My Chemical Romance

I met up with Gerard, the singer, and Frank, the guitarist, after their performance at the Troubadour. Even though this was their first time in L.A. and most people didn't know who they were, everyone was asking 'who is this band???' by the end of the set. I caught up with the guys after the show.

LosAngelesPunk: I really want to talk to you about your show tonight, because it looked like you have some strong feelings about it..this is your first time in California, right?

Gerard: Yea, this is our first time in Los Angeles.

LosAngelesPunk: OK, well since this is LosAngelesPunk.com, we always ask people how Los Angeles compares to the rest of the country.

Frank: I have an answer that's s***ty, only because I don't think we played very well.

Gerard: Yeah, that was definately one of our worst sets. But apparently no one else seems to think so.

Frank: Yeah, so we're happy about that! I saw like, three or four kids right up front go off, and that was f***in' amazing.

Gerard: And that means more to us than how well we played, ya know? We had a lot of technical difficulties so that's not up to us when that happens..we didn't have a lot of room up there; we like a lot more room so we don't knock our own s*** over...But personally, I like L.A. a lot, I have a friend out here, Craig Coleman, who's a comedian, he's a really amazing actor and comedian and stuff, and I visited him like a year ago and I loved it immediately. It seemed to have a really good vibe. We're here for three days so we really can't wait to go everywhere and check it out.

Frank: I love this city. [regretfully:]Ugh, tonight...dammit, I wish I could like...go play again right now! [laughs] We like, play again, sweet. [laughs]

LosAngelesPunk: How does this compare with your East Coast shows?

Frank: S***ty, we're better over there! [laughs] We play better in other cities!

Gerard: Like some of the cities we've never been to, like St. Louis, it rocked..Like everyone knew the words, would pick us up, throw us into the kids..everything you could possibly want out of a show happened at a place we had never been, ya know? We kinda had a feeling that when we got to California it'd be a little...arms folded, kinda just checkin' us out..it was just fun. People don't know who we are, so we don't expect people to rock the f*** out yet.

LosAngelesPunk: OK, let's talk about your album a little bit. It was produced by Geoff [of Thursday], so can you tell us how that came to be?

Gerard: Well it came to be when I met Geoff when they signed to Eyeball, and then we became close friends after that. We ended up doing a shirt design for them and stuff, and basically what it was like with him producing..we always say it was like hanging out with your best friend for one or two weeks, we had a really great time, and having him come with such great ideas for the record..like basically hanging out and making a record together with your best friend. That's really what it was.

Frank: It was cool cause we never get to see him, cause he's always on tour. We had like, those ten days.

LosAngelesPunk: And how's Eyeball been going?

Frank: Great! It's more than a label, it's a family. Just great, great organization.

LosAngelesPunk: And you got hooked up there through Geoff, or how'd it happen?

Frank: Actually, my old band was on the label [Pencey Prep], and we broke up, and there they were looking for another guitarist and I joined. But they were friends with Alex for a while, and it's kind of funny to end up on Eyeball because they both swore that they wouldn't mix business and pleasure. But I heard their 3-song demo that they did in our drummer's attic, and I heard it and it was my favorite band. So basically I'm in my favorite band right now. It was like our favorite cd that'd we listen to before every show, and we were like, "Alex, you have to sign these kids!"

Gerard: Him and his boys really taught us what it meant to have discipline and to become a real band. They would practice like every day, and we would practice maybe twice a week, and we were like 'Whoaaaaaa, they practice every day, maybe we should do that and we can be as tight as them!" [laughs] We used to go see them live and be like "Wow, they are f***in' tight!" They taught us work ethic, they taught us a lot about the scene..and they were a lot younger than us!

LosAngelesPunk: I know your album just came out, but you guys are blowing up really fast. Where do you see yourselves as a band heading in the future?

Gerard: Concentrating ourselves as a band, touring, writing new material constantly. Label stuff doesn't really matter to us. No matter what happens, we're always going to consider ourselves an Eyeball band anyway. Next record, we don't have any definate plans yet as to when we're gonna make it, but we're writing for it, and even opened with a new song tonight.

LosAngelesPunk: Any tour stories yet?

Gerard: Oh man, I busted my lip last night! You know that piece of skin that holds your lip to your gums? Yea, well, I don't have that any more. That was pretty fun, I had blood pouring out of my mouth the rest of the show. It was like the second song in. Frank kicked me in the ass, and then I fell into some kid's skull, and then that was the end of it. Oh, and lots of Walmarts. LOOOOTS of Walmarts. [laughs] Any time we see a Walmart, even if it's f***in' three in the morning or three in the afternoon, we pull over and f***in' chill.

Frank: There's a lot of stories we probably can't even talk about. You get a lot closer on tour, you learn a lot of things. [laughs]

LosAngelesPunk: And now I heard your next tour you already have lined up..?

Gerard: The Used in February, and then it's Taking Back Sunday and From Autumn to Ashes in April. And then Thrice! We got great f***in' tours lined up.

Frank: We've been sooooo lucky.

LosAngelesPunk: How'd you pull all that?

Frank: Matt Galley. Matt Galley is amazing.

Gerard: And our really good friend Brian Schector. He's like our guardian angel. And Bert from The Used had a lot to do with it. They are really supportive.

LosAngelesPunk: Everyone talks about the subject matter of the CD, can you talk about that a little bit?

Gerard: Influences wise, everything from The Misfits to The Smiths. It's really the story of what happened in one year of my life, and my friend's lives. It's pretty much biographical as far as me and the people I know. And like being in therapy, being on anti-depressants, things like that. Everyone in the band is cool enough to let me write the lyrics I write, and they all feel it with me, so that's a great combination. We try and take things to a more abstract level so you can get more out of a song, not like stuff like "Oh, my girlfriend dumped me" or stupid s*** like that.

Frank: I can see how different kids can get different things out of the songs, because for everyone in the band, different songs start to mean different things for everyone. That's why we give our all to it, why it all means so much to us.

Mike: OK thanks, I'll let you guys get going, anything you want to add real quick?

Frank: Yea, support your local scene, go to local shows, don't f*** up venues, support local labels and local bands, we're all in this together and this is for all of us. And don't go to shows to hurt people. I got into punk rock because no one supported me, and no one gave a s*** around me, and like with sports I never fit in, and I got into punk rock because everyone was accepted, and I feel this music with all my soul, so don't make this place a scary place for other kids. This is your scene, and it's about you.

[tears]

Interview by Mike Kaminsky