Fall Out Boy

Screaming fans hover around the MuchMusic windows. Fall Out Boy meets and greets Canadian fans. The show is over. Too many loyal and determined fans to meet at Starbucks. Out the back door and off to a quiet, dark restaurant down the street to grab a few moments with Patrick and Pete of Fall Out Boy.

mym: What was the difference in writing this album as opposed to the last one? Was the process different at all?

Patrick: The primary difference would be that on the last album well, I try to use my own words when we write songs. And Pete takes words very personally and so sometimes its one of those things that we clash over. So on this album we figured it out and as a result its a lot more truthful record and we have a lot more songs and actually left over songs.

mym: What’s the most important thing you guys have done in terms of developing a fan base?

Pete: We’ve always been really honest and appreciative of our fans. We’ve always wanted to be in the forefront of music and have a voice out there. There just has not been a lot of sincerity in music in the last few years and I think we try to be sincere and honest in what we do.

mym: Going on to your web site is a good way to pass the time. You seem to use it a lot to reach out to your fans. Pete you always seem to be the one responding to your fans Q&A’s.

Pete: I like to talk a lot, which sometimes gets me into trouble but I’m also the one on the computer a lot. Fall Out Boy is a machine, its not just a couple of people, its like we are all really good friends.

mym: What so interesting about your web site is that you respond to real problems for some of your fans. Last week one of your fans was talking about how she always feels like she’s in the middle of her parents’ arguments. And your response, Pete, was so bang on- almost out of a text book. It was so supportive.

Pete: There are questions that are funny and I just send something goofy back real quick and some people are serious and so the response should be serious. I know that when I was younger I was upset that there was nobody that I could talk to. And I think if someone like James Hetfield from Metallica said something to me when I was younger it would have made all the difference. I don’t have a PhD but I try and give my best opinion or what I might feel like being 8 or 10 years away from the situation. And I guess I would rather have that person get that advice then zero at all.

mym: You guys just finished up an episode of One Tree Hill. What was that like?

Pete: Oh yeah, Chad is so dreamy!
Being on tv is such a weird thing. It was alright and we got to do our own vocals and stuff- it was cool we got to play the Halloween show and wore costumes.

mym: You recently won the MTV2 awards. What was that experience like? You looked so shocked when you won.

Patrick: Yeah, that was just honest. We showed up and got dressed up and we were nominated with some friends of ours and about half way through they said our name. It was one of those things, that My Chemical Romance was up for it and we thought they were going to win and then when they announced our name it was like they said the wrong name and I was pissed and then I realized it was us and then that was really cool.

mym: What do you do for fun on the road?

Pete: I watch DVD’s and play games a lot.
Patrick: I play music- there isn’t a whole lot I do but that.

mym: One embarrassing moment on stage?

Pete: My pants ripped in half in our next video.
Patrick: There is one point where I was supposed to fall and someone pushed me over and the director screamed out “that was great, that was perfect” and I was “Yeah I meant that!”

mym: Any piece of advice that you would give to someone who is having a hard time and wondering about reaching out for help?

Pete: Just realize that there is something or someone out there for you. Sometimes there is this thing when people feel blue that rather than addressing it and finding out why you feel that way and help you feel better there is this big fear and so your friends may say something like “Oh no, its OK, you’re feeling fine” when you’re not fine. Just tell them its OK to be sad sometimes and it happens to everybody and there is a safe, OK and happy place out there, and everybody can get there you just have to find your own way either through talk therapy or writing things down. Even well balanced people experience this stuff –you need to take a look at it.

Patrick: So I’m a short guy and I have a bit of a Napolean complex and I’ve always been patronized, always. And that kind of sucks when you’re in high school and going through stuff and someone sits down with you, like they’re talking down to you and saying “high school is not the end of the world” and you’re like “How do you know its not the end of my world”. I don’t know , but now that I’m on the other side I understand. Everyone was a kid at some point. It can get better.

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