Our friends atThe Vine are doing a pretty great job, not only did they do a killer interview withGerard Way,but they also put up a stream of his new albumHesitant Alien which is due to drop tomorrow! Click on the album cover above to listen to the stream, and read the interview below!
You’ve said thatHesitant Alienis heavily influenced by Britpop but there are also bits here like a massive, stomping rock record. ‘Bureau’ sounds like it could be an Aerosmith song or something - which is ironic 'cos it rails against that sorta bullshit.
To me, 'Bureau’ sounds more like 'Station to Station’ by Bowie. I think one of the elements that is less talked about, there’s kind of an emphasis on Britpop, probably because of the press statement, but glam played a big part in the sound of this record. Specifically the first Brian Eno record, theBerlinperiod that David Bowie had in which Eno recorded him, Iggy Pop, T. Rex at times. I think glam has a big part to play in the sound of the record. As well as shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine.
It does seem like a big deal is being made out of the Britpop influence but there’s so much more to this album. It’s interesting you mention T. Rex because I’ve heard comparisons to T. Rex from the later My Chem albums as well. What is it about theBerlin-era Bowie, Eno, the glam rock thing that’s so appealing to you?
I think I’ve just always liked traditional glam. I think I’ve always leaned towards that. Definitely stylistically. And the more accessible My Chemical Romance became, I think it was because I was connecting more strongly with glam. It’s all over a record likeBlack ParadewhereasThree Cheersis an extremely aggressive album. When you get toBlack Paradeit’s aggressive but there are a lot of elements of glam. Especially 'Teenagers’, that could’ve easily been a T. Rex song. I think it’s always been there.
I’ve always admired the relationship you’ve had with your fans, and now that’s taking place on Twitter with you even debuting new work there, but before we get onto that I just wanna ask what it’s like to have such a devoted fanbase. You’ve always seemed particularly conscious and concerned with the well-being of your fans, and now you see the reaction to that in your Twitter timeline every second of the day. What’s that like?
It’s an amazing thing and it’s something you’ve gotta be really responsible about. I didn’t take it too seriously even a couple years ago and I think there was a period where I didn’t use [Twitter] because I couldn’t process it. You get on Twitter and you realise you have a lot of people listening to you and you start to think you can make everybody happy. Then you’re kind of tech support for human beings. You don’t have to treat it that way but you start to treat it that way, and you realise you can’t make everybody happy and you just have to be yourself and do your thing. I’ve had a lot healthier of an experience on Twitter since I realised that.
Ultimately you’ve gotta be really responsible because a lot of young people are following you. It’s not about how many people are following you, it’s the fact that quite a few of them are under age. Not that I censor myself but I’m a lot more cautious because you don’t wanna send out the wrong messages to people. Mainly I just try to fill their day, in reading my tweets, with art and positivity and things like that. I used to be there more emotionally and have a lot more interaction with people, and again you run into a problem there, because you can’t do that for 800,000 people. It starts to really take its toll on you. Now I really try to share a ton of stuff. I guess that’s the point, you share. Not to soapbox or anything.
via The Vine
