MC: How did your first tour go? You hit the road with the “On Leather Wings” tour that December, right?
Biersack: Yes. That was our first real tour. I had played some shows around the Midwest under the name Black Veil Brides, but this was the first time we had gone out as the current lineup. We had just met, and we toured in my bass player’s four-passenger Durango with five people and a U-Haul trailer. It was pretty much the most uncomfortable means possible, but we did the paying-your-dues thing, and it really brought us together. When you put people in an uncomfortable environment together for a period of time, you either grow to love each other or hate each other. Fortunately, we all became best friends.
We also had to write and cut a record (We Stitch These Wounds) with Standby when we got back from touring. We wrote on the road and then tracked it when we got home, and that brought us closer as well.
MC: Was the recording of We Stitch These Wounds a smooth process?
Biersack: We didn’t really have time to write it, nor did we have the money to get into a decent studio and have a producer, so we wound up basically producing the record on our own and working with engineers who were friends of our manager. Even though we weren’t given the budget to make a quality record, we were able to retain complete control over it and get the sound we wanted. Then we delivered it to the label. We have no ill will towards Standby. They were very gracious to us, and we are very appreciative of them signing us when no one else would, especially at a time when the label didn’t have very much money. Obviously it benefited Standby quite a bit. We had very limited distribution, but they were nothing but supportive and helpful. It really set us up so that we could come to the attention of someone from a major label, like Jason Flom at Universal.
MC: On June 14, Set The World On Fire was released on Lava/Universal Republic. This is your first contract and album with a major label. What aspects of your contract are you most happy with?
Biersack: Honestly, we have no issues with anything in the contract. Lava and Universal were ready to make us happy and sign us under comfortable circumstances. It’s not a crazy night-mare 360 deal. They really allowed us to do our own thing. Even at the record-making level, there were no A&R guys in the studio telling us how to make the record. They let us have control over how the record was marketed as well. To Jason Flom’s credit, he is an incredible businessman and also understands the industry, yet still gave us enough credit and freedom to be the artists and musicians and have a hand in how the record is created and promoted.
MC: Were you happy with the recording budget you were given?
Biersack: The budget was fantastic, and allowed us to make the record on our own time. Tech-nically, we’ll be putting out two records within a year because We Stitch These Wounds came out 11 months before Set The World On Fire. Since Universal didn’t own We Stitch These Wounds, they wanted a new record from us. We met with some producers, and in the first producer meeting we asked Josh Abraham if we could go ahead and start making the record because we had a tour coming up. They were ready to make it happen, so we hauled ass. And we’re very happy with the wide distribution [of a major label].
MC: Is Lava/Universal Republic financing any aspects of the tour?
Biersack: Tour support is there, but we really haven’t required it. We do pretty well financially on tour, and our machine runs pretty efficiently.
MC: The title track from Set The World On Fire will be on Transformers 3. How excited were you about that?
Biersack: Yes! That’s very cool, and especially that it is a sort of comic book feel to the movie. I’m a fan of the vaguely superhero kind of movie. Obviously, I’m happy that the song is in a film, but I’m really happy that it’s in that kind of film.
MC: When you signed with Lava/Universal Re-public were you required to use their support staffers in promoting your career? Did you need to lose any of your own support staff, the people who’d worked with you when you were indie?
Biersack: No. Our team has stayed intact, which is nice. Everyone who worked with us prior to signing is still with us, is working in conjunction with the label.
