Photo by: Pamela Littky
MC: Is the sound of the new album different as a result of taking a hiatus? What are you doing this time around to make sure you don’t burn out?
Wentz: I feel like the sound hasn’t changed. To me, it sounds similar in that Patrick is singing over music with certain melodic structures. A lot of my friends who I’ve played it for were like, this is really different.
As far as burn-out goes, that’s the $64,000 question––how do we not get burnt out? You want it to succeed, do well, be big and be fun. But when it does well and succeeds and is fun, that’s when somebody’s quarterly stock profits depend on whether your band plays certain songs or you do certain things. That’s when it can stop being fun. I think, for all of us, it was just about having something that humanizes us. For me, it’s having my son. I think about him before anything we do.
We’ve never really done Fall Out Boy as real adults before. This is the first time where we’re doing it understanding each other’s schedules, what each other’s needs are and what each member wants out of the band.
MC: You have so many projects going on, including clothing, bars, writing and acting. How do you balance these things along with your musical career and does that personality trait account for the diverse nature of your songwriting?
Wentz: We’ve always been a band where we take all interests of the band members and mix them together. On top of that, I probably have some strange adult case of ADHD a bit and have a hard time focusing. The way it works for me is, if all the things I do are authentic to me and my brand, then they make sense and they can kind of intersperse with each other. You can do this tattoo show and this book and you can cross promote with the album, because they all make sense together. I’d only be in hot water if I did something that didn’t make sense with the rest of my brand or personality.
MC: You obviously make more money off these side projects because of your association with Fall Out Boy. Do you include your band mates in the sharing of that income, considering you’re taking time away from music to feed these projects?
Wentz: We’re a pretty inclusive band. We split four ways equally, which a lot of bands our size don’t. At the same time, like our endeavor with the bar, we let everybody be in on things like that. When I do stuff with Decaydance, Patrick’s the first producer I go to. And none of these other things are ever going to supersede Fall Out Boy.
There’s never going to be a time where I’m like, guys, we need to take a break because I’m doing this commercial or I’m doing this thing. That isn’t an option, and everybody I’m involved with knows that when it comes down to it, Fall Out Boy always takes precedence.
At the same time, Fall Out Boy makes those brands bigger. And some of those brands make Fall Out Boy bigger in certain places. To be honest, some of them are complete passion projects and don’t make money. It just depends on what it is and, if you make the Forbes list, they make it sound like certain things are more lucrative than they are. Try owning a bar in New York City for a year and let me know how much money it makes.
MC: Speaking of making money, do you have any product endorsement deals?
Wentz: Not a ton. I have a signature bass deal with Fender and I use Fender amps as well. But other than that, no. I did an endorsement deal with K-Swiss a couple years ago. They let me design a shoe and have a lot of fun with that. But for the most part, it’s just been people that I’m friends with and want to do stuff with. I like Neff headwear a lot. I would love to do something with them. There are a couple of those opportunities, but I don’t have endorsement deals with any of them currently.
