When most people hear, "Andy Biersack," they usually don't know whether you're talking about a minor celebrity or setting them up for a bad joke. For the hard rock community, though, fans think of the tattooed lead vocalist of Black Veil Brides who has previously gone by "Andy Six" (or "Sixx," depending on whom you ask). He often performs with BVB wearing an extraordinary amount of eyeliner and looking better than the best YouTube beauty gurus doing it. Though he is known for his growling voice, piercing blue eyes, and dark fashion sense, Andy's recent career moves are establishing him as a rock legend of our time.
Black Veil Brides is reportedly going to start recording their next album sometime this year, which puts the release date either at the end of this year or beginning of 2017. It is long overdue, since their last, self-titled album came out in 2014. It's no surprise that it's been such a long wait, though, considering the projects that Andy has been getting involved in.
The biggest thing that Biersack has in the works is a solo album under the name Andy Black that will be released on May 6 of this year via Lava/Republic. As a teaser for the style of the album, "We Don't Have To Dance," the second track on the album, was made available digitally on March 18. The fourth track, "Stay Alive," which features Matt Skiba of Blink-182 and Alkaline Trio, was also released on March 31. The album is also up for preorder before the May 2016 release.
As an added bonus, the official music video for "We Don't Have To Dance" went up on the AndyBlackVEVO YouTube channel three days after the track went live. He's ditched the emo makeup for this endeavor and is in all his purely leather-clad, chain-smoking glory. The video has 3.3 million views as of this writing and took a close second place ranking in LoudWire's Battle Royale polls this week.
The unique thing about "We Don't Have To Dance" is the story behind it. In a behind-the-scenes interview, Biersack revealed that he wrote the track with Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy and Quinn Allman from The Used, two music biz greats who have a remarkable way with words. He also noted:
"It's just about social anxiety, more than anything....I struggle with going to parties or being around kind of affluent situations. And what's funny is that when you become successful in any degree, there's an expectation that you suddenly are able to do that...and I can do that, in terms of acting, I guess, but I'm crawling inside....It's a tongue-in-cheek comment about my own social quirks."
A song about social anxiety marketed to a culture of outcasts and introverts -- it's a perfect recipe for success and it has showed. The anticipated success has inspired Biersack to go on tour in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada beginning in mid-May 2016. He'll be able to go on tour any day now, since the filming for the movie he's starring in wrapped on April 3.
Yes, that's right: Andy Biersack is in a movie. Not just any movie, but one where he gets to play a young rock band member alongside Ben Bruce and Drake Bell. "American Satan" sees a young, talented band get manipulated by their management and caught in a Faustian deal, which has an irreversible effect on society as a whole; this movie will clearly be a commentary on and testament to the influence of music on society as well as the twists and turns of the music industry. Based on the official Instagram account, production is well underway and looks like a successful rock-and-roll thriller.
If you've never heard of Andy Biersack before, you will be hearing a lot very soon. His career is on the rise and even though he says we don't have to dance, I think I'm going to anyway.
