Chronicles of an American Beauty and an American Psycho

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

It was the summer of 2001. Joe Trohman wanted to start a band, and he knew just the people to do it with. He met Patrick Stump in a bookstore a few weeks earlier and he had played in a few bands with Pete Wentz. The only problem was that Pete and Patrick didn't exactly know each other.

Scratch that. They didn't know each other at all. But they had one thing in common. They both loved music and they had both agreed to come to Joe's house for band practice.

Patrick was the first to show up, besides Joe of course, since it was at his house. Patrick was drumming, for some reason. He still hasn't quite figured out how amazing of a singer he is, which really is a shame. Patrick is a great singer. Joe and Patrick jammed out for a while, and it probably sounded pretty great, even without a bassist or a singer.

Pete showed up an hour later since his car broke down or something like that. I don't really know. Do you expect me to memorize every little detail? Anyways, Pete showed up. "Hey Joe," he said. "What's up?"

 

“Not much,” Joe said. “You’re an hour late though.”

 

“Sorry,” Pete said. “My car broke down.” He glanced at Patrick. “Who’s this?”

 

“Oh this is Patrick. I met him at a bookstore a few weeks ago and he’s going to be drumming for us.”

 

Patrick smiled and shook Pete’s hand. “Nice to meet you Pete,” he said.

 

I wish I could say that Pete looked into Patrick’s eyes and knew that this man would one day be his best friend, but that’s not how it works. I believe there is a transition point in every relationship, and that is when Pete and Patrick transitioned from being strangers to bandmates.

 

Joe, Pete, and Patrick continued playing. They did a lot of covers at that first rehearsal, but they quickly moved on to original stuff. Pete wrote the lyrics, and Patrick wrote the music. They named themselves Fall Out Boy.

 

Of course, there was still one problem. Patrick was drumming, and with a voice like that, it should be considered a crime against humanity. It wasn’t until after a show one day that Pete and Joe discovered it.

 

Joe was putting away his guitar when he heard Patrick singing quietly to himself. Obviously, he was impressed, but he didn’t say anything until he saw Pete later.

 

“Did you know Patrick can sing?” he asked Pete.

 

“Uh, no,” Pete said. “I thought he could only play the drums. He’s really good at that though.”

 

“Yeah, but I heard him singing and he has this range that I couldn’t even believe,” Joe said.

“I have to hear it for myself,”  Pete said.

 

So the next time they had band practice, Pete went up to Patrick and said, “Joe says you have this awesome range. Prove it.”

 

“I can’t do that!” Patrick said. “My voice is horrible. You wouldn’t want to hear that. Besides, you’re a fantastic singer.”