Live Review: Black Veil Brides @ Southampton University, 6/10/11

Standing outside Southampton University tonight, you’d be forgiven for thinking its Halloween, or at least a freshers fancy dress party, But no, Black Veil Brides have rolled into town, bringing with them an army of teens dressed in the deepest shade of black and smothered in eyeliner.

My Passion fit the bill perfectly, with their quaffed hair and coordinated outfits. They appear to fall somewhere between a mediocre 90s boy band and a monotonous electro metal outfit. However, the tweens in the crowd go mad for it, roaring as frontman Laurence Rene climbs the speakers as though no one has ever done it before. 

Yashin scream a bit of fresh air into proceedings with the unusual vocal duo of American Harry Radford and Glaswegian Kevin Miles. The two accents sound surprisingly refreshing together and the band fire out some decent gimmick-free post-hardcore. 

Black Veil Brides' predictably dramatic entrance is met with screams that could pop ear drums. They look and sound like a Kiss tribute band, yet do not play any Kiss songs. So what's the point?  Well, I guess it's all just a bit of fun. Cheesy speeches about 'being yourself' and getting the crowd to scream profanities and raise their middle fingers in unison clearly excited the young fans. It may not be the best music in the world, by any means, but if you enjoy a bit of a Hollywood spectacle then Black Veil Brides certainly deliver. 

A quick chat with... Black Veil Brides

Clad head to toe in leather and metal studs and with faces covered in eye liner, Jeremy "Jinxx" Ferguson and Jake Pitts talk about the image, the music and blowing shit up...


What does a Black Veil Brides show involve?
Jake (guitar): Well you can see how we look, but it isn’t just about how we dress. We put on a killer show as well.

Jinxx (guitar/violin): And our fans bring a lot out of us too. They come dressed up like us and have a lot of energy so that adds a lot to it.

Jake: We feel that energy so we throw it right back out.

How long does it take you to get ready before a show?

Jake: About half an hour to an hour. We have a system now, we’ve been doing this a while.

Jinxx: I can almost do it with my eyes closed.

Image is clearly very important to you, do you think it’s just as important as the music?

Jake: Absolutely. You’ve got to have the whole package. It’s boring if your favourite band dress like they work as a grocery store or something.

Jinxx: That’s not rock ‘n’roll man. If you’re gonna put on a show, put on a show. We’re entertainers.

Jake: You’ve got to look the part.

Black Veil Brides was the the brain child of Andy Biersack (lead singer)…

Jake: Yea he came up with Black Veil Brides and had a vision of what he wanted. It took a while for everything to come together and to find the right people.

Did you find it hard to fit into his vision of the band?

Jake: Not at all. It was the perfect fit. We met and it just clicked right away.

Jinxx: It was what we all had in mind for the band as well, before we even met Andy. We all shared similar interests in the same bands.

Have you noticed a different reaction to the band in the UK compared to America?

Jake: We have really dedicated fans, wherever we are. I think we just have more fans here.

Jinxx: I think people get us a little better over here as far as what we’re trying to do. Especially the rock ‘n’ roll aspect of what we do.

Jake: And this will be the third time we’ve been on the cover of Kerrang!, so that’s pretty cool.

You’re clearly influenced by a lot of 80s metal bands, most notably Kiss, but are there any acts around at the moment who inspire you?

Jake: Musically, I listen to a lot of metal stuff like All The Remains and Unearth. Avenged Sevenfold are a huge influence too.

Jinxx: As far as image though, there aren’t too many bands that are doing what we do.

Jake: And now we’re all in our favourite band!

How does new album ‘Set The World On Fire’ differ from your debut record ‘We Stitch These Wounds’?

Jake: Better song writing and the production quality is a lot better. Overall, I think it’s just a much better record. It’s easier to listen to because it sounds better.

Jinxx, you play violin for the band. Do you think violin is becoming more rock ‘n’ roll these days?

Jinxx: Yea, there’s people like me out there, dressed like this playing violin so I suppose so. I’d like to incorporate a lot more violin in our live shows later on, like a violin solo maybe.

What’s next for Black Veil Brides? ­

Jinxx: Tour, tour, tour.

Jake: We’re doing ten headlining dates and then we’re going to tour with Avenged Sevenfold. We’ll have Christmas off and then go to South America in January.

Jinxx: We’re also releasing an EP by Christmas time.

Jake: We’re booked up all the way to the end of next year.

Are you nervous about touring with Avenged Sevenfold?

Jinxx: Nervous? No, we’re excited!

Jake: It’s an arena tour so it’ll be the biggest tour we’ve done so far.

Jinxx: We’re stepping it up.

Jake: We’ll do as much as they’ll allow us to do, otherwise we’d be blowing shit up. 

Introducing: Asp - Bournemouth's Live And Unsigned 2011 hopeful

Bournemouth based band Asp, have made it through to the area semi finals of Live And Unsigned 2011, one of the largest national music competitions for unsigned bands.

Describing their sound as ‘kind of AC/DC meets Kiss’, Asp are a four piece classic rock band who formed back in 2007.

Front man Adam "The Yeti" Phillips met guitarist Paul "Brains" Gow at college through a friend. “We didn't know each other but after playing music together we became really close friends” said Adam. The band then grew, with Bassist Rob "Guns" Boivin joining in 2008 and drummer "Demon" Stephen Warr – who Adam says ‘was just too good looking to turn down’ – joined in 2009.

Complete with their rock ‘n’ roll nicknames, the band released their debut self-titled three track EP last year which they followed up with a mini tour of the south of England. They also, quite literally, reached new heights last summer when they became the first band ever to play 500ft in the air inside the Bournemouth balloon. Adam said “It was terrifying and yet an unforgettable experience.”

Since then, Asp have been busy recording their brand new six track mini album "Let's Get This Show On The Road" which is due to be released next year. The album was recorded at the 896 Coffee Bar in Boscombe, Bournemouth, and was produced by Nick Bryson (of Fearne) and Russ Gannicott (of Nemesis). “Every track is different, with elements of 80's metal, blues and funk” said Adam; “It’s a ballsy, high energy, classic rock party album and should always be joined by a cold beer.”

Asp are heavily involved in the Bournemouth music scene and list The Winchester as one of their favourite Bournemouth venues. “The Bournemouth music scene does its best for all bands, there are some great people to work with and gig along side in the town” said Adam.

Music is clearly a massive part of the boys’ lives as when they are not making music as part of Asp, Adam and Rob volunteer as youth workers at The Lighthouse in Christchurch, providing tuition for guitar, bass and ukulele. “Asp grew up at The Lighthouse” said Adam; “We practiced there and learnt there and when we became too old to attend we were so attached to The Lighthouse that we decided to stay as volunteers. We wanted to give back to them what they gave to us and pass on our experiences to new musicians”

And the boys all have day jobs too; Adam is a carer and teaches music at an after school club at Christchurch Junior School, Paul studies physics at Southampton University, Rob works at Langdons Electric Music and Southern Ukulele Store and Stephen works for Apple Conservatories.

Now Asp are through to the semi finals of Live and Unsigned 2011 and if they get through, they will get to play live at the final which will be held at The O2 in London. “To think we're in the semi's and one step away from London's O2 is completely surreal” says Adam; “but we are excited about the opportunities this competition can provide for us.”

To get to the final, Asp must put together a 3 minute 30 second mash up of two songs for which they have chosen a brand new Asp track ‘Bad To The Bone’ and a cover of  Led Zeppelin's ‘Whole Lotta Love’.

If they are eventually crowned the winners of this year’s competition then they will win a comprehensive music management package which includes; festival slots (including representing the UK at the biggest festival in Asia I rock), a UK tour exposing their music to over 40,000 people and a recording contract with Future Music, with up to £50,000 investment.

However, if they don’t win, the boys are determined to push forward and will be gigging around the south of England as much as possible. This will include a big show at Christchurch Music Festival on Saturday 2nd July. “Apart from that we’ll just be saving our money and writing new songs, putting it all towards what shall be our next album!” says Adam.

The Live and Unsigned 2011 semi finals will take place at Portsmouth Guildhall on May 21^st. Tickets are £7.50.