Page 8 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 102

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people. It’s something that I’ve had to get And of course where I grew up, it’s not nec- peated positive affirmations of success yet
past and more recently… When I was essarily a thing. I wasn’t a vegan, I was just his life ended up taking a different path.
younger I just drank to try to not feel that a kid who hated eating meat. My parents Andy says, “I think, to some degree, the
way. More recently, I’ve had to deal with it. I were at a loss because how do you get this positivity when I was younger was more of a
kind of have to laugh about it at this point, kid protein? I wouldn’t eat so much as a mask. It was a way of convincing myself that
‘cause making a joke about it is kind of the hamburger; I hated it. The only meal I’d get ‘I can get through this, I can do this, I can do
best way to function with it, ‘cause I know it at McDonalds was the chicken nuggets, I’d this.’ The more I’ve grown in my life and I’ve
is serious. I know it’s something that is an af- never eat the hamburger. And then as I got gotten older, it’s more exactly who I am in
fliction that other people deal with as well, older it just became… honestly, touring did those moments. I generally am pretty happy
but I want to be somebody that shows an ex- a lot of it for me, I was always in some Euro- to be around the people that I like being
ample of someone that’s living with some- pean country where we had some catering around and I enjoy the time that I spend. I
thing like that and can function and can be and who knows what it is and I’m starving have a lot of laughs in my life. I have a lot of
happy and can make jokes about it and not and this is it, so… and I ate it and I started to opportunities to have fun, and when I was
just feel like it’s the be all and end all, be- get a taste for it, but I had to char the shit out younger it was all about ‘I need to get past
cause the truth is, you can live past those of steaks. I had to make it so I couldn’t see these things,’ so I’d write in a way that was
moments and the things that you fear and the blood or think about the fact that it was almost inspirational to myself, writing things
the upsets you fear and the regrets that you an animal at some point. And the same goes that were aspirational and hopes that I had
have for every tiny little thing or the constant for chicken. I could only eat chicken nuggets of ‘I’m going to rise out of this darkness that
dread that you feel, so long as you know how or tenders, things that didn’t look like the an- I feel,’ and that’s ultimately what connected
to make yourself happy and find things that imal. I needed to trick myself, so eventually I with people in the first place. The audience
can kind of circumvent that fear or anxiety.” said, well, again, ‘If I’m going through so that we cultivated with Black Veil Brides in
much effort to eat something that was once the early days were mostly people that felt
ndy brings alive making similarly to what I was saying in the songs
Aup how he “If I can be a hero to anyone, it’s just it look like it and the kind of aggression that I had and
used drinking to to say that I am you and literally nothing wasn’t, then I going on stage and trying to fight people
avoid feeling anx- should just every night and everything, those were the
ious and to be able that I do on a daily basis is in any way switch to things that came along with the idea that
to socialize easier anything that isn’t attainable for you something being the downtrodden and being this out-
with others. This is that was cast group that I was defending. At this
quite normal. A lot that you couldn’t do.” - Andy Black never alive point, those things are all true for me, but in
of people use drink- and eat es- a much more ethereal way. It would be very
ing as a crutch in sentially the hard for me to sit here and tell you about my
social situations. Andy also smoked. He has same things’. So that wasn’t hard. The drink- teenage angst. I’m 28 years old. At this point,
now given both of those up (along with eat- ing was different only in the capacity that I my angst comes from many other different
ing meat). was so used to it and days like today where types of things, but the one thing that’s al-
“I haven’t smoked a cigarette in two I’m playing a show or I’m tired, I would al- ways remained true is that I feel like I’m dif-
years, so this, [he holds an electronic ciga- ways drink and kind of pick myself up that ferent from a lot of people. I feel like when it
rette device] it’s funny ‘cause I hate the way, which is obviously not real at all. It’s just comes to social hues and things, I don’t
whole vape thing, and it’s nothing against mostly mental, the idea that ‘if I drink I’ll feel pick up on them the way other people do and
people that enjoy it, but for me, the flavours better’ when in reality you’re just poisoning I struggle in certain situations and that is the
and all that, I can’t do it, so I have this and yourself, so it’s not really making you feel thing that I write about the most now. If you
it’s flavourless, just nicotine.” He tells us, any better. But that was not difficult because look at ‘The Shadow Side’ or ‘The Ghost Of
“You can adjust the amount of nicotine that’s I had decided that I was going to not do it Ohio’ it’s not so much about charging into
in it, so I started with 6% when I first quit anymore and when I decide that I’m done the night fighting against the evil bullies, it’s
smoking and now I’m down to 3% nicotine, with something I tend to be pretty good at it. more about dealing with the bullies in your
so I’m trying to cut down. My goal ultimately I’m pretty good at stopping doing some- mind, the things that you do to yourself.”
is to not have anything. I don’t want to be a thing. So, who knows what’s next.”
smoker of any kind. But yeah, I smoked a here’s a song on ‘The Ghost Of Ohio’
pack and a half of cigarettes every single day t was late 2014/early 2015 when Andy Tcalled ‘Heroes We Were’. It’s a song
from the time I was 13. The fact that I’ve Irealized it’d been a good two or three that shows how seriously Andy takes his
switched to not having a cigarette in two years since he had really felt like himself. own rise into a known rock singer, acquiring
years is a pretty big accomplishment for me Things weren’t quite right. “We were touring ‘hero’ status, even though he doesn’t see
personally. I just got sick of it. Like many constantly and I just spiraled off into drink- himself as heroic at all. “I struggle with idol
things, as you get older your tastes change. ing a lot and trying to run away from my worship and I don’t love idol worship be-
You like broccoli when you didn’t like it be- demons and everything.” Andy could feel cause I feel sometimes it leads people to the
fore. I think that just happened with me and that he was running away from who he really wrong impressions that these jobs or ca-
cigarettes quite honestly. I always knew I was. “I started to look back on my past with reers are somehow unattainable. I really try
wanted to quit. I never saw myself as a life- a hugely negative connotation. I started to and make it clear, especially recently, be-
time smoker, but I just stopped liking it. One look at even my adolescence, ‘Oh, I was al- cause I feel it’s important; nothing that I do
of the things about smoking was that I really ways a loner and always so sad,’ and I wasn’t is in any way remarkable. I just wanted
enjoyed it. I liked the taste, I liked the act of really looking at the positives. I wasn’t see- things to happen a little bit more than some
it, I liked everything about it. I just personally ing how close I am with my family. I wasn’t of the people around me, and I was willing to
didn’t like it anymore. I’d be sitting there writ- seeing how I really enjoy being in my home- put in the time and effort. There’s a certain
ing a song and smoking cigarettes and it just town and all that kind of stuff. I was just see- amount of luck that goes into it, and obvi-
wasn’t enjoyable for me anymore, so it just ing everything as ‘that sucked,’ and ‘this is ously… the genetics of one person, ‘he’s
seemed like, well, if I don’t even like this any- the new me,’ kind of thing. And I kind of maybe handsome,’ or ‘she’s beautiful,’ or
more, what am I doing? So I just kind of hated the new me. I wanted to be the old me. whatever it is, those are things that may pre-
weaned myself off gradually and then And so a big part of the last couple of years determine someone to have success at a
switched to this and then hopefully in the has been trying to remember to not stray too larger scale. Whether that’s fair or not, those
next, let’s say, another two years, I’ll be off far from who I was initially and the kid that are the things that we culturally look at and
of this.” was sitting in his room painting little fig- go, ‘Oh, that person gets a pass,’ but that
We ask Andy what the hardest change urines and stuff. When you realize that the doesn’t mean that the work isn’t there and it
he’s made is. “The meat thing didn’t bother pursuit of being cool is entirely fruitless, life doesn’t mean that, if you are someone that
me at all,” he says, in regards to becoming becomes a lot easier. If you’re not worried maybe doesn’t see themselves as so signif-
vegetarian (Andy is ‘mostly vegan’, saying about how you can be cooler than somebody icantly beautiful you can’t reach the heights
he is almost 100% vegan although occasion- else or how you can be a rock star, chances that you want to, whether it’s being a rock
ally a little dairy may get into a product he are you’ll have a better time doing this job.” star or whatever else. The reason I bring that
eats/drinks while on tour). “Eating meat was That time inspired the song ‘The Prom- up is because when I say to people ‘I do this
harder for me than not eating meat. I didn’t ise’, which is a song about being the or that,’ nothing that I do is particularly spe-
eat meat at all when I was a kid. I refused. teenager that he was in Ohio, how he re- cial or whatever. People go, ‘Oh well, it’s
ANDY BLACK