Gerard Way
Gerard Way's solo record feels "British".
The former My Chemical Romance frontman has promised fans his forthcoming LP will be very different to his work with the band because he has been influenced by a host of UK acts such as Supergrass, Blur, and Gang of Four.
He said: "The sound of it is rooted in a lot in shoegaze, also Britpop -- the whole thing largely feels like a British album.
"I was going for a lot of things that were completely new to me. Even the way we attacked the vocals and tried to make them sound was very different from ways that I had ever been recorded."
Gerard is particularly pleased with the lack of "compression" on his vocals on the new album, especially when compared with his work in the band.
He added to NME magazine: "My vocals over the years have been so used to being triple tracked and quadruple harmonized and compressed to s**t.
"But we didn't do that. A lot of the time it's a single vocal, which is cool."
The 'Teenagers' rocker will debut his new material at the Reading and Leeds festivals in August and thinks it was right to make his first live solo appearance in the UK because audiences there have always been supportive.
He explained: "This was the first place to get us, to fully understand My Chemical Romance, and I feel like it's going to be the same situation here.
"I think in the States, it's going to be a bit of a fight -- I think it's going to be a bit of a fight here too, for different reasons, because it always should be a fight. But I think just the influences alone, because they're so rooted here, it needed to be set off here."