Fall Out Boy Don't Care If People Grow Out Of Them
Friday January 05, 2007 @ 06:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy are simultaneously one of the most adored and despised bands around. While thousands of screaming fans continue to fill arenas for them around the world, some music listeners direct venomous insults at the band for all sorts of reasons.

For their part, the band seem to take their detractors' statements in stride. When speaking to singer/guitarist Patrick Stump, you get the impression that he's heard it all before.

"I don't have any problem with somebody not liking us," Stump says with a sigh. "It's one of those things where people who really don't care about a band would never say anything about it.

"Honestly, that's cool that somebody doesn't like us. I hated bands and I hate bands still myself. There are shitty bands out there, whatever. I think, more than anything, that's a thing where it's all perception. When you perceive your band to be one thing, when you perceive your favourite band to be something, and then they turn out not to be whatever it is, I think people are disappointed."

Like many indie bands who get signed to bigger labels and see mainstream success, Fall Out Boy had their share of backlash before their major label debut, 2005's From Under The Cork Tree, was even released.

"I was walking down the street one day, before Cork Tree came out," Stump recalls. "I was in my hometown and this kid, under his breath, walks by and he's like, 'Sellout.'

"The thing is, there's no way, at that particular time, that that guy knows or has any idea who I am unless he's been to one of our shows or bought our records. The song 'This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race' is kind of about that — the idea of the culture of chewing things up and spitting them out. Every band that's alive right now is just a blip. With the time you have, you do what you can, and you just make the best music you can."

That song is the first single off the band's forthcoming new album, Infinity On High, which is due in stores in February. The disc finds the group covering ambitious musical ground, including the pounding, electronic beat on the aforementioned single. Lead track "Car Crash Hearts" features a Jay-Z introduction over double-pedal drums. It's certainly a change of pace for fans of their last album, but FOB aren't interested in roping in the same audience.

"I don't really worry about who's listening to it," says the singer. "It's part of the growth of a music listener to kind of ditch things you used to listen to, to grow out of things.

"I think it's fine when people grow out of Fall Out Boy and move onto something else. We're not worried about winning people back. If anything, I just want to make sure that, for the people that do buy the record, that I give them a couple of different feels. I don't want to make one of those records where everything sounds the same and it only serves one purpose. This is something that we really believed in. It was the most fun record I've gotten to make, and I'm proud of it and I'm lucky to make it. That's it."

—Shehzaad Jiwani