LiveDaily.com recently conducted an interview with Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz. A few excerpts from the chat follow:
Rock band Fall Out Boy could play large venues in support of its forthcoming album "Infinity on High," but bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz hopes to teach fellow bands a lesson by gigging in clubs for diehard fans right out of the gate.
"I think it's arrogant for us to go out there and to assume that everybody loves our band and we're God's gift and that we don't have to go back out and earn it to some extent all over again," Wentz said during a recent phone interview. "To me, that's us sending a message to other bands--both bands we're friends with and bands that look up to us. You can't just sit there and let someone else do the work. You're going to have to go out and do that."
Fall Out Boy's new album, "Infinity on High," is due in stores Feb. 6.. The group debuted the first single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," at the American Music Awards, and it is streaming on the group's official Website.
LiveDaily: How's the tour going so far?
Pete Wentz: Ummm, Interesting.
Why do you say "interesting" so hesitantly?
It's a little weird. It's a lot of radio shows that we have to get up at 6 a.m. to fly places, and that does not bode well for us, because we go to bed at like 4 a.m. Then we're always the oddball at every show. We're a bit too melodic for a lot of the heavier shows, and a bit too rock for some of the more pop shows. But it's fun being the weird kid.
So what was it like to work with Babyface on the new album?
It must have been great for him. Um, no, it was cool. It's like when you date a girl for four years and then like all of a sudden you're single and you're, like, trying to kiss the other girl and you bump foreheads because you haven't kissed somebody new in so long. It took a little bit to kind of get used to. But he's probably one of the funniest and most talented people I've ever met in my life. It was a really good experience.
What was the most important thing that you learned from him?
Uh, you want to know the actual truth?
Yeah.
No matter how big your band gets or who you think you are, don't get a private jet because you'll lose all your money. [Laughs] That sounds about right. Not that any of us have had a chance to do that, but we were like, "Dude, private jets would be so cool." He's like, "Never get a private jet. That would be a waste of all your money."
Who else did you collaborate with on this album? I understand that a member of New Found Glory is on the album.
Yes. And our friend Ryan [Ross] from Panic! At the Disco plays a guitar solo on it. And then our boss, the president, Jay-Z is on the record as well, on "Thriller." It's an eclectic mix.
Did you write most of the songs on the album again? And did you write them before you went in the studio, or while you were in the studio?
Yes. It was about half and half this time.
Is it more difficult to do one than the other?
I think, for me, it's hard to ever say something's finished. I have a hard time doing that. I tend to focus on single words, you know, and they will just kind of drive me crazy. At some point, Patrick had to tell me "Enough is enough. You can't sit here and weed through every single little word. You're never going to be happy with it."
In the "Fall Out Boyz" video you have on your website, you say that the punk-pop thing is over. Do you really think that's true?.
I don't know. I kind of don't. Green Day started doing it 15 years ago and was the biggest band again last year. I don't think it's really possible to say it's over. Do I think that the guys at labels sort of took notice of some of the rock bands that were bigger this year and it became a little more saturated? Probably. Whatever genre you put them in, there's a lot of bands that outstand and outlast their genre--everything from Linkin Park to The Beatles to The Rolling Stones. Everyone pegged them, put them in this category and they ended up rising above that. If anything, that's what I hope Fall Out Boy accomplishes.
Tour dates:
January 2007
4 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
5 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove
6 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
7 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
8 - Denver, CO - The Fillmore
10 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
11 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre
12 - Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
13 - Boston, MA - Avalon
14 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
16 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
17 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
18 - Raleigh, NC - The Ritz
19 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
20 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
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