Fall Out Boy

Lore & Background

Fall Out Boy was formed in 2001 in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Illinois by friends Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman. Wentz was a "visible fixture" of the relatively small Chicago hardcore scene of the late 1990s, performing in groups such as Birthright, Extinction and First Born. He was also part of the metalcore band Arma Angelus and the more political Racetraitor, "a band that managed to land the covers of Maximumrocknroll and Heartattack fanzines before releasing a single note of music". Wentz was growing dissatisfied with the changing mores of the community, which he viewed as a transition from political activism to an emphasis on moshing and breakdowns. With enthusiasm in Arma Angelus waning, he created a pop-punk side project with Trohman that was intended to be "easy and escapist". Patrick Stump was the drummer for grindcore band Xgrinding processX and a host of other bands that "never really managed." At a Borders bookstore in Wilmette, while Trohman was discussing Neurosis with a friend, Stump interrupted them to correct their classification of the band; the ensuing conversation soon shifted to Trohman and Wentz's new project. Stump, viewing it as an opportunity to try out with "local hardcore celebrity" Wentz, directed Trohman to his MP3.com page, which contained sung-through acoustic recordings. Stump intended to try out as a drummer, but Trohman urged him to bring out his acoustic guitar; Stump impressed Trohman and Wentz with songs from Saves the Day's Through Being Cool. While Wentz wanted Racetraitor bandmate Andy Hurley to join the group as drummer, Hurley appeared uninterested and too busy at the time.

In Their Own Story

The band's first public performance came in a cafeteria at DePaul University alongside Stilwell and another group that performed Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album in its entirety. The band's only performance with guitarist John Flamandan and original drummer Ben Rose was in retrospect described as "goofy" and "bad", but Trohman made an active effort to make the band work, picking up members for practice. During this performance, they introduced themselves as Forget Me Not. Wentz and Stump argued over band names; the former favored verbose, tongue-in-cheek names, while the latter wanted to reference Tom Waits in name. After creating a short list of names that included "Fall Out Boy", a fictional character from The Simpsons and Bongo Comics, friends voted on the name. The band's second performance, at a southern Illinois university with the Killing Tree, began with Wentz introducing the band under a name Stump recalled as "very long". According to Stump, an audience member yelled out, "Fuck that, no, you're Fall Out Boy!", and the band were credited later in the show under that name by Killing Tree frontman Tim McIlrath. As the group looked up to McIlrath, and Trohman and Stump were "die-hard" Simpsons fans, the name stuck. The group's first cassette tape demo was recorded in Ben Rose's basement, but the band later set off for Wisconsin to record a proper demo with 7 Angels 7 Plagues drummer Jared Logan, whom Wentz knew through connections in the hardcore scene. Several more members passed through the group, including drummer Mike Pareskuwicz of Subsist and guitarist T.J. "Racine" Kunasch. While Stump at this point felt uninterested in the group, Wentz, according to Uprising Records owner Sean Muttaqi, viewed the group as "the thing that would make him famous. He had a clear vision." Wentz was "singularly focused on taking things to the next level" and began promoting the band via early social media. Muttaqi got word of the demo and wanted to release half of it as a split extended play with Hurley's band Project Rocket, which the band viewed as competition. Uprising wanted to release an album with the emerging band, which had only written three songs at that point. With the help of Logan, the group attempted to put together a collection of songs in two days and recorded them as Fall Out Boy's Evening Out with Your Girlfriend. The rushed recording experience and underdeveloped songs left the band dissatisfied. When the band set off to Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin to record three songs for a possible split 7-inch with 504 Plan, engineer Sean O'Keefe suggested the band record the songs with Hurley. Hurley was recording an EP with his new group the Kill Pill in Chicago on the same day, but raced to Madison to play drums for Fall Out Boy. "It was still a fill-in thing but when Andy sat in, it just felt different. It was one of those 'a-ha' moments", recalled Wentz.

Reader's Guide

The band booked a two-week tour with Spitalfield, but Pareskuwicz was unable to get time off from work and Kunasch was kicked out of the band as the group "had all gotten sick of him". Kunasch was temporarily replaced by friend Brandon Hamm on guitar, alongside drummer Chris Envy from the recently disbanded Showoff, but both quit prior to the kickoff of the tour. The band invited Hurley to fill-in once more, while Stump borrowed one of Trohman's guitars for the trek. While most shows were cancelled, the band played any show possible: "Let's just get on whatever show we can. You can pay us in pizza", remembered Wentz. As the tour concluded, the general consensus was that Hurley would be the band's new drummer, and the band began to shop around the three songs from the group's unreleased split as a demo to record labels. The band members set their sights on pop-punk labels and attempted, with considerable effort, to join Drive-Thru Records. A showcase for label co-founders went largely mediocre, and the band were offered to sign to side label Rushmore, which they declined. They got particularly far in discussions with The Militia Group and Victory Records, and Bob McLynn of Crush Management became the band's first manager. The band re-entered the studio with O'Keefe to record several more tracks to create label interest. Wentz felt "in the backseat" in writing the songs and temporarily questioned his place in the group, but Stump argued in his favor: "No! That's not fair! Don't leave me with this band! Don't make me kind of like this band and then leave it! That's bullshit!" The band's early tour vehicle was a "tiny V6 that was running on three cylinders, and it was not getting enough air, so it would drive really slowly", recalled Wentz. "We had to turn on the hot air to reach the speed limit, so we had the heat on all the time in 120-degree weather. It was so hot it melted the plastic molding around the windows. When it rained, we'd get all wet." John Janick of Fueled by Ramen had heard an early version of a Fall Out Boy song online and cold-called the band members at their apartment, first reaching Stump and later talking to Wentz for an hour. Rob Stevenson from Island Records eventually offered the band a "first-ever incubator sort of deal", in which they gave the band money to sign with Fueled by Ramen for the group's one-off debut, knowing they could "upstream" the band to radio on the sophomore record. Fueled by Ramen, at the time the smallest of independent labels clamoring to sign the band, would effectively release the group's debut album.

Did You Know?

• The band's name comes from a fictional character from The Simpsons and Bongo Comics; friends voted on the name after a short list was created.
• Patrick Stump originally tried out as a drummer for the band, but Joe Trohman urged him to bring his acoustic guitar instead.
• The band's first public performance was in a cafeteria at DePaul University, where they introduced themselves as Forget Me Not.
• An audience member at their second show yelled, "Fuck that, no, you're Fall Out Boy!" which led to the name sticking.
• The band's early tour vehicle was a tiny V6 running on three cylinders; they had to turn on the hot air to reach the speed limit, melting the plastic molding around the windows.