15 Things We Learned From Gerrard Way's Reddit AMA

Gerrard Way hosted at Reddit AMA last night, and we learned some super-interesting things about him...

The musician answered a host of really cool questions and chatted about everything from My Chemical Romance to comics, art and more. The ex-My Chemical Romance front man released his 5K-rated debut solo album, Hesitant Alien, last month, and he'll be hitting up the UK in November and January for a series of headline shows.

15 things learned from Gerrard Way's reddit AMA:

1. On collaborating with Frank Iero and the collaboration/Electric Century...
                            ''I don't know actually... I love all of the guys so much and love what they do musically. I think a collaboration between any of the MCR members is totally possible - just not sure when. It would have to materialise organically and right now everyone is busy with their solo work.''

2. On Frank Iero's solo album...
                           ''I absolutely love Frank's album. It is one of the most refreshing things I have heard in a long time. So many things to discover and pick up on, so many things to lead you to other artists you may not have heard of.''

3. On what it was like doing a solo album compared to MCR...
                           ''I felt more relaxed because I personally put less stress on myself, as I was only thinking about how the music I made effected me personally.''

4. On not wanting to play MCR's Drowning Lessons live...
                           ''Just various stuff would go wrong, everything from starting the song at different times to amps and drums breaking. It was also too personal for me to want to sing it live.''

5. On the real title of The Black Parade is Dead's Untitled song...
                           ''The song was called 'Someone Out There Loves You' to my knowledge it was never recorded in demo form - probably a sound check recording somewhere, besides the live performance on the DVD.''

6. On doing concept albums for his solo work...
                            ''I am sure that I will make another concept album some day. I'm actually thinking about a concept album at the moment, even if it's loose. I am definitely thinking of a new character.''

7. On his favourite song from Hesitant Alien...
                           ''No shows is my favourite song off the album, but tied with Get The Gang Together mostly.''

8. Do what inspired Lola...
                         ''I was inspired by a lot of the albums from the 90's that would have these unexplained 'mascots' you would see on everything from Jesus Jones albums to Kula Shaker. Just a surrealist image connected with the music. I literally did one drawing and was happy with it. I looked at masks from Asia and the theatre over there, like Kabuki in Japan.''

9. On his inspiration behind Maya The Physic...
                        ''The song is about mental illness. The title was inspired by an old manga called Mai The Psychic Girl, which is great.''

10. On Gerard's biggest struggle when creating Hesitant Alien...
                        ''I think finding out what it was, was the biggest struggle. Was it a new band? A solo album? Was it going to get more ambitious but more importantly would I allow myself to get more ambitious and take the ceiling off the project.''

11. On songs he wishes he put on Hesitant Alien...
                       ''No, not this one. The only time that even happened was with Kill All Your Friends, as I really wanted that on Black Parade.''

12. On creating an atmosphere that inspires him to be creative...
                       ''One thing I have finally learned after all these years of making art, is that no matter how much you try and make your surroundings suitable for creativity if the environment inside of you isn't creatively healthy then you wont be able to make the are you want. Being in tune with yourself and your inner truth, being at peace in there, is the best way to nurture your creativity. Then you can make a bad environment a good one.''

13. On Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion...
                        ''Right now I am awaiting notes on my layout for the whole series from editor Scott Allie once those are back I can begin scripting.''

14. On gender identity...
                        ''I have always been extremely sensitive to those that have gender identity issues as I feel like I have gone through it as well, if even on a smaller scale. I have always identified a fair amount with the female gender, and began at a certain point in MCR to express this through my look and performance style. So it's no surprise that all of my inspirations and style influences were pushing gender boundaries. Freddy Murcury, Bowie, Iggy, Early Glam, T-Rex. Masculinity to me has always made me feel like it wasn't right for me.''

15. On being a father, husband and musician at the same time...
                      ''Learning to be extremely disciplined has been the key for me. I work really hard during work hours and family, really hard during any situation. I don't sleep much. I am up early.''

GERARD WAY GIG DATES:

5th November 2014 - Manchester Rite
6th November 2014 - Oxford O2 Academy
7th November 2014 - Glasgow O2 ABC
9th November 2014 - Cardiff Y Plas
10th November 2014 - London Camden Koko
23rd November 2014 - O2 Academy Brixton

NP