Frank Iero: "Am I Still Alive? Or Is This All Just A Weird Figment Of My Imagination?"

In an exclusive interview with Kerrang!, Frank Iero has opened up about his feelings of absence and the loss of self that have become part of his DNA since a devastating car accident in 2016. The mental impact of it has been severe.

“This [event] has absolutely, 100 per cent changed my life," Frank tells Kerrang!. "When you watch movies and people have these kinds of experiences, they’re usually like, ‘Oh, but now I feel great about it, because I could have died and everything’s awesome.’ I mean, I’d like to think that. So you’re left wondering, ‘Why don’t I feel like that?’”

Often reliving the experience in frightening detail, the struggle has been captured on Frank’s new song Six Feet Down Under, taken from his upcoming album Barriers (released May 31 via UNFD), in which he sings: ‘There’s a part of me that’s not sure if I’m here / Yeah, there’s a definite part of me that don’t believe in the now / And that’s just the start of it, ‘cause I ain’t convinced you’re all real’

“Is it possible that there’s these crossroads or branch-off moments where things could have gone one of two ways?” he asks Kerrang!. “And maybe there are different planes of existence where we didn’t make it. And this one where we did. And am I currently living in that one? I don’t know. Even in my therapy sessions, no-one can really answer all the questions that I have. Did I actually come out the other end? Am I still alive? Or is this all just a weird figment of my imagination? No-one can truthfully answer that question, or tell you that this is real.”

He continues: “I came to a resignation… Whether I believe it or I don’t, or I question it or not, I’m here, and I have to live in the world that I perceive to be the real world. You can’t just be like, ‘Oh well, this isn’t real. So, I’m gonna just start fucking going off, snorting rails and betting the house, because it doesn’t matter.’

“You have to accept this life and I’m thankful for this life, because I have my wife and my kids and my family… I’m making music that I really enjoy and I’m very lucky. If this is a figment of my imagination and I wake up at some point, I’m going to be so bummed. I listen to this record and I go, ‘Wow!’ but I think, ‘Well, this is the kind of record I could only make if I was actually dead and I did it all in my imagination!’ That’s where I’m at right now.”

Pick up the new issue of Kerrang! to get the full, emotional story behind Frank Iero's new album Barriers – in stores Wednesday May 15 and available to order from our online store.

Read this next:

• 15 things you probably didn't know about Frank Iero
• The changing faces of My Chemical Romance
• Old-school emo gems that deserve more modern-day love