Frank Iero has not simply sat still since the breakup of his former band, My Chemical Romance. The musician has become a father for the third time, started a new band called Death Spells, released a two-track release entitled For Jamia…, and most recently released Stomachaches, put out under the name Frnkiero and the Cellabration, a solo project with a touring band.
His newest project recently began touring, and one of their earliest stops was Riot Fest over the weekend. After performing at his first festival with this project, Iero sat down with The DePaulia to discuss his new band, and how he approaches music differently now.
The DePaulia: What was behind the name choice of ‘and the Cellabration’?
Frank Iero: Haha, well I wanted to signify it wasn’t just me and an acoustic guitar, so I wanted to name the band. I guess it was my homage to like Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. But I also thought I never wanted to be a frontman. Some people are really good at it like “Hey, how’s everybody doing?” and saying dumb things that to me always felt really empty, and it’s not something I do, so I thought maybe if I name the band something really outgoing, people will get fooled and forget that I’m not. Plus it also reminded me of The Birthday Party so I thought that was kind of awesome.
DePaulia: When you started your former bands, My Chemical Romance and Pencey Prep, you weren’t married and you had no kids. Now that you’ve started Frnkiero and the Cellabration [married with three children], what’s the difference in how you approach this project?
FI: I feel like back then you could be more selfish and just dedicate every second of your consciousness to what you’re doing, and building your band, and doing all these things. These days, the band is a priority, but it’s kind of silly compared to the things in life that are really important. It’s also a lot harder to be away for so long. So I think you try to do it smarter when you’re a parent, rather than harder. I think early on we made it harder on ourselves, partly because we didn’t know what we were doing.
Right now I am living my dream. I mean, who wouldn’t want to do this? I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid. I don’t want to stop, necessarily, but now there are other things that are more important.
DePaulia: What was your motivation behind making this record [Stomachaches]?
FI: That’s a hard question to answer, because I feel like I wasn’t necessarily making a record when I was making it. I was just writing songs and recording them for me. I didn’t really think about what people would think about it, or how it would come out, or anything like that, until way after the fact. A friend of mine was like “Can I play it for some people?” and I reluctantly said yeah, and some people really enjoyed it for what it was, and wanted me to do a record. I had never really thought about it that way, but I was like “Okay, that would be fun to try.”
DePaulia: Why did you choose Riot Fest to play your fifth show and first festival show at?
FI: I played it last year with a friend of mine [James Dewees of Reggie and the Full Effect] and I played bass. I just had so much fun. I got to watch so many bands, like The Replacements. I got to see The Replacements. This is also one of the best put together festivals that I’ve seen. I feel like the US is kind of a little bit behind the ball on them, like the UK and Europe, they’ve been doing it like this forever, and they really have it down to a science. But this festival, in particular, has really done a great job with everything. Everything is running smoothly on time, the people who are working the stages are knowledgable and helpful, and aren’t pricks, which is really refreshing and nice, and so when it came up again I wanted to play.
DePaulia: And why Riot Fest Chicago in particular? Or did it just work out with scheduling?
FI: Pretty much. It was also the fest I played last year, which was a lot of fun.
DePaulia: Yeah I saw that set! It was awesome.
FI: Oh, thank you!
DePaulia: So what were you most excited about in regards to playing Riot Fest today?
FI: Seeing bands.
DePaulia: What bands are you seeing today?
FI: Television, which I hope I don’t miss, absolutely. I’ve gotta see Anthony [Green of Saosin and Circa Survive] of course, Afghan Whigs I really want to see, Paul Weller, Wu Tang Clan of course, The Flaming Lips, Samhain oh my god, Descendents. It stinks too because I really wanted to see Waaves, Anti-Flag and the Orwells, but we’re all playing around the same time. I was sad when I heard The Cure wasn’t playing our day, but I think they’re playing our day in Denver, so I’m really excited about that. I’ve never seen them before, so I’m so excited.
DePaulia: I feel like the sound in Stomachaches has evolved from your previous bands. What were your influences for the sound in this new record, and do you hope that fans of your older bands have in a way evolved with you?
FI: I was thinking that it sort of devolved, you know what I mean? At least when I listen to the record, I hear a lot of my past in it. I wrote a lot about past experiences, and I feel like some of the music actually reflects that too, so I see that a lot. If I had to describe the record as a whole, to me, do you kind of see it as a folk record? It’s very based upon stories that either happened to me or people that I grew up with.
DePaulia: Okay, I can see that.
FI: But yeah I haven’t really thought much about like younger people getting into it, or people that were into other things [Leathermouth, MCR, Pencey Prep] finding it now. I think if when I started making this, knowing that it would become a record I would have, but the fact that I didn’t think about that kind of made it easy for me to just be, as opposed to have any expectations.
DePaulia: I read that you wrote this album as a way of pain management [Iero suffers with stomach issues]. Of course you are a musician, but why did you choose writing the album as opposed to something else?
FI: It wasn’t just writing songs, it was to be creative in any way. I did some painting, I did a lot of writing short stories and publishing stuff like that. Any time I created something that I felt good about, I could ride that high for a little while, so it’s just kind of in my DNA to do that I guess. You know, if I were a mason I’d probably be like “Oh, I feel bad I’m going to go build a wall,” it’s the same kind of thing. I just needed to be creative, because if I wasn’t creating I felt dead inside anyway and that was compounded by the way I felt physically.
DePaulia: Okay, last question. When are you going to come back to Chicago? I was so excited to see you guys perform today, but I was in the line to get into the festival for an hour and a half.
FI: Haha, yeah I hope we’ll be back really soon.
DePaulia: Thank you so much.
FI: Thank you.