MC: For your new album, you’re signed to Island as opposed to Fueled By Ramen, your former label. Why are you on Island now? You’ve outgrown the confines of an indie?
Wentz: We’ve been on Island/Def Jam since From Under the Cork Tree came out. At the time, Fueled By Ramen had a relationship with Island/Def Jam and had a lot of input and helped us out. John Janick helped us a lot with From Under the Cork Tree and even with Infinity on High, whether it was marketing or different ideas. John moved Fueled By Ramen to Atlantic and now he’s at Interscope. At some point, it just became a label that was stuck on the album. It wasn’t actually a meaningful business relationship. But I’m still tight with everybody from Fueled By Ramen. They’re still a family and a good network for us. There was never a falling out or a real change of label. It’s basically the same team we’ve been with since From Under the Cork Tree.
MC: Did you undergo a contract renegotiation for being upstreamed? Were there particular points or things that you asked for? And how did you come to a decision with your band mates as to what to do?
Wentz: There was definitely a contract renegotiation. I think the stipulation was that we had a right of first refusal of our next album. Between albums, I’m sure there were contract renegotiations. Obviously, a major record label wants to keep you and your investors for as long as possible and, depending on what kind of artist you are, your goal is to renegotiate so you get more money or become independent. We’ve had a good relationship with people at our label, so there’s never been a strong desire to be independent. At the same time, I know we could function on our own if we needed to. But it’s like, why would we when we have a good relationship?
MC: Your label, Decaydance, started as a Fueled By Ramen imprint. How did the label come about and why did your label become independent?
Wentz: The label came about because I was bugging my buddy, John Janick, who was at Fueled By Ramen. A zillion times, I was like, listen to my friend’s band, The Academy Is… And he was like, why don’t we just do an imprint? It quickly became more than a vanity label when Panic! at the Disco sold some albums and then Gym Class Heroes as well.
At that time, there was a partnership with Atlantic Records, who we partnered with for Cobra Starship and Panic! at the Disco and Gym Class Heroes and Travie McCoy. We wanted to try things that were slightly more independent, so that included being able to work with labels outside of Atlantic. That’s kind of where the relationship changed. It wasn’t negative. We still work together on those three bands. But we got a chance to work with Cassadee Pope when she was in Hey Monday on Sony. We got to work with Tyga when we collaborated with Young Money. And then we did the Ready Set with Warner Brothers.
Being able to work with so many labels and seeing how they each worked has been really interesting, because they’re all cool and they all work. It’s just they’re all different. They have different priorities.
MC: Are you currently looking to sign artists? How should artists get in touch with you and what are you looking for from them?
Wentz: I’m always looking. It’s harder now, because there are a lot of artists signed into management deals or bad label deals. Sometimes, you find these great artists and then you’re like, I can’t even help you because you’re so legally tied up. I guess the best way to reach me is on Twitter or social media like Facebook. But if you see me, hand me a demo. I listen to all that stuff. That’s how Fall Out Boy tried to get found. And that’s how we found Panic! at the Disco. That’s how we found the Cab. I believe in word of mouth. It’s just different now. I would say to young bands, you don’t need to sign the first deal that’s thrown in front of you. You don’t necessarily need a manager or a merch company. There is something to DIY and there is something to doing it on your own, because when you’re making great music good things should come to you.
MC: You’ve had an incredible track record with your Decaydance imprint. What accounts for that?
Wentz: I think it’s surrounding yourself with a good team. I like to be surrounded by people who believe in music and aren’t just hunting after money. I definitely don’t believe in chasing songs. I would chase a songwriter over a song. It’s more important to develop than anything. Just about anybody can take an artist from 80,000 to a million records. It’s a lot harder to take somebody from 5,000 to 80,000 records. And that’s what our label’s always specialized in––artist development. It’s very important to take your time and create quality products.
