Gerard Way interview from January 2004
(I was, if not the first, then one of the first writers in the UK to interview Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. It took place on January 15 2004, just before the band played at the Barfly in Camden. The interview was for a short-lived magazine called Bullit, which folded soon after and the interview was only ever published in my friend’s fanzine, circulation not very many. I don’t think it has ever been online, so here you go. I don’t remember much about it, other than Way was super polite, friendly and very happy to be compared to Morrissey. Ah how times change.)
Anyone in any doubt over the transformational powers of rock would do well to consider the intriguing case of Gerard Way, singer and driving force behind fast-rising New Jersey emo punks My Chemical Romance.
For who would have guessed that the polite, if rather intense, young man in optimistically gaffer-taped jeans, who settles quietly down for a vodka and Red Bull and several thousand cigarettes in London’s premier classical music bar, would, not two hours later, be rocking the living hell out of the sweat infested black hole that is the Barfly in Camden, like a deranged three-headed hybrid of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger? With this kind of transformation in the air, it’s no wonder that they’re calling Gerard the “punk rock Morrissey” — a label he finds rather flattering.
“I love being compared to Morrissey. A kid grows up worshipping Morrissey and then they call me the punk rock Morrissey in England, that’s kind of a dream.”
Not that MCR sound a lot like Manchester’s favourite sons. Rather, they’re a fearsome punk metal beast, with a knack for a poppy tune that should see them well in guitar shaped pools and golden plectrums in the not so distant future. And if you’ve previously found American punk rock rather a dull, overly righteous affair, don’t be scared to get involved, as the band brings a certain Queen-like air for the ridiculous to the proceedings. In fact, they’re a bit like five Darknesses rolled into one sweaty, Neolithic ball, but with the notable difference that My Chemical Romance passionately mean it. Man.
Indeed, such is the flamboyance of MCR’s stage performance — whirling microphones, spitting water, instructions to “rock the hell out” and the rest — that it would be easy to dismiss the band as something of a rock pastiche, were it not for the shattering devotional intensity they exude. It’s an attitude that has divided audiences from day one, particularly in the holier-than-thou world of US punk, but when it works, as it emphatically does at their gig in London, it’s awesome to observe. Little wonder, then, that they have inspired a fan base with the odd obsessive tendency, something that Gerard finds rather unsettling: “We’ve had a couple of incidents that have caused us to pull back a little bit from the fans. There was a couple of kids who took it too far and made up stuff. I drew the line. We can’t get too close.”
And it’s not just the kids who find listening to the band a cathartic experience — when Gerard isn’t touring he has to see a therapist. “I’m not a confident person, I’m a depressed person,” he explains. “When I come out on stage I become the Gerard I’ve always wanted to be. When I come home I start to go crazy.”
2004 has been a busy one for Gerard and the boys. After a lightning tour of Britain in January, they headed back to the States to finish off their new album, cunningly entitled (and MCR are very good with titles) ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’. Britain being somewhat behind with the band, it won’t be released here for a while, but according to Gerard it’s “heavier, with more variety, a lot more punk rock. We’re looking at it as a whole piece, rather than here’s one good song and here’s another”. Then there’s the Warped tour to consider in summer, a return trip to the UK on the cards and utter world domination penciled in for some time around September. Or, as Gerard delicately puts it: “We started the band to get a message across, which was to rock the hell out to as many people as possible, and we’ll go wherever we’re wanted.”
