And there’s a cameo from Missing Link’s Mike Ryan to be heard.
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If you love this music: In the summer of 2006, My Chemical Romance came to England to play Reading and Leeds festivals, and to tease their forthcoming third album, The Black Parade, with a special headline show at Hammersmith Palais in west London on August 22. That night the New Jersey emo quintet gave live debuts to two songs from their forthcoming record- I Don’t Love You and Cancer – and showcased three further songs from the album, The End, Dead! and House Of Wolves. It was immediately clear all in attendance that the band’s follow-up to 2004’s Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge was going to be something special.
Later that week, Metal Hammer‘s Katie Parsons caught up with Gerard Way’s band backstage at Reading festival to get the inside story on an album that would soon be recognised as their masterpiece
The backstage field at the Reading Festival is a hive of activity. The guest area is awash in drunken squeals and bloated, beered-up bodies. The occasional ‘funny hat’ lurches by, and the multitude of dancing ladies in the warm light have suntanned ankles clamped into bright floral rubber boots. It may only be mid-morning but the party is already well underway.
Take two steps to the right, however, past a stern-looking security guard, and the green trailer sheltering New Jersey superstars My Chemical Romance houses an entirely different scene.
“A friend of mine killed himself by standing in front of a train,” someone whispers from the corner. “He was 15 years old.”
Donned in black from tip to toe (barring his new blond locks), Gerard Way and his four accompanying musicians (guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro, bassist Mikey Way and drummer Bob Bryar) are slouched on a couch, sipping sticky cups of brown soya milk from the small selection of food provided for their pleasure. They’ll be clambering onto the hulking main stage at Reading in 30 minutes’ time. It’s the biggest show they’ve ever played in the UK. Given the cheery excitement just metres away, and the potential exhilaration awaiting them up in front of the gathered thousands, the last thing you’d expect to be talking about is suicide. But darkness seems to overshadow My Chemical Romance wherever they go.
“We actually tried to stay away from death,” says the permanently sullen singer. “We just couldn’t do it.”
Gerard and the band are chatting to Hammer about their upcoming new release The Black Parade – the highly anticipated follow-up to the group’s 2004 release Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and 2002’s I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. Thrust into global stardom following a series of massive hit singles and the adoration of a globe-spanning fanbase, My Chemical Romance may see the The Black Parade becoming their biggest and most important album to date.
This is the most theatrical record we have ever made. It really is the record of our dreams.
Gerard Way
“This is the most theatrical record we have ever made,” says Gerard quietly. “It really is the record of our dreams. Just like the other two, it’s a concept album, but it’s the tightest of all three. While the last record was an examination of immortality, this new one looks at mortality. Yes, we have written about death again, but in a much more mature way.”
Why can’t MCR avoid such morbid thoughts?
“Everybody is afraid of death. It’s just that maybe we’re a little more afraid of death than most people,” explains Mikey. “Everyone is going to die. That’s the one thing that absolutely everyone has in common. It’s universal. Death is kind of like the unknown, and I think, as a band, and on this record, we are influenced by the unknown.”
The album’s concept tracks the experiences of a character called The Patient, a narrator who My Chemical Romance use to help weave their shadowy ideas, lyrics, melodies and musical visions.
“At the very beginning of the record, The Patient is dying tragically young in a hospital,” explains Gerard. “Death then comes to him in the form of a parade, because his strongest memory of childhood is of his father taking him to a parade. From that point on in the record, he examines his life, and he meets other characters in the parade that talk about their lives, and by the end, he is someone that chooses to live, as opposed to die.”
Sitting in the confines of the small trailer, the four other members nod in agreement.
“I think that one of our main goals in this band has always been to write songs from the heart,” says Ray.
“For me, it’s like a constant quest to write the perfect song,” notes Gerard. “My current favourite of our arsenal is the new song Cancer. I think it’s the most emotionally powerful song that we’ve ever written. It’s direct, it’s honest, it’s ugly, it’s beautiful, it’s the truth. We played it a few days ago and the response was immediate. People were so affected, it was like they weren’t able to speak for two minutes.”
The lyrics may be written by their enigmatic frontman, but the sentiment of the album directly reflects all of the band members’ urge to give a voice to their fans; a voice for those who might find themselves in a situation where they may be choosing between death and carrying on with life.
“It’s about making a difference,” says Gerard. “It’s about giving those kids a representative.”
It transpires that from the very beginning of their careers, the group have felt a responsibility to give a voice to those who dwell in the ‘dark side’ a little more than others.
“We were originally united as a group because we ourselves were obvious outsiders,” explains Gerard about the band’s dark beginnings. “We were pretty much invisible and insignificant. When nobody pays any attention to you, you realise how mortal you are. That’s why teenagers that are troubled or are seen as outcasts are drawn to death. You have a lot of time to examine that subject when you’re all alone.”
Gerard and his bandmates are now in the lucky position where they can turn their own ‘outcast’ experiences into guidance and relief for others.
“We were people that were able to rise above those feelings,” he explains, “and with our help, others will be able to rise above that too. That’s why we have such a strong relationship with our fans. We can understand.”
We were originally united as a group because we were obvious outsiders. We were pretty much invisible and insignificant.
Gerard Way
Were you shocked into taking action by those that didn’t survive?
“The suicide of my friend was something that really changed my life,” he agrees. “There was a really strange wake where there were all these kids from high school there, all of his classmates – kids. That was strange. That set me on the path of wanting to escape that kind of life in New Jersey, the feeling of being depressed and insignificant.”
Come summer 2006, the band are about as far removed from insignificance as it’s possible to imagine, and the main stage at Reading is about as big at it gets for any band. As for being depressed? It’s hard to accuse Frank, Gerard, Ray and Bob of laughing too much. But Gerard’s little brother Mikey seems slightly more fragile. Throughout the interview, his hands are visibly shaking. His conversation is slow and considered.
“I am not going to diagnose myself, but I probably have ADD. I do have ADD, ’cos I am constantly wandering,” says the bassist.
“Mikey is the eternal kid brother of the band,” says Gerard, smiling at his brother. “He has a lot of heart and is just a bit shy and awkward. We’re very protective of him.”
Mikey also notes that Gerard requires protection as well, pointing out that historical frontmen often faced tragic fates due to a lack of support, and warns that without adequate backing, Gerard would likely flee under an assumed name.
That certainly contradicts the view that MCR is just another name for ‘Gerard’s band’. Though he has taken on most of the answers to the questions we have posed the group, it was made quite clear to Metal Hammer that the singer does not do interviews alone.
“We don’t want the emphasis to just be on one person. Bands are much more exciting than individuals,” laughs Gerard. “That’s why you start a band! And if you always keep that in your head, it’s that kind of unity that makes you stronger. When you just have one individual, that’s when people get depressed, people off themselves, and then you have one person carrying this intense weight on them and they’re this huge celebrity. They don’t have enough strength on their own; they need others. That’s the point of a band, of this band – we need each other. I think everyone in this group wants to carry our responsibility together.”
There is no time that this belief is more apparent than when the five members of My Chemical Romance get up on stage. Sure, Gerard is the ‘frontman’, the spokesman, the voice for the masses, but without the intense musical backdrop of his friends, he could be mistaken for just another madman on a rant.
“There is a degree of leadership that needs to be there on stage,” says Gerard, “and although it is one voice, it’s all of our voices speaking together. The music speaks for itself. The chemistry we have together is the real voice.”
To think there was ever a time when Gerard and the band were outcasts is hard to believe. Up in front of the gathered thousands, they’re worshipped like gods.
Each carries the audience in the palm of their hands, through their individual appeals and characters. There are banners being waved, and every word is sung back at the band with full force. Far from being insignificant, they are now the most notorious young men to ever come out of Newark, New Jersey.
“It was never about notoriety, never about fame,” insists Gerard not long after MCR step off the stage, drenched in their own sweat and bathing in the adoration of their fans. “However, we do seek a certain glory and victory in all this. There’s something really amazing about being able to get up on a stage like this and do this kind of thing.”
And who is this victory over? Is it hitting back at the bullies of your past?
“It’s less about the bullies and more about the victory of giving people like us a voice,” Gerard smiles. “And anyway,” he adds, “the bully is usually the guy that stays in the town, lives in the town, fucks in the town, drinks in the town, dies in the town. Whereas,” he grins, spreading his arms wide across the Reading field, “it’s usually the kid whose wearing black in the corner that ends up doing something significant.”
This feature first ran in Metal Hammer in 2006.
