As far as being onstage, commanding presence, I've always looked up to people like Axl Rose and Freddie Mercury and Paul Stanley - the rock gods. I've always wanted to be able to achieve that level of commanding nature onstage and really leading people at a show.
Being able to be one of the headline bands on Warped Tour was a dream I had since I was in middle school.
My biggest love has always been the music Black Veil Brides make, but that doesn't mean I don't listen to or enjoy other things.
A band like Avenged Sevenfold I've praised quite a bit publicly, because it's a band that has moved into that arena-size thing for a hard rock band.
We want people to know they shouldn't feel like social pariahs just because they want to dress differently or listen to rock n' roll.
I came from a town of about 2,000 people with one stop light, and I was told that nothing I ever wanted to do, I would succeed in.
Whether I'm trying to or not, I have this inherent feeling that music is uplifting; it makes you feel victorious, and that makes you feel like you can take on the world.
It seems like a gross waste of time to continue our career predicated on the idea that we're going to divide opinion. What's more important is just doing something that you love.
I was this little kid writing songs. I look back at having that dream, and it's weird. Being able to do it and live out your dream on any scale is amazing. I don't take any of it for granted at all.
There is no reason why a guitar player makes the guitar-playing faces. It doesn't help you play guitar. You've not improved your skills. It's because you're up onstage, and the natural inclination is to put on a show. The rock guy faces are just as much of a front or a show as us wearing crazy makeup. It's just a different scale.
There was never a time when I wasn't making guitars out of cardboard or dressing up like the Misfits.
I was homeless for almost a year and a half, just living in my car or bouncing around peoples' houses, going to 7-Eleven at the end of the day and asking them for the taquitos that they were going to throw out because I hadn't eaten in two days.
I've always been a big fan of utopian, future, new-world stories - 'V For Vendetta,' comic books, graphic novels.
It's really important for us as a band, that when someone is giving us grief on stage, to show our fans how important it is that they stand up for themselves and that they feel confident in themselves.
We know that listening to Black Veil Brides, wearing Black Veil Bride shirts, or being in Black Veil Brides isn't always the most popular thing in the world.
Our music is never going to stop someone from bullying someone else. But you should be your own person.
We're not here to make the ignorant people happy. We're here to write our music for those people that are interested in good rock n' roll music.
If they can look past the fact that I happen to wear mascara on stage - which, by the way, is a ridiculous thing that people have a stigma about - then we promise a good rock show.
I'm not against making new fans, but I'm not going to go out of my way to pander to someone and try to make them like me; that's not who we are. It's not as if we're fighting to find an audience - we have our audience, and anybody else is definitely welcome.
I wouldn't want to make the same record over and over again or look the same or be the same. I think that's just human life in general, though.
I left high school very early. I was 17. So I guess it wasn't that early, but I did not get a high school education.
I don't really have any interest in allowing other people's kind of idiotic, unnecessary, either bigotry or hatred or whatever derision they have for me, I don't allow for it to really bother me, because I don't need it.
Even if you don't like what I do, and you don't like my band, you might have a fan that likes both of us, and why would you wanna alienate them?
Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, always be Batman.Collection: Being Yourself
Live your life, listen to your music way to loud, be crazy and as different as you want to be and always remember your not aloneCollection: Crazy
I encourage all of you to find strength within yourself, no matter what. Be proud of who you are and never let anyone or anything take that away from you. Inner Strength is something that we are all born with. However, I've learned that it requires patience and perseverance to fully achieve it. I promise you, though, that as long as you know in your heart who you are and what you want from this world, nothing is gonna stop you.Collection: Perseverance
There's absolutely no one in the world that can tell you can't do something. You're the only person that can set that limitation.Collection: World
As we grow up we learn that even the person that wasnt supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it gets harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and youll eventually lose someone you love, so take many pictures, laugh too much and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is one minute of happiness you'll never get back.Collection: Hurt
We will be whatever they need us to be. Call us emo's, liars, and cheaters...tell people how awful we are and how little talent we have...do whatever it takes to make themselves feel better because at the end of the day, we are strong, we can take it. We don't need their approval to justify our lives. Each and every one of us has a fire that burns inside us and they can try like hell to put out that flame but as long as in our minds we know who we are meant to be, they don't stand a chance.Collection: Strong
Please remember, that even in your darkest moments, you still have the choice to focus your energy on the positive and create a better life.Collection: Choices
Take joy in who you are, we know our wings are flawed.Collection: Wings
Every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.Collection: Bvb
Life isn't about how popular you are. What girl or boy you are dating or who you know. Life is about always being true to who you are or what you believe in. Never let anyone convince you that their way is better than your way. In the end all we have is our hearts.. and our minds. This is the reason we sing.. this is the reason we cry... this is why we live.Collection: Girl