Alright, it's recipe time. Grab one handful of self-snapped nude photos taken at your parents' house, throw in a couple life-threatening bouts of depression, countless online blog battles, write some songs about it and what do you get?
Other than the spot-on definition of a Thursday fan, the result is none other than Fall Out Boy mastermind Pete Wentz.
Thanks to MtvU and The Jed Foundation, collegiate journalists across the U.S. were given the opportunity last week to chat with none other than the Billy Zane clone and bassist extraordinaire.
Wentz focused on the band's involvement with the "Half of Us" campaign, MtvU, and The Jed Foundation's attempt to fight the "stigma" of mental health on college campuses and how to connect needy students with the necessary help.
"I feel like I am not much of an expert on anything, from music history to questions about love," Wentz said. "This is the one thing I felt hit close to home. I felt like I could offer my side of a conversation, maybe not answer people, but at least let them know someone else felt similarly."
The sincerity was felt, but honestly what's an interview with Pete Wentz that doesn't make its way to the gutter? Clearly not an interview with Pete Wentz.
It was brought to the attention of Wentz that he recently stepped up his role as the sex appeal behind Fall Out Boy when he stopped wearing shirts. Was this an executive decision, or simply the beautiful bassist decision that the world needed to see more skin?
"If you've ever known me, from day one I have never liked wearing clothes. I don't wear underwear often...it's just not my thing. I like the turbulence," he said. "When you go on the cover of Rolling Stone you know just as many people are going to hate you as love you for it. I like shaking people's perspectives. Pete Wentz still makes all the decisions for Pete Wentz."
And, not surprisingly, Pete Wentz refers to Pete Wentz in the third person.
Shifting away from Wentz and all his physical glory, the conversation moved back to the music. Wentz had no qualms about opening up and explaining how Fall Out Boy more or less saved his life.
"I escaped the small town I was from. I adventured. I saw the world. I got to escape for an hour every night on stage," Wentz said. "Hear that you mean something to someone. It gives me something to believe in. It makes me want to be a better person. It makes me want to stick around."
And with that salvation Wentz has been given the opportunity to lead a band that is more or less taking over the world. Not only has his band sold millions of records and will undoubtedly sell millions more, he has also been able to sign and tour with bands that he grew up on.
One such group is +44, one of the two bands to come from the destruction of Blink 182. They will be offering direct support for Fall Out Boy on the forthcoming Honda Civic Tour.
"It's pretty insane. We played a couple of these venues on the side stage for Blink years ago. Mark supported our band long before it became cool to do so," Wentz said.
After issuing his gratitude towards one of the more influential bands of our MySpace generation, it was time for Wentz to address the evolution of his band and how they'll deal with the ever-changing music scene.
"We don't plan our evolution around trends or even plan it at all," Wentz said. "When this stops being fun and real we will stop it. Until then, we'll keep traveling the globe until people stop coming out. I think we have more to offer the world than a few swooshed haircuts and eyeliner- but we'll have to wait for the dust to clear to figure that all out."
It is not often that a celebrity like Pete Wentz opens up and lets fans into his heart. Behind the spin kicks and cryptic song lyrics lies a man who struggles with demons just like everyone else. It's comforting to know that someone of his stature truly does care...and doesn't like to wear underwear.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
