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The incredible thing about professional wrestling, and many sports in general, is they hold no prejudice. Everyone can get behind involved, everyone loves it - and it can bring people together who would never normally have a conversation.
Well, Andy Biersack - now performing under the moniker of Andy Black - is no different. Having grown up a huge fan of WWE, NHL and NFL, I naturally jumped at the chance to speak with Andy as his solo tour stormed through Scotland.
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Biersack's gritty vocals have divided the rock and metal community since Black Veil Brides thrust themselves into the limelight with hit single Knives and Pens from We Stitch These Wounds before Fallen Angels rocket-strapped the band. Now, though, Andy Black has added many more strings to his bow - from appearing in hit movie American Satan to releasing his own graphic novel, and of course, releasing two solo albums.
The charismatic vocalist has always been somewhat of an enigma - from his Andy Sixx days right up to his transformation into Andy Black - and when BVB appeared in WWE via Hell In A Cell 2014, when In The End was the theme, I always wondered just how much wrestling influenced Mr Biersack and his fellow band members.
Well, several years later and Andy Black and professional wrestling have crossed paths a few more times - We Don't Have To Dance was the theme for Payback, also appearing in the 2K games series, and Andy is close friends with AEW's Chris Jericho, so what better time to catch up with the man himself?
Andy, thanks for joining me first of all. Now, I've seen you live several times - both as part of Black Veil Brides and as Andy Black. Obviously, some BVB fans will have come to see you based on that, but I think both acts are so different, it's slightly difficult to see the crossover. For anyone who's never listened to Black Veil Brides, how would you describe 'Andy Black'?
It's very hard to explain your music. I always find that a difficult question to answer. When we first started, that was the one question that I would kind of make a joke of, because people are like, "Oh, our music sounds like an earthquake getting f***ed by a dragon!" But there's no way to accurately describe what music is, other than to listen to it. Sonically, I try to make things that are... I guess what you might call 'pop-leading' in the sense that there's no heavy breakdowns or screaming, or anything.
It's more akin to the other influences I have. As much as I was influenced by metal music growing up, I loved Psychedelic Furs and Billy Idol, and Adam Ant, and things like that - so this was an opportunity to make music that was more in that kind of feel. I don't want to mention a genre because I go all over the place but it's meant to be a bit more stylistically influenced by new wave and punk rock.
NEXT: Andy reveals which wrestler influenced him as much as KISS
COMING UP: Andy opens up about his friendship with Chris Jericho
You're most recent album is called The Ghost of Ohio, there's a song on it called The Ghost of Ohio and the graphic novel you released also shares that moniker. Did you always plan to release both under the same title, or did one lead on from the other?
Yeah, the song came first! Conceptually, I had the idea of doing a comic book, but I didn't necessarily know what it was going to be, and then I wrote a song with John Feldmann, we were all in a room together and we came up with this concept - and it was just the idea that there was somebody who exists in their past. It was more based on the idea of... Oftentimes, writers tend to romanticise their experiences, so it was more about that.
I went home with that and I thought, "Wow, I really like the conception of what this is," so I drew a bunch of pictures of this character and I put The Ghost of Ohio over it and, serendipitously, I was contacted by a buddy of mine who works in conjunction with Z2, which is the publisher. He said, "Hey! We'd really like to do a comic book with you. Do you have any ideas?" I said, "Well, just yesterday, I was drawing characters up," so it came together really quickly. The story started to come together then, so they were done really around the same time.
(I ramble about how much I loved the comic because it's so unexpectedly dark)
Thanks, man! That's one of the things is, it's not really a superhero story and, for me, that's one of the things I wanted to avoid. A lot of times, when people write a comic book, they tend to make themselves a superhero, and that's not something I wanted to do. I wanted to create a character that is influenced by me and my experiences, but isn't necessarily me. He's conflicted and deals with personal issues, which those are things that are relatable and we all go through, just in different ways.
Now, obviously, you've drawn influence from the likes of Billy Idol, Motley Crue and KISS - but do you think watching wrestling from a young age might have influenced the man we see on stage at all? Or are there any wrestlers you ever thought, "Man that would be a great character to see on stage?"
Yeah, actually, in the States, our intro song is the Crow-era Sting theme, so we're doing Disrupt Festival and it goes from the Sting entrance music into our first song, and literally nobody catches it and it makes me so mad. I'm like, "How is nobody mentioning this?!"
You should come out to see everyone looking at the rafters for you carrying a baseball bat!
Yeah! That character was just as influential to me as KISS or anything else for that matter. To me, I saw that era of Sting and KISS, and WASP, and all that as the same thing, he just didn't have a guitar or play songs - but it was just influential to me aesthetically. Obviously the Undertaker is great because he's really gothic but, to me, Sting was my hero growing up.
NEXT: Andy reveals how he ended up with songs on two WWE pay-per-views
COMING UP: Andy opens up about his friendship with Chris Jericho
You've appeared as the soundtrack for two WWE pay-per-views, once as part of Black Veil Brides with In The End for Hell In A Cell 2014, and the other as Andy Black with We Don't Have To Dance for Payback 2016, and in the 2K17 game. How did that come about?
Yeah, I've always had a great relationship with WWE. When I'm in town, I get to go to the offices, they let us visit, and hang out. Obviously I know Chris Jericho well, who's now in AEW, but we first met when he was in WWE still.
I've been very fortunate that they've always been very kind to us with putting my music out, and it's kind of just been a very natural relationship. For a long time, we would make a record and just give them a CD. "Hey! Here's a song." And even Set The World On Fire, we had a lot of songs, and they used a lot of the Black Veil songs, so it's really cool.
For me, being a fan growing up, it's really awesome.
And you're such a big character on stage, and of course, you're no stranger to getting injured while performing, but do you ever see yourself making an appearance in the ring, or even as a commentator, if WWE or AEW came calling - even as a one-off?
I could Andy Kaufman it! My way of wrestling would definitely be the Andy Kaufman style!
NEXT: Andy opens up about his friendship with Chris Jericho
COMING UP: Andy speaks about his acting career
And of course it's no secret that you're friends with the legendary Chris Jericho. Before I go onto my main question, I have to ask - how did that friendship come about?!
We share a lot of the same interests. I got along with Chris really well, he started inviting me onto his podcast, and we would hang out socially in LA. It just became a thing where we'd text each other back and forth about little KISS things and that was really the basis for our friendship, was our mutual interest in KISS and knowing all these funny facts that regular people don't necessarily know. It just blossomed from there.
Any time I see him, it's always a pleasure, he's such a nice guy - and he's done things that go above and beyond. We've had times where a friend's daughter wants to come to a show and I have no problem doing that because he's done things for me, not that I wouldn't otherwise, but my neighbour growing up was really into WWE and I said, "Chris, make me a video" and he does - "Hey, this is Chris Jericho!" Stuff like that, he goes above and beyond, and he's just so kind. There are very few people I've met in his position and his level of success who have that same kindness and humility, so I have nothing but good things to say about Chris.
(Having spoken with Chris myself, I completely agree - and you can check out that interview here)
I agree with Andy and say that, likewise, people who don't know Andy himself may not expect him to be such a down-to-earth, humble guy - which people might not expect, although people shouldn't expect that someone isn't nice.
Yeah, I operate under the assumption that you should never make assumptions. When I was younger, I had more of a wall up when it came to meeting people, and there are certainly circumstances where there are people who gain some sort of fame and it changes them, and it did for me for a while. Until really the last five years or so, I went through some things emotionally and there were times when I wasn't very nice. I try my best to not be that way now.
I was left with one cliffhanger following your last appearance on Talk Is Jericho - did you ever buy the Gene Simmons Vault?
Oh! Yeah. No, I didn't. I... I'll say this, I did not buy it, and I can't say anything else. (Andy chuckles) I did not buy it but I have some...stuff.
IN THE END: Andy answers my 'very controversial' question
I was a massive fan of American Satan. In terms of acting, I know you've previously said that's something you want to pursue. Are you actively pursuing it? If so, is there anything coming up that you can tell us about?
We're doing the series that we wrapped, Paradise City, which is a spin-off of the film. Not to bring things down, but it's kind of crazy that this morning, Cameron Boyce, who's in Paradise City, passed away at 20 years old. We only shot one or two scenes together because we were in different storylines, but it's just crazy, so I feel like I couldn't possibly mention that without sending my condolences to his family. He was a really wonderful kid and it's so sad that something like that could happen, he had a seizure or something in his sleep.
But yeah, to answer your question, any time I get the opportunity, I'm down! I'm working on a project right now, something of my own. I'm trying to revive a franchise from many years ago that I'd love to see out there in the world again, so if anything becomes of that, you'll know.
Finally, I always end on a controversial question - you don't need to answer it if you don't want to... but before I do, I just want to say, I'm so glad I got through this without saying, "Black Field Brads."
That's my favourite one! We were in a venue in Seattle called El Corazón, and there are lofts behind it. We did a photoshoot in the hallway and the people living in these apartment complexes were coming out, and would ask what the band was called. One of the people came out and we said, "Black Veil Brides," and he said, "Black Field Brads?!" We said, "Yes... Yes, you are correct."
Like I said, I always like to end on one very controversial question, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, Green Day or blink-182?
So, if you were to ask me without knowing them, I was a bigger fan of Green Day certainly - but I have become close to and worked with Travis, Mark and Matt, so I know them and I've been around them quite a bit, and they're all such incredibly wonderful people that... And I've met members of Green Day, I just have to side with blink-182. I love the records that they've made, and the new one that's coming out. Everything they've done over the last few years, I've been such a fan of, so I've got to go with blink!
I assume Matt Skiba being in the band has a little influence there.
Yeah, Matt tips it over for me.
A huge thanks to Andy Biersack for speaking to me before his Glasgow gig. Andy is currently touring the UK, tickets can be purchased here. You can also follow Andy here, or purchase The Ghost of Ohio album or graphic novel here.
An unexpected name just challenged Randy Orton RIGHT HERE.
