If I was going to do Fall Out Boy, I wanted it to be a real outlet for my writing.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
One of the things that always was Fall Out Boy was trying new things and kind of pushing ourselves in different directions.
In Fall Out Boy, we were all playing with our pop punk influences, so that was always within that kind of framework.
Whatever notoriety Fall Out Boy used to have prevents me from having the ability to start over from the bottom again.
I was going to record a solo album when I was 15 on a four-track. I started working on it, but then Fall Out Boy happened. The band was awesome and took me in a totally different direction. I don't regret it at all, but the band delayed the record I had been planning.
In Fall Out Boy, I noticed that I wasn't putting all that much soul into it. It was just kind of screaming, I guess. I was just dying to get out of there!
If I find myself just not feeling like writing songs anymore, I think I'll drop it. There's enough bad, insincere music out there. I don't need to contribute to that.
I think I went more toward writing because that's my talent. I don't think I was a great performer... And I like being behind the scenes a little bit.
Early in my songwriting career, when I was learning a lot about writing songs, I'd force myself to sit down until I came up with something.
It was not cool to be that fun, bubbly kid, so I would just go off on my own and sing and make up songs, and that's how I think I developed into the kind of artist and writer that I am.
Fall Out Boy never pretended that we were anything but pop-rock.