RIFTROCK INTERVIEWS
My Chemical Romance
Posted by Brien Overly7-26-04
RIFTrock: So how has Warped been treating you guys?
Ray Toro: Warped was amazing for us, really cool people. We felt like we were really accepted by our peers and other bands. Like while we were on, Alkaline Trio and NoFX would be checking our set out, and it's just a real honor to have them onstage and watching.
Any interesting tour stories yet?
That's probably the most interesting story, we're not much of a party band, so nothing crazy. That's probably the craziest thing, having other bands show respect for us, it made us feel really good about ourselves and what we're trying to do.
How would you describe your new album in three words?
Melodic, dark pop.
Which song on Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is most meaningful to you?
There's a couple, I like “To the End” because of the way it was written. The song really came together really quickly, it took like two days to write the song, and usually songs like that are the best because you don’t put too much thought into it, you’re not overthinking things.
What inspired "I'm not OK"?
Actually a lot of stuff went into that. The music is inspired by a lot of '80s and '70s bands, and it's like the poppiest song on the album. We were like, let's really try to push the envelope and make it as poppy as possible, so there's elements from Billy Idol on there, the Beatles, Queen...We tried to think of all these bands that made like, big production rock songs and tried to throw all that stuff in there. Garard [Way, vocals] would probably be better at answering this, but I'm sure the lyrics were inspired by his feelings about suicide and depression, but the music comes form our love of big rock songs.
Are you guys totally ok with calling yourselves poppy or has dealing with possible repercussions ever been an issue?
The thing with that is, we try not to think about things like that. We try not to worry about what people are going to think about whether it sounds too poppy or too metal or too punk...it's stupid. I don't care about what genre people think we fit in. I don't think we really fit into a genre, and I wouldn't want to. We just have this feeling that we write what makes us feel good and what brings emotion in people, and I think "I'm not OK" is an emotional song. The lyrics are very ironic, but I think it's a very celebratory song, and it makes me feel good when I listen to it, so it doesn't bother me to say it's a poppy song because we also have songs that are harder. I love pop music, I love good melodies, I love good hooks, so why not take the chance and write songs that make you feel good? You shouldn't be concerned about what people are going to label you as.
Now how would you describe your live show?
The live shows have been great, the kids have really been responding to the new music. I think part of that is actually just because it's available to them. Our first record was kind of hard to find, so a lot of kids had to find it on the internet. So there's a good portion of kids singing along to the old songs at Warped, but we notice kids really responding when we play the new songs, even though the album's only been out for a little over a month now. It's cool because we're back to playing clubs now, like we're back to playing our roots. Like yesterday's show we played in Kansas City, it was like a new experience playing in front of the club, and you can actually touch kids, whereas Warped they had a barrier and all this stuff...it feels a lot better playing in clubs.
Do you guys have any preference for playing older material or newer?
I think right now we have a preference for newer material, only because we've been playing the older material for like two years, we've had the same core of songs for two years. So the new material is just a lot more fun to play. There's not one song I wouldn't want to play live. Like the first record, there were some songs we were...not unhappy with, but we thought we could do better with them and they just don't come off as well live. We usually only play four to five tracks off the first record, then the new record we don't mind playing anything, we think everything is great. So the preference right new is for new, but you ask any band that, and they'll say they like new material because it's more fun.
You guys have some pretty dedicated fans, I once met a girl who had your lyrics tattooed down her back. What is it about you guys that makes them so die-hard?
Honestly, I don't know. There's just something, for some reason, kids connect to us. I'm not sure why...it could just be an attitude...they read some interviews or talked to us at shows...we're not pretentious, we're not different. I think the big thing about us is kids can relate to us, like we're one of them, we're not rock stars, we're not any different from them, and I guess they see that. I think the lyrics too, like some of the subject matter, like suicide, and being alone...I think kids can relate to that as well. I don't know, it's an amazing thing...I don't know why kids get tattoos of our band on their bodies, I mean it's such an expression of devotion, I mean, I don't get it but I love it. I love every single one of our fans, we don't even consider them fans, they're more like family to us, they're the reason we do what we do.
What's the key to you staying grounded so people can relate to you?
I think the reason for that, is that we're generally good people. We started this band not to become famous or to record albums, we started this band so we could play in front of people. There's no other reason for why we started writing music than to make ourselves feel better and to make other people feel better. We come from very poor families, our parents struggle to pay the bills every month. We're not in for anything else, other than to express ourselves emotionally, and I think that's the key. I think there are some bands that are in it for the wrong reasons, but you just remember what your parents taught you when you were growing up.
Alright, that's it for the lgitimate questions, just some BS ones now, what's your favorite alcohol?
I usually drink just beer. I know Gerard definitely has a love of vodka, so does Mikey [Way, bass]. Gerard and Mikey are definitely the main drinkers in the band, I usually have just a few beers.
Vice City or Underground?
Tony Hawk's Underground.
Aww, I'll try not to hold that against you
[laughs] I'm not too into the Grand Theift Auto games, they kind of seem a little mindless to me
You're just not playinmg it enough, but it's all good. Any closing words?
Seriously, from the bottom of our hearts, we'd definitely like to thank everyone who bought our record and listened to us and downloaded our songs and just related to us in some way. And also thanks to people like you for this, and the outpour of support we've had, you guys are also part of the reason we're doing what we do. So just a big thanks to everyone who's supported us.
Label:
Warner Bros.
Band’s
website:
www.mychemicalromance.com
