BLACK GOLD: My Chemical Romance's (from left) Frank Iero, Bob Bryar, Gerard Way, Ray Toro and Mikey Way enjoy giving their fans a visual and aural experience in the increasingly elaborate live performances.

So it's no wonder that the New Jersey-based band's latest offering, The Black Parade, has just gone platinum, having sold over 15,000 copies in Singapore alone, and nearly 2 1/2 million copies worldwide.

Not that fame has gone to the heads of these angst exponents, whose emo style derives from the youth subculture of emo, short for 'emotional'. In fact, guitarist Ray Toro, 29, sounds very together, rather than emotional, as he chats with Life! in a recent phone interview from Los Angeles.

He insists: 'We're still all the same five guys before the band started. We're still geeks, we play video games, we like to relax and just hang out with each other.'

The others making up those 'same five guys' are Gerard Way (vocals), 30, Frank Iero (guitar), 25, Bob Bryar (drums), 27, and Mikey Way (bass), 26, who is Gerard's younger brother.

Well, scrub Mikey. He is taking a break for a while, having got hitched in March to Alicia Simmons, and they are now on their honeymoon. Replacing him in the line-up is Matt Cortez, the band's guitar 'techie', whose usual job is checking guitars before a show.

Speaking about Way's absence, Toro said: 'It's kinda weird, we definitely miss him, but he needed some time off. It's difficult to do certain things in a band, like hanging out with the wife. He's happier now.'

They may consider themselves geeks who hang out with each other, but they happen to belong to one of the world's hottest bands whose showmanship and melodramatic looks - think lashings of eyeliner, dark clothes and brooding intensity - have spawned a renewed interest in such post-1980s punk posturing.

Not long after MCR cracked MTV's Total Request Live charts in 2004, an onslaught of similar-looking bands such as Panic! At The Disco and Aiden began to infiltrate mainstream charts.

Fans closely follow their distinctive look - in fact, when Gerard Way dyed his hair platinum blond to get in character for The Patient, the fictitious character whom The Black Parade is based on, many fans reckoned he was selling out.

Toro laughs it off, saying: 'Well, I guess they must be happier now that he's dyed it black again.'

The band's live performances have also become increasingly elaborate. Recent shows have begun with Gerard Way being wheeled on stage on a hospital gurney.

Why do they feel a need to put on such elaborate shows?

Toro explains: 'It's not so much necessary, but it's just to bring fun to the show. Especially since for The Black Parade, there are a lot of visual elements in it. We just want to give fans a show worth their money; it's a visual and aural experience.'

He can't give any definite dates on when MCR will perform in Singapore, but he does not see a reason it can't happen, saying: 'We'd love to go to every part of the world.'

MCR might be chart-toppers but this does not mean that they think they are better than any other band. Toro reveals that, given a chance, he would gladly work with guitar greats Eric Clapton and Brian May from Queen, and British band Muse because 'they're all great guys, they're geniuses and they're all down-to-earth'.

But just being a regular Joe is becoming increasingly difficult for the band these days. Toro laments: 'Sometimes when you try to do private things, like going for dinner with your girlfriend, you'll have a huge group of fans just following you around. It can be difficult. I'd much rather they just ask for our autographs and that's fine.'

While the incessant gaggle of fans trailing them can be annoying, MCR don't take their fans for granted. With genuine sincerity, Toro says: 'We just want to say thank you to kids who have never even been to our live performances but still support us.'

And to their Singaporean fans?

He promises: 'We're gonna get there soon.'

xuelingh@sph.com.sg