Gerard Way went back to MCR roots making Netflix show songs

Gerard Way has compared making music for ‘The Umbrella Academy’ to his My Chemical Romance days.
The 41-year-old musician-and-author and his old bandmate Ray Toro have recorded covers of ‘Hazy Shade Of Winter’ by Simon & Garfunkel and The Turtles’ ‘Happy Together’ for Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’, which is based on his comic book series of the same name, and it was fun for them both going back to their roots.
The ‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’ hitmaker, says that preparing the material has been "more work" to his solo stuff, but he’s enjoyed the collaborative experience, which has been "refreshing" for the band’s former frontman.
He told the latest issue of Kerrang! magazine: "It’s a bit more work, because it’s for something cinematic.
"It’s not that it has to reach a higher level, it’s just that it’s a different level.
"The solo stuff is just kind of up to me, and what I want that to convey, or what nature it has. Whereas with the show, everybody has to really be blown away by it.
"So maybe, in a way, it’s more a little bit of what Ray [Toro] and I and the guys in My Chem used to do; we apply a little bit more of that to what we do in these cover songs for Umbrella Academy."
Gerard says he’s able to apply his "wisdom and knowledge’ that he’s acquired over the years to the project.
He continued: "It’s actually really nice to go back and do something like you once did it, because you have more experience and wisdom and knowledge.
"As you get older you bring all these things the way you used to do.
"It’s refreshing at times – especially if you’re doing a bunch of experimental things. It’s refreshing to go back to your core, and your roots, of what you used to do, and apply your new knowledge to that."
Despite enjoying a trip down memory lane, Gerard has no plans to reunite with his bandmates.
The ‘Teenagers’ rockers – also comprised of Frank Iero and Mikey Way – went their separate ways in 2013 and though they have been inundated with offers to get back together and the singer "misses" working with his bandmates, he recently admitted it is unlikely to happen.
He said: "We definitely get offers regularly to reunite – it’s a constant thing…It’s flattering, it’s really nice of people…I miss playing with the guys, but I don’t think so."