"I wanted to give these songs their due"—Frank Iero chats with his vocal coach Deborah “Zuke” Smith

Prior to taking on the role of lead singer of Frnkiero Andthe Cellabration, Frank Iero says voice was something he'd only dabbled in, which is why it made sense for him to seek out his vocal coach Deborah “Zuke” Smith.

“I know that the voice is an instrument, and it was an instrument I didn’t really know much about. I felt like a phony getting up there and not knowing how to play it,” Iero told Zuke of his motivation to seek out a vocal coach, “I wouldn’t do that with guitar, so why would I do that with my voice?”

In this segment, Iero chats with Zuke about why he sought out her help to learn voice, what he has learned in his transition to the role of a lead vocalist, new techniques he's learned, how he learned to find his voice's “sweet spot” for writing songs and more.

Zuke, who has a long history in the musical world, works as a certified vocal coach in New Jersey, where her drive and mission, she says, are “an insatiable desire to give back what I learned over the years to my kids. There are two thoughts that keep me focused: I guide my students the way I would want someone to guide my daughter and be the teacher I always wish I had when I was younger. Mind you,I had phenomenal mentors, but I’m trying to be a smorgasbord of all of them!”