[x] Interview transcript under the cut:
Episode Title: Three Cheers For Warped's Little Darlings!
Synopsis: From almost getting shot to fear of karaoke, My Chem comes clean.
Cast: Gerard, Franky, Mikey and Jenna. [Photos by L. La Mer]
Air Date: Warped Tour/Summer 2004
Other than being able to sit down for interviews with wonderful people like us, what does being on the Warped Tour mean to you?
Frank: Oh wow! Personally, ever since I was in bands at thirteen I tried to do battle of the bands... play Warped Tour and things like that. I never actually won any of the battle of the bands but it's a dream come true to be on Warped. It really is! It's unlike any other tour we've been on and you can't prepare for it in any way. But it's definitely a dream come true to play with some of my favorite bands of all time.
Seeing as though it's Warped's ten year anniversary, give us some insight as to the kind of kid you were when you were ten.
Frank: Asshole. I was such an asshole! Uhhh Delinquent. I was told I was too intelligent for my own good but I don't know about that. I didn't like authority and this was at ten!
Gerard: Tell me what has changed?
Frank: She just said ten, she didn't say now! But I could give you the same answer; you never know!
Gerard: I didn't want to say anything.
Frank: I was pretty much like I am today but I wish I knew now what I knew then. Does that make sense?
Gerard: I liked Star Wars when I was ten.
There's a rumor circulating around that My Chemical Romance is the love child of the Warped tour...
Gerard, Mikey and Frank in unison: Whoa! Wow!
Frank: But what does that mean, that the Warped Tour and another tour got together and had...
Gerard: Yeah like Ozzfest and Demolition Derby got together and... but yeah, I feel it. We are extremely accepted and supported and loved so...
Frank: But I almost got shot the other night though. [He says this almost nonchalantly as if it's a frequent occurence.]
Why would someone want to shoot you?
Frank: Oh, I wasn't allowed in a certain VIP barbecue that I wanted in to.
Mikey: Chris was like, "just go up and tell them my name and you'll get in" and the guy was like, "who?"
Frank: And he was like "I'll shoot you." [Forms a gun with his hand and points it at me.] But as far as a lot of the bands on this tour, they really respect us and it's great because we really respect the bands. They come to watch us all the time and it's been amazing.
Gerard: We're very lucky. We feel lucky everyday when some of our favorite bands make time out of their day to come and watch us. And they do that everyday.
Frank: The other day, well not yesterday but the day before, we closed and it was really late like 8:10 to 8:40 and we didn't think anybody was going to come to watch us. But it was all of our favorite bands, like the Souls (Bouncing Souls) came out, Anti-Flag came out... It's a beautiful tour!
Gerard: It made me proud.
Kinda like what happened today?
Frank: Oh yeah! That was amazing!
Frank: All the power went out; the generator exploded.
Gerard: It just went out yeah.
Frank: It has never happened to us, ever.
The response was incredible.
Frank: We traded a great set for a great experience.
*Note: Earlier that day in mid-performance, My Chem lost all sound just as they began to play their hit song "I'm Not Okay." Instead of walking off and calling it a day, the band and the crowd began to sing the song accapela. It was quite impressive to watch the dedication and love that their fans have towards them.
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is a very strong title. Whose concept was it and is the band afraid of karma?
Gerard: Is the band afraid of karma? Uh...wow!
Frank: See here's the thing... [Turns to Gerard] Before you say anything... think about what you were going to say because I want to say something about karma.
Mikey: I think the album is a product of good karma. I think we've done good things for people and I think that what occurs from the album can only be good. We've never done anything wrong to anybody. Revenge is meant in a different sense, not in the literal sense. You know?
Frank: Here's the thing about karma. 'Oh if you don't do this,' something bad is going to happen but who's the one striking down on people? Somebody needs to do that. So if we're the ones to serve the revenge that's fine by me. Maybe we're just the angels of death?
Gerard: Now it feels like when we play, we have a purpose. There hasn't been a moment... once in a while you get a little depressed, caught up in something else, but we feel like we have purpose every time we play to do some kind of damage. Not really to ourselves or to the equipment or anything but to what's generally accepted as okay. Like chewing up and spitting up the same bullshit, sounding like everybody else, being homophobic, all these things that are very accepted in punk rock that are amazingly still alive and well. It's fucking shocking...
Frank: People never cease to amaze us.
Gerard: ...and it doesn't feel like a threat to those bands you know. Really close friends of ours have said that and it's probably the best compliment that I've ever gotten for the band, that we were a threat. Ever since hearing that, I take it to heart everytime we get on stage.
In 'To The End', why does the elevator only go up to ten and would you feel okay getting off on the thirteen floor?
Gerard: Well, I felt that picking a lower number would be like 'I can't get high enough' so I had to pick somewhere around ten. I felt like I just needed to get higher; like the top just isn't good enough. I think that's kind of a metaphor in how we feel and how we operate as a band, that the top isn't good enough since that's not what we're after. It's not good enough for us because we want to make a difference and actually change things. We don't just want things thrown at us. But I've gotten off on thirteenth floors. They make them right?
I know someone that lives on the thirteenth floor.
Frank: I think it's good luck.
Gerard: I'm superstitious though.
When you listen to a CD you need something to reference it to. When I listen to MCR, your sound changes from one song to the next and I hear a whole slew of things. Was this done deliberately?
Gerard: We can't really write songs that sound alike. We like to capture moods and you can definitely pinpoint those moods. You can say this is the same kind of mood or feel. We like to explore themes and moods but style is something we can't live with ourselves doing over and over. And if that means we run out of material eventually then that's fine because you'll never get something twice from us.
When I read some of the lyrics the main theme of the CD seems to be about death or the end of something... That accurate?
Gerard: Yeah. The record started as a concept record and ended up being more about loss than anything and that had a lot to do with me and Mikey losing our grandma in November. It changed everything and we were just about to finish writing the record. So I reevaluated what I was going to write lyrically. I didn't intend on it. I actually didn't even reevaluate it, I just said, "well, let me just write from the heart" and in the end, listening to the record, I was like 'wow this record is really about loss.' It took me a couple listens to really get the scope of the record and to realize that it was really that blatantly about loss and death throughout almost every song. But I think death is something that we'll always write about because it's both tragic, negative and beautiful at the same time. It's very beautiful and it can be a very positive thing.
If you could come back after death to "put the wrong things right" what would you most likely need to fix up?
Frank: So if we were to die today?
Gerard: Let's say the whole band died, we'd just get back together and start playing again!
Gerard: Yeah, I think that's what we'd do because this feels like our purpose. You know, it seems like our cause.
Frank: We're definitely not done yet!
Gerard: Yeah, if we died I feel like we would find each other and just start over.
Do you think writing in the first person makes you more vulnerable?
Gerard: Umm... sometimes. I was always worried it was going to make me an egomaniac. I was more worried about that, but then I realized that the way I ended up writing is just more I, I, I, instead of a you and a we. When I say "I" I usually mean the band. I usually mean it in a way that I think that these guys are feeling it at the same time without saying we. [turns to Frank and Mikey] Don't you feel that way? Like when we're on stage and they're singing with me, I feel like they mean it the same way.
Frank: It's a more definite thing, more urgent.
You're in a karaoke bar and you've had too much sake. What song...
[Frank turns to Gerard] I know what you're going to say!
...do you sing and do you totally rock it or do you totally kill it?
Frank: He rocks the shit out of it! Totally Bon Jovi!
Gerard: Bon Jovi... 'Living On A Prayer.' It's funny because a lot of people give me shit when we go to karaoke because I won't do it.
Gerard: Yeah. I'm terrified of karaoke unless I'm wasted! That's the only way I can do karaoke.
You can go on stage and perform for a whole bunch of people...
[Gerard shrugs as if to say that he doesn't understand it either]
Frank: It's funny because it's rare that we would be out and not wasted.
Gerard: Yeah, yeah, that's true. [to Frank] What would you sing?
Frank: I have been known to do 'I Got You Babe' with a friend of mine, Greg Southside and we do the shit out it! We've been kicked out of bars because we did it so well. But Ray would like to sing probably 'Only The Good Die Young'.
In 'You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison' the main character is made to do pushups in drag. If you were forced to so something in drag, what would you choose to do?
[everyone breaks out in laughter]
Frank: I liked the "if you were forced, what would you choose to do."
Gerard: It's like the drag fairy comes by and says "what would you like to do?" Ahhmm yeah, karate.
Gerard: No. Really, I would do what I did when I dressed in drag this one time before. I went to school in drag, in art school and my day was completely different because everybody thought I was a chick.
Frank: He looked like Christina Ricci.
Gerard: You should see me as a chick. So I went as a girl, as like an experiment and it worked really well and everyone was really nice to me but I couldn't talk obviously... You know train conductors were really cool to me on my commute...
Frank: I would date Gerard.
Gerard: HA! I looked hot as a chick.
Which of your band mates is most likely to accidentally stick a fork in a toaster...
...and who would yell 'Hey! It's still plugged in!'
Gerard: I would definitely be the one yelling. I think we're all very protective of Mikey for things like sticking forks in toasters.
Frank: It's funny because when we were recording, me and Mikey lived together and I would go to Gerard after and be like, "I can't believe he did this today."
Mikey: Yeah, I would leave the tea on overnight.
Frank: God forbid that kid ever lives alone!
Gerard: He had to promise he would watch him because he likes to do this thing where he'll take a heater into the shower and plug it in...
Gerard: ...and there's water everywhere!
Mikey: I did that one time...
Gerard: What about the times with the radio?
Mikey: ...and I was pretty warm when I did it though.
You are offered something for free. Which do you choose? Sky diving lessons, a custom tattoo, a lap dance from an exotic dancer or 50 free sun tanning sessions?
Gerard: Oh the lap dance!
Mikey: What were they again?
[Everyone helps little Mikey out]
Mikey: I guess the tattoo.
Frank: I knew it! Which is funny because you don't have any.
Gerard: You would see what you could get and trade it for money.
Seeing as this is an electoral year, which person on the Warped Tour would you choose to run the country and why would they get your vote?
Frank: #2 from Anti-Flag. That kid can rally.
Gerard: Can they run together?
First up is Frank who pulls fill in the blanks from the bag.
Caution! Do not put _____ anywhere close to me!
Oh no! I didn't pack _________
If I was ever to miss the bus, I would ________
Mikey's up next and he pulls word association. First thing that comes to mind.
Gerard: Not even a bare ass?
Gerard pulls 'name the band associated to the lyric'
"And you will tell all your friends you've got your gun to my head"
Gerard: We can do another one because I've sang that one with Taking Back Sunday on stage.
Okay then, round two is a word association again... First thing that comes to mind.
Why should the world give a damn about My Chemical Romance?
Gerard: Because we give a damn about it.
Gerard: Yeah. Good enough for me. And there are so few people that actually do give a damn about the world.
Gerard: I have a nihilistic attitude so it's like, the new gay...it's popular. You know what I mean?
Frank: Popsicle is the new black.
Gerard: What did I say? Oh yeah. Screaming is the new gay, everybody's doing it.
Frank: I wish it were Popsicle.
Frank: Popsicles should be the new black and then everyone would have one.
