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Lead singer Patrick Stump and guitarist Joe Trohman — along with Pete Wentz and Andy Hurley — make up Fall Out Boy. And, yes, Trohman shops for his own groceries. In case you were wondering. |
For Fall Out Boy, it's better late than never. The emo-rock quartet, which was supposed to play Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on April 25, postponed its Honda Civic Tour because of “personal issues.” Apparently, those issues have been resolved, as Fall Out Boy — along with a handful of acts that include Paul Wall and +44 — is set to play Wednesday, June 20. The band is touring in support of its latest release, Infinity on High, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 in February. Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman recently talked to 210SA.
Are you surprised that Fall Out Boy has become this successful in such a short period of time?
I guess. We've been a band for six years ..... I am surprised that we got real big, real fast in the last couple of years. We've also toured in abandoned trailers, digging in the bottom of the barrel, and that's how you're supposed to do it. Part of (our success) is deserved, and maybe part of it is undeserved. It's hard to say, but it seems insane. It's easy to look back when we were sleeping on floors because we didn't think about (mainstream success), but it's cool for me to look back and see where we are now.
As we speak, you're grocery shopping. Rock stars actually grocery shop?
I'm not sure how I should be acquiring food. I was eating out every night, but that's expensive to do. And half the time, for some reason, delivery just sucked.
When did you think Fall Out Boy was poised to break out?
When I heard (lead singer) Patrick (Stump) sing, I'd never heard anyone in a rock band sing that well. I started hanging out with him and realizing how his brain works. It works with music like someone works their right foot and their left foot, and I'd never been in a band with a guy like that before.
Were you concerned that Infinity on High would generate some backlash, considering some people are sure to resent your recent success?
That's just going to happen, and it's not even worth being worried about. People, even if they like it, will say they hate it and that's fine. It's a sad way to live your life. Some people really do hate us, and that's cool. You've got to take the good with the bad.
What's it like heading out on an outdoor headlining tour?
I like those venues that can't sell out, where they just open the lawn and see how it goes. My closest thing to an outdoor tour was the Warped Tour, and that (heat) was harsh. I like doing arenas, but I like different venues for different reasons. I'm not sure how it's going to be, but I love summer nights because there's something really cool about them. It's a cool atmosphere.
Fall Out Boy has often been lumped in with other bands of a similar sound. Does that bother you?
It's a thing we don't really concern ourselves with. If we were worried about that, then we wouldn't be writing good music. We'd be worried about what genre we go under, where this song is really emo and this song is a punk-rock song. (Labels) are up to the fans and the nonfans.
Jay-Z guest-starred on your latest album. What was it like collaborating with one of rap's heavyweights?
We knew we wanted him on the record, but we didn't know what. We put it out there, begged him to do it, and he said he would. We had the song “Thriller,” and we thought it would be really cool for him to give a state of the union type of intro. He was into the idea, but he was out of town, so we just sent him the track and he did some flowing over it.
How did bassist Pete Wentz become the unofficial spokesman for Fall Out Boy?
I don't think he was consciously taking the reins. Part of us was like, ‘you be the businessman, and you talk to people because we're not as good at doing that.' He was more experienced and had a couple of bands on indie labels. He knew how to deal with stuff, and it just escalated.
CLINT HALE | 210SA
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