Joe Trohman
Lead guitarist for the Chicago-based pop-punk band Fall Out Boy.
If [music] has that tag on it, regardless if it sounds like that or not they’ll never go and find out what it really sounds like. To be labeled “emo” is sometimes very apropos, because there are a bunch of bands that actually sound like carbon copies of each other. But again, that’s music, so.
Those chimps and orangutans [in our music video] get treated better than the ones in zoos. They’re loved, and they’re taken care of much better and cleaned much better. And they’re only allowed to work a certain amount of time every day. Plus, we had someone from Animal Protection there the entire time, making sure everything was cool. It’s really weird that people got pissed off about that. Those animals were treated quite well, probably better than most humans, and definitely better than animals in the zoo.
Patrick’s a very prolific writer. He’s a one-of-a-kind kind of guy. You’ve got to let him do his thing. You don’t want to get too up in his grill, sort of speak.
I don't even know why you film me. I don't say anything. I just sit here and blush. It's fucking ridiculous.
The thing that fucks up bands a lot is when everybody wants to do everything. We were never like "You’re designated this position and you’re designated that." We’ve designated ourselves certain general positions, like I write a tiny bit, but my best thing is getting out there and putting on the best live show possible. That’s been my number one goal personally.
When I was getting into punk rock and hardcore when I was younger, "emo" was like Fugazi. It was these weird bands that were almost like post hardcore or post punk bands. Many were really political. Emo had to do with how they would vocalize, not the way in which it refers to our music.
(sings) 80 Bucks I want my 80 bucks!
The moment you meet him you're like 'this dude's famous,' whether a million people know it or no one knows it. The first time I met him, when I was like 16, I was like, 'This is a dude I want to know.' He just has a magnetic personality. And I think there's something kind of cool about the front man of our band being the bassist who doesn't sing.
I thought this was a candy dispenser! Fucking candy!
I definitely got initiated on that tour; they would rip my underwear off me everyday. I hated it, dude. I should have stopped wearing underwear.
The other day I went to a Japanese restaurant and then to Target, and I got bugged. But just last night, I went to a jazz bar. Nobody bugged me there. So it all depends upon where I go to hang out. It’s never that bad. Honestly, most people are like super cool, and they’ll just come up to me and shake hands, and that’ll be it. But it rarely gets out of control.
I really like Morrissey. I really wanna kiss Morrissey.
I was born without muscles in my mouth, so I can't smile. But, I'm real happy. I'm super happy right now. I'm ecstatic.
So many different styles of music have influenced us individually and as a band. I think heavy metal is there. It’s not always the most predominant factor in Fall Out Boy, but it’s definitely there. Andy and I are huge metal heads.
If people want to call us emo, that’s totally cool. We started out as a pop punk band, because we were very much interested in giving the band a sound like Green Day or The Descendents, but I think we’ve turned into a rock band. Some of our lyrics are definitely emotional, but some Zeppelin lyrics are pretty emotional, too. You could call them an emo band as well.
When I was a kid, my parents got me into piano, viola, and trombone. They were the three instruments I went through. The moment I started playing trombone, which was the last one before guitar, I knew I wanted to play guitar really badly. I was a huge Metallica fan, and I’m really into Slash. I’ve always thought he was the coolest dude, and like the greatest guitar player. He’s awesome, and I love the fact that he did everything himself. He made the world of guitar fit around him, rather than him fitting around the world of guitar, which I think is really cool.
I’m gonna feel guilty about this for a while. It’s the Jew in me – like, 'Oh, no, you spent money!'
I’ve tried to make myself comfortable with most of the fretboard as possible. I like pentatonic scales because I’ve always been a big Tony Iommi fan. I play along with those a lot. I grew up playing a lot of heavy metal; I’m probably better at that than playing Fall Out Boy.
I’ve tried to make myself someone who can play a decent variety of stuff. I’ve even made myself learn things that I didn’t want to learn, a kind of picking or playing that I just never would’ve gotten into otherwise. It’s made me an all-around better player.
We mean a lot to each other as musicians and people, but sometimes we start believing what people write about us: The band is just one guy or two guys. That can be harsh for the soul.