FORMER My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way’s debut UK tour sold out in less than five minutes, which has prompted extra dates – including the show at Southampton Guildhall tonight.

This follows the release of his eagerly anticipated solo album Hesitant Alien.

Working with producer Doug McKean, Way knew immediately what he wanted the album to sound like. “I wanted to make the small things sound big,” he says. “My intention was to make 100 per cent uncompromised art, using the currently least radio-friendly instrument, the guitar.

“I knew there would be lots of fuzz pedals. I knew I would play Fender instruments. I knew I would look at who my guitar heroes were in art school, Mary Timony and Carrie Brownstein, and I drew a lot of influence from shoe-gaze and Britpop.”

Lyrically, Way wrote about what he knew at the time, “which was struggle, beginnings, finding a newness in the mundane and the abstract”, he says. “I looked to the Britpop poets like Jarvis Cocker and Damon Albarn, drawing upon everyday life. I also experimented with the abstract, and looked at Frank Black’s work both with the Pixies, and as a solo artist. There was no concept and no call-to-arms.”

The critics have been raving about Gerard: “The world needs rockstars. And Gerard has proved himself to be one of the best.” – Kerrang!

“Reinvents himself with shades of Britpop and Bowie… Gerard Way has wiped the slate clean and started afresh, with invigorating results.” – NME “A confident, swaggering set of songs packed with joie de vivre.” – The Guardian The support act tonight is No Devotion.

For more information visit gerardway.com.