Interview with My Chemical Romance guitarist Ray Toro
This is an old interview, taken right as the bands first single "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" was released. I felt it was important to put on the site though because, thinking back, this is really where the idea for Anarchy Music first started to take form. I conducted this interview with Ray, and then when I submitted it I was told by the publisher that "Noones ever heard of My Chemical Romance and noone ever will". Basically, what they were saying is that if a band can't be of help to US, then why should we be of any help to them? Obviously thats a selfish and stupid way of looking at things. It wasn't long before MCR exploded all over radio and MTV and suddenly everyone who didnt want to print this interview now wanted it. They asked me how I could have known that they would be so huge, and the truth is, I didn't. I just feel its important in this line of work to support the bands you like. Besides, most music journalists are too busy telling people what they SHOULD listen to instead of paying attention to which bands are a gaining grass roots following among the average people on the street and in schools. The fact is, if you want to know who's going to be the big bands of tomorrow, just ask a bunch of music fans today. Music journalists will never understand that concept.
But enough of that, I hope you enjoy this look back into the beginnings of My Chemical Romance, and be sure to check out the bottom of the page for details on how you can win an autographed MCR cd and T-shirt!!
For the people who aren't familiar with you guys, give me a little background on the band...How you formed, and what led you to Reprise and "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge"
Okay, well the original line-up was five of us from Jersey. I had been friends with the original drummer since like high school. Gerard, I met just after I got out of college and we were all kind of, not really doing anything with our lives and Gerard just wanted to start a band. He was working on a cartoon for a little while and after 9/11 happened like he just kind of decided that he wanted to do something different with his life and maybe wanted to try music. So he started getting together with our original drummer. He gave me a call and I come in and we just started playing together and it was really cool. I had been in bands before but nothing really made me feel the way like playing with those guys did and it just kind of went from there really fast.
As for us getting with Reprise and stuff. We were pretty lucky in that a lot of people paid attention to us I think because Jeff Rickley helped us out recording our first record so a lot of people watched us to see what- I guess they figured if he was into us like maybe this band is cool and whats this band about-they wanted to check us out. So labels had been checking us out pretty early in our career but we just kind of decided that the best thing for us would be to just be a band and tour as much as possible and kind of gel like that kind of experience underneath our belt and then after maybe two years of touring or so we finally decided that it would be the right time to move up and we just had a great relationship with all the people at Reprise and the staff there so thats why we ended up going with them and its been really cool. Its been very much like a family experience-you know like being on a major is definitely different from being on an indie but at the same time youre still dealing with, you know, just regular people every day, so its been cool.
This is jumping ahead but if you dont mind saying- what was the issue with changing drummers and whats the story on the new guy?
Well, it was weird. Like, it was one of those kind of relationships where you knew there were problems but the relationship continued because I think we didnt want to hurt him and things like that and then it just got to the point where we werent getting along and we werent having fun being in a band with him any more and it really just got to the point where either we break up because we werent having fun or he had to go and thats the decision that we made-to replace him. And I mean it was really hard and still is to this day I wish things couldve gone differently but I think the band- I mean I know the band is stronger musically and also just tighter, where we get along way better now. We're actually having fun together on the road and before it always felt like there was some kind of distance between us and you cant have that because in a band its supposed to be a family and we never felt you know? We might have felt like that in the beginning but after a couple of years of touring we just kind of lost that, and now we have that back. Our new drummer is Bob Brier and we had met him pretty early in our career. He was doing sound for The Used. We had gone on tour with them and we just became friends. We've always kept in touch with him on the road and hes been doing sound. Hes done sound for The Used twice, hes been out with a lot of great bands that we're friends with and hes just really good at what he does, but hes like...It was funny. Everyone would talk about how awesome he was on drums and whenever we would ask him to play for us he never got behind the kit...real shy and whatever and so when this happened he was the first person we got in touch with because we knew that more important than having a great musician join the band we felt that we could live with him and be on tour with him because that was the main problem. Our original wasnt the best and we dont have the best musicians in our band but what we look for is a unique personality that we can live with. You just have to be a great person and for us thats more important and he was a great person and he just happens to be awesome at drums too. Its like a world of difference nowadays...we just have such a great time on the road now. It really been working out, Its a lot of fun.
You guys have a huge buzz about you, It seems everyone, including myself thinks youre going to blow up big. Does that affect you or do you even realize that from day to day? Do you get the feeling like "oh my God, we're the buzz band" Did it affect you when you were recording the record or has it sunk it yet that in 6 months you might be huge?
Well, I think the buzz started happening after the record came out so it really didnt affect us very much when we were recording. When we were recording we were still very much a band that some people knew about but for the most part the average person had never heard of, We didnt get very much press in the US. We actually got more press overseas than in the US. We definitely had some sort of fanbase but we were just kind of like still an indie underground band so it really didnt come into play until after the record came out. I dont know, its just really weird. Its weird to go into a store and see your face on the cover of a magazine. Its just bizarre, you know? We try not to think about it though what we really do is just try to make the best music we can and just perform the best we can. For us the records one thing and the the live show is another thing and we always want to make sure that we're putting on a good show and giving something unique for people who already bought the record and to see and hear the music in a different way. Yeah, I dont think we really think very much about whatever people are saying in the industry.
But the first time you heard "I'm Not Okay" on the radio did you geek out?
Yeah (laughs) You cant not love driving and just hearing a song come on the radio and that song happens to be one you wrote, you know? Its a great feeling. Its really awesome.
You guys are one of those bands that has a fanbase that feels connected to the band. I know theres people out there with MCR tattoos and its more than just "oh that bands pretty good", its almost like a relationship with the band. Tell me about your fanbase and the relationship you do have with them. How does that change from a band that people kind of dig into that love and family feeling?
Yeah, I think the reason we have that relationship with fans...Its probably just like some of the subject matter that we write about and just kind of the attitude that we have is more that what we do isnt really just to play shows and just to kind of be out on the road. What we want to do is like really try to help people that need help, you know, and if we can do that in some way through our music then thats what we feel we're here for. I don't know, the kids that are fans of the band are just awesome. Alot of them are kinda...they remind us of what we were like in high school I guess. You know, kind of kids that didnt get along with everybody or kinda just kids that maybe will sit in the back of the classroom and keep to themselves. Those are usually like...thats probably like the typical MCR fan is a kid who maybe gets picked on in high school or at school.
Have you had any moments with fans-anything that really touched you. Maybe they'll relate a story about how your music affexcted them or something like that?
Yeah...I dont know...its just really cool. We get a lot of emails and kids coming out to the shows and telling us that the band really helped them through a hard point in their lives or...One of the songs on the record (Helena) is about Gerard and Mikeys grandma who died like a couple of months before we went in to record the record and people have said that that song helps and on our first record we had a song...Headfirst For Halos which is like an anti-suicide song. It has ironic lyrics, but whenever we played it live we always talked about...we gave this anti-suicide speech and stuff. So I think people connect to that and we've had a lot of people tell us that the band has helped them get through some moment in their lives and it makes you feel like youre really doing something.
Like its more important than just playing songs...
Yeah its more than just showing up and playing for a half hour. It really feels like when we do that there might be one or two or three kids, whatever but it really feels like we're reaching at least one...truly touching one person every night and thats what really makes it fun.
I think a lot of the appeal guys have such a wide ranging sound. You're not just emo or what have you. What are your influences as a band that goes into your music because noone really sounds like you?
Influences really come from all over the place. Like Frankie, our sound definitely started to come together when Frankie joined the band. When the band first started I was the only guitar player in the band and I come from a more metal kind of technical guitar playing style, hes more like a rhythm or punk rock style kind of sloppy so you have that element. Gerard and Mikey are really into The Smiths and Morrissey and The Cure kind of like more moody stuff. But we all have a love of just aggressive music at the same time so i dont know. You just kind of mix it all together and thats kind of the sound.
Well, whatever it is its working right?
Yeah, its really fun working with the guys in my band because everybody really does bring in their own different element. You know like their own playing style.
When you write a song do you bring in a guitar riff or do you start with the lyrics?
Usually the writing process is either me or Gerard will have like one riff or maybe two parts to a song. We'll usually know if its good right off the bat if Gerard hears it and he can immediately come up with a vocal melody to it. And once thats done we'll bring it into the practice studio and just keep on jamming one certain section or just on two parts and just keep running through it and running through it and eventually it'll be a song and sometimes songs work really quickly and they'll write themselves and other songs have taken us some time to figure out how to get down but thats usually how it works is we all just kind of sit in a studio and just repeating the song over and over until we just feel its right.
For the tech junkies...what do you endorse? What equipiment do you use?
Its so weird, Ive never been satisfied with my tones or anything I have onstage. Like right now I'm using the Randall head...I forget the model number...its like the RM100 or something...but you can switch out the pre-amps and stuff. It gives you a whole bunch of different options, different tones. We use Epiphone guitars because they were cool enough to endorse us. Theyre really good guitars. Ive never been of that attitude that just because something costs more doesnt mean its better. I just really like the feel of the guitar I have right now and it just happens to be from them. Frankies been playing this Marshall JCM 900 he had like since he was a kid. He swears by it. Like, he doesnt play a show without it. He's real particular about his set-up. Thats about it. The tone that we definitely like to go for live is kind of like a more dirtier...for us records should be a little cleaner than your live show but when you play live it should have an element of like surprise and if someone fucks up or adds a new part thats what playing live is about is having fun with the songs because people can always pop in a cd and hear it that way. When people go to a show...I dont know...when I go to a show I like to see bands do different things with their songs.
You guys arent Dream Theater
Yeah, we could never play like that anyway (laughs) but we would never want to, I think. We dont want to play perfect. It takes the fun out of seeing a live show.
I'm geeking out, I havent had a chance to see you guys yet. I have the album though and I'm stoked. I don't have the first album yet though, so if you're selling it, its mine!
No, we havent been selling it for awhile but you can always download it, I dont give a crap. That was the only way the kids could get it in the beginning anyway.
(Note: since this interview Eyeball Records has increased circulation of the debut cd and it is available in most stores...so coming from me, not Ray, don't be a cheapskate, go buy the damn thing!)
You did Warped and youre doing the Nintendo Fusion tour- give me a cool road story. I know Warped had something crazy going on right?
I think the craziest thing about Warped was walking around and seeing guys from bands you've kind of looked up to and grew up listening to their and kind of being able to like play the same, whether its the same stage or just the same day as them its crazy. Like Eric from NOFX, I ran into him and he was like "whats up man?"and he said "hi" to me. It was just weird. It was like "I dug your set" like he came and watched us a couple times. It was just fuckin...thats just the wacky shit...thats the shit that, besides being able to play with people you looked up to and still look up to is just the best. Like after Warped we went out with Face 2 Face and thats one of my favorite bands and like a lot of guitar stuff...my style a little bit is based on the way...that band has the best bridge sections ever. Theyre always so melodic, just so well written and to be able to tour with Face 2 Face and just to watch them every night on their Farewell tour was just phenominal.
I was in New Orleans recently at the Voodoo Festival and I got to meet Slash and watch Velvet Revolver play from the side of the stage so I know what you mean.
Oh it was nuts...we did this radio show in Houston, Texas and Velvet Revolver headlined. I was able to stand on stage while watching them play. And its just like...I mean I'm not that big of a fan of the band but just to see guys like that. Slash is one of my favorite guitarists. Its the reason I play a Les Paul style guitar and its just like a rock god like 20 feet away from you. Every day is just kinda a dream come true kind of thing.
What do you guys have planned for after this tour? Hopefully you'll be headlining.
Yeah, Im not sure we'll be doing that. Definitely next year we'll be headlining but immediate future we're doing some little radio shows in December and then we're taking two weeks off.
Is there a big push coming for next year?
Yeah, I dont know how any of that works. Maybe, maybe not...who knows? We're just having fun doing what we're doing Yeah, so there'll be radio shows in December and then in January we're going to Japan for a llittle bit and England and Germany and France and then come back. I'm not exactly sure what our tour plans are for like February and on but we'll be out on the road constantly.
And your fans will be right there with you...