Bill Biersach, aka Beer Sock, defies the maxim, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” He has readily done both.
He is a veteran of the band scene in Los Angeles, having performed in such notable groups as Stormer, August, Brumus, Forkbeard, The Great Apple River Down Stream Inner Tube Float, SH[eye]N, and Biersach, Nicolaisen and Rhode.
Meanwhile, he has been teaching at the USC Thornton School of music for forty-five years. As an undergrad there he studied electronic music under Frederick Lesemann, and recorded his first Moog synthesizer projects at Paul Beaver’s legendary Parasound Studio where George Harrison recorded half of his Electronic Sound album. Upon graduating, Biersach was asked by the maestro to stay on as a teacher in the School of Music.
The evening he taught his first class, Biersach drew a mug of beer and an old sock on the blackboard by way of introduction—the phonetic way to pronounce his last name—thus his “Beer Sock” persona was established.
Over the years he assisted in developing the Recording Arts and Music Industry programs, and later joined the Composition Department. In 1988 he created what has become one of the most popular courses on campus: The Beatles: Their Music and Their Times. The course was selected by Student Affairs as one of the Top Ten Classes at USC. In 1989 he created a close runner-up: Classic Rock: Popular Music of the Sixties. He is currently also teaching a series of intimate seminars entitled Iconic Figures of Popular Music, exploring the music and careers of such notables as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, the Doors, the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band.
In February of 2020, just three weeks before the virus lockdown, he presented a hexaphonic concert-in-the-round at the Schoenfeld Orchestra Rehearsal Hall with percussionist Ralph Loynachan. Dean Cutietta acted as Master of Ceremonies and declared afterwards, “I loved every note.”
Recently Beer Sock came across notebooks of his compositions for piano and orchestral ensembles which go back as far as his college days. From these he began mining gold ore, refining his works with current recording and sampling technology. Finally, he has been honing his skills as a video editor, creating captivating visuals to accompany his music.
Welcome to the creative world of Prof. Bill Biersach, known to his students and fans as Beer Sock.
