"Offstage is just... different"—Gerard Way confides feelings of seclusion to fans

January 13, 2016

Over the weekend, Gerard Way announced that he would be taking time away from Twitter in order to focus on “new things” that “require a lot of work and full attention, not unlike making albums.”

During the time since, however, it seems as though Way has second-guessed the move due to feelings of isolation he has long harbored—from living in a basement and drawing, to defending himself from strangeness and feelings of mistrust within the industry. He has shared a series of tweets explaining his newfound thoughts, which you can read below.

Way clarifies that this is not a reaction to negativity online, something he calls “white noise” that is”so minimal that it barely needs mentioning.”

So leaving Twitter has made me more isolated than I normally am, which is already a lot.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

There's positivity that needs to be spread, good vibes and all that. Maybe it's about finding a better balance.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

So I've decided to figure out a way to use this website that works for me. That may mean tweeting less, we will see.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

I'm not isolated in some ways, I have my family that makes me feel connected. But in every other way I am very closed off.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

And that can't be good for a person

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

Not that social media is the best or healthiest way to interact with other humans, but if you close yourself off-sometimes it's all you have

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

Why do I isolate? I don't know I've always kind of done that. Even before having a band I kept to a dark basement, drawing comics

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

Then, being in a band made that worse, and it got worse the bigger the band got. Always around people, who do you trust?

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

People have said a lot of weird things to me over the years. My defense is to seclude myself.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

On stage, everything makes sense. When I make art it makes sense. Offstage is just…different.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

I'm not in peril. Just opening up about some personal things. There are a lot of personal things I don't talk about, mostly for the best.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

And this also has nothing to do with negativity. That stuff is minimal and turned into white noise over the years…meaningless

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

It's also so minimal that it barely needs mentioning. I think over the last few years we understand each other better.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

Mitch helps a lot too, we are getting him a friend

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

Thanks for listening. I'm going to go have my feelings about David Bowie and try to process that some more.

— Gerard Way (@gerardway) January 13, 2016

During his reflection, he also related with a few Twitter users about the nuance of working alone as an artist.