Pete Wentz is the latest cover star for Notion Magazine, with issue #70 officially released September 13, and the Fall Out Boy member has spoken about his time with the band, as well as dream collaborations, famous friends and more.
Credit: Elliott Morgan/Notion Magazine
As the co-founder, bassist and backing vocalist in the group, Wentz has arguably had the most time in the spotlight out of all of his fellow bandmates, becoming a huge celebrity figure before, during and after the band's infamous hiatus.
Chatting about that break-up, he explains: "So much of it was a hazy experience, so much of it happened too fast! You don't realise that the ups would end, or that the downs would end, too. That perspective has been really helpful the second time around."
And now with the band back together, they're producing some brilliant new material.
"The new stuff is definitely different," Pete says. "When we were recording the new album my friends would say, 'Oh you should do something like Dance Dance', or 'Is it going to sound like [From Under The] Cork Tree?', and I was like, 'No! We can't do that'. What's the point making something that sounds like something we've already done. But at the same time... you want to remind people of the spirit of your music, not do something that was a direct replication of that. So it was kind of terrifying."
Living the high life in the earlier days of his career, Pete explained how he would "always have a Christmas ham on the rider, because I could."
He continued: "It was kind of insane, but I wanted a ham, you know? But later, after a show, we were in the club, and I saw a few women were in our seating area, eating the cold ham. It was so gross and greasy. We ended up removing the ham after that."
Now though the band have matured. "We're like Fall Out Men," he quips. "That would be the tagline. I think we've realised that there are people that we want in our lives, and people that we perhaps don't. We have such a better handle on it now."
So where do the group go from here? Pete has his eyes on a couple of popular artists for collaborations.
"We did this Victoria's Secret show with Taylor and she sang 'Light Em Up' with us. She is very in demand though, isn't she? I wouldn't hold my breath. She was so sweet. I'd really like to do something cool with Rihanna."
Despite all the success, the group have "never been content with being comfortable."
"We're still underdogs, even now. So we're just gonna pull the pin on the grenade, throw it, and hope it goes off."
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