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News: Gerard Way Announces First Solo U.S. Tour

2 min read

(U.S.) Fresh off his weekend performances at the Reading and Leeds festivals in England, former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way has announced that he will hit the road for a string of U.S. tour dates in October performing songs from his upcoming solo debut album, Hesitant Alien, which will be released on September 30th by Warner Bros. Records.

Rolling Stone remarked of the eight songs from Hesitant Alien that Way revealed during his Reading Festival set: “snappy, catchy songs delivered with arty panache.” Way will also perform four shows in Australia for the Soundwave Festival in February 2015.

Hesitant Alien is now available for pre-order from all digital retailers. Exclusive album bundles are also available for pre-order at GerardWay.com. Those who pre-order the album will receive the track “No Shows” instantly as a free download.

Working with producer Doug McKean, Way knew immediately what he wanted Hesitant Alien to sound like. “I wanted to make the small things sound big,” he says. “My intention was to make 100 percent uncompromised art, using the currently least radio-friendly instrument, the guitar. I knew there would be lots of fuzz pedals. I knew I would play Fender instruments. I knew I would look at who my guitar heroes were in art school, Mary Timony and Carrie Brownstein, and I drew a lot of influence from shoe-gaze and Britpop. I want the record to sonically galvanize people.” Hesitant Alien was mixed by Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys).

Lyrically, Way wrote about what he knew at the time, “which was struggle, beginnings, finding a newness in the mundane and the abstract,” he says. “I looked to the Britpop poets like Jarvis Cocker and Damon Albarn, drawing upon everyday life. I also experimented with the abstract, and looked at Frank Black’s work both with the Pixies, and as a solo artist. There was no concept and no call-to-arms.”

Tickets for the U.S. dates go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, August 27.

10/12 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
10/13 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
10/14 – Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theatre
10/17 – Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero Theatre
10/19 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
10/20 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
10/22 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
10/23 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
02/21 – Adelaide, AUS – Soundwave Festival
02/22 – Melbourne, AUS – Soundwave Festival
02/28 – Sydney, AUS – Soundwave Festival
03/01 – Brisbane, AUS – Soundwave Festival

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