Interview - My Chemical Romance - A-Z Part.1 Rock Sound brings you an in-depth guide to My Chemical Romance. Part 1 – A - M A is for…Acceptance My Chemical Romance wouldn’t be here without it. Frank Iero (guitar): “It’s what I felt about punk rock growing up. A show was a place where you could go and feel accepted for who you were. So when I started a band I wanted to create an environment where people could feel like there was somebody else out there who understood them and had their back no matter what.” Gerard Way (vocals): “Acceptance is a huge part of this band. Punk rock accepted us as kids and in a sense saved our lives because of that. Punk shows gave us a place where we wouldn’t get shot or stabbed.” Frank: “It’s about encouraging self-worth and self-respect.” B is for…Bullet-proof vests An indispensable part of the band’s onstage attire. Gerard: “The bullet-proof vest is a metaphor. It symbolises the fact that this band feels indestructible.” Frank: “It’s really based on the way we feel onstage. You get into a certain mindset where nothing really matters – you can’t get hurt and nothing fazes you. Together we feel unstoppable.” Gerard: “It’s also about us relating to hip-hop artists. We come from the same world as a lot of them (Newark, New Jersey) and we relate to their drive and the way they don’t give a fuck about what anyone else thinks.” C is for…Concept albums Breakthrough album ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’ put a whole new spin on the concept record. Mikey Way (bass): “The album started out as this fictional story but then kind of melded itself into our lives. It’s like a comic book story about a man who comes back from the dead to avenge himself. But on moving to LA we had so many experiences that without us knowing it the album became a fifty-fifty mix between the story and us.” D is for…Disney World MCR drummer Bob Bryar has a secret past… Bob: “When I was in school in Florida I got a job at Disney World to earn extra money. I thought I was going to do something cool but when I went to my initiation day and opened up the packet it said I was working on The Little Mermaid theme show. I was so pissed. My first costume was white pants, a blue and white striped shirt and a sailor hat. Later I played drums for the Aladdin stage show. I finally quit because they yelled at me about my sideburns.” E is for…Everyday living It’s not half as glamorous as you think. Gerard: “Wake up, walk around, look for a book store, look for a coffee shop, come back, start to focus, do some press, get ready to perform, reflect, cool down and go to bed. Then get up the next day and start again.” Frank: “My everyday living consists of Epstein-Barr virus. It’s chronic fatigue syndrome. I got it from touring. It means my immune system is always really low, I always feel sick and I have to take a bunch of vitamins every day.” F is for…Fans Otherwise known as ‘The MCRmy’. Frank: “We have the best fans ever. They’re brutal, crazy kids. Our fans love, they hate, sometimes they’re angry, sometimes they won’t give you a chance to go pee, but they give it their all. I think The MCRmy existed even before people used street teams.” Mikey: “Those kids would photocopy fliers for our local shows and go to other Jersey shows and put them on cars, guerrilla-style. It all began with those kids.” G is for…Great Britain Much more than just a home from home. Mikey: “In the States we had a problem with distribution on our first record (‘I Brought You My Bullets You Brought Me Your Love’). But in the UK it was released on a subsidiary of a major label, so you could buy it everywhere. It really took on a new life over here. We thought we were going to have to move here, like if we didn’t get big in America it wouldn’t be so bad. Even now we can play songs off the first album and you wouldn’t know the difference; kids here are into all of them.” H is for…Harry Houdini The legendary escape artist who’s a key inspiration for Gerard and co. Gerard: “Houdini is very important to the first record. He’s also important to the next record because there’s a song about him and his wife on there, so it’s me going back to the story. For some reason he’s on the cover of ‘…Bullets’ hanging over New York City. Something about him was just so romantic and mysterious. There was something about the idea of an escape artist, about someone escaping what he came from and all the hurdles he had to overcome. It’s such a fantastic metaphor. To me, it really fitted in with our band, because this band is our escape.” I is for…Irvine Welsh The Trainspotting author is the reason they’re called My Chemical Romance. Mikey: “I used to work in a book store and one day my manager brought over a stack of Irvine Welsh books. I was bored so I started flipping through a couple of them and reading the blurb on the back. A quote from a critic caught my eye. It said that Irvine Welsh’s books were ‘chemical romances’. I thought it would be a really good name for a band so I told Gerard and then we just added the ‘My’.” J is for…Billie Joe Armstrong The Green Day frontman taught Gerard Way everything he knows Gerard: “Billie Joe was the first person to inspire me to pick up a guitar, learn how to play it and learn how to sing at the same time. He made it look so fun and effortless – there was no pretence about Billie. In the first band I ever started, Raygun Jones, I sang exactly like him because that was all I knew. With Billie, it’s all about the eyes. He couldn’t use his hands because he was playing guitar, so I learned to use my eyes to express things just like he did. He’s a huge inspiration.” K is for…Killing the rock ‘n’ roll myth Groupies, diva behaviour and over-indulgence are not where it’s at. Frank: “We’ve mutilated, killed and disembowelled rock ‘n’ roll clichés! We’re not about anything that the “rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle” is about.” Ray Toro (guitar): “This life is so crazy that the last thing you want to do after a show is party. We’re boring as hell!” Gerard: “People definitely miss the Mötley Crüe antics but that’s not what we’re about because of the negative elements that go with it – mainly homophobia, racism and sexism. Punk rock and grunge made a difference but nu-metal set things back again because it was all, ‘Let’s beat the shit out of each other, get girls to show us their tits and fuck groupies’. So yet again, we’re trying to reverse that.” L is for…Loved ones Hit song ‘Helena’ was written for the Way brothers’ much-loved grandma Mikey: “When we were growing up she taught us all of our extra-curricular activities, hobbies that kids our age and from our upbringing wouldn’t normally get to do. She taught Gerard how to sing and she taught us both how to draw and paint. We pulled some of our most important aspects from her. We didn’t see her for the last year of her life (the band were on tour). I didn’t even know she was sick. She was supposed to have some routine surgery. We came off tour for three days and she died then. It was so spur of the moment.” M is for…Media hype There’s no denying MCR are this year’s rock press darlings. Ray: (Looking aghast) “I’ve never seen the words ‘media hype’. Are we over-exposed?” Frank: “We’re in a lot of places. At first it was cool that my mom could buy 16 different magazines and we’d be in all of them. But then it got to the point where it’s just hype and bullshit. A lot of people are missing the point. It’s not about the hair and the make-up, it’s more about the message and keeping ourselves alive.” Mikey: “It’s termed hype if you don’t live up to it, but our band lives up to it and then some. The reason we’re still in magazines is because anyone who tries to knock us down has no ground to stand on. That’s why we’re still the buzz band.” Rock Sound Interview - My Chemical Romance - A-Z Part.2 N is for…New album The ‘The Black Parade’ Gerard: “We’re really excited because I feel now more than ever we’re going to get to make the record we’ve always wanted to make. The band has always had major growth spurts and we’re in another one right now. Lyrically it’s more natural. Not that the stuff before wasn’t honest but I was using fiction as metaphor. These songs are just using real life, straight up. The poetry is still there but it’s definitely more about social commentary. Some songs sound like they could have been on Pulp’s ‘Different Class’ or Blur’s ‘Parklife’. O is for…Other artists’ opinions When Dave Grohl loves your band you can’t go wrong. Frank: “I think Dave Grohl made fun of our make-up.” Mikey: “He really likes our band though, which is awesome. It’s surreal because people you grew up listening to or saw on TV come to your shows and hang out with you. It’s at the point now where if the Pope turned up at our show I’d be like, ‘Oh cool, but I’m really tired. Can I go to sleep?’” And for…Oasis Gerard: “I’ve really been getting into them. They write fucking amazing songs. Timeless, beautiful songs. I’d love to do a Brit Pop covers EP with Oasis and Pulp’s ‘Disco 2000’. Maybe we can get on to that.” P is for…The Pipeline The New Jersey hangout that provided a sanctuary for MCR in their youth. Mikey: “That place was a big part of our musical upbringing. It was the first place I saw a show, the first place Gerard saw a show and the first place Ray’s band The Rodneys played a show at in 96 or 97. It was just 100 person capacity but any day of the week there would be amazing bands playing – Nine Inch Nails, AFI, Bouncing Souls, Madball. Now it’s a parking lot. I kind of wish it was still around.” Q is for…Questions The more famous you get, the more outrageous they become. Mikey: “Anything you can possibly think of, someone will ask. There’ll be all sorts of crazy stuff coming out of fans’ mouths like, ‘Are you dating so-and-so?’ or ‘Are you guys millionaires?’” Gerard: “How old my daughter is. That’s the weirdest question. I don’t have a daughter. I think people just read into liner notes too much.” R is for…Record label Frank Iero is no one-trick pony, boys and girls. Frank: “I’ve started something called Skeleton Crew. It’s a record label, a book publishing company and we do clothing design as well. We’re working on a 10-inch by The Mean Reds, a band from Tucson, Arizona. We’re designing a jacket for Gerard and me. I’m going to write a book and so is Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die. Wes Eisold (Some Girls / American Nightmare) is doing an album. Right now it’s just starting but you’ll be able to find stuff at skeletoncrewonline.com soon.” S is for…saving lives Some say music is as powerful as religion, including MCR. Frank: “One thing we can say for sure is that the band saved our lives. I always thought I had something to offer and I wanted to have some importance in my life, so this band was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before that I was on a fast track to doing nothing. If there’s a higher power, it was definitely looking out for me and I try to repay that every day. I think we offer our fans a sanctuary rather than salvation. The band is a tool to save yourself. We’re like a support group – the AA of saving lives!” T is for…Touring Hardest working band on the planet? MCR are strong contenders. Gerard: “Touring is the lifeblood of the band next to the fans. Occasionally we might come across as if we don’t like it, but that’s only because we do it so much. You get tired. But touring is the reason we write songs. We don’t’ write albums - we write songs; and we don’t write songs for albums – we write them to play live.” U is for…Unicorns We all know unicorns aren’t real - just don’t tell Mikey Way. Mikey: “A friend has a company called Pretty Vacant and they make all sorts of clothes and random things like buttons. I have a white unicorn button on every one of my jackets. Maybe they do exist. Who knows? I guess it’s become a good luck thing because I’ve switched this one I’m wearing from jacket to jacket. We’re all kind of superstitious in this band.” V is for…Videos The epic WWII-themed video for ‘Ghost Of You’ cost an incredible $500,000. Gerard: “Videos are extremely important in this band. This time we needed a departure. We needed to take the band to the next level and we needed to do something unexpected. Everyone expected a gothic video with ghosts so we expressly didn’t do it like that.” Mikey: “I’m so proud of that video. Most of my friends who saw it cried at the end during my big death scene. There are some great USO scenes and awesome war snippets. The pain on everyone’s faces in that video is real – we were in 80 pounds of gear, waist deep in water and explosions were going off. I think we had the right budget to pull it off properly.” W is for…Well-travelled Want to know what Diet Pepsi tastes like Outer Mongolia? Ask Gerard Way. Gerard: “In our first year we went to Europe and hit Germany, Spain, Holland and the UK. That was a huge accomplishment. No indie band did that. Now we’re hitting places like Mexico, Latin America and Australia. So we really feel like we have a sense of the whole world. We don’t just live in a bubble. We know what Diet Pepsi tastes like in London or whatever.” And for…Warped Tour Gerard: “Warped is an integral part of our career. Kevin Lyman (Warped founder) really believed in us and put us on when everyone else was telling him it wouldn’t work. It also has a huge role in building our fan base.” X is for…X-rated Live shows don’t get much raunchier than this. Gerard: “There’s definitely a trashy, x-rated vibe to our live set. It’s mainly to put off homophobes, but also because as seriously as you take this, you can’t take yourself that seriously. So it’s like aggressive, soft-core gay porn. There’s a little man love, maybe some smooching, definitely some crotch grabbing. I definitely used to fuck the monitors.” Y is for…Years together It’s four years and counting in MCR land… Gerard: “We’ve been together almost four years which I never would have thought possible. We’re almost on our third record. It’s crazy. I don’t think this band will ever stop feeling right or good. But when it’s the natural time, it should die. We’re very perceptive people so we’ll accept it when it happens, and it’s not necessarily when the chips are down.” Z is for…Zebras And you thought Mikey was weird? Frank: “Everything was zebra with Bob for a little while. He had little toy zebras in his bunk, a zebra blanket, his drum seat was zebra…” Mikey: “He got to the point where he had so much zebra stuff he didn’t know what to do with it. He says he’s over it now but I think he’s lying.