Black Veil Brides return to scene of Alternative Press awards show triumph with Agora show 

Black Veil Brides return to scene of Alternative Press awards show triumph with Agora show

Several acts from AP Music Awards are coming back to Cleveland

Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides accepts the most dedicated fans award at the inaugural Alternative Press Music Awards onstage at Voinovich Park, behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past July. The band plays the Cleveland Agora on Sunday, Nov. 16.

Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer By Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer

on November 10, 2014 at 8:00 AM, updated November 10, 2014 at 2:12 PM

Where: Agora Theatre, 5000 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

Opener: Falling in Reverse, Set It Off, Drama Club.

Tickets: $24, plus fees, at the box office, online at agoracleveland.com or ticketweb.com and by phone at 216-881-2221.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Only eight candles adorn the birthday cake of Cincinnati-born, Hollywood-based Black Veil Brides, but already Andy Biersack\'s band is having to build new trophy cabinets.

The latest edition was an Alternative Press award for most dedicated fans, which Biersack & Co. picked up at the inaugural AP Music Awards Show at Voinovich Park back in July.

The band returns to Ohio for a Sunday, Nov. 16, gig at the Agora. We caught up with Biersack at a tour stop in Arizona for this Q&A email interview.

Plain Dealer: "Black Veil Brides IV,\'\' the band\'s newest album, which came out just before Halloween, pretty much takes on organized religion. You\'ve said you grew up in a Catholic family, but are not religious. So are these songs your answer to that?

Andy Biersack: I\'m not attempting to take on organized religion; it\'s more just that I use the religion that I grew up with as a nice way for me to write in terms of conveying a message. It\'s something that\'s intrinsically within me and when I write songs I like to "dip down," so to speak, into the things that I know and so for me that just comes very naturally.

PD: What kind of reaction have you gotten from your family?

AB: I have a super supportive family. Both of my parents sort of lived to question their faith around the time that I guess I did, and then my grandparents and many others of my family are still adamantly religious. None of them have ever given be any hassle for my belief system, or lack thereof, and I\'m very fortunate to be around supportive, educated people.

CPD: You also talked about how this album was going to be one that you guys took your time with, rather than a label saying, "OK, we need a record. Get busy." How was the process different?

AB: We were fortunate to fall into the idea of making this record. We hadn\'t really intended on making another album until probably sometime down the road, not to say that we weren\'t going to make another record, it\'s just that we were in a pretty quick turnaround after "Wretched and Divine." Having met Bob [producer Bob Rock] and Bob\'s interest in working with the band, and then producing the record, he really lit a fire under all of us to get back in the studio and to make something new and exciting. So we started the pre-production process months and months before we had normally done so. We had never really had an extensive pre-production before, so this really was an album that came from just the love of making music and wanting to do something that was a lot of fun, for lack of a better term.

PD: Is there a song on the album that you think captures where Black Veil Brides is at this juncture?

AB: I think they all do. But, obviously a song like "Heart of Fire" or "Goodbye Agony," the ones that we\'ve chosen as singles, I think are nice snapshots of where we\'re at in our career.

PD: I particularly like "Goodbye Agony." Can you tell me the story behind that song?

AB: It\'s not necessarily one story. It\'s sort of just about the idea that you sort of feel any amount of pressure in your life from past decisions, or mistakes, or whatever else. Sometimes they can weigh heavy on you and you\'ll start to regret things, or feel like maybe you could\'ve done something better or you look back in your history with kind of the rose colored glasses like, "Oh things were better then and I screwed it up." I think it\'s just about letting go collectively of experiences in your life that you feel like you might have made a mistake in and moving forward towards continuing your future in a positive way.

PD: It\'s still a young band, but at 23, you\'ve spent half your youth and your entire adult life fronting it. How has the band changed since 2006, and how have YOU changed?

AB: Well the band has changed entirely, I think. In terms of the make-up of the band and the elements of the band, going into making music, but I think the spirit has always been the same. It\'s sort of what "Heart of Fire" is about: Maintaining our personality, or your own interest or passion for something regardless of how long you\'re doing something.

PD: When I started in journalism, I wanted to be a columnist, but one of my editors told me I hadn\'t lived enough to be able to write about life. Yet at 23, you seem able to do so. At the risk of sounding cliche, where do you get your songs? Who or what is your muse?

AB: I don\'t think I necessarily am prepared to write about anybody else\'s life but mine. I think the difference between maybe journalism or being a columnist is that you\'re meant to kind of convey an idea that\'s a popular opinion, or the general consensus of the adult life. I can really only write from my perspective and I write songs about how I feel as a 23-year-old, or how I felt as an 18-year-old, or however I\'ll feel as a 24- or 25-year-old. The only real inspiration or muse that I have is just the life that I live.

PD: Your songs are very personal, and that\'s what makes a song easy to relate to, regardless of genre. But the question that arises is whether you worry about sharing too much of your inside self?

AB: No, I feel like it\'s kind of my way of exposing any internal demons or anything else I have usually just comes through the virtue of songwriting. I love that.

PD: BVB is known for each album being different. But you\'re also one of the most popular bands on the planet, as your recent Alternative Press award for most dedicated fans proves. Do you worry about fixing something that ain\'t broke?

AB: No, I think we\'ve just continued to grow. The intention is never to fix something; it\'s more just to evolve and continue down the path of being a band or an artist that keeps things exciting for ourselves. I wouldn\'t want to make the same record over and over again, or look the same, or be the same. I think that\'s just human life in general though.

PD: As we said, each album IS different. What chooses the direction of those changes? Is it the relationship among the band members, your own growth, or what?

AB: It\'s the outcome of everything. People change, circumstances change, and if you\'re lucky, you\'re able to change with them in a positive way.

PD: The album debuted at the top of the iTunes charts, and at No. 10 on Billboard\'s Hot 200. How do you think you\'ve managed to connect so well so quickly?

AB: I don\'t really know that I could give an answer for that at all. I don\'t think I have a way of adequately describing what it\'s been like for us to have such a dedicated fan base that\'s been so kind to us and given us so much. I just think I\'m very lucky and very fortunate in that regard. Obviously, it takes a great deal of hard work to get to this point but for people to connect with them in such a strong way it kind of is up in the clouds.

PD: I want to ask you about that performance at the Alternative Press Music Awards Show here. You sang with the Misfits on "Dig Up Her Bones." First off, how big a thrill was that ­ I read that you were a big Misfits fan back in high school -- and second, how did you choose that particular song?

AB: I\'ve been a big Misfits fan as long as I can remember -- probably one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite band. It was an amazing experience for me. Jerry [bassist and vocalist Jerry Only] also has just become such a close friend of mine now because of that event. He\'s such a wonderful person and I\'m so happy to have had that experience. When it comes to choosing the song that\'s just one I always had a strong connection with. I love all eras of the band. I know some people like only the old school era, or the Danzig era, but I\'m really a fan of all the areas of Misfits.

PD: I know this sounds like a stupid Human Resources question, but what plans and goals do you have for the band in the short term, and in the long term?

AB: I don\'t really like to set short-term goals, but I certainly have a long-term goal which is just to be able to continue to do this for my whole life. I think I\'d be really lucky if I\'m 55 years old and still getting to be Black Veil Brides and playing music to people who want to listen.

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