It is My Chemical Romance day at the Warner Bros. Records complex in Burbank, California. The band – Gerard Way, Frank Iero, Ray Toro and Mikey Way – are gathered out in front of the sprawling WB campus. Some kind of 4-wheel drive is parked nearby and they’re all eagerly leaning in to look inside. Did Ray get a new guitar? Is it some promotional item in support of their new album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys? No, it’s nothing at all to do with rock and roll. Guitarist Frank Iero has just had twin baby girls and he’s brought the new arrivals along. The infants are both impossibly beautiful and identical looking – though they are fraternal – and the MCR guitar player is grinning ear-to-ear like any new daddy would. The babies are wheeled inside, seated peacefully in a double front-and-back stroller. All the Warners employees ooh and ahh. Against the left wall of the lobby is a huge photograph of the band in their 2019 Killjoys outfits.
Frank’s wife finds a quiet corner to be with her newborns while her husband and the other three My Chem guys slowly file into one of the conference rooms. The office has been turned into a live set with cameras, mixing board, and a couch to accommodate the quartet. They are all in justifiably great moods: the band have just given birth to not only a new and impeccably performed album but their very own guitar player has brought into the world his very own baby rockers.
The shooting schedule is incredibly tight – Ultimate-Guitar is allotted 13 minutes – and so the moment the cameraman claps the clapperboard (or whatever he does) our conversation begins. This is just about a virtual word-for-word recreation of the interview but there were moments when the band would talk over themselves and those few words would get lost in a garble of overlapping comments.
Check out the video version of the interview here.
Here, then, 13 minutes with My Chemical Romance.
UG: What intrigued me is that you guys actually had to start this record a second time? So when you went in the first time, I mean, A: Was it the songs that we hear on this record? Was it different material? Was it an energy or a focus that wasn’t there? Was it sort of discouraging to kind of get through that and think, “Oh, no, we didn’t get it; we need to start over.”
Gerard: Right.
Frank: It could have been. Umm, I think, as far as the same songs, there’s melodies that surfaced early on that came back later. But, uh, you really, I mean as far as like a song structure, you wouldn’t be able to tell one song from the next. You know it changed so much the second time around.
Gerard: Luckily it was organic too. It wasn’t this kind of thing where … I think we deep down knew something was off about that first attempt. But then I think we were four songs into Danger Days when we go, “Oh, we’re redoing this whole thing.” It was more like that so we lessened the blow and actually it was so much more exciting anyway to just discover a new energy. ‘Cause it was an energy thing; it was lacking energy; it was lacking a direction; it was lacking focus; it was lacking just a daringness, you know?
Frank: And we felt those first four songs so much too that it’s … I think that’s why it was like, it was like, “Oh, wow, you know, we are redoing this and it’s great because look at what we’ve done so far.”
Gerard: Yeah.
Frank: I think if we had just started from zero and we’re like, “Oh, we have to redo this record now from the start,” that would have been daunting.
Mikey: Yeah, the first attempt really … it helped us to evolve really you know. It gave us like, it almost put up an obstacle course for us to evolve.
"We deep down knew something was off about that first attempt to record the album."
Gerard: Yeah.
Gerard, you actually wanted to do a record that was a little more streamlined, a little more organic.
Gerard: Yeah. Well I was the one that like came in first and I’m the main perpetrator of like putting way too many rules up right away. Which is like … you know I guess I was like frustrated about some stuff that had happened on Black Parade and so I was, I guess kind of negative going in. I guess I didn’t have the right mindset and I was like, “I want it to be straight. I want it to be, uh, the most pure version of the band ever.” Not really realizing the most pure version of the band we could give people was the one that had a vision of …
Frank: Grandeur, yeah.
Gerard: Yeah, and a scope and visuals. And if not a concept album then a high concept you know.
So, “Party Poison” was one of the first songs that came together?
Frank: Yeah.
Did that form … and I remember … I don’t mean to jump subjects here.
Gerard: Yeah.
Ray, when we spoke [Ray Toro was interviewed for Ultimate-Guitar during the Black Parade album] you actually had talked about “The End” and “Dead” had sort of formed sort of the nucleus of the Black Parade record and everything was built from there.
Ray: Right.
And so this record was it “Party Poison” and you realized, “This was a streamlined thing; this is where you wanna go?”
Ray: I think moreso “Na Na Na” really was the one.
Frank: “Na Na,” yeah.
Ray: I mean “Party Poison” was a song from the previous recordings. A song that used to be called “Death Before Disco” that we brought back just because we missed the energy of it. But the song that really kind of changed things for us and made us, made us really question everything before was “Na Na Na.” You know, umm, I think the main reason was that that there was an energy in that song that we didn’t have before in any of the other stuff that we had been writing. And then on top of it, it had done everything that we … it did everything and said everything that we were trying to say and do with the previous attempt at the record in one song. And it did it way better. And you know, that really, finishing that song really was, was kind of like, “OK, we got our legs back; you know we got the juice back. Now let’s see where this takes us.”
And yet the other songs on the record, I mean, really bear no resemblance to that song.
Gerard: In a …
Ray: Spiritually … in spirit they do …
Frank: Yeah, in spirit.
Ray: But in sound, no. That was like the, the … I mean the best thing about this band and I think this record especially, no two songs really sound alike you know. And that’s the way we like it. Like we love to jump styles; we love to challenge ourselves and push ourselves. Umm, and that’s kinda what happened with “Na Na.” The song that came, uh, after we wrote “Na Na” was “Vampire Money” which kinda shares like the spirit, the same spirit, the punk energy. But then the song after that was, I think, “Planetary.”
Frank: Yeah.
Ray: The song after that was “Sing” so it’s really interesting when you look at those four songs. You know spiritually they’re connected but you know they’re very – except for the first two – you know they change; you know each one. We were always just kept on our toes about what’s next. What song is gonna happen today? What sound are we gonna create today?
Interesting. When you guys sort of found the Killjoys, kind of that mythical band as it were, by adopting sort of these mythical characters, do you think it allowed you to go places musically that My Chemical Romance wouldn’t have allowed you to go?
Gerard: Well, umm, I never felt like we were these characters.
Ray: Yeah, I never saw that.
Gerard: Which was pretty cool. In fact, umm, setting it in 2019 actually allowed me to kind of envision it like, “Well, it’s just us in 2019.” That’s really what it feels like. I don’t feel like I’m this character, Party Poison; I feel like it’s just me in 2019 which is why we kind of look the way we do. Umm, and so it’s actually more really us.
Ray: Absolutely. You know I think, I think that was kind of … what you were just talking about is actually something we did do for Black Parade.
Gerard: Right.
Frank: Yeah.
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"The song that really kind of changed things for us and made us really question everything before was “Na Na Na.”"
b>Ray: And I think we actually, you know, shot ourselves in the foot a little bit because we, about keeping up this persona. Like when we went on stage when we were touring on Black Parade, we went on stage with like a combative attitude of almost like, “This is, this is how this band would play. You know, this is the mindset.” And you know, the Killjoys, for me, like, is more of a thematical thing and also more related to the videos. I think on the record it really is just, you know, the concept to me goes as far as like it’s a radio transmission from the future. You know and that’s it. And that’s like a distinction, I think, that we definitely want to make. The band’s on the record.
I mean, I know that you were kind of a big Rob Cavallo guy [producer.] I mean Rob’s a big guitar guy and he’s got his rigs and his amps and stuff. I mean, did you guys get your ya-yas out guitar-wise on this record?
Ray: Oh, we had so much fun, I mean …
Frank: Yeah.
Mikey: Yeah, he’s got a collection now.
Ray: Yeah, he’s got a great collection; great amps. You know again like the challenge for this record, umm, every song presented something different for us. You know, “Na Na” I think was a little bit more, umm, “OK, how do we capture what makes the Ramones great?” You know and put our own spin on it. “What are those guitar tones?” and “What’s the energy you play with?” And then, say, “Planetary,” it’s like, “OK, how do you make a guitar sound like a keyboard on this song? And what pedals do you need to use for that?” And so every song it was different; there was no boredom there. We were just, we were constantly discovering new things about how we played our instruments and new instruments on top of that.
Mikey, can you talk a little bit about you work as a bass player in this band with these two guitar players?
Mikey: Oh, yeah.
Umm, you know, uhh, “The Only Hope For Me Is You” I mean was a really, you know, brilliant bass sound you know. And you’re not always doubling guitars.
Mikey: Yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s the thing, it’s like I got to think, umm, out of my box a lot because, you know, these songs were so dramatically different that I couldn’t play it the way I used to play it. You know it’s like I had to, I had to like… you know I’m not, I’m not so much just doubling it. Sometimes I’m playing just something completely different.
Gerard: Once you just started studying like Paul McCartney a lot.
Mikey: Yeah, I started like, I started like, you know, going through a lot of the Beatles’ tabs and like seeing how he did it. And you know there is, there is a methodology to, to everything he did. And, uh, you know it was like he’d play these just amazing things and then it would … and then when it’s done you’re at the beginning of the riff. Like he would do it so that it would … and I kinda like, I kinda took a step from that where I was like, “Oh.” I kinda started to write my bass parts like that.
Interesting. I mean obviously Rob Cavallo is kind of your guy at this point. I mean he understands the vision; I mean he’s there and puts it all together. Umm, I mean to kind of get that more organic thing you were talking about, Gerard, I mean was the band in there live? I mean is it really going for it punk style kind of as it were? Or is it …?
Gerard: It only happened once.
Frank: Yeah, for “Vampire Money” we did that. That was actually the first time this band has ever tracked live and that’s what ended up on the record. I think other than a couple of vocal gang overdubs and stuff like that. But, uh, a lot of the songs were just written, you know, in that control room and kinda laying down a beat and then kinda all going back intoto the control room and listening back to it and seeing how that made us feel. Creating loops and things like that, umm, which is a new way for us to write you know. And …
Gerard: That was organic in that way; it was a different kind of organic. It wasn’t like, uh, organic like tracking live or, or you know four or five guys in a room or anything. It was organic that we literally start from like a grain of sand and then build this record.
Ray: Yeah. What was great too is they happened so much quicker than I think … you know when ... ‘Cause we, we had done pre-production before and writing in the studio, uh, practice space and I think some, I think what we found with, with, on this record is things happened so much quicker. You know, like, uh, you can come up with so many different sounds or the arrangement was dramatically changed because we had a keyboard that could do this right then and there. Where you know when you write in a practice space sometimes you don’t have all those tools at your disposal that really helped shape the song. And you know in that way it definitely was more organic ‘cause it was happening like instantly.
Interesting. I mean you talk about that approach and, and, uh, bringing the, the, the songs to completion and realizing the songs. I mean when you’re writing, I mean, are you hearing like a song like “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W I mean is that melody like right there for you? Or is it hearing the changes and you’re going, “Let me take it here.” I mean because these melodies, your choruses just build so wonderfully you know. It’s like it’s building, it’s building, you know, and they don’t sound forced. And you know these changes I’ve kind of heard before but I kind of haven’t.
Gerard: Right.
So I’m just wondering you know …
Gerard: It started … again it’s super organic. Like I would sit there and just let … like it would start with just like a sound. So at the beginning of “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W” is a good example: you just hear that drone and that happens through the entire song.
Frank: Yeah, just that bent D.
Gerard: And I would just kinda sit there and as we’re all building together, I’m waiting for the song to tell me what it wants to say. Or the melody so the melody then comes and then I would just run in immediately, right? And I’d just sing it. And that was it. And then it became like, “Are those lyrics great or do we have to change ‘em?” And, uh, but again, I’m just kinda sitting there this time and saying, “What does it want me to do?”
Ray: Yeah, what was cool … oh, go ahead.
"Spirit was the best thing about this band and I think this record especially."
I’m sorry go ahead. Just being inspired by each other constantly. You know it’s like, “Alright, here’s this droney rrrrrh rrrrh rrrrh,” just the D bent out of shape so bad that, “Does it sound good or not?” And you kind of do it over and over again and then he runs in and is like, “I’m gonna put this, this chorus down. And you hear that chorus and you go, “Oh, shit, alright, I’m gonna do this now.” And then there’s this like little bit of a change in the melody and then it’s constantly going back and forth and trying to impress each other.
Ray: I definitely remember that, for that song especially, like you sitting in the back, on that back couch like with headphones on and a POD and guitar and just, you know, there’s like a high tremolo picked part that goes, it’s really great with the vocal. And its cool like everybody was doing that while these songs were written. Everybody was in their own little corner kinda like a mad scientist or something like. And then like it’s really cool ‘cause then there’s that moment like, “Alright, wait ‘til you see what I do! I got something great now.” That really was one of those kind of songs; especially that song.
So at the end of the day I mean you had to start this project over.
Gerard: Yeah.
You went in and realized maybe Black Parade didn’t get it for you guys.
Gerard: Right.
Umm, I mean, is this the record you, you were hearing in your heads? Has it kind of hit all those bases for you?
Gerard: I think that and more. I think it’s, it’s well beyond what was in our heads. I think that’s a great thing. I think it’s … I kept … to put it in perspective, there was a moment where I was in such a creative paralysis that I was like, “I just wanna go into the future” and somebody hand me this CD and I can look at it and see what the songs are. If somebody had done that I probably would have been terrified ‘cause I probably wouldn’t have recognized anything and been like, “Wow.” Like, so, you know, it was all a surprise at the end. Every single song that ended up there was a total surprise.
That’s great, that’s great. I wish I had a little more time but …
Gerard: Thank you, man, this was awesome.
[Ends with overlapping “Thank you’s.”]
Interview by Steven Rosen
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2010
Still a good interview!
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