My Chemical Romance recently played a show at the Roxy in LA – but it wasn’t what many were expecting. No makeup and grandiose set props this time – instead of coming out in a coffin, MCR’s front man Gerard Way looked more like Stevie Ray Vaughn with his slick rocker jacket.

Now I’m not one to advocate music and fashion, but the sound wasn’t far off. According to Rolling Stone MCR “ditched their goth-meets-Sgt. Pepper outfits and blasted through three concise, Stooges-influenced songs from their new album, due in 2010.”

Way even said “If people want to return to Castle Dracula every time they listen to My Chemical Romance, they’re going to be really disappointed. We’re making a rock & roll record.”

I’m pumped for this one – I always thought MCR was heavily R&R influenced anyway, and didn’t really buy into the whole goth thing with them. Their guitarist has incredible rock/metal sensibility in his solos, and you can hear hints of Metallica/Van Halen and even SRV in there fighting to come out. I’m looking forward to hearing My Chemical Romance blaze through some steady Rock & Roll.

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Hey, gang! Host Blair Butler is out this week on a rare vacation. Yes, even Blair gets to take some time off once in a while. So instead of a new episode of Fresh Ink Online, we are running this awesome interview with My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way.

Of course, in addition to being a big rock star, Gerard is a superb illustrator and writer, and the man behind the terrific comic The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse Comics). We here at Fresh Ink Online are always thrilled when he stops by, and this is a very special opportunity to get inside his head.

In Part 1 of this sit-down chat, Gerard talks about how he became involved in the comic book world, who his influences and collaborators are, and how the surprise success of the band nearly pulled him away from his true passion, comics.

In Part 2, he chats in depth with Blair about The Umbrella Academy, how it came to be and where it’s going. He also discusses upcoming comic projects and what’s next for My Chemical Romance.

This is fascinating stuff from a man who truly wears many, many hats. Of course, he is not actually wearing a hat here, per se, but you get the picture.

Come back next week when Blair returns, all tan and filled with sunshine, to cover two weeks of brand new comics. And make sure to visit us on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace if ya got the guts!

( Videos behind the cut )

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