PropertyOfZack had the chance to chat with Patrick Stump just a few weeks ago for a great interview. Emily and Patrick discussed the initial response to Truant Wave, the delays on Soul Punk, touring, and what direction he’s looking to head in with his solo project compared to Fall Out Boy’s niche. Read up and enjoy!

Fans were introduced to the solo side of Patrick Stump in February with the Truant Wave EP. How was that met in terms of reaction and reception from fans?
It’s been mixed. There are some people that didn’t like it because it’s not necessarily exactly like Fall Out Boy. I think there have been a lot of people that have liked it though. I’ve gotten some very backhanded compliments like, “I hated your band, but I like this record.” It’s cool though that there’s a good mix.

Most people probably didn’t know what to expect from the EP before they heard it. Did you like having that opportunity to sort of shock everybody out of their preconceived notions?
To a certain extent, yeah. More than shock value, I just kind of had to do my thing. I didn’t want to be contrived about it at any point. I’ve always wanted to make the music that I’m making. I wanted to make the music in Fall Out Boy too, but we never imagined that Fall Out Boy would last that long or be so rewarding and fun. The whole time I had really wanted to make this record though. It has shocked a lot of people that didn’t know that this was a big part of me.

Most people thought that Soul Punk, your first solo record, was actually going to be coming out in February instead of the EP. Were there delays in recording?
Sort of. There were a few things that played into it. One was that I recorded the entire album and finished it and right before I was going to master it I started writing more songs. I really felt something with it, so I scrapped the whole record that I had and I went and ended up doing what Soul Punk is. There were also delays due to management and the label. There are a lot of people that believe in me there, but it took some time to also convince them of what I was doing. All in all, that was the big delay.
 
The album was also supposed to be released in July, but is obviously now coming out in October. Has it been frustrating to wait so long to put out this material, or was it out of your hands entirely?
It is frustrating, and it is out of my hands, but there’s no specific blame for it. You miss your ten minute window and then you get a three hour delay. That analogy really works because there’s a lot of moving parts at a record label. They also have to take a pretty big risk on every record that they put out. I’ve seen a lot of stuff online where they blame everybody, but everybody worked really hard. It’s just a lot of work. The record’s been recorded for a while, but there’s more to it than that.

When did the writing and recording process for the album finish up?
The longest part of the recording process for me was deciding what to record. I think I spent about a month in the studio. One of my problems is that any time there’s any delay I always want to add something. So I kept tweaking and tweaking it, but I finally had to finish it.

Was it straining at all to make such a full body of work completely by yourself, or was that half of the fun?
It felt pretty easy to me. I had time allocated to just sit and do it myself. There was no discussion about it since it was all in my head, so it flowed very easily. It was an easy record to make. The good side is that there were no surprises and I knew exactly what it was going to sound like. There was never some drum fill that surprised me. I knew what everything would sound like.

“This City” was released as the first single for the album, but it featured Lupe Fiasco on it. That particular track is going to be a bonus on the album, but how has the reception to it been?
It’s been great so far. I’ve gotten a pretty good reaction. I think Lupe really fit the track and the message I was trying to send. He really counter-balanced it well. It seems to be well received. I like playing that one live a lot.

Some fans were confused that you decided to release the first single with a collaboration on it considering the album is just you. Can you discuss that at all?
The label had suggested it. The album version is still just me. The full album is just me. The label suggested having a remix of it with somebody on it, and to me it came down to Lupe or nothing. I felt like he had the ability to say another version of what I was saying. It was collaborative, but it also spelt out what I was going to say anyway. For me I was psyched because he’s the exact artist I wanted on it. He’s the perfect blend of delivery and passion. I don’t think there are many people doing what he does right now.

You play scattered shows in April, but are now on a month-long tour throughout the States. Has changing personas in terms of who you’re playing with and what you’re playing with been an easy adjustment? And have you definitely noticed growth in the shows you’re putting on?
It’s just a different thing all together. I didn’t really have the benefit of being absolutely nothing. I didn’t crawl up from basements like Fall Out Boy did, but we’re playing much smaller rooms than a lot of people are accustomed to having seen Fall Out Boy in. I got this band and I’m so lucky to have them. They’re just awesome and the musicians are phenomenal. I feel under-qualified to be up there sometimes. It makes it really easy though. There’s an intro that they do without me and I just stop and listen and forget that I’m supposed to go out there.

The album itself was made 100% by you, but you of course have a solidified band out there with you every night. How has it been playing with them?
There’s so much life in what they do, and it’s not a challenge. Next time I might have to record an album and have them re-record their parts just because of how much they add to it [Laughs]. I forget my stuff more than they do. It makes it really easy to try harder and to work harder when everybody else works twice as hard as you do. It makes you want to be better.

The tour was most likely booked with the idea of having the record out in July. Did you have nerves about entering the run of dates with only the EP out?
I don’t know why tours have to be so tied in with albums. I’m a musician and I want to be playing all the time. I don’t know why it has to be so compartmentalized. I’d love to come back and do all of this again in November.

Should we expect some tour dates to be announced too following the release of the record?
I want to be touring all the time. But not only am I not making money on the road, I’m losing a lot. I have to sell things a little more to tour all the time. The thing is that I will tour as much as I can humanly tour. There may be some more tour dates, but I’m not sure. I would love to do it more. I

There’s no doubt that everyone seems to be excited for the release, but one question many have is the direction you’re trying to go it. You obviously have a whole niche of fans already, which is great, but the music on Soul Punk obviously doesn’t lend itself to that niche completely. So where are you looking to take Patrick Stump as a solo artist within the next few years?
Just where I go. It’s really interesting talking about that niche. For whatever reason, Fall Out Boy got swept up in the emo thing and we made a lot of friends there. None of us really felt a part of it though until now. Now I look back and see that My Chemical Romance and Panic! were all friends of ours though that we kind of grew into it together with. When we started we were a hardcore band though. Hardcore kids were pretty cool to us in Chicago, but they wanted to mosh and we weren’t moshful [Laughs]. The pop-punk bands didn’t want to play with us though, and there were emo bands in Chicago and they didn’t want anything to do with us. We were off by ourselves and we’d play wherever. It became this thing that was definable and people held it against us that we were “that emo Fueled By Ramen band.” People would give me so much hell about what I was doing. When I shaved my sideburns off, for example. It was like, “Really? I can’t change anything?” I got scared and I really retreated to a lot of things. I had the hoodies and the hats and the glasses. I shrank into myself. Something happened when I got older and I just started to not care. The point that I’m trying to make is that I’m going to do what’s natural to me. I grew up on Prince and Michael Jackson and Tom Waits and there are a lot of those influences in there. It’s less wordy too, and that’s something that Pete was so well-known for. Long story short, it’s just going to be me.