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My Chemical History Lesson

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My Chemical Romance. The Band, The Ring Leaders. The Legend.

16th February 2002: Garfield, New Jersey.

           My Chemical Romance's first ever performance. As one could imagine, fear and anxiety ate the members alive. Gerard and Mikey sat inside a beat-up van outside of Garfield Legion Hall - waiting, wishing; paralyzed with fear. Inside, however, waited Ray and Matt nervously. With every thought mutually shared by the Way brothers of what they are going to attempt tonight, was another wave of anxiety and anguish that washed over them like a tsunami. Chugging beer after beer to calm the nerves, they start into the venue ready to lay it all on the table. Liquid courage was poured down their throats, this newly formed quintet was ready tp go to battle and face the room packed with 40 sets of eyes - watching, judging. They walked onstage, hearts pounding, heads in a haze; they plug in their guitars, ready up their amps and Gerard grabs the awaiting microphone. A quick glance to the group of men ready to crawl out of their skin with panic and excitement, Gerard mutters a phrase to kick off the rest of their lives as My Chemical Romance.
"Let's Go!"

Within the first few chords of newly written "Skylines and Turnstiles" the crowd became a pulsating mass of bodies: "The room just blew up" Remembers Gerard. "It was the best first gig we could possibly have had. We played the rest of the set on this wave; we felt totally on fire." From that very first show, it was undeniable by all members, there was definately something unique about this band. After the show, after the nerves, after the fear, a new wave came over came them; waves of compliments and praise; a feeling that they will never forget. They were full of energy and a fire that just kept burning. High without the drugs, pure adrenalin that shone through their faces. Mikey remembers thinking: "It felt so good. It felt like we were part of something. I was thinking, 'something's going to happen here, I can feel it'. It felt like a spark on a pile of wood chips".
Who would have thought that that simple spark would ignite into a fully-fledged inferno, engulfing all those who got too close and taunted those who chose to stay away. Even though from the beginning it seemed there was no stopping them, with their sharpened teeth, thirst for blood and tears but this was no overnight success story. This is the their story.

            In September 2001, you would be forgiven if you ever bet against My Chemical Romance being as huge as they are today - or even ever forming for that matter. Ray Toro was finishing his film course, trying to fulfill his dream of being an editor, and giving up his dream of being a serious guitarist. Frank Iero was playing in Pencey Prep, touring around their album "Heartbreak in Stereo" while Gerard and Mikey Way were far from ever starting a band, let alone this one. Mikey threw himself in the party scene, flirtasiously going about with women he had no intention of getting to know. Gerard, on the other hand, stayed at home and wallowed in his depression. Hardly leaving, he drew, wrote and designed to pass the time. He was a hermit that has wedged himself into his shell. He designed some of Thursday's t-shirts after befriending the singer Geoff Rickly. But, on the 11th of September 2001, life as they knew it was changed forever. Working as an intern at Cartoon Network on a show called "Sheep in the Big City", his idea for a cartoon called "The Breakfast Monkey" was being pitched. Merchandising meetings, script calls and endless late night sessions seemed to cloud his spare time and current thoughts. "They were missing the point. That wasn't why I got into it at all. I discovered I was dealing with a committee about something that I created so I was thinking 'fuck this.'"
On that morning in Hoboken, travelling on a ferry alongside four hundred co-workers and onlookers, everyone stared at the Twin Towers. Although not in pride but horror, the buildings collapsed. "It was the biggest fucking neutron bomb of mental anguish you've ever felt. The people around me were all co-workeres and they were just freaking the fuck out. Crying, screaming, cursing and yelling about the Devil".
A revelation struck him. Suddenly, he realized he was wasting his life on cartoons. He needed to go out and actually achieve something worthy. Make a difference. From then on, Gerard was in his mothers basement with a small practice amp and a very old Fender guitar. This is how "Skylines and Turnstiles" was born as well as some of their older material. For days on end, Way sat on his bedroom floor, clad in pajama's and surrounded by notebooks like the Holy Grail. Finally, he was giving himself a voice that would be heard.
Although Gerard claims he wasn't textbook depressed at this time, he was still an introvert. Momentum was certainly on their side. Gerard contacted and immediately recruited drummer, Matt Pelissier, and asked him to put some drums over his songs that he created. Soon after Gerard realized that he could not play guitar and sing at the same time, Toro's phone rang hot with Gerard's pleas to join. Ray was playing drums for a local band at the time even though he was 'the best guitar player in Jersey' according to Gerard. More material was written in a matter of days. Feeding off a sense of urgency instilled by Gerard and overseeing this power taken on by his older brother, Mikey decided he needed to be a part of this movement too. Whatever the sacrifice may be. But, they were then faced with another wall. What were they going to call this new found thing? Names were thrown furiously about, until Mikey returned home from his job at the time; working in a Barnes & Noble, and sprung Gerard with something unique, but it really spoke to him at the time. "Why don't we cal the band My Chemical Romance? I just threw the 'My' on there,"
They finally had a name to put to the face. After much pestering to Rickly about producing the band, he caved. After 3 months of being My Chemical Romance, plans were made to recruit themselves to the studio and record. January 2002, My Chem headed over to Nada Studios in New Windsor, New York with Rickly. Problem though, being in a band for only 3 months, they were hardly a polished group. Gerard was riddled with billions of ideas and showed excitement to fulfill them all and Mikey was stocked with a great record collection but had no idea how to play bass guitar. Ray was prepared but Matt was 'messy' - This was going to be a struggle but they were determined to give it their all. Ray came armed with mean guitar ideas, but Geoff begged to differ. "I asked, 'How are you going to play those live?' He shrugged and went 'I'll just choose between the important parts and the not so important parts.' I thought if they were important enough, they needed another guitar player to play them." - Rickly
Frank was then recruited after Pencey Prep had fallen apart and Frank had been bouncing between other local bands. A week before going into the studio, Frank joined them. Iero could not be more happy. Aside from being close friends of the existing members, Frank could see that this band had it,. Only downside; because they were heading into the studio in less than a week, that meant Frank had to write CD worthy material in that short time. "I wish we had had more time. Frank was taking demos of the songs into our van, where he'd write his part, then he'd run into the studio and recorded it immediately." - Ray Toro
Gerard, on the otherhand, had his own batch of woes. Way had a severe tooth infection which prevented him from singing without being in immense pain. It was so bad that he had to go to an emergency dentist and had his tooth removed; abscess and all. When they all returned to the studio, Gerard slurred due to build up of blood in his mouth and he was riddled with pain killers, which, in return, drained the life out of him. It was evident that he couldn't sing whilst taking them so the band removed them. Agonising hours later, Gerard was in so much pain he was pleading for them back and refusing to track. Knowing that something had to be done to make Gerard sing, Eyeball Records' boss, Alex Saavedra, took matters into his own hands. "I was bout to sing "Vampires will never hurt you." There was a storm forming outside, my teeth were hurting then Alex came up to me, gave me a hug, then punched me in right in the mouth. I think he did the right thing to tell you the truth. It was an act of love but I was fucking riled. I went up to the mic and nailed it the first time. It was just the loudest, gnarliest, darkest, most melodic song I'd ever heard. It was fucking amazing." - Gerard Way
Forcing himself into various characters, from this point on, has been a characteristic Gerard has managed to keep a strangehold of. "It was like method acting. 'Vampires' was definitely the first instance of that".
On the 19th of July 2002, "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" was released. They then landed a spot on tour with The Used. This is where they met Bob Bryar; The Used's sound technician and came across, who would in future become, their manager Brian Schechter; who managed the company Riot Squat Records. By November 2003, life was looking up. After months of 'band courting', MCR signed to a major label; Reprise and were gearing up to head into the studio once more, with their second album "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge". Then, tragically, death swept Gerard and Mikey off their feet. Elena Lee Rush, the Way's grandmother who taught Gerard to be artistic and how to sing, the woman who bought them their first van, had passed away. Gerard wasn't with her when she was given her wings, and this would prove her death more difficult to overcome than first thought. He was extremely frustrated with himself. Elena was in hospital, Gerard had returned home from tour exhausted and threw himself into bed; unaware he would receive the death of his grandmother the very next morning. The emotions he felt fueled their next CD "...Revenge." "All the fucking anger, the spite, the beef with God, the angst, aggression and the fucking venom all came from that. When I lost her, I thought I was screwed. I was done. I had lost my mentor. That's why I took it so hard." Gerard relieved himself of guilt by consuming liquor and downing Xanax. The pressure to create an amazing album along with her death was overwhelming and crippling. It was an insane moment to be mixed in with. Within days of finishing their second album, My Chemical Romance was flung into tour again, arriving in England in January 2004 alongside Taking Back Sunday. It was My Chem's first headlining tour of Europe but what should have been a joyous and life changing moment quickly turned sour. The chemistry between the band members quickly became turbulent. Onstage, they would ignore each other's existence. Offstage, none of them communicated either. They just decayed, with no support for each other and no love for the band. Their persona's off stage greatly differed from their persona's on stage. "On stage, they morphed into a completely different entity. The band blew us all away. Everyone's mouths were gaping open. It felt like the beginning of something explosive." - Susie Ember The problem was, however, that behind the scenes, Gerard was falling apart. Alcoholism runs in the Way household. Gerard stated, on several occasions, beer was easier to come by as opposed to water. Drinking was a boredom killer and that's when things started getting serious. It was a problem that was spinning out of control and the whole band had it to some degree. After recording Three Cheers, Frank recalled a time when they would drink endless beers and take pills, waking up on Monday and having no recollection of anything since Friday. "What sent Gerard over the edge was after we finished recording a few songs as though he was playing a character. In order to play those characters, he had to get fucked up, which meant that, live, he felt he needed to be in the same headspace. That led to him drinking a lot." - Frank Mikey wasn't helping Gerard's cause either, often offering to drink with him as a solace companion. "We were pretty wild. People called us "The Chemical Brothers". I'd roll into places and people would always ask if I had drugs, because that's what they were used to. Me and him got a reputation for it, we had this aura of trouble around us, people thought we were dangerous." - Mikey Gerard's alcoholism had him landing in hot water with countless bands, his head spun constantly and his mouth uttered apologies, left right and center for drinking other bands riders or throwing up inside their bus. It was described by Funeral For a Friends' drummer, Ryan Richards, as, "like watching a carcrash." The more Gerard drank the more unhinged the show was. Everyone would talk about their band and their crazy antics, including their lack of discipline onstage. But now, Gerard, looking forward to his fifth year in sobriety of 2009, was more compelled to stay clean. Before stopping, Way estimated that he'd down a bottle of Vodka a day and took $150.00 worth of drugs a week. He'd also managed to score an 8-ball which is 3.5 grams of Cocaine. He snuffled so much coke, Gerard was completely out of his element and mind. He'd throw up and then pass out, face down, in his own sick. It was evident he needed help. The drugs and alcohol made him suicidal and on the verge, and on various occasions, he attempted to kill himself. He wanted everything to stop and be over. He fought the urge to break and smash things and hurt himself while doing it. "I always wondered if I was flirting with the romanticism of suicide or whether I really wanted to do it. I've never truly been able to figure that out. Either way, it's dangerous." - Gerard Previous to this, at stated by Brian, "Gerard drinking was just Gerard drinking." It was what he did, it was his lifeblood. It was a part of him - a dangerous part of him. Ray turned to the manager and demanded that they get Gerard help. He was sick and he wasn't going to make it another day in this state; passed out in a puddle of his own vomit, clinging to life and barely able to wipe the sickness from his lips and hair. On the flight home from Japan, he started going into withdrawal. He cried and shook until he reached such an emotional patch that, when they left the airport in New York, he hugged his band mates because he was unsure if he would ever see them again, unsure if he could ever get sober or if he'd survive the plane ride home. After sessions of therapy, Gerard realized that his problem stemmed from not being able to find the line between on stage and off stage. Gerard could not stop performing. Gerard was permanently in character but the character was going to kill him. While all this was happeneing Three Cheers sold more in a week and Bullets had in 2 years, 11 000 copies with Mikey convinced his mom bought, "10,999 of 'em". That type of demand for the band was insatiable. Tours were booked consecutively, along with a steady stint on Warped Tour; which wasn't an idyllic place for a recovering alcoholic trying to get sober. First physical withdrawal struck him; causing him to lay on the floor with the shakes, then mental withdrawal causing him to lock himself on the bus to avoid the bottles of alcohol being shoved in his face. To make matters worse, inner turmoil between Matt and the gang started arising to a degree that could not be avoided. August 9th 2004, Matt was let go and replaced with Bob. They continued the year with tours and concerts which the band agree has became a blur. It was exhausting and grueling and the band looked forward to a much needed mental and physical break. The break was a time that one member just couldn't get a handle on. Mikey stated it felt weird being human again. Mikey was still drinking and popping pills and thoughts of doubt about being able to top Three Cheers crippled him. Around the time the band made it to the studio to record The Black Parade, Mikey was in serious trouble. Residing in The Paramour (For more information on this house, please visit The Black Parade page), Mikey quickly felt isolated, trapped and imprisoned by his own band. A collapse was inevitable. He had to leave the studio, convinced that he would also be leaving the band, and stay with a friend. He was forced to see therapists while he commuted back to the house to record their third studio album, Gerard was also going through is own set of problems. (Again for more info, visit The Black Parade page) The album was fraught with drama and tribulations yet, it was also the making of the band. Within a week of its release, TBP sold 240,000 copies in the US alone. Three Cheers took 9 months to go Gold, but TBP went Gold in only 1 week. The band now was about to embark on their most ambitious tour yet. It was a world-straddling, arena-bothering jaunt that they've already promised will outstrip any previous tour. "Honestly, we're just a punk band from Jersey. If this all ends tomorrow, then we will still be a punk band from Jersey. If we end up back in basements playing 'I'm Not Ok...' to 50 kids, then I'm still psyched. That's all I ever wanted anyway." - Frank After gunning down an almost-two year long tour as The Black Parade, it all came to an end in Mexico. Releasing "The Black Parade is DEAD!" which is a live DVD of this marked as the latest release from My Chemical Romance. After delays due to editing issues, it was released on July 1st 2008. What will they have in store for us fans with their next installment? We will all have to stay tuned and find out. -AnndreaLeeann
Write up of the history of My Chemical Romance (C) AnndreaLeeann
Snippets/Quotes used in this (C) from Kerrang!'s Tom Bryant article "My Chemical Romance: The untold story
This can be found here by AnndreaLeeann.

This is a My Chemical Romance history lesson written by me for my website and club :iconmercipourleveninclub:

Please do not steal, It took me many hours of writing and many many hours of research. It's pathetic but who are you to judge right? XD


Edit:~Lock-AND-Load helped me on this as well btw :D
© 2009 - 2024 AnndreaLeeann
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Lock-AND-Load's avatar
:O I helped.. ZOMG!!!! YOU STOLE!

Nah, I don't really care ROFL!

Xo.