Gerard, Frank, God, "Now", and The Catcher in the Rye

If this lacks some coherence, just know I’m working on getting the thoughts into a better form. From previous posts, and conversations, I know some of you will “get” where I am going with this. 

From the Oct 1, 2012 AltPress interview w/Frank

http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/flavor_of_the_bleak_a_brief_qa_with_my_chemical_romances_frank_iero

“(Spoiler alert: Iero knows how it will turn out as much as you know exactly what’s going to happen to you on, say, October 17. Is that arbitrary enough for you?)”

-Discussing “This Song is a Curse” and MCR5

“Yeah, kinda. The approach I took to the song was the sentiment of the original concept of the movie: the kid loses his dog and doesn’t want to let go. I wanted to take a J.D. Salinger approach to the story of Frankenstein: It’s not so much about playing God as much as it is holding onto the past and not being able to let it go. The more you do that, the more you fuck everything up. Other than the line about science, I drew everything else from my own life. I don’t know how you can’t while writing music. I get those Holden Caulfield tendencies where I see things the way they are, then I finally get used to them and then everything changes and it makes me want to kill myself. [Laughs.]”

“The new My Chem record isn’t going to sound anything like “Curse,” but it’s actually cool you can make that kind of noise in it. [Laughs.] That was the first time I, by myself, ever did something with someone—Doug McKean—who knew how to record things. I like being forced to work within limitations.”

“On a side note, does your proto-screamo band Leathermouth belong to history?

If we had talked several weeks ago, I would’ve said yes. I was originally brought into that band with the other guys. Then they found religion, then things got messed up between us. Not friendship-wise; they didn’t want to be a part of Leathermouth anymore. I guess they thought I’d taken it too far…“(my italics)

From the Apr 10, 2013 AltPress interview w/Frank

http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/mega_death_frank_iero_and_james_dewees_conjure_death_spells

The one thing he won’t be doing is mourning the demise of My Chemical Romance. Not because he’s a jerk; he’s just too damn busy.

“It got to a certain point where it seemed like it wasn’t working anymore,” he says about the band’s decision to break up in late March. “I am Holden Caulfield-esque and don’t like to let go of things and prefer things to stay the same. And I was such a fan of the band—I never wanted it to end, even though maybe it should’ve. I would do whatever it took so it could continue to go for the greater good. Sometimes it breaks your back, but you do it for the right reasons.”

Having left a commercially successful band to play decidedly thorny music isn’t the kind of thing that puts food on the table. 

From the June 2013 #299 issue of AltPress w/Frank Iero

“And sometimes it’s my own downfall. I was very much a proponent of keeping things going [in MCR]. Sometimes you bend over until your back breaks to keep things moving because you believe in it so much. In order for me to survive, I need to live outside the My Chem walls for a little while. I think that goes for everybody in the band: You reach a point in your life when you realize, “Shit, we’re not getting younger, even if we don’t act that way.” And there are things on the bucket list you don’t want to forget about. We’re all living our lives right now. Just going off and crossing off your list is healthy for everybody.” (my italics)

“Was it a situation of ‘Kill the band, save the friendships?”

“Yeah. Listen, those guys will always have a piece of my heart. I love those guys to death. I grew up with them at my side. They are all my big brothers, and sometimes-to a fault-I will go out of my way to try to impress them or go out of my way to seek their approval on things. I have such a love for them. Second to my children, the band is the thing I am most proud of in my life. It will always hold a dear place in my heart. But I see where things needed to end in order for us to be the people we needed to be. At this point in our lives, it wasn’t in the cards. It’s hard to let go, but I know we ended it for the right reasons. Not only am I excited for my future, I can’t wait to see what those guys are going to do next.” (my italics)

Yesterday, Gerard flew from CA to El Paso, for what he said was a research day trip. I wondered about this, because he ended up taking a lot of pictures of the inside of a mission located in the city. He lives in Los Angeles, near two of the finest examples of missions in the country, so I knew there had to be something up. Later, it was shown (http://raysafro.tumblr.com/post/50230217716/spike-thepunch-i-just-realized-doug-mckean) that Doug McKean (the MCR5 producer) was also on his way to Texas, and Gerard was sighted taking pictures outside a recording studio. This is important not just for the coincidence (?), but also because the contract between the individual MCR members, and the label, hasn’t officially ended yet. Anything the guys currently do musically is still under the purview of the label to take over as producer. This is true for about another two weeks, and it’s why Frank has been still rather quiet about a Death Spells album, tour, etc.

From Gerard’s Twitter account:

5/12/2013

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rk8kju

“though I had always acknowledged I received my artistic gifts from God. I even firmly believed in creating MCR, I was given a mission from God, 

Now, where I am today-

Re-engaging more seriously in a sobriety program has provided me with an opportunity to face a lot of questions, and be honest with myself about how I truly feel about God, and the anger inside of me went away years ago. The truth is, I always believed in God, I was just young and angry, and more angry with myself than anything. I stopped hating myself, and started to truly love the person I truly was, as long as I was being who I am, which is who I am now.” (my italics)

3-2-1, we go live ‏@FunPoisonbvb2h

@gerardway and if MCR was a mission of god, why it ended? You have done everything he asked you to do?

ジェラールド ‏@gerardway1h

@FunPoisonbvb Basically yes, I did what was asked of me. Trying to go past that is where problems started. I was meant to help in other ways

Why the emphasis on IT? Well, if you are linking the book to something that isn’t just about the book, and you want someone else to notice it, it’s a fairly easy way to go about it. Frank, aka Holden, are you reading?

 Unpopular Opinion Time:

We all want the guys to be truly happy. I don’t think that’s much up for debate, but…

Many people have either publically agreed with my previous posts about Gerard’s mental health or sent me private messages with the same agreement. In essence, we see the recent end of MCR, and much of what Gerard has discussed, as another of his cycles. He has an addictive personality, on top of the depression issues, and that means he’s never going to be “well”. He may be happy for long periods of time, but it’s not a permanent state.

In his long tweet about why the band ended, he mentioned hearing a voice. Today, he wrote that he felt starting MCR was a mission from God; he’d done what was asked of him, and going beyond caused (unexplained) problems. It nearly aligned with something I mentioned recently, which I actually hate: http://nightingveil.tumblr.com/post/49801006557/like-almost-every-day-i-wonder-couldnt-you

When he was with the band, he didn’t relapse. Not once. It was always a source of pride for him, Frank, the band, and the fans. He did say “The Catcher in the Rye” was his favorite book, on more than one occasion, and that he read it when he got depressed. I wonder if now, Frank will stop using the Holden references, because it is no longer a tie that binds them.

In his letter about ending the band, Gerard admitted he relapsed, but he wasn’t specific. I guess now, we have our answer. He’s “re-engaging more closely in a sobriety program”, which as many of you know, often means further exploration into God.

In the October interview, asked about Leathermouth being done, Frank says “If we had talked several weeks ago, I would’ve said yes.” Weeks ago. So back in October, Frank has reason to think maybe the shelf life on Leathermouth wasn’t done after all. He said, “Then they found religion” and “they didn’t want to be a part of Leathermouth anymore. I guess they thought I’d taken it too far…”.

They both keep talking about right now, today, as if they don’t have a clear idea of where they are going, individually. It just seems that the aspect is different, depending upon which one you’re speaking about, and the crux of it all may very well be religious. They’ve both said MCR5 was to have been dark, and considering TBP was about cancer, death, etc, how much more dark can you get without exploring what lies beyond?

Frank has Death Spells, and so far, the lyrics haven’t been about religion. I’m wondering what the rest of the released tracks will bring. And, of course, he still has Leathermouth, if he wants to utilize it for the exploration. Or, maybe, if he thinks religion did end MCR, and threatened the life of Leathermouth, that’s the last thing he’ll want to do.

Gerard may be working on an individual project, and since he did post Stryper (a Christian rock band) as his Twitter header for awhile, well…