Former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way has had a busy few years. In addition to putting out new sequels of his “The Umbrella Academy” comics, Way has been a part of Netflix transforming his comics into an acclaimed TV series.
Although the comics may seem like a sidestep away from Way’s music career, the My Chemical Romance star has revealed that music, in fact, played a very important part in his creation of the comics.
Speaking with NME, he explained that the music he was obsessively listening to during the writing process had shaped the “feel” of the comics.
“When I wrote the first book, I was listening obsessively to Teenage Fanclub, the Pixies and Smashing Pumpkins, and I think the influence of those records – and the feel of those records – are in the comics,” he explained. “With the TV show, I didn’t have a lot of input – Steve came to it with a pretty clear idea of the music he wanted to use. When he writes scripts, he includes songs as he goes, a bit like [Guardians Of The Galaxy director] James Gunn does.”
He continued: “Moving forward though, if we get a second season, I’ve said to Steve that I’d really like to get involved more there. I’m of the mind that when you have a big captive audience, you can introduce them to more left-of-center stuff. I’d always pick a song by a band like Wire or Gang Of Four over the sort of stuff Steve does, although I think he’s incredible at using songs you’ve heard before in really interesting ways.”
The Umbrella Academy has been renewed for a second season but no release date has yet been confirmed.
