Breaking: "Black Veil Brides Is Moving Forward… Everything Else Is Drama"

Earlier this evening, reports emerged that Black Veil Brides were planning on calling time on the band once their short summer stint on Warped Tour was complete.

The rumour mill went into overdrive in response to the following quotes from Ashley Purdy, taken from an interview the bassist gave to Another FN Podcast (who subsequently deleted the episode in question).

“[Warped Tour] is where you are going to see Black Veil Brides for the last time ever in your entire lives, so you better fucking go, because that's gonna be it... you better see us before you don’t see us.”

Various outlets took those remarks at face value and ran with them, reporting that Black Veil Brides were set to split up. We reached out to the band and spoke to vocalist Andy Biersack for comment.

"We're going to move forward," Andy assured us. "Everything else is drama."

Below is everything Andy had to say on the matter.

SO WHAT’S HAPPENING THEN?
“You mean we’re playing the Warped Tour or… what are you referencing? [laughs]”

ASHLEY’S COMMENTS THAT THE WARPED TOUR IS THE LAST OPPORTUNITY TO SEE BLACK VEIL BRIDES…
“I don’t know. You can’t explain everything someone else says. We’re all grown men. I’ve been told by everybody in the band that is not the case. Everyone in the band – all five members – have spoken this morning and we’re all on the same page and ready to do Warped Tour. I’m someone who has in my life has said and done things I didn’t maybe agree with – I’m yelling at people at awards shows and everything else – so who knows? I can’t speculate on what was going on or what was going through Ashley’s mind at the time or anything other than I know what I’ve been told and I know what the intention of the band is and that is we’re going to move forward. That’s the only thing I can say about it. Everything else is drama that the fans wind-up being the victims of. We made it clear to one another that we intend to move forward, but the speculation is still out there for the fans. I think my responsibility is to make sure everybody knows that if there was a plan to break up after Warped Tour, I was never aware of it and I have been told that is not the case.”

YOU MUST HAVE BEEN TAKEN ABACK BY HIS COMMENTS. HOW QUICKLY DID THAT BAND MEETING TAKE PLACE?
“The articles were out there this morning – from the podcast episode – so my first thought was to get everyone on the same page and ask if there was some sort of plan I didn’t know about. I was immediately told that wasn’t the case, so that’s the only thing I can comment on. These are guys I’ve made my career with and spent my whole professional life with.”

WHAT ABOUT ASHLEY SAYING THAT YOUR BANDMATES WERE GOING TO DO SOMETHING SEPARATE TO BLACK VEIL BRIDES?
“I was told by several members of the band that everybody intends on doing a project, as to whether that’s together or not, that’s up to them to say publicly. I don’t want to comment on that. I know that Jake has a band with his wife, so he intends on moving forward with that. I don’t know if Jinxx and CC intend on being in a band with Ashley, but that’s really up to them. We’ve all made this career together and we’ve had this opportunity to have an audience to play this music for, so if they want to take advantage of that opportunity, then I believe we should. It’s encouraged. At the end of the day I’m just one member of the band and don’t have any say on how they control their lives or career – and I don’t want to. There’s been full transparency with me that they intended to do other projects but with Andy Black or Aelonia, there’s never been an issue with that.”

SO YOU’RE DEFINITELY NOT BREAKING UP THEN?
“To my knowledge, no.”

THIS MUST ADD AN AIR OF AWKWARDNESS TO THE WARPED SHOWS, THOUGH?
“It’s certainly an odd thing to have happen on the day we’re moving all the gear onto the bus, but at the end of the day, we’re professionals. It’s our job to get up there and give the best show we can. This is an important time; this is the final Warped Tour which has been a huge catalyst in our career. I think it would be inappropriate for us to dwell on whatever awkwardness and not give people a proper show. We’ve only got eight shows to make the best of this last Warped Tour and I think that’s the focus. At the end of the day, people see themselves in the capacity they see themselves. Far be it for me to dictate to somebody else what they feel they are in the context of the band. So if someone sees themselves as more intelligent than the other members, or see their position as this or that, then that’s entirely up to them. It’s entirely up to every member of this band to see their own journey, and I guess, in a way, visualise what they want to be. I do know that I love all the members of this band very much. We’ve spent so much time together, so for someone to say something they maybe later regret or didn’t mean, it’s not going to be the thing that tears everybody apart.”

Interview: Simon Young