g.way at sva.

so, i just drove home from the school of visual arts in new york city to my place in new jersey and i just re-fell for gerard. i attended the lecture he was giving at his alma mater courtesy of a very good friend and pseudo-sister who is a photography major at sva. contrary to what we had heard, they didn't check student id's. rather, they gave out tickets to attendees as they walked into the building to see the lecture to guarantee them a seat. my good friend and current photography major at sva and another friend (who's a fan) and i got our tickets and went to the back of the line. after about a stuffy ten minutes in a small hallway, everyone filed into the room in an extremely orderly fashion. the room sat about 100 (according to my friend) and it didn't fill up at any point during the lecture. after sitting for about 10 minutes, gerard quietly walked into the room to a small round of applause wearing dark pants, a white button down shirt, a black tie and a jacket very reminiscent of the "i'm not okay" video, but with more embellishment. for the entire 1 hour and 11 minutes he spoke, i completely forgot he was GERARD WAY, frontman of mcr, and got completely wrapped up in gerard way, the regular pale guy who really likes comic books and holds an affinity for his professors at sva. he pointed out some familiar faces in the crowd, commented that SVA has always been stuffy and hot (indeed, it really was) and kept up the face smushes, nose swipes and talking out of the side of his mouth that we know so well. after his q&a--moderated by a former professor of his--he did a meet and greet with everyone and remained so nice throughout (we were pretty much the last to join the line). he spent as much time with each person as they wanted, signed copies of the umbrella academy and took pictures with everyone. it couldn't have been a better time. he discussed a potential comic book written AND drawn by him, the second installment of the umbrella academy, his favorite silent films and his feelings about garfield (yes, somebody asked. and no, he's not really into it.). below, i've listed some quotes i found particularly amusing/intriguing. i hope you enjoy them (sidenote: i taped the session, i just have to figure out how to get that onto a computer. if i ever can). he was candid and awesome and cursed a lot. here are some quotes, tips and tricks on how to get into the art business and general points of interest. did you know he can tie a cherry stem into a knot with his tongue?!

(On the Xmen) You could never take a picture of them. How nuts is that?
They're like the Amish.

(He played the snare in band camp and promptly quit)They're waking me up at 2a to play the drums? I couldn't believe it.

(On getting into the art business)You should never do anything for the money. Do what you're great at.
Be in it more for your passion than in it for the money.

(On doing an interview in an intimate setting) Playing in a rock band is different than this. I'm really shaking.

If I don't make it. I'm done. I'm never gonna make it. Kept chasing. No
gotta live have to make mistakes, suffer. Gotta put yourself out there.
No one ever really "makes it." You've got time. Still doing comics at 30 and
making lousy pages. Wish I had a professor to tell me to just chill out. If
you don't have anything to say, go find what it is that you have to
say.

(on why he didn't pursue the breakfast monkey. they wanted him to make pillowcases. some merch got carried away and he threw out the idea of breakfast monkey tampons. eeeesh) Breakfast monkey fucking pillowcase. A breakfast monkey tampon??!

Art is not bullshit.

(on working on more art after he got clean because he needed something to take up time) When you first get clean. Fucking burst of energy.
And you can't play warcraft all day
The show is fleeting it's gone

(on his favorite part of comics) I'm really attracted to fonts

(his favorite show. it's english and called )The prisoner. English show 13 episodes.

(on not being employed immediately out of college) If you suffer for a bit, you get a little desperate. When you go
forward, be careful what you sign. No matter how desperate you are to get
a bite, question what you get in the long run.

(apparently he didn't know he had a reputation about him) I'm considered a little gothy?

(on potentially sucking in art school) There will be a stretch where you could suck. But that's when you're really learning.

(on finding inspiration) Draw from an actual source. Don't draw from Tim Burton...because he'll be sad you copied from him and not his original inspriation.

(on his female characters in the umbrella academy) I didn't intentionally make the the two women in the book a profession liar and a villain.

Your least likely source is often the coolest.

(on why he didn't draw the cover for the umbrella academy) Drew an alternate cover. It was way past deadline and so late because paper got stolen. I think it was stolen in Russia. I thought I was in Detroit. Anyone from Russia? {one girl answered yes} You ever been to
Detroit? It's like Russia.

[There will never be an ]umbrella academy/mcr music video.

[if i could choose] Anyone in history to spend a day with...i would choose to spend it with my wife.

It's all winging it.

(on networking) Getting to know people, be sincere, not full of shit. People smell passion andbeing a good person. That's always going to win out. Network on a smaller scale.

(He had laid out a storyboard for the black parade video and it was almost made into an animated video, that's how detailed the board was. ) I'm inspired by life. Life is what's really going on.

(on the boundaries of scriptwriting and comic books) Novels there's never a limit, but there probably should be.

(getting into art)If you've got it, it's easy to break into, but it's hard to keep it.

(on the beginnings of MCR) Just wanted to be an amazing fucking live band. Wasn't sure we wouldplay again because we were careless about our bodies. If you can do something else that no one else can freaking do, you've gotit.


(on his secret talent) I can tie a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue.

so, there you go. i took notes on my sidekick. i hope you guys enjoyed a more candid and sort of all over the place gerard. it was great and made me remember that he's an actual person and not just a frontman. viva g.way!