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Gerard Way was a normal guy. He wasn't known except for those who knew him or of him and was going to lead a moderately successful life. To quote a metal underground interview, when Gerard was asked what he would be doing if he wasn't in MCR, he responded “Realistically I'd most likely be working a really crappy job at a bookstore or something. If I wanted to be optimistic about it I'd have to say I'd be doing something involved with art.” On the morning of 9/11, he was on the ferry from his home in New Jersey to New York to go to cartoon network with whom he had an internship. In the days before, he had pitched his idea for a tv show titled “the breakfast monkey” to which Cartoon Network politely declined, stating it was too close to an already existing ip, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”. Gerard was on the ferry, possibly finishing up some sketches when…
BOOM.
To quote Gerard, “I didn’t see the planes hit. I did see the buildings go down, from I’d say fairly close. It was like being in a science fiction film or some kind of disaster film—it was exactly that kind of feeling. You didn’t believe it. You felt like you were in Independence Day. It made no sense. Your brain couldn’t process it. And for me it was a little different. I’m very empathetic and I’m kind of a conduit emotionally, so I pick up a lot of stuff in that way. There was about three- or four-hundred people around me and I was right at the edge. A lot of people were maybe too scared to get right to the edge of the railing; all these people behind me, they all had friends and family in those buildings. I didn’t. So when that first building went, it was like an A-bomb went off. It was like just this emotion and it made you nauseous. I was more upset for the people around me than myself y’know, i was just- i think one of the first thoughts that went in my head when it went down is ‘what does this mean? What does this mean for the world?’” Once he had arrived in Manhattan, he used the time he was given to walk around and think. He said to himself, and I quote, "[AAAA] art. I've gotta get out of the basement. I've gotta see the world. I've gotta make a difference.”
what better way, than making a band?
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Gerard Way first called Matt Pelissier to join as they were decent friends that had bonded over similar musical interests. Matt was originally asked to drum on a demo for ‘skylines and turnstiles’ and became a member after hearing what had been made. Next to join was ray toro as Gerard couldn't sing and play guitar at the same time (once getting kicked out of a band as a teenager because his guitar skills were more than lackluster). Ray Toro was in 2 previous bands with Gerard Way, Ray Gun Jones and Nancy Drew, both being short lived. Ray actually took some convincing as he was playing drums in another band called Dead Go West and had mostly given up on guitar, focusing more on film and editing at the time, however, after Gerard had asked him to have a jam session, the spark for guitar was reignited within Ray after not playing for around a year and a half and he joined the band officially.
They recorded some demos in Matt's attic, “skylines and turnstiles”, “cubicles" and “bring more knives” (which would later become known as ‘Our Lady Of Sorrows’). They are referred to as the ‘Attic Demos’.
Mikey joined soon after as the band needed a bassist and he wanted to be in the band after hearing what had been made already. Mikey dropped out of college and learnt the bass in a week just to be with my chem (which at the time, was yet to be named). He did this after a failed attempt to join Pencey Prep, Frank Iero's previous band.
Their name was found when Mikey, who worked in a Barnes and Noble at the time, found a book titled ‘Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance’ by Irvine Welsh. Mikey brought the name ‘My Chemical Romance’ forward,and it was chosen.
And so the band was formed.
The recordings were then taken to eyeball records’ own Alex Saavedra who worked with the band during their beginnings. The band also sent a very early demo of ‘vampires will never hurt you’ to Geoff Rickly, who would later produce the album along with previously mentioned Alex Saavedra as assistant producer.
The band played their first show on October 1st, 2001. MCR was opening for another band, Element101, and while the full setlist is unknown, it is confirmed they played a demo of ‘skylines and turnstiles’ and a cover of Morrissey’s ‘jack the ripper’.
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My chemical romance has a lot of influences. For the purpose of this essay to be as truthful and honest as possible, I will only be using quotes I can confirm are from the members.
Gerard Way has stated “we love bands like Queen, where it's huge and majestic, but also bands like Black Flag and the Misfits, who would go absolutely crazy". He also responded “Iron Maiden, Misfits, Black Flag, Classical music, Brit-pop, At The Gates, The Descendants, umm, [AAAA] who else, Pantera.” when asked who MCR’s influences were in 2003.
Frank iero is quoted in saying “When it came time for me to go and find out about my own stuff, I think I gravitated towards the DIY punk rock and hardcore uh that was happening in Jersey and New York at the time.”