whatsername666's Journals on Buzznet http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/ en-us <![CDATA[Interview with Hawthorne Heights and Casey's wife. [RIP, Casey]]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/1395601/ HAMILTON, Ohio — It was one of those odd quirks of fate — the kind of coincidence you just
can't plan. For a week my producer Monty and I had planned to travel to, of all places, Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday, to catch up with, of all people, Jenna Bush. The president's younger twin has turned author, penning "Ana's Story," a heartfelt book for teens about a young HIV-positive woman she met while volunteering with UNICEF in Latin America. Dayton was the latest stop on an extended book tour that the first daughter has been conducting to launch "Ana's Story," and we were promised 20 minutes with her — which we got, and you'll see more on that in coming days here and on MTV.

But Southwest Ohio also happens to be the home of Hawthorne Heights, the rock band that this past weekend suffered the sudden death of its guitarist and "screamer," Casey Calvert. Calvert's passing in Washington, D.C., on Saturday afternoon, only hours prior to the second date of Hawthorne Heights' Wintour '07, was referred to by the band, in an official statement on its Web site, as "unexplainable," and in fact the cause is still a mystery. An official for the city's medical examiner's office says that the actual cause of death may not be known for as long as 90 days.

Jenna Bush just turned 26 on Sunday, and she writes about a young woman, now 17, living in a developing country with a condition that, despite huge advances in treatment, is still considered terminal. Casey Calvert turned 26 only a month before Jenna. He lost his life to God knows what, and leaves behind family and friends asking "why?" Just as I asked why — almost six months ago — when I lost my best friend in the world, at only 32, in a way as abrupt, random and unanticipated as Casey's. So it was with some sense of what his loved ones were going through — having had their world turned upside down only a few days earlier — that Monty and I arrived in Dayton.

It would have been perfectly understandable that Hawthorne Heights would have no interest in talking to the media at such a moment — much less on-camera. But not only did they agree, Calvert's wife, Ashley, invited us to their Hamilton, Ohio, house on Wednesday night, to share their thoughts on Casey and to allow us to see the place that he called home.

That home is a quaint two-story structure in a development on the outskirts of even more Midwest-quaint Hamilton — and as we approached the front door, I wasn't sure what to expect. I only knew that this is as tough as any moment in life gets for a family, and that whatever it felt, whatever it wanted, was cool with us. What our five-person crew found was actually kind of remarkable: a twinkling Christmas tree in the front room, and Ashley, a sweet and gracious 25-year-old, an animal lover (as was Casey — big time), who was holding back a Shar Pei with one hand while another dog barked from the back. A couple of cats were running around, and plenty of friends were in the kitchen, including her mom, brother and, of course, the Hawthorne Heights guys — JT Woodruff, Eron Bucciarelli, Matt Ridenour and Micah Carli. They were all talking about Casey, whose body was arriving on a flight later that night, and talking about Friday's funeral. They were quiet, naturally, but far from somber. And in fact maybe even a little — happy? — that MTV News was there.

Hawthorne Heights wanted this moment — this opportunity — to honor their friend, and, as we started the half-hour interview with the band to, as they put it, "put to rest some of the rumors and misinformation that have been out there since Casey died." Those rumors include the suggestion that the guitarist had suffered from acute asthma or other lingering physical conditions that contributed to his death. Untrue, says the band — and they reemphasized the point, first made in their Web site statement over the weekend, that there were no illegal drugs involved. Ashley Calvert seconded that assertion, saying "never" in the time she knew Casey had he used any dangerous drugs.

So what did happen to Casey Calvert? All the bandmembers know is that on Friday night they kicked off their tour in Detroit, went to a radio station-sponsored bowling event at which Casey was his usual crazy self, and drove overnight to D.C. According to Matt Ridenour, Casey was in "great" spirits, staying up late, singing songs from "Aladdin" into the wee hours of the night. Oddly though, Matt went to his bunk, and a while later, Casey pulled the curtain aside to say, "Hey man, I'm finally going to sleep. Good night." Matt recalled, "It was the only time he had ever said good night to me."

By early Saturday afternoon, the band was about to soundcheck at Washington's renowned 9:30 Club, but Casey wasn't up yet. The awful discovery was made by Eron Bucciarelli. The drummer said he went to wake Casey up in his bunk, tried to move him and got no response. His skin was cold, and he was stiff. "I went to get our tour manager," Eron said, "and when neither of us could wake him, we called 911." The rest is a scene that only plays out in our worst nightmares.

But their memories are nothing but fond. "I don't think I have ever read anything about Casey that didn't use the word 'crazy,' " said band frontman J.T. Woodruff. There's also "wacky," and "quirky" (as the band called him on their site), and that's one thing Calvert brought to this band — along with a shredding guitar, a piercing scream and a never-ending connection with the Hawthorne Heights fans. As J.T. put it, "Casey was on the same level as the kids we played for." And that is because Casey was, by all accounts, "a kid at heart."

No one knows that better than Ashley, who spent the past year and a half married to him. She talked with me at length about how "it was the little things in life that got him excited" — movies like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," animals and especially toys. Ashley took us on a tour of Casey's upstairs "toy room," a shrine to the sort of over-the-top cartoon toys that are one of Japan's coolest exports. When Casey is buried on Friday, it won't be in a drab black suit: It will be in his newest Kidrobot hoodie.

Ashley's story is even more wrenching than the band's. She had said goodbye to Casey on Friday, spoke to him a couple of times that day, and then on Saturday afternoon, after volunteering at an animal shelter, she got a call from her brother. "You've got to come home right now," he said. She knew something was up, but figured an animal or a grandparent had died. "Never in a million years did I think it would be Casey."

She says she doesn't remember much after that, except her knees buckling. According to the family, Ashley's been amazingly strong these last few days, tending to the minutiae of a funeral and apparently postponing the full emotional impact of what has happened for days or weeks. But the toughest moment in our interview came when Ashley remembered being handed Casey's jacket — specifically, the smell of it. As her eyes welled, she said, "It was Casey's smell and I just realized, I'll never have that smell again."

I never knew him, but Casey sounds like one of those humans who did stop and smell the flowers, who appreciated life more than many of us. Still, he battled depression for much of his life and in fact Ashley said he was taking medication for it. Casey's favorite charity was To Write Love on Her Arms, a group aimed at helping teens at risk for suicide. All of which may raise an obvious question — or not. Ashley says the idea that Casey could have harmed himself was just "incomprehensible" to her — not even possible.

Those answers may come in time. What we know for now is that on Friday, Hawthorne Heights will bury their best friend, and Ashley Calvert, her husband. The band says not only will it definitely continue — as Casey's mom made them promise they would in a phone call on Sunday — but adds that Casey will always be a part of them. He'll even continue to receive album credits. They are equally certain they will not hire another guitar player. No question. "We don't need another guitarist. We don't need another screamer," said Bucciarelli. "If the fans want screaming, they can provide it themselves." Or, as Woodruff put it, "He is the most irreplaceable person I have ever met. In all aspects."

Rest in peace, Casey.

------

I'm crying right now :'/

]]> casey calvert hawthorne heights Buzznet whatsername666 2007-11-30T13:56:00Z <![CDATA[Gerard Interview : D]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/1393791/ Article from: Agence France-Presse
Neala Johnson

My Chemical Romance's charismatic frontman singer Gerard Way explains why the Black Parade is finally over and he's planning a real Christmas this year.



You've just touched down for your Australian tour. Have you brought the full shebang with you?

We have, but we've brought a different shebang. We didn't bring Black Parade 'cos we stopped playing as Black Parade in Mexico (last month); we wanted to end it there. But we've brought a production, lights and pyro.



Was it a case of, if you put on the Black Parade suit one more time you'd scream?

That's pretty much what happened. The whole idea behind it was to make that record really come alive, really play as the band, put our money where our mouth was. To be quite honest with you, 10 shows of that would have proved our point. After a while it was like, we really don't wanna play as another band, we just wanna play as our band. And we don't necessarily wanna play this record front to back, we wanna play other stuff as well.



Without the Black Parade element, how will your Aussie shows work?

We play more of a mixed set. We play a couple of old songs too, and I'm pretty sure we'll be playing a song we've never really played live -- Desert Song -- which is an unreleased song off Revenge. We never had a chance at the time to record it.



My Chem have also had a few personnel problems recently. Who is missing from this tour?

Bob (Bryar, drums) is missing. Frank (Iero, guitar) is back. He went through some personal things at home, had a family emergency, so we lost him for four shows. Bob tried to come out, but his wrists hurt too bad. He flew all the way to LA from home. We met up at the airport before coming over here, and he said, "I'm gonna go home and go to the doctor again''. So we lost Bob. But Tucker, from our friends' band Thursday, is coming out.



You joined Linkin Park on the Projekt Revolution tour. Chester from Linkin Park says he sees a lot of similarities between his band and yours, particularly in the way people are finally coming to realise My Chem are the real deal.

That's an interesting thing to point out, because when a band comes out -- especially a band that has a large cultural impact, especially youth culture-wise -- people assume it's some weird new kind of niche music. But in actuality, kids have consistently throughout the history of music liked rock 'n' roll, and that's ultimately what it is. It takes a few years once a certain band has been out and had that impact for older fans to realise, "Hey, this is really no different from the bands I liked. It has different influences, it looks and sounds different, but it's rock 'n' roll''. There's almost like a hazing period.



Did you go into your shell at first, playing to Linkin Park's fans?

If anything it made us push harder, see how far we could really take 'em, especially with notions of sexuality. We're like, "Cool, they like us; now let's see if we push these sexual boundaries a little more how they're gonna react''. There was an extremely macho vibe in that crowd, and we were practically the biggest cupcakes on that tour, but they seemed to love it. I think they just needed a little razzle dazzle in their lives.



Why are you so big on pushing those boundaries of sexuality? You're a married man now.

Well, that's more of a recent thing (laughs). My wife totally backs the way I am on stage, that's one of the amazing things about her. I have 120 per cent respect for her when I'm on stage, so there are definitely certain things I would never do. But she knows my sexuality, and I know mine, so there's no reason not to push those boundaries. It's with the most noble intentions -- it's to make certain people realise just because somebody is a performer or slightly effeminate, -- even that guy at work or that kid at school -- there's no reason to shove 'em around. So much testosterone has been in rock for so long -- that's why I'm so interested in pushing it. All it boils down to is treating women like second-class citizens, calling people faggots, being borderline racist, if not totally racist. A lot of things are ingrained in the stupidest rock 'n' roll we completely oppose. So one way we can push it is through our sexuality.



Your marriage to Lyn-Z was a bit of a shock. When you spoke to Hit in July, you had just broken off an engagement to another girl. Come September, you were married.

I know! It's one of those situations where you don't know how your life's gonna go, and the minute you actually stop looking for something is when you find it. When I met my wife I was at a point where I was completely OK with being alone for a very long time, free of lousy people. I was very content to spend time with my friends, to work on music, to work on my comics. I was about to pack everything up and move to Portland, Oregon. And literally out of nowhere someone who I'd met four years ago when the band was a baby band, opening for her band, comes back into my life. We just picked up where we left off. It's always when you're not looking for it -- I was totally fine, and then I get hit over the head! It was like getting hit by a truck.



Does marriage mean you're actually able to make a home now?

Completely. I turned basically into a functioning grown-up overnight. I came off tour and started to set up a life. I'm very excited about that -- I actually have a life now when I go home, and it's an amazing life. I love that I have a best friend I can share it with, who I can work with and hang out with.



You spent last December in a hotel working on your comic book. It sounds as though you might have a real Christmas this year.

Yeah, I holed up in a hotel. I flew home for New Year's . . . God, I don't even remember what I did at Christmas, I don't even remember where I was. I definitely wasn't doing anything Christmas-like.]]> gee gerard way mcr Buzznet whatsername666 2007-11-30T06:23:00Z <![CDATA[A message from Bob]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/1280121/ From MCR's MySpace:

Hi, it's Bob. We are very sorry about canceling our recent show in Maine. I have been having many problems with my wrists over the past few years. They have been getting worse but I kept playing. I have seen many doctors to get some relief so I wouldn't have to stop playing. I guess I pushed it too hard this time. During our show at Maxwell's I got a golf ball-sized lump in my wrist, I started to not only have pain, but lose control and feeling in my fingers. I went through a process to control the swelling and attempted to play the show with Bon Jovi the next day. The Bon Jovi show was really bad for me - I was dropping sticks and could barely hit my drums. After that show we decided I had to go get immediate treatment. I had to leave the tour. Being the stubborn person I am, I made a last minute decision to give it another shot on the second Bon Jovi show. It didn't work, we had to cut the set in half. We have a fill in now as I am getting treatment - he learned the songs in one day. We will try our hardest to make the show up to you when the specialists give me the okay. Thanks for understanding.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=2102684&blogID=327034597

 

 

]]> bob bryar mcr Buzznet whatsername666 2007-11-10T02:31:00Z <![CDATA[Future of Music: Gerard Way]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/1253641/ Posted Nov 01, 2007 8:39 PM

Growing up, how did you make your first connections to music?

My parents didn't have records, they didn't have radios, and they didn't listen to music. My grandmother was my main connection to art and music. She could play piano very well, and she had perfect pitch. She's the one who pushed me to try out for Peter Pan, and I ended up getting the part. When I tried out, I realized I could sing, which was pretty interesting.

How do kids connect to your music?

I've always seen My Chemical Romance as the band that would have represented who me and my friends were in high school, and the band that we didn't have to represent us — the kids that wore black — back then. When I was in school there wasn't much other that the Smiths and the Cure, which was great, but a lot of those bands had since broken up, or didn't tour. There was no new wave of music that represented us.

How would you describe the kids that love your band?

Extremely creative, intelligent, expressive and very individual, aside from liking to wear black. They come from all over the place, and in their hometown they're probably the only kid who looks like that, but when they get to our show they're all the same. One of the best compliments I can get from one of them is, "I met my best friend at one of your shows," or, "I met my best friend networking on the Internet, trying to get to your show." That's cool, because I didn't have that. I couldn't find any NOFX fans in my area.

Internet technology seems to have helped your music. How has it hurt music?

Even I miss going to the record shop. In the next five or ten years, kids who are growing up will have never been to a record store. That's a crazy feeling. It makes the music a little more disposable, it makes the artwork and the packaging a little bit invalid, which is a drag. There's nothing better than holding something physical. I loved the discovery of buying music solely off the packaging, the name of the band, the names of the songs. The Pink Floyd albums always got me — Wish You Were Here, Animals, Dark Side — or a Good Riddance 7", with a photo of a distorted baby on the cover. I remember falling in love with [Smashing Pumpkins'] Gish, and then counting the days until Siamese Dream came out, then taking the hour-long roundtrip bus-ride to the mall to buy it. It was an incredible feeling, it was something I had invested in.

What one artist do you see as important to the future of music?

Conor Oberst. His lyrics are phenomenal. I think he speaks for our generation. He started out as an angry young man from Omaha, Nebraska. From there he went out into the world and toured, and then that stuff crept into his lyrics, and now he's going back to being a little more human, with less social commentary. I love it all. He speaks to me.

What are the most important problems facing the world today?

I could bitch about certain political figures, I could talk about war, weapons and global warming, but it boils down to how people treat people. That's the problem. People have evolved into something selfish, greedy and intolerant. People are unaccepting, because of religion, race, gender, sexual orientation? I've seen it in punk clubs and I've seen it in the world.

As a former drug abuser, how do you gauge the mantra, "sex, drugs and rock & roll"?

It's a dinosaur in itself. If we, as musicians, could evolve past that, maybe we could make something worthwhile. That's not just me speaking as somebody who got clean and sober — that has nothing to do with it. When I was abusing drugs, the allure of self-destruction kept me in it. There's something very romantic about self-destruction and sabotaging your life, and taking a hammer to it. Honestly, it's bullshit. That doesn't mean we can't be crazy and expressive and amazing or that we have to behave, because we're all artists and we're all nuts in some way, but you can treat people with respect and yourself with respect.

Are you optimistic about the future?

Completely. I always have faith in the world. When I was fifteen, I got held up with a .357 Magnum, had a gun pointed to my head and put on the floor, execution-style. No matter how ugly the world gets or how stupid it shows me it is, I always have faith. The events after 9-11, the moments of tragedy when people show their colors and pull together, have renewed my faith.

Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17168348/future_of_music_gerard_way

]]> gerard way my chemical romance Buzznet whatsername666 2007-11-04T22:26:00Z <![CDATA[Review of Leathermout's first show @ The knitting factory, 20th October]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/1181821/ I did NOT write this 8D

---

How do you go from being in one of the top rock bands, and then suddenly starting at the bottom with a new band?
Leathermouth was a brilliant act that must have been forming in Frank's head for so long.

I got to Knitting Factory around 6 30pm. Did some promo stuff, passed out homemade flyers that Sarah made. I went through the line asking people to "check them out", and "seriously you're gonna love them." I took the liberty of going through peoples ipods to find My Chemical Romance then profusely tell them to "really, really check Leathermouth out."
Some beggings were successful, other people blew me off.

Sarah and I went in, we saw Frank sitting on the floor against a wall at the bar area. He was playing on his cellphone and we went to go watch a couple bands. I met Fred from The Color Fred/Taking Back Sunday, I had a good talk with him about TBS and his future. He's an amazingly talented guy. We wandered around for a good while, then went back to the bar area and talked to Frank.

Sarah talked to Frank about her friends band, The Scandals, and gave him one of their summer EP's. He was very accepting and was really personalble about it. I talked to him about my tattoo, then we talked about the street team, and handing out flyers. The release of the record. We talked about Radiohead releasing their album over the internet, and other general things. And the Maxwell's show next week. Frank is a great guy to talk to, he's so real. And we were sitting there, and I felt so comfortable. He makes direct eye contact too, which makes him even more ballin'.

After seeing another band, and the Color Fred we went downstairs to the tap bar where Leathermouth would be playing at 11:15pm (fucking ridic. i was falling alseep. so late.) Some girls were waiting there the whole time, which I dont see the point to that, they should have checked out other bands. So I went and sat against the wall with Sarah and EJ. Frank came down and wandered and socialized, good thing no one really bothered him. I went to the bar and got a drink and he gave me a wave/smile.

Then it was time for Leathermouth to start. Frank used a small mic that's usually for synthysizing(sp.) It looked pretty ill. There were only maybe 20 kids tops chilling in front of the stage. We all got really into the music when it started. Frank was great, he didnt act like he was in another famous band, he was so raw and intense. He grabbed girls heads and screaming in their faces. He was leaning all up into the crowd. He let kids scream into the mic. He let kids scream into the mic with him. I shared the mic with him so many times, I could feel his breath. I ruffled his hair (I was thinking of 'Im Not OK' ver1. music vid =D). This one new song was about President Bush, and I was feelin it sooo hard. But aw man, I got myself so into it, and so sweaty haha. Crazy, good, shit.

After we met up with Jean (big street team man haha), and he took us into this secluded corner and we waited to Frank to finish with all the little kids. He came over and we talked more about promotion and he thanked us, and we got pictures or whatever. Sarah and I took a 'BR000TAL' picture with him. I told him to make a tough face. He said he'd try, haha.

Yeah. I look foward to Maxwell's and the next Leathermouth show. Any more questions just ask me!

Taken from : http://tractable.livejournal.com/15783.html

]]> leathermouth Buzznet whatsername666 2007-10-21T22:16:00Z <![CDATA[A personal message from Frank from the s//c forum]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/1090541/  Hello friends

Goddamn it’s been awhile... Ok, so lots to say I guess. First things first,
sorry we've been away so long. There was a lot going on, legal troubles w/ s//c
and moving, family stuff and personal crisis, some bands breaking up and
some bands keeping productive, and a feeling that s//c was being heaped
into the lot of bullshit band dudes' t-shirt companies. I honestly have no
desire to be a part of that, and I know neither do you. Good news is that
leaving you all to your own devices has given me faith in the youth of
today and made me realize that I should never give a fuck what other
people say. If you don’t understand the crew than you never were a part of
it, and you really cant believe everything you read...I want to thank you
all for keeping s//c what it always was supposed to be, a gang, a
lifestyle, a community of kids who do it themselves...regardless of what
other people say or think of them. you all kept it down when even I forgot
why we do this. I’m sorry, it wont happen again. In fact we've decided to
do it even better this time, there are new things on the horizon friends,
things that will benefit the cause and make the "others" hate us even more
than they already do.

2nd order of bizzness.... please welcome our new friend Eddie to the s//c
family, he's handsome and awesome and his pit bull looks just like
mine.... his official job title is "gettin shit done" and also " kicking
franks ass so he does what needs to get done". I think its a match made in
jersey. Hmmm

Ok 3rd we are now restocking some choice items in the s//c store. They should be available shortly. If you want em go get em, Soon you will be able to spray paint your own favorite stuff, we will be providing downloadable stencils for just that shortly.

4th Letha-MOUTH! Is currently finishing recording this month and filming a
short (buckets O' blood) film to go along with the full-length...also there
is talk of a vinyl recording coming out previous to the full-length. Sounds
preeeetty cool hopefully this all goes according to plan.....man oh man how
do I get the inside Leathermouth scoop? I have no idea..

5th we are discussing having a virtual gallery for all you artists out
there.... I feel bad we cannot use your ideas or drawings for the clothing
due to legal reasons however i do think that so many of you are very
talented so I would like to develop a spot on our site where you can
submit your art and have it viewed by everyone who wants to see up and
coming artists...sound good? And

6th I would like to honor the forward thinking young adults who took it
upon themselves to start s//c , Leathermouth & David Costa street teams. Some of the teams even harassed Disney world patrons....gotta love that shit. Thank
you, thank you, thank you... you, my friends, are my new favorite people,
honestly without kids like you this would never survive, keep up the good
work. Thank you all for keeping me from putting a bullet in s//c's head. I
look forward to our future together. Believe in yourselves, and thank you
for believing in this. Forever indebted

XoXo
Frank + s//c
:P]]> frank iero leathermouth mcr s c skeleton cre Buzznet whatsername666 2007-10-03T06:23:00Z <![CDATA[My top 10 bands]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/1044731/


I got tagged by xDien ;*

Here are the easy rules.

1) Pick your 10 favorite musical artists.
2) Tag the journal "top10bands" so we can have a full tag page of all our lists!
3) Pick 8 more people to do this! Make sure to link them to your original post.

10. Placebo.

9. Taking Back Sunday.


8. Gallows.


7. The Used.


6. Madina Lake


5. Enter Shikari.


4. Billy Talent.


3. Aiden.


2. My Chemical Romance.


1. Green Day.




 

i tag: I DUNNO x]

]]> Buzznet whatsername666 2007-09-24T05:54:00Z <![CDATA[Gerard Way Interview.]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/995761/ Gerard Way on Pearl Jam, his blonde dye job and his one regret about 'The Black Parade'


By Adam Graham.

On Detroit, which the band slammed in their "Life on the Murder Scene" DVD: "It's dangerous as hell, man! Like, we're from Newark, so it's pretty similar for us. But before we were going to Detroit for the first time, everyone was like, 'Man, when you play the Shelter, there's going to be loaders with tazers and your van's going to get broken into.' And they kept really building it up like this really crazy place, way worse than where we were from, and then we went there and it was fine. The only damage that happened to our van was our own -- we ran into a pole."

On the persistent theme of death in the band's music: "It comes from being raised Catholic. Your first experience with church is really scary -- it's all about damnation and death. And the first time I was really taught about death wasn't really from my parents or TV, it was from a nun and it was really terrifying way to hear it. I became so obsessed with death at that point I didn't want to lose anybody, and risk the potential of them burning in hell for eternity. I think that's where it comes from and I think the acceptance of it eventually lead me to want to keep writing about it."

On the platinum dye job he sported at the beginning of "The Black Parade": "I definitely don't miss that haircut. When I was wearing all black clothing and just kind of normal stuff it looked really cool -- it actually looked very '70s -- but then in the context of wearing the uniform and dolling up it made it way too squeaky clean for me, and I really started to dislike it and I didn't feel like myself. I don't miss it and I won't go back to it, (but) it served its purpose for what I needed."

On if there are any bands whose career trajectory he'd like to follow: "It has changed over the years, but Pearl Jam is probably my favorite example. They kind of did what they did, they had a lot of stuff come very fast for them, and then they backed away and really just focused on doing their own thing and playing their shows, be it at a theatre, an arena, where ever. They have their own life separate from the music community, and that's very appealing to me. They tour when they want and the tours kind of mean more. I like the fact they aren't playing anyone's games anymore -- they're not really making videos, they're just making music for their fans because they have fans that are just diehards. I think they have something really unique and really special that I envy, moreso than giant, giant staidum bands."

On "Kill All Your Friends," a Pixies-esque "Black Parade" B-side: "If I regret anything about 'The Black Parade' it's not putting on 'Kill All Your Friends.' It was falling in the middle and the record, to us, wasn't moving fast enough because there's a lot of mid-tempo and no super breakneck speed songs. It was not that short of a song, it's like 5 minutes, so it was kind of dragging the record; I think if we'd made a shorter album, it would have been a perfect song to have on it. There's a part of me that wishes we would have saved it for the next record, too. It's a really special song to me and it as actually one of the riskiest songs we did because we didn't know if people were going to get it. I'll tell you what that song is specifically about: It's about growing up, living, working and dying in the same place, basically the fear that I've had my whole life. And going to what I refer to as 'high school reunion funerals,' so to speak, where you really only see people from your adolescent years at funerals, and I never heard a song about that specifically. You know, so it was just about kind of being from New Jersey."

On "High School Musical": "I have no idea what 'High School Musical' is. (But) it sounds like a rollicking good time."

Link; http://info.detnews.com/musicblog/index.cfm?blogid=340

]]> gee gerard way mcr Buzznet whatsername666 2007-09-14T10:29:00Z <![CDATA[Happy birthday, Mikey ;*]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/975861/ Today is the day that Mikey Way turns 27 years old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKEY! ;D

xoxo Helene.

]]> birtday mcr mikey way Buzznet whatsername666 2007-09-09T21:55:00Z <![CDATA[Gerard Interview with "The Ticket" newspaper]]> http://whatsername666.buzznet.com/user/journal/831501/  

With their most recent album, My Chemical Romance moved beyond their core goth-emo-punk fanbase and appealed for the first time to older music fans. Frontman Gerard Way tells Tony Clayton-Lea about his addictions, his hopes of becoming an author, and the band's complex relationship with their teen followers


The band meet'n'greet is a curious phenomenon. The parade of teenage autograph hunters - mostly prize winners and the offspring of people working in the music business - talk urgently to each other as they await the band.


Some acts react differently to meet'n'greets; we recall that Korn and Puddle of Mudd were almost as giddy as the kids, swapping high fives and utterances of "dude!" as the shuffling, long-haired queue came to town. We remember Finland's Him being so friendly and sensual (in a menthol cigarettes, Bacardi-breath and tattoo-parlour kind of way) we had to prise female teenagers away from them.


My Chemical Romance did the grip'n'grin differently. There was a sense of not really wanting to do it, for a start, which is understandable. And then there was - unusual as it sounds, considering the band's success of recent times - an obvious self-consciousness, as if the long line of teen goths/punks/emos/etc, each one holding something to sign, just shouldn't be there.


Gerard Way, flamboyant frontman of MCR (or "My Chem", as he calls his own band), is aware that the perception of him changes during these moments. The young fans reckon he is stand-offish, when in reality he's experiencing a shyness that is, possibly, criminally vulgar. Simply put, Way doesn't like meeting strangers.


"I'm quite self-confident," he says, "but the healthy dose of arrogance I have is blended with extreme self-consciousness. So when we're at meet'n'greets or signings, I hardly say two words to people. I'm very closed off because, after a gig, I feel like I've spilled my guts and if I meet people after that it's almost like they know something about me but I know nothing about them. And that's weird, an unfair trade."


Way is in a trading phase at the moment, talking to The Ticket on the same weekend that MCR's Teenagers single is released. He looks fit, healthy, eager; he has been alcohol- and drug-free since 2004, when his addiction to cocaine left him suicidal. His only active addictions are to cigarettes and coffee.


"I'm addicted to work, but the positive thing there is that I'm really prolific, and I always have a song in my head. I store them in there for years, so that's awesome. The negative? I'm largely addicted to anything. Cigarettes? Can't quit 'em, especially in Europe - lots of down time and too much time on the tour bus."


Way's less visible but no less real addictions, he adds, are truth and honesty, each of which he finds exhilarating. "That's why that record was so personal."


The record in question is The Black Parade , MCR's crossover album (their third) of last year. Prior to its release MCR were riding the crest of a small wave. Their second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge , shifted more than two million copies, making them just another successful US rock act dishing up dollops of streamlined goth/emo/punk to the youthful masses - their demographic core consists of disaffected teens, hormonally charged misfits and, perhaps crucially, a fanbase more than 50 per cent female (a by-product of their fiercely anti-macho stance).


Come last October, however, something else kicked in: The Black Parade 's mixture of ambitious concept, piano ballads, vaudeville and knuckle-cracking punk/pop brought an older audience to the party, while still holding their teen fanbase in thrall to Way's black humour and sombre scenarios. The Black Parade sold well over three million copies, making MCR one of the hottest US rock acts around.


Judging by the demeanour of the band backstage - no hissy fits, just guys dressed in black playing pool and shooting nothing other than the breeze - success rests easy on their heads.


Yet, still Way worries about the fanbase, as evinced by a line in Teenagers: they "scare the living shit out of me".


"That song was written at a time when we had come off tour from Sweet Revenge , and I was connecting with a new kind of fanbase. We got big from Sweet Revenge , and all of a sudden our fanbase had grown. The growth was due to teenagers, which is something I feel we hadn't had before.


"Anyway, because I was getting older I found I was quite disconnected, and wondering how I was going to be able to connect. I'm 30 years of age now, but Teenagers was written also about Columbine and the violence in US schools. When you're in school you're put into tribes and you're pitted against each other, and I assumed that the majority of our fanbase was made up of the kind of kid that was different, possibly picked on at school. Yet we as a band didn't ever want them to turn to violence to solve any problem they might have."


The band take their fans and passions seriously, he says. "We've always respected them a lot, taken them seriously, and when we make music we don't dumb it down. We're assuming that they're as smart as us, if not smarter."


Does fan adulation ever get worrying? "We've never had a problem with that. The only time I've run into problems is that occasionally you bump into someone who feels some kind of ownership over the band. It's not a common one, though."


MCR exists, according to Way, because of 9/11. Working as a comic book illustrator paled into insignificance compared with what he watched on television. He has said that the band (which took its name from Irving Welsh's Ecstasy) was born out of post-traumatic stress disorder and plugged instantly into the zeitgeist notion of claiming one's destiny. The rise of My Chem, has been rapid and, he admits, surprising.


"When we started I knew we were something special, and I thought that if the world got it - what we did and wanted to do - then we'd be really big. If they didn't get it, I thought, then we'd still have a cult following and be able to make music. That's how special I thought we were. We'd either be a band that inspired a lot of bands, or we'd get big. We were never ready for any of it, however.


"During Sweet Revenge it was so difficult to come to grips with what was happening. It was like losing ownership of your songs - when they're out there, you lose them - and people misinterpreting your messages and meanings. Then you're on the cover of teen magazines and yet you're not doing interviews with them; they're just using old quotes and old photos. You have no control over how they portray you, or they're talking about your personal life with no input from you. What kind of girl you'd like to date - that kind of stuff is so bullshit, for lack of a better term.


"Unfortunately, when you become a part of that unwillingly, it can strip away some of the meaning. But you have to do your best."


The journey shows no signs of coming to a halt. For someone who doesn't like to draw attention to himself, perhaps Way has chosen the wrong career?


"It's the kind of thing that when you look back on it, you're very proud of what you've accomplished with your friends. It isn't easy, though, especially when you're trying to retain a sense of identity and privacy. There's a lot that's yanked out of you, that's for sure; it's very rigorous.


"You close yourself off, but you can prevent it, because at the end of the day it's your decision. You just go with your gut instinct, because your gut is smarter than your heart."


And yet the feedback from the fans - that's from the heart, too? "Well, yes, and that's the pay-off. It's really about meeting the kids that tell you they started a band, or that they're going to art school. The Black Parade's sole message - essentially a story about death - was to inspire, not to instruct or to lead, but to inspire."


And how, exactly, does MCR intend to follow it up? "The way to top it is to reverse some of the things that made the record so successful - make a more human record, expose more, become raw."


The Black Parade and Teenagers are out now


See/Hear


For a six-song video session, visit http://music.aol.co.uk/sessions/ and click on My Chemical Romance in the A-Z archive


My Way: Gerard's teenage years


"I was sitting at the back of the classroom trying to get people to not pay attention to me, looking for privacy and doing my own thing. Tests and everything came easy to do, so I didn't really do homework, just my own thing. I was an outsider, although someone that was not really picked on. It's almost like I wanted to make a band that wasn't there for me in high school.


"Even though there were a lot of bands that inspired me and I loved when I was at school - Green Day and so on - My Chem was always supposed to be different, tapping directly into that part of your brain that made you an outsider."


Way says he would eventually like to write books. He mentions people who have crossed over from lyric writing to something deemed (rightly or wrongly) more substantial: Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave.


"I like creating things. I'm a very OTT performer, but I'm not really the kind of person who is drawn to attention. I'm very much a guy that likes to hang back and that's why writing appeals to me."

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