MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE MUSIC: August 2009

Gerard Way On Becoming A Father - Mippin feed validation KEY=7101bfbd

Way describes the joys of being a dad, noting that his new second job shouldn't change anything for My Chemical Romance.

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My Chemical Romance Want To Sing About Lemonade On 'Yo Gabba Gabba!'

'I have this secret desire to do a children's show,' frontman Gerard Way reveals.

Gerard Way wants you to know that My Chemical Romance are an American band — and proud of it. He'd also like you to know that becoming a father isn't changing his focus on that first fact.

Back in May, Way and his wife — Mindless Self Indulgence bassist Lyn-Z — welcomed their first child, a daughter named Bandit. In the months leading up to the birth, Way wondered aloud how his daughter's arrival would impact the lyrics he was writing for MCR's new album, saying, "That's going to be in my head. ... There's no way that stuff won't affect what you're doing. I think if it doesn't, it's kind of lame."

Well, as it turns out, he might have been over-thinking things.

"[When] we had the baby, it's this crazy thing. It's the most amazing thing, and what it alters is you have someone new in your life to love and share things with and protect and all this amazing stuff," Way told MTV News. "But literally the next morning, I woke up and I still felt like me. I mean, I felt like I had something really awesome in my life, besides my wife, but it hasn't changed any of the direction of where it was heading before she was born. And I think [Bandit] would appreciate that."

And if she doesn't, well, she'll most certainly appreciate Way's other musical plan, one that involves My Chemical Romance collaborating with DJ Lance Rock, Muno, Foofa and the rest of the kid-friendly "Yo Gabba Gabba!" gang. After all, just because he isn't letting fatherhood change his focus within MCR, doesn't mean he can't branch out a bit.

"That will absolutely happen. I have this secret desire to do a children's show, and then I saw 'Yo Gabba,' and I was like, 'Oh, this is genius. This is better than anything I could've come up with,' " Way laughed. "I watched [Devo mastermind] Mark Mothersbaugh draw a puppy, and I was like, 'This is the best thing I've ever seen.' I'm really aiming to get [My Chem] to perform a song about lemonade on 'Yo Gabba.' ... I'm cooking this lemonade song up in my head as we speak."

My Chemical Romance man becomes dad

My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way has become a dad for the first time with the birth of his baby daughter.

Way and wife Lindsey Ballato welcomed Bandit Lee on Wednesday (May 27). The couple married in September 2007.

According to People.com , "Bandit Lee Way was born in Los Angeles at 2.57pm and weighs 6 pounds, 5.6 ounces. Everyone is healthy and happy."

"Gerard Way and wife welcome daughter Bandit Lee"

As previously reported, My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park and Beyonce are set to headline Japanese festival Summer Sonic.

Nine Inch Nails, Kasabian, Elvis Costello, The Specials, The Enemy and The Flaming Lips are also among the bands on the 2009 bill.

The festival takes place in Tokyo and Osaka between August 7 and 9.

My Chemical Romance man becomes dad

"Gerard Way and wife welcome daughter Bandit Lee"

MCR Recording New Album - A Top Story This Week

My Chemical Romance have returned to the studio in Los Angeles to begin recording their fourth studio album.

The band are working with producer Brendan O’Brien, known for his work with Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, and more.

They wrapped up a lengthy tour in May 2008 in support of their 2006 album 'The Black Parade', and immediately began writing songs for its follow-up.

According to frontman Gerard Way, the new record is not a concept album:

"At this point, the best way to describe the new album is My Chemical Romance being the purest, most distilled version of itself," Way said in a statement. "No bells and whistles, as the focus has been on melody and songwriting. If it doesn't work in a room with just the five of us, we aren't trying to make it work in the studio with effects and string sections.

"Making ‘The Black Parade' allowed us the departure we needed to see what worked and what didn't, experiment, and add a lot of elements we never would have. Sometimes you need to leave to come back home. To me, it feels like the culmination of everything we have learned as songwriters and players."

"What we're bringing from 'The Black Parade' to the new album is that sense of creative spark, where anything can feel possible, except distilled into a three minute, 30-second song,” adds guitarist Ray Toro. “I can say, hands down, this is our best record yet. We’ve gotten even better as songwriters and musicians, and we cannot wait for people to hear what we came up with. It’s all of the best characteristics of the band finally on one record.”

A release-date for the album has yet to be scheduled.

MCR New Album Is A Love Letter To Rock And Roll

'It's definitely more aggressive, but to me it feels like a celebration of rock and roll,' Gerard Way says.

Forget all that talk about ditching the shtick and focusing on fast-and-furious punk. My Chemical Romance have one sentiment they'd like to get across on their new album, one that echoes what Grand Funk Railroad said decades ago: "We're an American band."

"The punk element was something a lot of people talked about. I think once I said we were pulling out the marching bands, they assumed it was going to be a punk record," Gerard Way told MTV News last month at San Diego Comic-Con, where he was promoting "Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion," the third series of his Eisner-winning comic. "I mean, it's definitely more aggressive, but to me it feels like a celebration of rock and roll. It feels like a true love letter to rock and roll. There's something about being an American rock-and-roll band that we've kind of grown into and we're very proud of. And I think that's what we're celebrating with this record. There's no agenda, there's no mission; it's just about rock and roll."

For proof, check out the fan footage of "Death Before Disco," one of three new tracks MCR unveiled last Friday, during a secret show at the Roxy in Los Angeles. It's a charging, fist-pumping number that recalls the Motor City pump of the MC5 and the L.A. strut of the Knack. And to help them hone in on that vibe even further, they've tapped producer Brendan O'Brien — who's done albums for Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Mastodon, to name just a few — to helm the sessions for the new album.

"We're so happy working with Brendan O'Brien," Way said. "We love him, we're having the best time of our lives. It's a total blast. I feel like it's getting close to being finished. We're doing tracking now. There's no title yet. It's crazy — this is the first time we're waiting to get really far into the project before [choosing a title]. I'm actually kind of excited about that. It's kind of 'anything goes' at this point, but I'm so happy with the songs."

Way said there's still no release date for the new album, though he added, "It's safe to say it'll come out next year." This is all keeping with the band's open-ended, fast-and-loose approach to recording and writing, a first for MCR, who — up to this point — have made their living on expansive conceptual fare.

"It's actually kind of liberating," Way said. "I'm writing lyrics simply about what the song's telling me, instead of trying to shoehorn something into a story line. I'd say they all have their own little stories. Some of them are direct, real life things that happened to us or me. Some of them are fiction, [because] I didn't want to lose that side. One of the things I really liked about Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is that we took people on a journey with each video and each single, even though it was a concept record. The Black Parade didn't do that. It stuck all the way through to this rigid vision up until the end, but this time I'm really excited about giving someone something new every time."