Andy Black, Black Veil Brides Frontman, on His All-Star Synth-Punk Debut

Eight years ago, Andy Black was living in a car. Having just left his hometown of Cincinnati, the young punk was broke in Hollywood, subsisting on visions of what would become his wildly successful glam-metal outfit, Black Veil Brides. “I was barely 18,” says Black, neé Biersack. “I figured I could sleep in my car in 24-hour lockout places. There were other dirtbag, broke musicians sleeping in their cars there. That’s how I was able to cultivate a Rolodex of local musicians… It’s how I put the band together.”

As the frontman of Black Veil Brides, Black would captivate audiences around the world with thrashy anthems for young outcasts of the metalcore persuasion, scoring three Top 20 albums since 2011. Notorious for donning heavy makeup and acquiring gnarly stage injuries, he was named one of Revolver‘s “100 Greatest Living Rock Stars.” But this month, Black took another type of gamble with his solo debut, The Shadow Side, honing a twisted, synthpop edge with help from members of Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Blink-182, Alkaline Trio and more.

On the eve of his album release, Black and his wife, singer-songwriter Juliet Simms Biersack, emerge from an Escalade in front of Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory, where he would preview some new songs at an exclusive party. A small crowd amasses outside, hours before the show: impassioned teen girls bearing signs and Black Veil Brides hoodies. As the newlyweds quietly slink into the venue, their fans are sure to pair their acknowledgements of Black with high praise to his other half, who is often seen peeking from behind the curtains at his shows. Rolling Stone met Black backstage, plopped down on a shredded leather couch with lozenges in hand.

You just kicked off your first solo tour. How’s it going so far?
I blew my voice entirely in the first three days. I’ve been trying to medicate my voice with every Chinese herbal secret in the world. I went to a guy in Toluca Lake who calls himself the Voice Doctor. He’s very eccentric, he even wears a white lab coat. I don’t think he’s an actual doctor because he just sells vitamins and lozenges, but he calls himself a doctor. I don’t feel any kind of high, just the menthol numbing my throat. I’m all about not solving the problem, just pushing the pain away. I’m working the callus in my throat.

Like a guitar-player does.
Yeah! Having a baritone rock voice, I don’t need it to be a well-oiled, finely-tuned instrument; it needs to roughen up like the calluses on a guitar-player’s fingers. The rasp has to get to the point where it’s no longer uncomfortable.… Otherwise I just wind up sounding like Dicky from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

Now that you’ve gone solo ­— will you ever record with Black Veil Brides again?
I started this project when I was 15. It’s been my entire life for the past decade. Because of that, I can’t imagine a world in which I would end [Black Veil Brides] because I’m interested in something else. One of the things that always disappointed me as a kid growing up, was when you could tell the singer had a fancy for something different, and turned the band into something else. I knew that my love for the Sisters of Mercy, Lords of the New Church and that kind of stuff, was never going to lend itself well to a direct interpretation in Black Veil Brides. But still, I always wanted to make music similar to those bands. What, we’ve done four records and an EP in the last five years? I think the band’s earned some time off.

So with Black Veil Brides on break, what’s your set-up like as a solo act?
It’s a three-piece on stage. I got one guy, Josh, he’s like a mad scientist. He sets up loops on the keyboard and plays guitar over it, plus he sings. I met my new drummer Bo at Warped Tour a year ago, he was drumming for Bebe Rexha, who shared a tour bus with my wife. So while I was hanging out in that bus a lot, Bo was the one walking around, picking up the cups and throwing stuff away. I saw him and was like “That’s my guy. If I need anyone on tour that’s my guy.” He’s a great drummer and singer, very smart guy. And after all the debauchery and craziness that was touring with Black Veil Brides, my biggest interest is having a very calm tour. I cut out drinking almost entirely in the past year. Maybe I’ll have a glass of wine or two, but no hard liquor.