http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/arts/music/gerard-way-talks-about-his-comeback-album-hesitant-alien.html 2014-10-19 06:46:42 Gerard Way Talks About His Comeback Album, ‘Hesitant Alien.’ More than a year after the breakup of his band, My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way talks about his comeback solo album, “Hesitant Alien.” === My Chemical Romance, co-founded by the singer-songwriter Gerard Way, was an apt rock band for the hectic 2000s. Unlike the Strokes or Interpol, it was uncool and a bit manic, five comics-obsessed outsiders from the New Jersey suburbs. In 2004, the group’s second studio album, the histrionic but hooky “ But songs about death and the afterlife were beginning to haunt Mr. Way as he played to packed arenas. “I was dancing a lot with the notion of mortality,” he saiHe got sober after a period of hard partying, he said, but “I was waiting to relapse, and waiting to see who wasn’t going to make it.” The following album, 2010’s “ Now, Mr. Way, 37, is back, a family man with a wife and young daughter. In late September, he released a new solo album, “ Opening a solo tour (he plays Irving Plaza on Monday; the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, N.J., on Wednesday; and, as part of the CMJ Music Marathon, Webster Hall on Thursday), he spoke with Marc Spitz by phone from the Fillmore in San Francisco about his second act and how he survived the first. These are excerpts from the conversation. Q. So, has your idea of the role of a musician changed with time? Many young My Chemical Romance fans took the band extremely seriously, and your lyrics were often about not breaking bonds or letting people down. A. On the Bret Easton Ellis podcast recently, you described the “burning ambition” you had while making “The Black Parade.” Given the level of popularity it brought you, in a lot of ways the band was done. There was nothing to rebel against anymore. That’s exactly what happened. I broke the band up for many reasons, but that was surely one of them. And it was not to confuse people or remain an enigma forever but to preserve the band. To say: “It’s done. It’s not coming back, and it was beautiful while it existed.” We never atrophied too badly. Ending a band is doubly awkward when you have family members in it. Was your brother Mikey, the group’s bassist, on the same page? That was obviously going through my head. “This is my kid brother, and he’s living out his dream and you’re ending it.” But he could see the really dark place I was in. Why did you feel the need to write a manifesto about it? Usually when there’s a split, fans get a curt statement from the publicist and a “thank you.” That was exactly why I wrote it — everything about M.C.R. was so different and unexpected — what’s the first thing that I can do that nobody’s ever done in this situation? And that was write a What’s it like to start over as a solo artist? When you debuted at the Reading Festival in Britain in the summer, you told the crowd, “I’m sorry you don’t know any of these songs, but you’re still going to love them.” You have to win an audience over all over again. What I’m learning about myself is that it’s my favorite thing to do. There’s obviously a healthy rock ’n’ roll arrogance at work there. You’ve also been involved in comics for a long time, and now you’ve co-created an “alternate universe” Spider-Man issue as part of the Marvel mini-series “Edge of Spider-Verse.” They said to me: You get to make up a Spider-Man, any one you want. I came up with Peni Parker, whose dad was the pilot of a machine called “Spider.” He co-pilots the machine with a psychic radioactive spider. Peni Parker instead of Peter Parker? Yeah, she’s a young girl, about 14. When the comic starts, she’s about 9. Did you want to provoke people by playing around with such a famous character? I think I’m just really plugged into who I speak to. I just went with basically what I know. I strongly identify with women. What inspired your new look? It’s comparatively dressed down, given what you used to wear onstage. Bryan Ferry was a huge point for me, and Bowie’s ’80s period. I was asking, “How do I be an alien in the suit as opposed to dressing like a space alien in silver makeup?” I’m going to do the opposite of androgynous now. Something that’s come up recently is that I was a bit gender confused. In your 20s? No, from when I was a little boy. I was often confused for a little girl all the way up to my teens. I think I tried to do whatever I could do to try to combat that. I didn’t identify with strong masculinity. You look at the early days of M.C.R. after I got that leather jacket off and started wearing makeup, I was pushing against homophobia and gender boundaries. Right around “Three Cheers,” I created a persona which was allowing me to express to myself and where I fit in gender-wise. I just didn’t relate to men, never could. I knew I was straight. But my identifying more with females was something I just expressed through the look. Given your disparate fan base, you might must have prevented some bullying in ways you’ll never know. I’d like to think that. I remember being at Warped Tour and seeing a lot of macho guys and saying: “If you’re a homophobe, if you’re a racist or sexist, please don’t watch us. There’s no point.” And a lot of the big, gnarly dude-dudes would cheer. Because of music, my acceptance of it expanded. Getting into Bowie and Suede. It helped me not feel so different. The title “Hesitant Alien” seems to reflect where you’re at in your personal life and career. You’re a dad. But you also have a wild past, and now you have to go out and support this record on the road. You’re like E.T.: You like it here with Elliott, but you know you can’t stay. (Laughs.) I was thinking more about “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” but I wanted to look like someone who’s on the run from the government and they’ve tried to clean themselves up the best they could, and it’s still not working and they’re going to get caught. I’m trying to fit in, but there’s just no possibility. It’s just not going to happen, so: “Let’s just embrace this. I’m an alien and that’s cool. I’m proud of it.”