Andy Biersack

Early life and education

Biersack was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

For his early education, Biersack attended a Catholic elementary school, which he has spoken of in many interviews. His preschool teacher was Jamie Peters, who had a big influence on his creativity. Because of the way Andy dressed and the music he listened to (i.e. The Misfits, Avenged Sevenfold, The Damned, The Dropkick Murphys, etc.), he was the target of bullying at school. This bullying is reenacted in the "Knives and Pens" music video, performed by his band, Black Veil Brides.

For high school, Biersack attended Cincinnati's School for Creative and Performing Arts, and majored in drama and vocal music. Two days after he turned 18, he left school before graduating to move to Los Angeles in hopes of furthering his potential career.

Black Veil Brides

At age 14, Andy Biersack and a few of his friends formed their first band, called "Biersack" (although they only played one show). This project eventually grew into what would later be known as Black Veil Brides.

In September 2009 Black Veil Brides signed with the independent label StandBy Records. The writing process for a tour and a record began immediately. In 2009 they released their first music video for "Knives and Pens", which to date has garnered over 200 million views. The band embarked on their first US tour, titled "On Leather Wings". Their debut album, We Stitch These Wounds, was released July 20, 2010 and sold over 13,000 copies in its first week, ranking at No. 36 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Independent chart. The band's second studio album, Set the World on Fire, was released on June 14, 2011 through Lava Music/Universal Republic Records. The band's third album, Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones, was released on January 8, 2013. Their fourth and most recent self-titled album was released on October 27, 2014.

Andy Black

On May 2014, Biersack revealed to Kerrang! magazine that he had been working on new music outside Black Veil Brides under the moniker 'Andy Black'. He explained that his solo project will have a radically different sound compared to the band, and that he felt he couldn't create that sound within the band, thus deciding to take it on as a solo artist. Andy's inspiration for this project was his love for '80s synth and goth music. He will be working with former Black Veil Brides producer John Feldmann. Despite this project, he reassured his fans that this does not mean this is his primary focus, but rather more of a hobby or a side-project. On May 19, 2014 he premièred his first song, titled "They Don't Need to Understand", online with a music video via Hot Topic.

On March 17, 2016, Biersack announced the title of his first Andy Black album The Shadow Side, scheduled to be released on May 6, 2016. The lead single from the project, "We Don't Have to Dance" was released on March 18, 2016, with a music video for the song being released on March 21.

Other media

After his move to Los Angeles, he took up acting for a short time. He had a small part in the AT&T commercial "Confetti", as well as a 30-second spot in the Montana Meth commercial "Jumped". Andy guest stars in the Funny or Die web series Average Joe on YouTube. He also starred in the Black Veil Brides full-length feature film, Legion of the Black, which was released on January 6, 2013, to support the band's third album.

In February 2016, Biersack was cast to play the role of Johnny Faust in the independent supernatural thriller film American Satan alongside Asking Alexandria member Ben Bruce. The film, directed by Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen, is set to be released on October 13, 2017.

Personal life

Biersack's stage name was previously "Andy Six" up until around 2011 when he decided that he preferred to be called by his birth name, Andy Biersack.

In an interview with Loudwire in 2012, Biersack said, "I'm not a religious person but I grew up in a religious family. I went to the funeral for my grandfather, a person that I love very much, and everyone is speaking about how he went to Heaven and how he's in Heaven. I always fight with that, because I would love nothing more to believe that my grandfather is in the clouds playing "Xbox 460" [sic] or whatever awesome stuff they have up in Heaven, but I can't."

Stage injuries

Biersack has suffered multiple injuries while performing with Black Veil Brides, most notably his fall from a 15-foot (4.6 m) pillar on June 18, 2011, in Hollywood. In an attempt to jump back onto the stage, he fell forward and hit his ribcage, knees and skull on the edge, which resulted in 3 ribs shattered (3 lower left), and one displaced. That particular injury caused Black Veil Brides to have to miss the first week of the Vans Warped Tour in 2011. On October 26, 2011, while on another tour in the UK, Biersack broke his nose on the drum riser while performing a gig in Luxembourg, resulting in more missed tour dates. However, two days later, he performed with Black Veil Brides in London.

In an interview with Revolver Magazine in 2011, Biersack stated:

Singles

As featured artist

With Black Veil Brides