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tothetune2011-02-14 01:03 pm
ofyourdeath.livejournal.com) wrote in tothetune2011-02-14 01:03 pm
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MCR Chat to I Like Music
A bird's eye view of Wembley Arena taken late afternoon on Saturday 12th February would show a unified swarm of black flooding the venue's parameter. Fans of My Chemical Romance have long been hailed a passionate bunch - in 2008 the Daily Mail labelled them a suicide cult sparking an MCRmy protest outside their office gates, while last year NME writer Luke Lewis recieved a wealth of online hatred following his non-music centred (what a surprise) comments about the band.
Letting slip to a bunch of 'meet-and-greet' winners that we're here to interview their heroes prompts a hasty response, "what will you ask them?" - the very same question asked by their label before our interview time was confirmed. Four albums, sell-out tours and a music career in its tenth, successful year, MCR now sit at the centre of a huge operation. "We're here to chat to them about music. Their guitars. Their record collections."
A backstage maze leads to Mikey and Frank. Sat in a neat dressing room looking incredibly calm, we settle in to a chat about music - Mikey's new custom Epiphone, moments of clarity on stage, pretending to be Bruce Dickinson and their genuine appreciation for the most dedicated MCR followers...
"I Like Music because… it's my everything" FRANK, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
ILM: We've just been speaking to some very lovely, very dedicated fans. They were camping outside last night and then you invited them inside for your Wembley Arena soundcheck! Very cool...
Mikey: Yeah. Our tour guys went outside for a cigarette and a break and came back in saying "we've got this awesome idea!"
ILM: An awesome idea indeed...
Frank: Yeah. We looked out and there were a couple of sleeping bags and stuff. We thought "hmm. How many can be here? It can't be that many sleeping out this late." So our security guy went over and asked them what they were up to and if they wanted to come in.
Mikey: The kids thought they were being kicked out! They thought they were being tricked! They were like "you're not taking us into soundcheck, you're trying to kick us out!" They were very elated when they found out they were coming in to watch soundcheck! Ha ha! It was cool! They were so ecstatic, it was cool to see that joy on their faces. It was pretty rad.
ILM: Of all the things your favourite band could do for you, an invitation into a Wembley Arena soundcheck is right up there...
Mikey: Oh yeah. There's bands that I was super in to when I was growing up and if they'd have done the same for me, it would have just been something amazing!
ILM: We've not spoken to a band this close to such a big show before. It's just gone 6pm, we're sat backstage at Wembley...how are you feeling about tonight? Has the adrenaline started yet?
Mikey: Oh yeah, there's this feeling in your stomach, literally from the moment you wake up that day. Any show really, it doesn't matter how big it is. There's this intensity in your chest which is just like, well...it never goes away. It's scary and great at the same time! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world...
Frank: I don't think there's ever been a show on a day that I didn't wake up sick!
Mikey: Yeah! Ha ha ha! You get so nervous!
Frank: Yeah, knowing you have to play that night. Yesterday we had rehearsals and what-not and I felt awesome, we're at Wembley, then the kids came in and it was great. All I could think was "tomorrow is going to be awesome!" Then I woke up today like...oh shit. It's all in the mind, I'm sure.
Mikey: I have the same thing happen to me. We have a production day and I'm like "man, this is awesome! We got this!" Then the next day you're like "oh my God I'm so scared! Oh my God!" It always takes you back to square one.
Frank: 12 hours of fucking torture. And then the lights go out. You're up there. And it's fucking amazing. But leading up to that moment, that's the worst time of my life!
Mikey: The light drop moment.
ILM: There's no turning back...
Mikey: Yeah, I can only relate it to being an astronaut, pointing at space and it's lift off... It feels like a lift off. It's an indescribable feeling.
ILM: Do you remember the first show you played together?
Frank: It was Club Chrome.
Mikey: Chrome! Yeah! That was your first show. And there's a video of that on YouTube! I watched it and was shouting "hey! That's Frankie's first show!"
Frank: It was their twelfth show as a band and my first show with them.
Mikey: But our first show we played with his band, so...we all played our first show together!
ILM: Going further back, when did you first start falling in love with music? When did you realise it was what you wanted to do?
Mikey: When I was about eight years old my brother bought the Iron Maiden Live After Death casette. I heard the Churchill speech, I heard the crowd and it had such an impact on me. It was emotional man, I remember getting super excited and thinking "man, imagine being in a rock band." I used to stand on the couch and pretend that I was Bruce Dickinson. That's my earliest memory of thinking "what would it be like? What would it be like to be in a band that plays for people that are excited to see them...?"
Frank: My grandfather and father played the drums. I always wanted to be in a band. I always wanted to play music. I remember being in eighth grade getting a guitar and learning the first four chords to Teen Spirit. And then instantly telling everyone that I played guitar!
Mikey: Ha ha! Remember that moment? Learning the chords to Teen Spirit! Yes! Haha!
Frank: And learning them wrong? Ha ha!
Mikey: Haha! Yeah! I have a similar story about the chords to Teen Spirit...ha ha ha!
Frank: But you did that! Everyone did that! And straight away you decided "right. I'm a guitar player now!" We were having the graduation ceremony from eigth grade and our music teacher said "does anyone here play guitar?" My idiot friend shouted "oh, he plays guitar!" I was like "fuck!" Then I had to play at the graduation. I remember shitting a brick for about a month before the ceremony, learning these chords. But it was...well, it was my first gig!
ILM: So at the beginning you felt ill for a month before a show rather than just a day. At least it's shortened now...
Frank: Yes, just about!
Mikey: Man, our first show... I remember having to drink heavily to muster up the courage to get up there. I was petrified.
Frank: Yeah man, I remember that.
ILM: [Looking round the dressing room] And now we have a nice selection of water and fizzy drinks instead...oh no, there's some wine at the back...
Mikey: Yeah...I usually save that for after the show! I try not to do anything to myself before I go on.
ILM: Clear mind.
Mikey: Exactly.
ILM: Can you tell us about your record collections?
Mikey: Oh yeah, I have a little bit of everything. Apart from casettes. They were big when I was growing up...but I always knew in the back of my head that they weren't going to last. I remember getting a casette that I was really in to. The more you listened to it, the more it started to degrade in sound quality. So I didn't invest in many. I bought vinyl, then CD and now I'm coming back to the vinyl. I like album covers being giant.
Frank: I remember casettes were huge because of the mixtape thing. Making your own and then getting them from older friends.
Mikey: I loved making my own!
Frank: The art of the mixtape is lost. Even in CDs. The transitions between tracks... I think that's why I love making our setlists so much.
ILM: How long do you spend on setlists?
Mikey: It's all about feeling the air. When you play a setlist, it's about the energy in the room. Modifying the energy. It's like being on a rollercoaster. There's got to be moments of false security, then moments of insanity.
ILM: How do you feel when you're on stage performing to such huge crowds?
Frank: Sometimes you have those moments of clarity...
Mikey: You have to kind of not think about that because it will bug you out. When I'm up there and I think "holy shit! This is SO COOL!" that's when I get the most scared! You have to be like "no this is completely normal. NO this is fine. No this IS normal!" You know? The minute you think of it in mythological terms is when you're going to scare the shit out yourself.
Frank: It's true. This sounds ridiculous, but when you realise the floor is actually there, that it's not a dream, that's when you get those little moments. You can see it on our faces too. Either pure horror or you'll see us smiling. Those are the breaks of character where you can tell we've just realised what we're doing. The moments where we can't hold it in anymore. Those are great moments.
ILM: From record collections to guitar collections... do you have many? What is your musical weapon of choice?
Mikey: I'm super into the Fender Mustang Basses. I like the shorter scale neck and the weight of it. Because of my size, when I play a full scale bass it kind of looks weird on me. It almost looks like the kid that wears his dad's jacket. I'm holding it down like this...and it looks silly. So the Fender Mustang Bass. I have a collection of them. They actually made me a pretty sweet one that I use as my main. That's my favourite right now, the Mustang.
Frank: I have a lot of guitars. It's weird, when you play or write songs, especially when writing, you need the correct guitar to finish the song. Sometimes you'll be playing the riff for weeks and it won't make any sense, you can't get to the end of it until you put that guitar down and pick up another random one and it's like "oh. Wait. This is what it's supposed to be!" I love going on to eBay and checking out all these weird Japanese copies. There's all these weird companies that made guitars in the sixties, Teisco is one of them, Echo is another, Kay made a few. There are all these really strange like retro-future guitars. They're pretty awesome! They have all these dials that really don't do what they're supposed to do. They change things in a cool way! Um...so I have a large collection of those that I always mean to work on but never get around to. The guitar I'm playing now is this one [lifts case open to reveal a beautiful, white guitar with a leaping tiger sticker adorning the body] Epiphone. I've been working with them. They had this guitar in the sixties called the Bullseye. I've just changed it around a little bit. I took the neck off a Les Paul and put it on there. There's the kill switch. And tone switcher. Which is awesome. It's pretty fun!
ILM: What have you been listening to recently?
Mikey: I've been digging the new Black Keys record and the new Sleigh Bells record. I know you've got a ton of bands you love...
Frank: There's this band from Kansas City, Missouri called The Architects. That's really great. There's a band from London, Jim Jones Revue.
Mikey: Yeah, they're rad!
Frank: There's a band from the Mid-West called White Drugs who I really love. There's another band called The Bronx, that people should definitely check out.
Mikey: Oh! Titus Andronicus!
Frank: Titus Andronicus from New Jersey are awesome.
Mikey: They write great history laden rock n roll! Ha ha! I love The Decemberists too, they're one of my faves. And Idlewild.
ILM: My Chemical Romance have come a long way since those first shows. How are you feeling about the band right now?
Mikey: We're really four best friends having the time of our lives, travelling the world, getting to see amazing things and getting to play for amazing people. I don't see that ever changing. I'm just strapped in enjoying the ride really.
Frank: Yeah. As long as it stays fun. That's the ultimate thing right there. The great thing is, we have no idea what to expect next. That's what keeps it fun, that sense of anticipation.
Mikey: We're always as shocked at our evolution as anyone else is really! You can't find it, it has to come and find you. You can't formulate what it's going to sound like, it will just figure itself out.
Source
Letting slip to a bunch of 'meet-and-greet' winners that we're here to interview their heroes prompts a hasty response, "what will you ask them?" - the very same question asked by their label before our interview time was confirmed. Four albums, sell-out tours and a music career in its tenth, successful year, MCR now sit at the centre of a huge operation. "We're here to chat to them about music. Their guitars. Their record collections."
A backstage maze leads to Mikey and Frank. Sat in a neat dressing room looking incredibly calm, we settle in to a chat about music - Mikey's new custom Epiphone, moments of clarity on stage, pretending to be Bruce Dickinson and their genuine appreciation for the most dedicated MCR followers...
"I Like Music because… it's my everything" FRANK, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
ILM: We've just been speaking to some very lovely, very dedicated fans. They were camping outside last night and then you invited them inside for your Wembley Arena soundcheck! Very cool...
Mikey: Yeah. Our tour guys went outside for a cigarette and a break and came back in saying "we've got this awesome idea!"
ILM: An awesome idea indeed...
Frank: Yeah. We looked out and there were a couple of sleeping bags and stuff. We thought "hmm. How many can be here? It can't be that many sleeping out this late." So our security guy went over and asked them what they were up to and if they wanted to come in.
Mikey: The kids thought they were being kicked out! They thought they were being tricked! They were like "you're not taking us into soundcheck, you're trying to kick us out!" They were very elated when they found out they were coming in to watch soundcheck! Ha ha! It was cool! They were so ecstatic, it was cool to see that joy on their faces. It was pretty rad.
ILM: Of all the things your favourite band could do for you, an invitation into a Wembley Arena soundcheck is right up there...
Mikey: Oh yeah. There's bands that I was super in to when I was growing up and if they'd have done the same for me, it would have just been something amazing!
ILM: We've not spoken to a band this close to such a big show before. It's just gone 6pm, we're sat backstage at Wembley...how are you feeling about tonight? Has the adrenaline started yet?
Mikey: Oh yeah, there's this feeling in your stomach, literally from the moment you wake up that day. Any show really, it doesn't matter how big it is. There's this intensity in your chest which is just like, well...it never goes away. It's scary and great at the same time! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world...
Frank: I don't think there's ever been a show on a day that I didn't wake up sick!
Mikey: Yeah! Ha ha ha! You get so nervous!
Frank: Yeah, knowing you have to play that night. Yesterday we had rehearsals and what-not and I felt awesome, we're at Wembley, then the kids came in and it was great. All I could think was "tomorrow is going to be awesome!" Then I woke up today like...oh shit. It's all in the mind, I'm sure.
Mikey: I have the same thing happen to me. We have a production day and I'm like "man, this is awesome! We got this!" Then the next day you're like "oh my God I'm so scared! Oh my God!" It always takes you back to square one.
Frank: 12 hours of fucking torture. And then the lights go out. You're up there. And it's fucking amazing. But leading up to that moment, that's the worst time of my life!
Mikey: The light drop moment.
ILM: There's no turning back...
Mikey: Yeah, I can only relate it to being an astronaut, pointing at space and it's lift off... It feels like a lift off. It's an indescribable feeling.
ILM: Do you remember the first show you played together?
Frank: It was Club Chrome.
Mikey: Chrome! Yeah! That was your first show. And there's a video of that on YouTube! I watched it and was shouting "hey! That's Frankie's first show!"
Frank: It was their twelfth show as a band and my first show with them.
Mikey: But our first show we played with his band, so...we all played our first show together!
ILM: Going further back, when did you first start falling in love with music? When did you realise it was what you wanted to do?
Mikey: When I was about eight years old my brother bought the Iron Maiden Live After Death casette. I heard the Churchill speech, I heard the crowd and it had such an impact on me. It was emotional man, I remember getting super excited and thinking "man, imagine being in a rock band." I used to stand on the couch and pretend that I was Bruce Dickinson. That's my earliest memory of thinking "what would it be like? What would it be like to be in a band that plays for people that are excited to see them...?"
Frank: My grandfather and father played the drums. I always wanted to be in a band. I always wanted to play music. I remember being in eighth grade getting a guitar and learning the first four chords to Teen Spirit. And then instantly telling everyone that I played guitar!
Mikey: Ha ha! Remember that moment? Learning the chords to Teen Spirit! Yes! Haha!
Frank: And learning them wrong? Ha ha!
Mikey: Haha! Yeah! I have a similar story about the chords to Teen Spirit...ha ha ha!
Frank: But you did that! Everyone did that! And straight away you decided "right. I'm a guitar player now!" We were having the graduation ceremony from eigth grade and our music teacher said "does anyone here play guitar?" My idiot friend shouted "oh, he plays guitar!" I was like "fuck!" Then I had to play at the graduation. I remember shitting a brick for about a month before the ceremony, learning these chords. But it was...well, it was my first gig!
ILM: So at the beginning you felt ill for a month before a show rather than just a day. At least it's shortened now...
Frank: Yes, just about!
Mikey: Man, our first show... I remember having to drink heavily to muster up the courage to get up there. I was petrified.
Frank: Yeah man, I remember that.
ILM: [Looking round the dressing room] And now we have a nice selection of water and fizzy drinks instead...oh no, there's some wine at the back...
Mikey: Yeah...I usually save that for after the show! I try not to do anything to myself before I go on.
ILM: Clear mind.
Mikey: Exactly.
ILM: Can you tell us about your record collections?
Mikey: Oh yeah, I have a little bit of everything. Apart from casettes. They were big when I was growing up...but I always knew in the back of my head that they weren't going to last. I remember getting a casette that I was really in to. The more you listened to it, the more it started to degrade in sound quality. So I didn't invest in many. I bought vinyl, then CD and now I'm coming back to the vinyl. I like album covers being giant.
Frank: I remember casettes were huge because of the mixtape thing. Making your own and then getting them from older friends.
Mikey: I loved making my own!
Frank: The art of the mixtape is lost. Even in CDs. The transitions between tracks... I think that's why I love making our setlists so much.
ILM: How long do you spend on setlists?
Mikey: It's all about feeling the air. When you play a setlist, it's about the energy in the room. Modifying the energy. It's like being on a rollercoaster. There's got to be moments of false security, then moments of insanity.
ILM: How do you feel when you're on stage performing to such huge crowds?
Frank: Sometimes you have those moments of clarity...
Mikey: You have to kind of not think about that because it will bug you out. When I'm up there and I think "holy shit! This is SO COOL!" that's when I get the most scared! You have to be like "no this is completely normal. NO this is fine. No this IS normal!" You know? The minute you think of it in mythological terms is when you're going to scare the shit out yourself.
Frank: It's true. This sounds ridiculous, but when you realise the floor is actually there, that it's not a dream, that's when you get those little moments. You can see it on our faces too. Either pure horror or you'll see us smiling. Those are the breaks of character where you can tell we've just realised what we're doing. The moments where we can't hold it in anymore. Those are great moments.
ILM: From record collections to guitar collections... do you have many? What is your musical weapon of choice?
Mikey: I'm super into the Fender Mustang Basses. I like the shorter scale neck and the weight of it. Because of my size, when I play a full scale bass it kind of looks weird on me. It almost looks like the kid that wears his dad's jacket. I'm holding it down like this...and it looks silly. So the Fender Mustang Bass. I have a collection of them. They actually made me a pretty sweet one that I use as my main. That's my favourite right now, the Mustang.
Frank: I have a lot of guitars. It's weird, when you play or write songs, especially when writing, you need the correct guitar to finish the song. Sometimes you'll be playing the riff for weeks and it won't make any sense, you can't get to the end of it until you put that guitar down and pick up another random one and it's like "oh. Wait. This is what it's supposed to be!" I love going on to eBay and checking out all these weird Japanese copies. There's all these weird companies that made guitars in the sixties, Teisco is one of them, Echo is another, Kay made a few. There are all these really strange like retro-future guitars. They're pretty awesome! They have all these dials that really don't do what they're supposed to do. They change things in a cool way! Um...so I have a large collection of those that I always mean to work on but never get around to. The guitar I'm playing now is this one [lifts case open to reveal a beautiful, white guitar with a leaping tiger sticker adorning the body] Epiphone. I've been working with them. They had this guitar in the sixties called the Bullseye. I've just changed it around a little bit. I took the neck off a Les Paul and put it on there. There's the kill switch. And tone switcher. Which is awesome. It's pretty fun!
ILM: What have you been listening to recently?
Mikey: I've been digging the new Black Keys record and the new Sleigh Bells record. I know you've got a ton of bands you love...
Frank: There's this band from Kansas City, Missouri called The Architects. That's really great. There's a band from London, Jim Jones Revue.
Mikey: Yeah, they're rad!
Frank: There's a band from the Mid-West called White Drugs who I really love. There's another band called The Bronx, that people should definitely check out.
Mikey: Oh! Titus Andronicus!
Frank: Titus Andronicus from New Jersey are awesome.
Mikey: They write great history laden rock n roll! Ha ha! I love The Decemberists too, they're one of my faves. And Idlewild.
ILM: My Chemical Romance have come a long way since those first shows. How are you feeling about the band right now?
Mikey: We're really four best friends having the time of our lives, travelling the world, getting to see amazing things and getting to play for amazing people. I don't see that ever changing. I'm just strapped in enjoying the ride really.
Frank: Yeah. As long as it stays fun. That's the ultimate thing right there. The great thing is, we have no idea what to expect next. That's what keeps it fun, that sense of anticipation.
Mikey: We're always as shocked at our evolution as anyone else is really! You can't find it, it has to come and find you. You can't formulate what it's going to sound like, it will just figure itself out.
Source
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