Fall Out Boy Biography
Joe Trohman and Pete Wents formed Fall Out Boy in 2001. Both of them had previously played in several groups in Chicago before. The initial idea of them forming a band was to play music to other groups they listened when in school (Green Day for example). Stump became the third member of the band after Joe and him met in a bookstore. Patrick Stump’s briefly occupied the drums, but as they found out he had the right voice for the band, he got the vocals place. T.J. Raccine on guitar and some other guy known as as Mike in drums complete the formation, they were also from Chicago. A self-released demo was the first of Fall Out Boy’s creations. In May 28, 2002, Split EP was released, which featured Project Rocket, on Uprising Records. Then came Fall Out Boy’s first studio album, which actually was a mini-LP, called Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out with Your Girlfriend, also on Uprising Records, in 2003.
Initially, during the first concerts, the group didn’t have a name, until one member in one of the shows suggested “Fallout Boy,” in reference to the sidekick of the Simpsons cartoon character Radioactive Man.
After the first album came out, the chicaco musicians left and Andy Hurley, was brought in and Stump went to main guitar. In 2003 they signed i to Fueled by Ramen, and produced their second studio album Take This to Your Grave, on May 6, 2003. The money for the production of Take This To Your Grave came from Island Records and it was recorded at the Butch Vig owned Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin, with Sean O’Keefe producing.
Two singles “Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy” and “Saturday” were streamed on tv channels like FUSE and mtvU, and also played on many important radios in the US, this eventually lead to the album selling quite well.
Even though they had already signed in with Island Records for their major debut studio album with Island records, an acoustic EP came out in 2004 called My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue, but this was actually through Fueled by Ramen (includind DVDs, fan pics galleries and acoustic performances).
Finally, on May 3, 2005, From Under the Cork Tree came out and reached double platinum. Before this album was released Pete Wents tried to suicide taking Ativan pills. There’s even a song in that album (”7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)), that speaks about the suicide attemp.
“Sugar, We’re Goin Down” was their first single and the musci video for this track reached #1 on MTV’s TRL. This music video also won the MTV2 Award at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, after that many people got interested in the band and the albums got a sudden surge in sales. Fall Out Boy won a grammy awards for best new band.
The second single from From Under , “Dance, Dance”, became their second Top 10 Single when it peaked at #9 on the Hot 100. It reached #6 on the Pop 100, becoming the band’s highest charting single when it reached #2 on the Modern Rock Charts.[17] The video for the song premiered on TRL on October 11, 2005; it soon reached #1 and was later retired on January 17, 2006. “Dance, Dance” was also featured on the PlayStation 2 version of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova by Konami. The third single off the album, “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More ‘Touch Me’”, was far less successfull compared to the other two.
Infinity on High and was released on February 6, 2007, and it is as today their latest studio album. The lead single, “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”, debuted at the 2006 American Music Awards.
Showing their versatility, Fall Out Boy has collaborated with rappers Kanye West and Timbaland and toured with Paul Wall. West produced and is featured on the remix of “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”. They also worked with Timbaland on his new album Shock Value, where they are featured on the track “One and Only”, for which Stump and Wentz both contributed in writing.[29] Stump was featured on two songs with Gym Class Heroes (also signed with Fueled by Ramen), including their hit single “Cupid’s Chokehold”. He also was a guest vocalist on Motion City Soundtrack’s single, “Everything Is Alright”. The band is headlining in the Young Wild Things Tour with Gym Class Heroes, Plain White T’s and Cute Is What We Aim For, which began in October with a sold out show in Columbus, Ohio.
On January 14, 2008, MTV interviewed Pete Wentz about the Infinity on High follow-up album. Wentz revealed the album has folk styles, but it is not essentially a folk album. “I think the one aspect we’re bringing to the record is something Oasis did a lot, where they’d play these really distorted, awesome riffs, and they’d have an acoustic guitar over the entire song,” Wentz said.
A CD and DVD of live material recorded during a June 22, 2007, concert at Phoenix’s Cricket Wireless Pavilion was released on April 1, 2008. Of note, the album, to be called simply “****”, contains a new studio recording covering Michael Jackson’s Beat It with John Mayer as a guest guitarist.
On March 18, it was revealed that Fall Out Boy would play a show in Antarctica to go into the Guinness Book of World Records as the only band to play a concert on all seven continents in less than nine months. The band played a March 23 show in Santiago, Chile in South America[36], but the group found that weather conditions would not permit them to play in Antarctica.
While widely considered to be a pop punk and rock band, the band has been referred to as emo by some accounts. One particular group the band attributes it’s success to is Kansas City emo group The Get Up Kids. Pete Wentz was interviewed for a retrospective article in Alternative Press when The Get Up Kids disbanded in 2005, and stated that “Fall Out Boy would not be a band if it were not for The Get Up Kids. Fall Out Boy’s main songwriters are Patrick Stump (melody) and Pete Wentz (lyrics), though they traditionally credit the whole band as songwriters. Their albums Take This To Your Grave and From Under The Cork Tree are both said to have pop punk as well as hardcore punk sounds and influences, and their latest work, Infinity On High, features a wide range of styles and instrumentation, including orchestral and choral arrangements (”Thnks fr th Mmrs”, “You’re Crashing, But You’re No Wave”) and a slower piano ballad (”Golden”). The band has shown signs of experimentation, working with hip hop producers and artists, including Timbaland, Lil Wayne and Kanye West, and have also been influenced by R&B music. In general, the group has direct ties to melodic pop music, with Patrick Stump becoming a producer aside from his work with the band, and they also are closely connected to hardcore music and punk, as evident in their use of throat vocals and their prior involvement in the underground Chicago music scene. Moreover, a central part of Fall Out Boy’s sound is rooted in the band’s lyrics, mainly penned by bassist Pete Wentz, who commonly uses irony and other literary devices to narrate personal experience and stories.
Fall Out Boy have stated that they are supporters of Invisible Children Inc., and Pete Wentz has participated in Invisible Children’s Displace Me Campaign. The band also performed at the American leg of Live Earth on July 7, 2007.
Although drummer Andy Hurley is vegan and has done promotions for PETA, Fall Out Boy has received criticism from animal rights groups for their use of chimpanzees, an orangutan and a monkey in the music video of “Thnks fr th Mmrs”. Despite objections from these groups, the band’s bassist Pete Wentz brought a chimpanzee to the Kerrang! Awards and was pictured at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards with a black and white monkey.