Interview: Gerard Way on Britpop, The Crow, and writing Spider-Man

The UK media seems to champion young rock bands more than they do over here – is that something you experienced when you were coming up with My Chemical Romance?

For sure, yeah. I mean, My Chemical Romance first broke in the UK. We would go over there and we would have a tour bus. And then we ‘d be in America and we’d be in the van. It was a huge difference to how quickly people were receiving My Chemical Romance. And yea, I think so too – I think they champion young bands, they look for the new sound, they look for the new thing. Whereas over here, maybe less so.

You did an issue of Edge of Spider-Verse last year – what was it like to get to play in the Marvel sandbox?

It was cool, you know, it was this kind of thing where I got to do whatever I wanted because it was an alternate universe, so that part was really exciting. So I guess in a weird way, I didn’t really play in the Marvel universe, so I have yet to kind of do that. I got to kind of devise my own miniature universe that fit into the Marvel universe, so that was really fun. But it was great using the mythology of the character. I broke down Spider-Man to his core concepts, and tried to make something new out of the idea of a radioactive spider and another human being. I made them connected in a very different way than in the traditional Spider-Man.

Do you have any plans to do more work with the big two (Marvel and DC) on any of their other characters?

Um, I toyed around with that, but I don’t have any immediate plans in the future to do that. I’m working on Umbrella Academy series 3 and that’s gone really well, so I’m kind of focused on that, and another creator-owned project.

What’s that other creator-owned project?

Unfortunately, I can’t share too much about it right now, because of the publisher; they’ve asked me to keep it kind of confidential.

But it’s definitely very different from Umbrella Academy, it’s almost fantasy-based. So that’s kind of a new thing for me, this kind of darker fantasy story that feels maybe like something from the 80’s, like Labyrinth.

When do you think the publisher will be releasing info on that?

Hmm, maybe next year? Early next year I think.

When you’re writing for comics and your musical projects, do ideas cross over from one to another?

Yeah, absolutely. Everything I’m kind of working with right now in my writing feels like it has this kind of 90’s feel to it. I made music that feels very 90’s, so it’s always connected. Like, when I was making Black Parade, I feel like that is very connected to Umbrella Academy in a lot of ways. It was the tone that was very similar. I think your art is all connected, and it spills into one another, and I like that. I’m in a very kind of 90’s phase right now, where I’m just listening to all the stuff I listened to in that period, and writing about those things, and some of those concepts that I was thinking about back then.

Does music from that period speak to you more than current stuff? Are there current bands that still get you excited?

Yeah, I get into newer stuff all the time. There’s been this kind of resurgence over in England of the kind of shoegaze-y pop stuff, and I’ve been listening to The History of Apple Pie, and there’s kind of these other bands too, I’ve been just kind of exploring that. They’re re-discovering Fender guitars and fuzz pedals. And there’s Eagulls, who which is a band I love, that has a kind of Joy Division, 90’s sound as well.

Are you going to be doing “Snakedriver,” The Jesus and Mary Chain cover on this upcoming tour?

Yeah, there’s an idea of maybe trying—I don’t know which song yet—but I might do a different cover as well just to have it in the arsenal. So we’ll probably learn one or two other covers. But “Snakedriver” is such a great way for me to end the set. I like ending with that song because it just gets super loud, you know?

Were The Jesus and Mary Chain another influential band for you?

Oh yeah, for sure. And oddly, I discovered them through The Crow soundtrack. I was still pretty young, I think I was maybe in middle-school or something when The Crow came out, so I had yet to discover The Jesus and Mary Chain, and I remember that being the song that jumped out. I bought it for all the other songs, but the one that jumped out was by this band The Jesus and Mary Chain, and then I went and discovered them. It was around the same time that I was discovering the Pixies and they had also done a cover of [The Jesus and Mary Chain’s] “Head On,” and that directed me to that band, so they were pretty influential in this solo record as well.

Your tour is just about to start, is it exciting going back out knowing people have had the time to absorb the new record?

Yeah for sure, it just means that they’ll be more connected, and will get to have a little more fun. We all know the material really well. If we all know it really well it’s more like a celebration, and less of an introduction.

What’s coming up for you that you can let people in on?

Right now I’ve just begun writing the second album, and I’m also in the middle of writing the new Umbrella Academy. So I think this year I’m kind of in a very creative state and creative mode, and next year there will be a lot of stuff coming out.

Gerard Way’s upcoming Canadian tour includes a stop at Toronto’s Danforth Hall on May 20 with Nuns. Tickets are $45.50/$57.50, available here. The tour then hits Montreal’s Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre on May 22. Tickets are $35/$40, available here.