Known primarily for his work as the lead singer of the band the Black Veil Brides, Andy Biersack, who goes by the stage name Andy Black, is less known for his solo music projects. As lead singer of the band since 2011, Black has gone on to release six studio albums with the band and has been named one of Revolver’s “100 Greatest Living Rock Stars”. Despite this, his solo work has largely gone unnoticed.
With a little over 605,000 monthly Spotify listeners, Black’s solo work is often unrecognized by fans of the band. However, on both of his two solo studio albums, Black’s signature raspy, baritone rock voice remains the same.
In an interview for Rolling Stone in 2016, Black discussed how in his first solo album, “The Shadow Side”, he drew influence from many popular punk rock artists at the time such as Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Blink-182 and the Sisters of Mercy.
Despite the album being classified as a hard rock album, Black told Kerrang! that he wanted to “have a lot of odd instrumentation and to have a lot of programmed stuff, keyboards and more classic almost pop-rock guitar.” This album is also home to his most streamed song “We Don’t Have To Dance”.
In 2019, Black released his second solo album, “The Ghost of Ohio”, as well as a graphic novel with the same name. This album also maintains Black’s signature hard rock music style but also continues to explore new ways of making music similar to methods used in the recording of “The Shadow Side”. In the prologue to this album, Black reveals himself to be the “Ghost of Ohio”.
“The ghost grew up in a small town with a lack of acceptance,” according to the Alternative Press. “After being accused of a crime he did not commit, the ghost was sentenced to death.”
As readers and listeners go through the album and its accompanying graphic novel, they follow the “Ghost of Ohio” and are able to empathize with his pain, another common theme amongst Black’s two solo albums. In many of the songs on his solo albums, Black discusses themes such as suicide, not fitting in, loss and longing. Through each of his songs, Black creates a connection between himself and the listeners and establishes a sort of lifeline for them to hold on to.
While Black has not released any new solo music since the release of “The Ghost of Ohio” in 2019, his band, The Black Veil Brides, has. In 2020, the band re-released the album “We Stitch These Wounds” to commemorate its 10th anniversary. Additionally, in 2021 the band released the album “The Phantom Tomorrow”.
Presently, the band is on their “BVB & VV” (Black Veil Brides and Ville Valo) tour, which is presented by HotTopic. The tour will remain in North America until Oct. 22, before going to Europe until Dec. 9, when the tour will end.
For his 605,000 monthly Spotify listeners, Andy Black’s solo music serves as a beacon of hope. The positive messages and urges to keep fighting in each of his solo songs serve as a reminder to listeners that even those who come from a difficult background can achieve their dreams.
By exploring new ways of producing music, Black has shown fans a new side to his music that differs from the heavy rock and metal sounds of the Black Veil Brides. By incorporating his personal experiences into his songs, listeners can empathize with Black and also hope to achieve the same clarity and success Black has since venturing out on his own to make a career as a musician. Despite his solo projects having only reached select audiences, Black’s voice and message remain clear and strong to fans of his music.