To Infinity And Beyond - Fall Out Boy

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….