Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy recently spoke with Kerrang!
in an interview where he candidly shared the band’s feeling of being like a “scrappy punk rock band.” This sentiment arose because they hadn’t rehearsed together in a long time, which he described humorously but sincerely as “silly, but real.”
During the rehearsal, Stump recounted a moment with bandmate Pete where they struggled to remember who played a specific note and chord:
“Pete and I were trying to figure out who voiced a certain note and a chord between he and I – we couldn’t remember. There was this movement of me saying to the crew, ‘Can somebody play this back in our ears?’”
As they ironed out these details, other band members like Joe were adjusting their parts for live performances, a process that initially seemed chaotic but soon fell into place:
“Meanwhile, Joe and his tech are working out a specific lead part, because I played it on the record, but now Joe is playing it live. And I’m like, ‘Wait, should I play this part if you’re playing that part?’ So then my tech’s running around. And the thing that was so amazing to me was it was like ballet: all of a sudden, everybody knew what they were doing. It was this one little moment, of just band and crew communicating…”
Reflecting on the transformation during the rehearsal, Stump marveled at how their coordination turned them into a well-oiled machine:
“It was like all of a sudden going from some scrappy punk rock band to being a symphony – everybody knew what they were doing. And it blew me away: the fact that we’re that band now!”
Their journey to success wasn’t without its challenges, as Stump revealed in another interview with People, where he debunked the notion of Fall Out Boy’s overnight success. Despite early doubts, their breakthrough with the album ‘From Under the Cork Tree’ and the hit ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ propelled them into fame, marking a significant shift in their career trajectory:
“It wasn’t really overnight. Sometimes people talk about overnight, it wasn’t really like that. We had already been touring for a few years and working.”
Stump acknowledged that their success post-major label debut was a distinct phase, illustrating the band’s evolution and perseverance in the music industry.
