Who was Ashley Purdy before Black Veil Brides?

Black Veil Brides bassist Ashley Purdy talks about his struggle to create a band where he fit in before he joined Black Veil Brides—from his figuring out the Hollywood scene to the complications of finding the right qualities in the right people.

“I couldn’t find anyone who looked like I did or played like I did or wanted to make a band like I did,” he explains. “This happens with a lot of kids out there who form bands—It’s really difficult to find the kind of players you want to find.”

So, what do you do when you can’t find the perfect combination? You compensate.

“I was always either making people dress up the way I wanted them to do, like if I found a really good player, I’d make him dress the part, or if I found a guy who looked really cool, he couldn’t play that well. It was always a struggle and I always had, like, mish-moshed bands.”

Luckily, he finally found a fateful ad for a bass player from BVB frontman Andy Biersack, to which he responded. As someone who had always taken the spotlight as frontman, Purdy had ulterior motives at the time.

“I was like, ‘Who’s this band who list all these similar influences to me?’ So, I met up with [Biersack], but I was actually looking to to steal players from then to put in my band.”

Fortunately, things worked out for the best and instead of thieving players or joining LA Guns, Purdy found his home in BVB where the he finally found the perfect dynamic with his bandmates.