Interview: An Hour With Frank Iero, June 5th 2007, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

My Chemical Romance visited the Netherlands on June 5th during their European tour earlier this year. We did an interview with Frank and Ray for the MCRF, which you can read on the forum here. The record company only managed to get us 15 minutes to talk to the guys, which was barely enough to finish our questions. The amazing Frank arranged for us to be taken back upstairs after the show, so we could properly finish our interview. We talked to him for an hour, this is what happened.

Frank: Honestly, I just couldn’t even pay attention to the kids cos I couldn’t hear what the fuck was going on. And I feel really bad because I fucked up the end of Dead! cos I couldn’t hear where the drums were. Shit happens sometimes. The whole set was really hard for me. Did we suck?
Lisette: No! Come on!
Imre: We would actually tell you if you did suck.
Frank: Oh! That’s really good. I appreciate that.

During ths show we noticed there were some technical problems, we asked Frank what was happening.

[shows]
Lisette brings up Bob’s revolving drumkit.
Frank: He likes to play two different kits for different songs. So, like for The Black Parade songs you need more drums and you need a bigger kit for that, so we figured out the rotating kit. And I wish we could have brought more stuff from the States to the show, like the explosions and the fire and stuff. The venues got scaled down and that’s the thing with like set pieces and different things that you want to do. There’s different reeling points within the ceilings for different venues for what you can hang and what you can’t, what the stage and the fire Marshall will allow. The stuff that you find out from touring, as a fan I never would have known! There’s like, the laws in Europe are so different to the ones in America or the ones in Tokyo, there’s different companies and you can use the same company I think in the UK but there’s different ones for Europe and it’s just… It’s crazy. So, it depends on the venue, on how much time in advance you schedule it for, and you know, you have to… That all plays in to how well the ticket sales go, because you don’t know what the venue size is gonna be.

Lisette: The audience was great tonight. Very enthusiastic.
Imre: And very friendly.
Frank: Cool! Well that’s the point you know, there was a time I think, in the middle, when we were, you know, still underground, but kind of emerging into a bigger crowd, and there was a resentment between older and newer fans.
Imre: But there still is.
Frank: There still is? Well, that’s the thing: I understand it. I mean, I did that too as a kid, you know, you say well that’s my band, I found this band, and now all these other kids are coming in, but when you grow up and you start to really get the big picture of it. You realise that the newer kids are the future of this music. And they’re coming to the shows because that’s where they feel like they belong and that’s why you got into it. So whether they got into it later or not, or whether they got into it for the right reasons or not, you know, time will tell. And the way they’re treated at the shows really affects the way they bring this culture up with them. You know what I mean?
Imre: They’re getting younger and younger though…
Frank: They do! Well, that’s the thing; kids are growing up like faster. You know, thirteen year olds are having babies… And I mean, that’s the thing, there’s young kids at shows and I remember when I was a kid going to shows. There were shows where you got beat up, and then there were shows where the older kids were looking out for you. They were like: hey man, this kid’s got balls cos he’s here and he found out about this band and he likes it. It’s the future of the music. If you care about the music and the underground scene you have to nurture the new comers and teach them, cos these kids just don’t know any better.

[Iero for president]
We all know Frank is always willing to help everyone out. If he was president of the world, we would all live in peace, without starvation, environmental issues and all of those nasty things. That’s impossible, but he does what he can to make this world a better place.
Frank: You know, you do your thing and hope that the people that you’re reaching kinda live by your example. All you can really do is be yourself and try and use your spare time in a way that kinda helps, like visiting children’s hospitals. You know, just going out helping people, having respect for your fellow men and not forgetting… Everything is so overrun by hate and kids these days they’re just so bombarded with death and destruction and war… And that’s why kids are growing up so quickly. And that sucks! People don’t care anymore. They don’t learn morals and values. I’m 25 and I know that if I did half the shit that I see kids nowadays doing…
Lisette: I would have a lecture from my mom!
Imre: My parents were very free and open minded, but…
Frank: Yeah! But they taught you how to respect yourself and how to respect other people, and kids these days don’t have those values. Maybe it’s because they don’t respect themselves.
Imre: They have never learnt to.
Frank: Yeah and that’s a shame! Life is so important! To treat people like shit for no reason and live your life like that…
Lisette: It almost seems like a gimmick for some people to act like that.
Frank: Yeah to see how far you can get away with things.

Lisette: Do you think you guys changed over the success?
Frank: Uhm, I think that we’ve just changed as people because… *thinks*
Imre: Like everybody does when they get older.
Frank: Yeah. We just grew up.
Lisette: I mean more that, like, we have a thread on the forum that’s called ‘why doesn’t MCR meet with fans anymore?’ and that’s not true, because you just said that you’re going outside a lot and meet up with the fans.
Frank: Honestly, it gets to a point where it’s physically impossible to meet everyone. I remember shows where I shook hands with everyone that was at the show. And now it gets to the point where it gets overwhelming. You have to wait until security has set up some sort of barricade, or if trucks are moving or stuff like that you can’t go out. And then there’s certain times too where it’s unfortunate. I remember one venue in particular where we were pulling in and our security was like setting up some barricade type thing so the kids could get through and then the trucks pulled up against this fence and not the kids, but the parents were yelling at our security and like cursing at them and stuff because the trucks were blocking their view of the busses! And I was like, well I’m not going to go out there and sign things for people that are calling friends of mine fucking assholes. That really happens! It’s crazy. With the attention the band has gotten you learn certain things. I’ve learned that there’s fans of the band, and there’s fans of certain songs, and then there’s fans of certain records in a bands career.
Lisette: And there are people who are fans of the image.
Frank: Yeah. And those people are fair with the fans. They will be there for a month or two or maybe a year, maybe two years and then they’ll go away and that’s fine. We never started the band to please anyone. You know, we really started the band for us! And when we started to get out there and we saw that it was helping people, we felt like ‘wow, one person can make a difference by writing songs in their basement and going out there!’. And playing bigger shows, huge places, it’s an honour, but it’s not why we’re here.
Imre: That’s what we did! We started the board because we wanted to have a place where we could talk about the band. We never expected to be this big!

*door opens*
Frank: Hey! What’s up dude?
Gerard: What’s going on?
Frank: I’m doing a forum interview.
Gerard: Oh, are you? I’m sorry!
Frank: Nah, it’s cool.
Lisette: You can come sit with us!
Gerard: No, it’s alright, I just wanted to meet you guys actually.
*walks over to Imre, they shake hands*
Gerard: Hi, I’m Gerard! [ed. duh! Like we don’t already know that!]
*reaches over the table to shake Lisette’s hand*
Gerard: Nice to see you.
Imre: Thanks for the show!
Gerard: No problem!
*door closes*

[festivals]
The next time MCR would be playing near us was Werchter festival in Belgium a few weeks after the night of the interview. Lisette had tickets, and was looking forward to the show. Frank is not a fan of being at a festival as a member of the crowd. Imre and Lisette both love to go to three-day festivals, we try to make him see the fun in it.
Frank: As a kid I went to like Warped tour and stuff like that. To me festivals are more like band testing. You go and you pay, hopefully, a minimal entrance fee. But tickets for a weekend like that are a couple of hundred dollars and then it’s sold out and you have to go on eBay, it’s ridiculous. I can’t imagine like… I would never camp out!
Imre: It’s great!
Frank: You love it? I can’t do it.
Lisette: I’m going there one day upfront and I am leaving one day after.
Imre: How old were you when you joined the band?
Frank: I was born in ’81, so I guess like five years ago I was like 20.
Imre: That’s really young! That’s about the age when you start going to gigs and festivals.
Frank: Yeah! Well, I went when I was younger. My mom was very protective though, of me going to shows and stuff. I went to like punkrock and hardcore shows when I was a kid, but I was lucky enough to have an older friend who would take me backstage, stuff like that. We always hope to play with a band we are friends with, and that’s cool because we haven’t seen them in a long time, or bands that we respect, like the White Stripes. We got to play Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park with the Stripes, and that was amazing! And these friends of ours, Lost Alone who supported us in Germany this year. I think they are incredible! We play with incredible bands and incredible people. We got to meet The Gallows, who I think are so awesome! They are so rad! Their show just totally psyched me up and I think I might actually play a song with them at Download. It’s still a secret.

[forum]
Imre: Can I show you something? *Gets Spin magazine with MCRF mentioned in it from bag and hands it to Frank, pointing at the mention*
Frank: Ooooh!!! That rocks! That’s awesome!
Lisette: Did you see that we have a new forum logo and a new frontpage?
Frank: I haven’t. I haven’t been online to tell you the truth. This whole trip has been hectic. We’ve just been to Japan.
Lisette: You like Japan, don’t you.
Frank: I love Japan!
Imre: Cos you’re tall.
Frank: Cos I’m tall?! Yeah, cos I’m fucking huge there!
*all laugh*
Frank: No! They just have the coolest shit man! Like everything rules there! Even like going to the bathroom, they have this new thing there where you put your hands in, you get soap, and then you go to the other side and it gives you water, and then at another point it blowdries your hands and it’s all in one thing! It’s crazy! It’s really cool! Like everything is new and improved there. *thinks* I feel that as far as like forums go I like to leave it to people like to be creative and do something on their own. The kids are just so smart and intelligent, and I love how they meet each other, and that’s the greatest thing too; we’ve always said we wanted our shows to be a place where kids that don’t fit in anywhere else fit in and be comfortable. Even if you don’t fit in at your own school, you’ll fit in here. And that’s really cool. I always encourage kids to go out there and ‘live their lives’. Sitting on the computer and talking to people is great when those people aren’t in your area, but also, like you know, sometimes the best thing to do when you’re feeling down or whatever is not to type it out on the computer. *pauses* Maybe it is, I don’t know.
Imre: If that’s their only way of expressing themselves, please let it be on our messageboard.
Frank: Yeah. No. I understand that completely. I get that.
Imre: It’s better than keeping it all inside.
Lisette: Sometimes it’s hard to talk to a real person about your problems.
Frank: I can see why. On the computer you can just type it out and be totally honest.
Lisette: It’s like a diary that everybody reads.
Frank: But then also like when you know people are gonna read it, will it affect what you write?
Lisette: Maybe it does. But they still write a lot of personal stuff on there.
Frank: That’s a generation thing I guess I’ve missed out on. Growing up I never had any of that.
Imre: Oh come one, it started like mid-nineties!
Frank: yeah, but I didn’t even have cable… *gets defensive* I didn’t have a computer till I was 18, you know.
[For the record, that would have been in1999…]
Lisette: I have another question: I have a camcorder with me, and I was wondering if you could tape a message for the board.
F: Sure! Absolutely! *thinks*
Lisette puts camcorder on a chair, Imre gets out of the shot.
L: Whenever you’re ready!
F: Ready? *giggles*
L: Yes!
F: Ok! *burps*

You can watch the videomessage on YouTube: here

Frank: One more thing that I would like to say: my grandparents phone number got out and people kept phoning them up in the middle of the night. Don’t call them. They need sleep and my grandma’s really old. They’ll talk to you for hours, but…
Lisette: We’ll put the message up. Leave the private lives private.
Frank: Well, if you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna go outside and meet the kids. Lisette: Of course not, wonderful.
Frank: Thank you guys so much! Really!
Lisette and Imre: Thank you!!
Frank: Have you got everything? Are you sure? Get home safe guys, ok?
Lisette and Imre: We will!

And Frank actually does what he promises: a few moments later we are outside, waiting for Lisette’s fiancée to pick us up, when the people waiting suddenly get excited. Frank is out there, accompanied by a security guard, posing for pictures and signing things. It’s nearly half past midnight, he’s just done a show, followed by a meeting with the record company and spent an hour talking to us, letting his food get cold. Then he comes outside to meet the people that really matter: the fans. That is what Frank Iero is really all about. He is one hell of an amazing guy!

Imre and Lisette