By Therese McKeon

My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way is one of a kind, possessing the kind of magnetic personality you come across so infrequently that you can't exactly put it into words. You know it when you're with him though. The first time I remember encountering the crooner's welcoming boyish face I distinctly recall walking away with a strong Leonardo DiCaprioesque art student vibe.

If personality were enough to make a band successful, I am sure Gerard could carry them. Thankfully, My Chemical Romance doesn't rely solely on that. The New Jersey band resembles the character of their frontman both musically and intellectually. They have depth. If you've been following the Shoutweb Top 20 chart loyally over the years, you may have noticed one consistency - the presence of My Chemical Romance in the rankings. Their debut I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love impressed us so much that it appeared here before it was released and continued to hold a Top 20 spot more than any other recording. It's no wonder that we love this band so much.

In fact, just when we thought the love fest might slow it's pace, MCR hit us with Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. We give three cheers and then some for the sweet, sweet sound of ground-breaking music robust with colorful landscapes masterfully constructed, spiced with punching in your face lyrics.

We had a chance to chat with Gerard at Skate and Surf Fest 2004 in Asbury Park, NJ.

Shoutweb: The last time we spoke, you told me that this record was going to be kind of a concept record. How did it turn out?

Gerard: It turned out the same way we thought it would where we were going with this plan of telling this story, this big concept. And then for the sake of not being convoluted or to have these shitty songs on your record, you kind of do it in between where it's like every song tells a story. Not necessarily the same one but the bulk of the songs tell the story.

You know, you're kind of cheating yourself as an artist if you don't write about your own life, if you don't write about what happens to you. So, my whole plan was to take a band from Jersey and put 'em in L.A. - two totally different things going on, you know? - and see what happens to them. Seedy shit, nothing dramatic, but a lot of bad elements around, a lot of tests, you know what I mean? To see if we'd pull through stuff. And we did.

So, a lot of that's on the record. There's a lot of stuff about that kind of lifestyle out in L.A. - the people you meet and the drugs and everything. There's a lot of that.

Shoutweb: Did anything happen at a seedy hotel?

Gerard: (laughs) Yeah actually. There's one song *about* a seedy hotel so...

Shoutweb: It could be about this hotel.

Gerard: Yeah, this place is ruined now. I heard the elevator's broken. I heard there's a whole floor's ceiling that's gone now.

Shoutweb: Oh, no.

Gerard: Yeah. (Pause) Are you guys staying there?

Shoutweb: No! We're only here for one day because all the good bands are playing today.

Gerard: Good.

Shoutweb: So, I've heard “I'm Not Okay” - that is awesome.

Gerard: Thank you! We kind of liken it to our HeadFirst For Halos from the first record. We wanted to release that one first because we were like, “yeah, this will really piss a lot of people off probably.” But if you know the band, then you'll be like, well, it's like HeadFirst For Halo. It's the same type of thing.. and it's about suicide as well. It's almost like the second piece to that song.

Shoutweb: Is “I'm Not Okay” representative of the rest of the record?

Gerard: No. Each song is so different. There's songs that have elements of like... some show tune elements. But then you have songs that have just crazy punk. There's metal on there. There's freak out moments. There's everything. It's really dramatic. It's melodramatic at points but it's telling a story, you know?

Shoutweb: What was it like to tour with Avenged Sevenfold?

Gerard: It's awesome. It's amazing because they're just such good kids. Very professional guys. Two totally different bands but I guess we're both dark so it's working on that level.

Shoutweb: What is it like to play today?

Gerard: Today this is a homecoming for us and a lot of the bands. Like Senses Fail. We're play right after them and it's going to be fucking sick. Last year, there was about a thousand people on the second stage for us. We were shocked when we came on stage. We were like, "Holy shit!"

Shoutweb: Any bands you're looking forward to checking out yourself?

Gerard: HIM. It's after almost everybody's set. Everybody can get wasted. All the bands what to go watch HIM.

Shoutweb: Well thanks for chatting with us.