personal life. This is us though, we like rock and roll music but I’m not trying to shock people. I’m not going into a Wal-Mart to get attention and have people stare at me. When we’re on stage we find it appropriate to be theatrical. It’s not a cry for attention, we just enjoy what we do. If you can be healthy enough to differentiate the two, your stage persona has to be an extension of yourself to give your fans a good show. For us, we’re lucky enough to give that release on stage. A lot of our audience doesn’t have that and I know when I was a young kid I certainly dressed up at school (I’d match my eye shadow with my shoes). It was a way of showing something internally because I didn’t have a stage to perform on and I think my life was a stage. As performers, now we’re decked out head to toe in black for 9 to 10 months out of the year so for those other two or three months we like to just wear jeans and t-shirt.
RM: What has been your craziest fan experience so far?
BVB: I don’t do the crazy fan experience moment. If someone comes up to you and they’re crying and they hand you something, it’s their moment. To the other 400 people waiting in line, this is their moment and it’s not crazy to them. Regardless of what crazy thing you’re signing or they’re doing, its specific to each individual and it’s special to them. I don’t get in to what is the craziest fan experience but its not just one occurrence and I’m not going to say “well this one time this crazy thing happened.” Everywhere we go and everywhere we are signing something. There’s a certain amount of pandemonium but that just comes with the territory. I can’t really complain about it. To do what I want to do everyday would be like being elected president and complaining about it. If you’re lucky enough to wear leather pants and prance around on stage, you shouldn’t really mind if people are stoked to see you.
RM: What was your most memorable show or venue you played in?
BVB: I think it’s always different. The Download Festival in England playing in front of 30,000 people was pretty exciting but it’s always different. We play tiny clubs in a basement that have been just as much fun. It’s all about the energy in the room and the way you connect with an audience. You can have 200 kids who are just as loud as 300,000 people. It all depends on the passion of the audience. The volume of people isn’t necessarily indicative of the success of your band. Sometimes people like to brag about the amount of people they play in front of but it doesn’t really matter. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool to play in front of a huge sea of people but its just as much fun playing in a smaller venue when everyone knows every song you’re playing.
RM: What was the first show you ever played and how old were you?
BVB: It was a high school battle of the bands, I was 14, and it was BVB’s first show as a band. It was me and a couple of guys who played a couple Alkaline Trio songs and a Social D song.
RM: Tell me something that most people don’t know about you.
BVB: That I’m 15. Most people don’t know that because it’s not true. But seriously, I played hockey in the Junior Olympics. I was a national champion directed by The Mighty Ducks team. A lot of our fans know about it but it’s very true. I won the top player championship in my age bracket and then after a game I went up to my coach, told him I quit, and my dad took me right over to guitar center and I bought a Fender and got going with the band. The only reason I did it was because I was always into the idea of perfecting my strength, and particularly mental strength, so I chose a sport that was taxing mentally so I could prepare myself for what, ultimately, all I ever really wanted [to do] was to be in a rock band. When you’re 12 years old people, can’t really take you seriously, so basically the idea was for me to hone the ability to be mentally fit and grow as a person.
RM: You are a very bright young man for 15.
BVB: I was actually very bright at 15, but now it’s gotten worse with all the drinking. It probably knocked off half of my brain. I think was much smarter at 15. Here’s a fact for you that most people don’t know about: As a kid in school I was tested for mental retardation, not because I was retarded, but because I wasn’t doing my schoolwork, so they thought I was retarded. I wasn’t doing the schoolwork because it was inane and stupid and not doing anything for my life. When they tested me, I scored the highest score anyone has ever scored on the Kentucky Retardation Test. They were shocked and I had to explain to them that’s because I am not really retarded. I thanked them for giving me the opportunity to be the smartest retard. I’ll always have that.
RM: What was the first album you bought with your own money?
BVB: I believe it was Motley Crue’s Generation Swine, I bought on cassette.
RM: What was the first car you drove? Where you of age?
BVB: Yeah, I had a Geo Metro that was shaped like an eggplant and it only had one door. It topped out at 35 miles an hour before it started to shake. And when that stopped working I bought a van that had no seats in it then I totaled that in Chicago and had to sleep in the park in Chicago for two nights. Then I bought my first ever car with my own money, which is a Cadillac that I lived in and still drive to this very day.
RM: Did your passengers ever fall out of the car with one door?
BVB: I didn’t have any passengers. I wasn’t a very popular person; I didn’t have any friends. Because I was the smartest retard—no one wants to hang out with a smart retard.
RM: What is the most disappointing concert you’ve ever been to?
BVB: It would have to be an accidental concert that I walked into the other day. I was at Amoeba and they had this band. I hate, by the way, old-man-jam-bands. They don’t have a song or a setlist, they’re like “let’s just play.” They make that old-man-jam-band face while they play with their eyes closed and they smile slightly. And then every time they play a chord they act like it’s a magic trick. I hated that so that was the most disappointing. It was disappointing because it was ruining my shopping experience. Stupid old-men-jam-band.