Andy Black on his wrestling influences, WWE, Chris Jericho and The Ghost of Ohio (Exclusive)
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.
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