Culture
Black Veil Brides’ Andy Biersack talks ‘Hallelujah,’ forthcoming self-produced new album
By: Nicholas Kobe
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WOUB) – Black Veil Brides is one of the flagship bands of 2010s rock. Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, the band brings back the theatrics, anthemic choruses, and eccentric looks of bands like KISS in a new, post-hardcore way. This larger-than-life stance has been the bedrock of the group to this day. With their forthcoming record, the band is diving back into their heavier side, most prominently heard on their debut album 15 years ago.
WOUB’s Nicholas Kobe had the chance to speak to Black Veil Brides vocalist Andy Biersack about the band’s upcoming self-produced record and new single Hallelujah ahead of the band’s performance at Louder Than Life 2025.
Find a transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, below.
Nicholas Kobe: So the first question I have for you is, if you had to describe Black Veil Brides to somebody who hadn’t heard of them in one sentence, what would you say?
Biersack: Oh boy. That’s a hard one, right? I’ll just go for the silly answer. My favorite band in the entire world. How about that?
I mean, why make music if it’s not your favorite?
Biersack: There you go.
Absolutely. Now that you’ve had a few weeks between the release of your most recent single, Hallelujah, how are you feeling about that song, especially now that you’ve had the chance to take it out on the road?
Biersack: It’s one of those things where, having played it live for the first time last week, you know that a song is good, or at least I feel that it’s a good indicator of the song’s quality, when it feels really good live. It’s hard to explain. Sometimes there are songs that you think are great songs, and then you go to play them, and they just drudge along, and they don’t work in that setting. As soon as we rehearsed Hallelujah for the first time, we felt like, “wow, this has the right energy.” The crowd response was great.
Look, it’s 2025, songs are a dime a dozen, so if you can release a song that catches the attention of your audience, and then it grows from there, I think that’s a great testament to the quality of the song. I think all of the songs on the upcoming album will very likely work in the live setting, maybe more than previous records. I would put a lot of that down to the fact that we self-produced the album. A lot of times, when you’re working with a producer, they may not be as intimately familiar with the way that the band plays or the energy that they have together.
Live music is really about the feel of the people on stage together and the way that you’re performing together. So, without another voice in the room directing us this way or that way, the writing was coming from a place of, “this is how we play together.” I think that of all of our records, this record will probably be the one that feels the most authentic to the band in that way, for better or for worse.
Absolutely. What are some types of things that you’ve been able to do on a self-produced record that you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t had the chance until now?
Biersack: I don’t know that this is specifically because we self-produced it, but maybe to some degree because we were the ones allocating the budget. I’ve always wanted to have a real-life gospel choir in the studio, and we were fortunate enough to have that on this record. Obviously, in Hallelujah, you can hear them, but they’re on a lot of songs on the record.
Then also to have a full-scale orchestra in the studio is something that we’ve never been able to do before, and we were able to do on this record. I think if you’re working with a producer, a lot of times they’re in charge of the budget, and they’re saying, “Hey, you know what? We can just do this digitally, or we can layer it or whatever.” Whereas I’m going, “I want the real singing here.”
Were there any particular challenges or road bumps now that the band is kind of in charge of steering this ship?
Biersack: Well, the hardest thing is being honest with yourself. A lot of times, you hear bands that are later in their career will maybe make a self-produced record because they think we know so much better than the producer, and we’re going to make this record. Then it ends up sounding kind of, for lack of a better term, kind of self-congratulatory. I think the distinction for us is we went into the studio having been students of John Feldman and Eric Ron, and Bob Rock, and all these people that we’ve worked with. We viewed it as we need to be very hard on ourselves and make sure that we’re not just putting whatever the hell on the record and really be honest about, “Is this good?”
Would you say that the time Black Veil Brides has spent touring since that last record and the pandemic helped shape the sound of this forthcoming record?
Biersack: I think we’re at a confidence level now with this version of the band. It’s not just that we get along well because we do, but we’re also incredibly attuned to each other musically and creatively. There’s really no argument, disagreements, or drama. It’s just we’re there to make art together, and we really have enjoyed each other’s company, and I think that we’re in a great place. I think we’re the best live band we’ve ever been, and that makes recording a record that much easier and more fulfilling. I listen to the band and I feel extremely confident in everyone’s abilities. Everyone is kind of at their peak artistically.
Absolutely. That’s a good way to put it. Recently, in the last few weeks, it crossed the 15-year anniversary of the first Black Veil Brides record. Looking back now at that very early stage of the career and putting that record together versus the record that you’re currently putting together, what are kind of the biggest differences that you see?
Biersack: Weirdly, there’s probably more similarities between that record and this record than any subsequent record that was between them, because that first record was self-produced in a sense. I think our manager was the official producer, but we kind of made it on our own, and we’re obviously much more experienced now.
But it was, in a lot of ways, I would say this record represents kind of a return to form in that way, where it’s just the members of the band in the room and giving what we think is the best representation of the band. I have so many positive memories and thoughts about that time. I feel very fortunate that this many years later, people still love that record, and it has such a strong audience.