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A January Romance.

The sun is starting to set early on a particularly chilly winter’s day in New York City, but the day is just beginning for those who sit in the tour bus behind the Roseland Ballroom venue. The atmosphere is anxious; in a mere two hours, The January Meltdown and My Chemical Romance will be taking the stage one after the other. ‘It’s like this every night,’ January Meltdown front woman Abbey Talent explains of the tense air of the bus. ‘Everyone seems to withdraw into their shells to mentally prepare themselves, I suppose.’ Of all the people on the bus, she and the young man sitting to her right seem the least nervous.
Frank Iero, My Chemical Romance’s rhythm guitarist, nods agreeably at Talent’s remark. ‘You have to get yourself into that state of mind. You never want to let a crowd down any night of the week. So there’s this pressure you always feel before you get up on stage. But once you get up there, it doesn’t even matter anymore, and you wonder why you were even worried in the first place.’

So you admit that you feel a certain amount of pressure to make every show a special one?
Frank: Definitely.
Abbey: And it’s not only based on the fact that you owe it to the fans to make it special. You owe it to yourselves too. The fact is that we’re lucky people even want to come to our shows, so it’s up to us to ultimately be grateful for that and have the time of our lives up on that stage.

So, are you having the time of your lives up there onstage?
Abbey: Without a doubt. The day I stop loving this is the day I’ll give it up, because that’s when it will stop being fun for everyone.
Frank: Well, that’s exactly right. We don’t do this for anything other than the pleasure of writing, creating and performing. I think if we stopped enjoying it the fans would see that. It’d be like a chain reaction.

It becomes apparent quite quickly that these two are not the typical rock superstars who are in the business to throw their televisions out of hotel windows; their love for performing far exceeds any childish fantasies they have about the rockstar lifestyle.

So let’s talk about this particular tour. How did an MCR/TJM tour come about?
Frank: To be honest, it’s weird that we hadn’t done this sooner.
Abbey: I mean, yeah, we’ve played at the same festivals together, so we’ve essentially toured together, but not like this. Not like some big, weird, faux leather-clad family.
[They both laugh at this and explain that they are both vegetarians]
Frank: I think it was all about the timing. They [TJM] were just coming back from their first major tour and we were about to release our album, so I basically begged our people to let us take them. To be honest it didn’t take that much convincing. But I was willing to get down on my knees. [He laughs] I just had to take my best friend with me.

But hadn’t you planned to tour in the Summer?
Frank: Yeah, but unfortunately, circumstances got in the way of that plan.

Are you referring to the loss of The January Meltdown’s keyboardist, Darcey Talent?
Abbey: It wouldn’t have been right to go on tour in the wake of such a terrible loss. Darcey’s death affected everyone in the band, and I think we needed some time to pull ourselves together. There was talk of breaking up the band, but we knew Darcey wouldn’t have wanted that. So we got our sh*t together and here we are. The grief is still excruciating for us, we miss her every day, but this is like therapy for us. It makes getting through without her that little bit easier.

At this statement, Iero puts his hand supportively on Talent’s knee. Iero and Talent are clearly very close. Upon my arrival in the tour bus, I witnessed them bickering over the last piece of bread left onboard. Their very obvious chemistry makes one wonder if there is truth to the rumours that these two tiny (just over 5’0, to be exact) rockstars are dating.

Do you think that your choosing to tour together has further fuelled the rumours that the two of you are dating?
[Upon the asking of this question they both burst into hysterical laughter]
Frank: You know, I’ve seen her naked and it was completely involuntary on my part. She looks awesome without her clothes on, but there’s just no way.
Abbey: And I don’t date guys as small as him. Read into that whatever you wish.
Frank: Look, in all seriousness, I love this girl with my whole heart, but all we will ever be is friends, and we like it that way. I feel the same way about her as I do about Gerard [MCR’s lead singer]. She’s like one of the boys to me.
Abbey: He’s like a big brother. Who I would probably do if I was drunk enough. But I’ve been sober for months, so that’s not happening on the near horizon.
Frank: Yeah, she’s one of the boys, but I’d let her go me with her huge d*ck.

You used to date Mikey [MCR bassist], Abbey. Does that make things awkward?
Abbey: Not at all. Obviously, initially we had to readjust, but Mikey has always been a great friend of mine; I think he’s one of the funniest, sweetest dudes I know, so we were always going to get back into the swing of being friends again after we dated. We enjoy each other’s company far too much to be petty.

That’s a breath of fresh air: a young woman in the public eye behaving maturely about a break up.
Abbey: I just don’t see the point in pulling out the claws. I mean, there was a reason why we gravitated towards each other in the first place. I hate it when I turn on some bad chat show and see some sixteen year old girl talking sh*t about some eighteen year old dude who she dated for three months and wrote five million songs about. I don’t badmouth even my worst enemies on television, let alone someone I cared about at one point or another. And I definitely don’t use their names if I ever write a song about someone. I mean, people can speculate all they want, but when an artist tries to take away another artist’s credibility, it’s ultimately that artist who really loses their credibility. Plus, I just hate it when people flaunt their personal lives all over the media.

Okay, we have to ask though. Is there some truth to the rumours about you and Gerard Way?
Frank: No, Gerard and I are not dating.
[They both laugh]
Abbey: Wow, I’m dating the whole band [MCR] according to your sources! What are the rumours about Gerard Way and I?

Come on Abbey, are the two of you in a serious relationship? There has been months of speculation, give us something!
Abbey: Alright. All I’ll say is we’ve been dating for a while, and we’re really happy.
Frank: I can second that, far too much moaning comes from Gerard’s bunk nowadays.
[Talent throws Iero a reproachful look]

How about an easier question? Are you responsible for the change in Gerard’s hair colour?
[Both of them laugh]
Abbey: You mean back to black? No, he just wanted to match his boyfriend. [She gestures to Frank]

Now, to address the most important rumour...

There have been whispers of a new album for The January Meltdown in the next few months. Is there any truth to this claim?
Abbey: Let’s just say that this tour bus has a built-in recording studio for a reason.

So why the “January Romance” title? Quite simply, because it becomes evident after a couple of hours on this bus that the mixture of these bands, and people, is a match made in heaven. And because, although Abbey is intent on being coy about her relationship with Gerard Way, the smile they share when he enters the kitchen for a quick cup of coffee says more than this article ever could. It is undeniable that these two bands and their members are in a good place; Talent and Iero’s jubilant natures are a testament to that. They seem light-hearted, free, and intent on giving the kids a good show.

Any parting words for anyone reading this article?
Frank: Well, I suppose we just want to let the fans know how happy we are. We’re doing so well, and having the time of our lives, so we’re hoping we can transfer that feeling to you on this tour.
Abbey: The worst is definitely over. I know it was touch and go there for a while, but we made it through. The January Meltdown, especially – me, namely – are lucky to have such dedicated fans who have stuck with us through the tough times. The best is yet to come. But don’t quote me on that; you never know, the next album could be a pile of sh*t.

My Chemical Romance and The January Meltdown are touring nationally in January and February. Tickets on sale through their official websites.