The thing with interviews is you can never be too sure who’s listening in. Gigwise is happily chatting away to Fall Out Boy’s lead singer Patrick Stump about how their current stint on the Friends Or Enemies tour in the US is going - two nights ago they played Colorado, they had a rare day off yesterday and the band watched DVDs, tonight they have a show in Missouri. But then the topic of bassist Pete Wentz reportedly getting into a fight at a show a few nights ago comes up, rumours of which have spread across the internet like cholera in the 60s, before someone interjects our conversation, “Can you move on to the next question please.” OK, moving swiftly on…
Just as you couldn’t get away from Fall Out Boy in 2006, you may as well surrender now for 2007 too. The faces of Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley are about to grace every music magazine cover going, their infectious new single ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race’ is already doing the rounds on radio and music television airplay, and their fourth full-length album (their second on major label Mercury) is due out in less than a month - much to the eager anticipation of the band.
“This was the most fun record to make. I just can’t wait to have it in my hands,” says Stump. “We’d written and done a lot of the work before we even hit the studio, so when we got into the studio we could just play with stuff and scrap it or whatever.” But didn’t they feel the pressure of having to follow ‘From Under The Cork Tree’ - an album that’s sold over 3 million copies worldwide to date? “I don’t get caught up with numbers,” says Stump. “We just wanted to make an album that we were proud of and that we liked and would still like in 10 years, 100 years time. And I feel we’ve done that.”
The band formed almost seven years ago when Wentz and Trohman grew tired of the hardcore scene they were involved in. Trohman introduced Wentz to Stump, a singer he’d met in a bookshop. The three of them approached Hurley - the best drummer they knew - and they formed Fall Out Boy. It wasn’t until after the first album that they realised Wentz was better with the lyrics, Stump with the music. Then ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ happened - their breakthrough single - and they were hailed punk rock’s new superstars. Leaders of a new pop-punk wave that included Panic! At The Disco and The Academy Is….
New album ‘Infinity On High’ however sees the band take their trademark sound to a new place with dance beats, backing choirs and even a guest appearance by Jay-Z on the album’s opening track ‘Car Crash’. “It’s like where Cork Tree touched on something in just a small way, Infinity lets it expand and explore itself,” says Stump. “Like if something was just a small part on a song on Cork Tree, it could be a whole song on Infinity and breath.”
So was working with Jay-Z and R&B producer Babyface an attempt by the band to declassify themselves? “No, not at all. Y’know that would be such a big mistake to make, to put your band in a genre, and then to try and be or not be that. Especially with something like pop punk or whatever. That would be the least punk rock thing to do,” insists Stump.
He continues: “Working with Jay-Z was amazing. It was so funny cos he was all over the place. We’d discuss the track with him via video conference and he’d be in Monaco and a few days later he’d send us the MP3 file from Australia. Babyface was awesome too. Just working with him made the album better, made us better, cos we were like ‘Wow you’re Babyface.’”
Crowd reactions to the new material has been good so far on the Friends Or Enemies Tour and the UK will also get a sneak preview when Fall Out Boy play three UK shows (which sold out in two hours) at the end of the month. Although they won’t be all about the new material just yet, “The shows at the end of January will be us just kind of finishing up with Cork Tree,” says Stump. “So they’ll be stripped down and bare. They’ll be our last shows before Infinity’s released. Then the April shows will be all about Infinity.”
As for the title of the new record, “Pete had this quote by Van Gogh,” says Stump. “‘Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all.’ And it’s like, it’s like he knew he wouldn’t be famous in his life time. He was so close, but…” He trails off, almost hinting that regardless what reception the new album gets, regardless of whether Fall Out Boy continue to have as many detractors as they do supporters, they’ve found strength within themselves. They know their musings might only really be appreciated once the band is no longer around. And until then, they’re just going to keep making the music they want to make.
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