‘Umbrella Academy’ star Aidan Gallagher interviews Gerard Way in new series
This week, The Umbrella Academy star Aidan Gallagher launched a new series on his YouTube channel with Gerard Way. Together, the duo has teamed up to discuss all things music-related.
In the first part of the interview, Way opened up about his recording studio and working with producer, engineer and longtime friend Doug McKean.
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Gallagher may be known best as Number Five in The Umbrella Academy, but he juggles many other projects outside of the Netflix show. Along with acting, Gallagher is also a musician and has put various singles over the years including “For You,” “I Love You” and, more recently “4th Of July.”
Earlier this week, Gallagher took a break from filming season 3 of The Umbrella Academy to post a brief interview with Way on his YouTube channel. During the first part of their discussion, the duo talked in-depth about recording studio setups and equipment. As well, Way opened up about sharing a recording studio with McKean who is the engineer behind both My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade and Danger Days.
McKean has also worked on Way’s solo music over the years including producing “Dasher,” Way’s 2018 holiday collab with the Regrettes vocalist Lydia Night and 2018’s “Getting Down The Germs” with Ray Toro. He also engineered and produced Way’s debut solo album Hesitant Alien.
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Way tells Gallagher that McKean always has great instincts when it comes to recording music. As a result, they often find themselves keeping demos because they just don’t compare to later versions they record.
“I guess everything we’ve [him and Doug] done in a way, it like starts kind of like a demo,” Way tells Gallagher. “But it’s amazing how much of that original tracking carries over to the final track. I think the reason for that is [because] Doug has a really great ear. Even if you’re just doing a demo he takes it super seriously from a sonic perspective, you know? We don’t take ourselves super seriously, but if we’re getting a guitar sound, he wants to make sure it’s a great guitar sound that fits the vibe of what we’re working on. So, he’ll dial that in [and] a lot of times in the past when we’ve tried to re-track things, it doesn’t beat the original.”
Part one of Way and Gallagher’s conversation is available to stream below.
More on The Umbrella Academy and My Chemical Romance
Filming for season 3 of The Umbrella Academy only began last month, but plenty of details about the new episodes have already been revealed. In January, fans finally met the actors playing the members of the Sparrow Academy. As showrunner Steve Blackman previously confirmed, season 3 picks up right after that massive season 2 cliffhanger.
After returning from Dallas in the ’60s, the dysfunctional Hargreeves siblings think they’re back in the present time. However, as Number Five warned, their tampering with time travel has consequences. As a result, Sir Reginald Hargreeves went on the create the Sparrow Academy instead of the Umbrella Academy. The powerful group includes six new individuals along with Ben Hargreeves who is completely different from the character fans loved in previous seasons.
No. 1 or Marcus is being portrayed by Justin Cornwell while Justin H. Min’s Ben is returning as No. 2 in the Sparrow Academy. Britne Oldford is portraying No. 3 or Fei and Jake Epstein is taking on the role of Alphonso, also referred to as No. 4. Some fans many recognize Epstein for his long on-screen portrayal as the teen heartthrob Craig Manning on Degrassi: The Next Generation.
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The Sparrow Academy’s No. 5 or Sloane is being played by Genesis Rodriguez and Cazzie David is Jayme or No. 6. However, the Sparrow Academy’s No. 7 is raising some eyebrows. The final member of the academy is Christopher, an “existential dread-inducing psykronium cube.”
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Currently, the actor behind this mysterious cube is unknown. However, Deadline reports that the character will have a voice. All of this has led to speculation Way may finally make his highly-requested cameo in the series and appear as No. 7. So far, however, nothing has been confirmed.
As filming for season 3 got closer, The Umbrella Academy began sharing even more behind-the-scenes details. Back in January, Min confirmed that the first table read-through for the season had happened. Shortly after, Min shared a few videos on Instagram of him uniting with his new Sparrow Academy family for production rehearsals.
210126 IG story pic.twitter.com/DH12Jq7syd
— 유죄_GIF (@justinhmin_gif) January 25, 2021
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When production for the new season finally began, the Sparrow Academy assembled to show off some new attire. All of the members except for the actor voicing Christopher teased the start of filming with matching jackets that have the Sparrow Academy’s logo on the front. Of course, many fans have already seen this new symbol thanks to that difficult season 2 Easter egg hunt.
“Let the games begin,” Min said on Instagram.
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In mid-February, Elliot Page confirmed he was back on the set of The Umbrella Academy. He posted a cryptic photo of a director’s chair with the new season 3 logo. Page captioned the image with “OMG we’re back again,” which is a reference to Backstreet Boys‘ iconic song “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).” It’s also a callback to season 2 when Robert Sheehan’s Klaus incorporated pop song lyrics such as these throughout the episodes.
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Last week, Page also opened up about returning to the series’ set after coming out as transgender and non-binary in December. For Blackman, the cast and crew have seen a big change in Page since filming began.
“It seems like there’s a tremendous weight off his shoulders, a feeling of comfort,” Blackman tells Time. “There’s a lightness, a lot more smiling.”
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As for My Chemical Romance, they sent fans into a theory frenzy this month when they dropped new merch with Hot Topic. Their latest T-shirts feature a slew of new symbols and imagery that some fans think may be hinting at an upcoming announcement. Shortly after the merch launched at Hot Topic, however, it disappeared from the retailer’s website.
According to the MCR Reddit thread, Hot Topic’s Customer Care said that the merch disappeared online because it sold out quickly. However, some of the items may be available at local locations. As well, it’s unknown if the items will be restocked on Hot Topic’s website in the future.
“Unfortunately, the new merch of My Chemical Romance went out of stock fast, we do not have an estimated time of arrival for these items,” Hot Topic’s Customer Care says in an email. “Since we are not always certain if the items will be coming back online, you are welcome to check inventory at your local store.”
Additionally, one of My Chemical Romance’s U.K. shows was officially postponed. MCR were set to kick off their rescheduled return tour on June 15 in St. Austell, England. However, this Eden Sessions show has now been postponed for the second time. Currently, the Eden Project has not announced a new rescheduled date. As well, it’s unknown if future dates of My Chemical Romance’s return tour may be postponed in the future.
As it stands, My Chemical Romance’s return is set to begin June 17 in Milton Keynes. This date was originally the first show the band announced after their reunion concert in Los Angeles. Due to popular demand, two more shows at Stadium MK were eventually added after the dates quickly sold out. Ticketing information is available here.
My Chemical Romance tour dates:
06/17/2021 – Milton Keynes, UK @Stadium MK (SOLD OUT)
06/19/2021 – Milton Keynes, UK @ Stadium MK (SOLD OUT)
06/20/2021 – Milton Keynes, UK @ Stadium MK (SOLD OUT)
06/22/2021 – Dublin, IE @ Royal Hospital Kilmainham
07/02/2021 – Prague, CZ @ Sinobo Stadium
07/04/2021 – Bologna, IT @ Sonic Park Fest
07/06/2021 – Bonn, DE @ KUNST!RASEN (SOLD OUT)
07/07/2021 – Bonn, DE @ KUNST!RASEN
07/09/2021 – Kiev, UA @ U Park Live
07/11/2021 – Moscow, RU @ Park Live Festival 2021
07/12/2021 – St. Petersburg, RU @ Ice Palace
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09/08/2021 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center (SOLD OUT)
09/09/2021 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena (SOLD OUT)
09/11/2021 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center (SOLD OUT)
09/13/2021 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden (SOLD OUT)
09/15/2021 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena (SOLD OUT)
09/16/2021 – St Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center (SOLD OUT)
09/18/2021 – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest
09/19/2021 – Atlanta, GA @ Music Midtown
09/21/2021 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center (SOLD OUT)
09/22/2021 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center (SOLD OUT)
09/25/2021 – Sunrise, FL @ BB&T Center (SOLD OUT)
09/28/2021 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center (SOLD OUT)
09/29/2021 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center (SOLD OUT)
10/01/2021 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena (SOLD OUT)
10/03/2021 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome (SOLD OUT)
10/06/2021 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena (SOLD OUT)
10/08/2021 – Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena (SOLD OUT)
10/09/2021 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
10/11/2021 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum (SOLD OUT)
10/12/2021 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum (SOLD OUT)
10/14/2021 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum (SOLD OUT)
10/17/2021 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum (SOLD OUT)
11/06/2021 – Western Springs, NZ @ The Outer Fields at Western Springs
What are your thoughts on Aidan Gallagher’s new interview series with Gerard Way? What do you want to see the duo talk about? Let us know in the comments below.
