Gerard Way recently did an interview with Rolling Stone in which he discusses his love for record stores, his wishes for rock stars to grow past the "sex, drugs and rock and roll" cliche and what kind of fans he thinks MCR have.
Internet technology seems to have helped your music. How has it hurt music?
Even I miss going to the record shop. In the next five or ten years, kids who are growing up will have never been to a record store. That's a crazy feeling. It makes the music a little more disposable, it makes the artwork and the packaging a little bit invalid, which is a drag. There's nothing better than holding something physical. I loved the discovery of buying music solely off the packaging, the name of the band, the names of the songs. The Pink Floyd albums always got me — Wish You Were Here, Animals, Dark Side — or a Good Riddance 7", with a photo of a distorted baby on the cover. I remember falling in love with [Smashing Pumpkins'] Gish, and then counting the days until Siamese Dream came out, then taking the hour-long roundtrip bus-ride to the mall to buy it. It was an incredible feeling, it was something I had invested in.
As a former drug abuser, how do you gauge the mantra, "sex, drugs and rock & roll"?
It's a dinosaur in itself. If we, as musicians, could evolve past that, maybe we could make something worthwhile. That's not just me speaking as somebody who got clean and sober — that has nothing to do with it. When I was abusing drugs, the allure of self-destruction kept me in it. There's something very romantic about self-destruction and sabotaging your life, and taking a hammer to it. Honestly, it's bullshit. That doesn't mean we can't be crazy and expressive and amazing or that we have to behave, because we're all artists and we're all nuts in some way, but you can treat people with respect and yourself with respect.
How would you describe the kids that love your band?
Extremely creative, intelligent, expressive and very individual, aside from liking to wear black. They come from all over the place, and in their hometown they're probably the only kid who looks like that, but when they get to our show they're all the same. One of the best compliments I can get from one of them is, "I met my best friend at one of your shows," or, "I met my best friend networking on the Internet, trying to get to your show." That's cool, because I didn't have that. I couldn't find any NOFX fans in my area.
Read the rest of the interview here
Internet technology seems to have helped your music. How has it hurt music?
Even I miss going to the record shop. In the next five or ten years, kids who are growing up will have never been to a record store. That's a crazy feeling. It makes the music a little more disposable, it makes the artwork and the packaging a little bit invalid, which is a drag. There's nothing better than holding something physical. I loved the discovery of buying music solely off the packaging, the name of the band, the names of the songs. The Pink Floyd albums always got me — Wish You Were Here, Animals, Dark Side — or a Good Riddance 7", with a photo of a distorted baby on the cover. I remember falling in love with [Smashing Pumpkins'] Gish, and then counting the days until Siamese Dream came out, then taking the hour-long roundtrip bus-ride to the mall to buy it. It was an incredible feeling, it was something I had invested in.
As a former drug abuser, how do you gauge the mantra, "sex, drugs and rock & roll"?
It's a dinosaur in itself. If we, as musicians, could evolve past that, maybe we could make something worthwhile. That's not just me speaking as somebody who got clean and sober — that has nothing to do with it. When I was abusing drugs, the allure of self-destruction kept me in it. There's something very romantic about self-destruction and sabotaging your life, and taking a hammer to it. Honestly, it's bullshit. That doesn't mean we can't be crazy and expressive and amazing or that we have to behave, because we're all artists and we're all nuts in some way, but you can treat people with respect and yourself with respect.
How would you describe the kids that love your band?
Extremely creative, intelligent, expressive and very individual, aside from liking to wear black. They come from all over the place, and in their hometown they're probably the only kid who looks like that, but when they get to our show they're all the same. One of the best compliments I can get from one of them is, "I met my best friend at one of your shows," or, "I met my best friend networking on the Internet, trying to get to your show." That's cool, because I didn't have that. I couldn't find any NOFX fans in my area.
Read the rest of the interview here
2 comments:
G Way namedrops Conor Oberst!!!
whoooo!!!
This is the best birthday ever!
<3 ~CToph
well then, gerard way, here's a huge compliment to you and your band.
i have met some really important people in my life because of my chem. including madame shame-free and the gentleman who's comment floats above! i've been thinking of writing a blog about it lately. how powerful it has been for me to be involved in this bands music and live shows. maybe i will now.
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