Patrick Stump Quotations

I don't like to Google myself. I try and avoid it whenever I can.

When you make art, you get really invested in it. When art happens by accident and you were just along for the ride? It's way more fun.

'As Long As I Know I'm Getting Paid' is a satire. Lyrically, I want to be direct. With my history in Fall Out Boy, there's some expectation that I'm going to be lyrically obtuse. But that song is a straight-faced satire of consumerism.

Good music is good music, regardless of where it comes from. I think that's a really important thing to carry with you.

When you're a little kid, you just like music that makes you happy and is fun. As you get older, you reach college or your 20s and you decide that music should be challenging and all art should be smart. So you start to think it makes you like high art more to put down things you consider low art. I don't even think things are low art.

Theres no amount of money that makes you feel better when people think of you as a joke or a hack or a failure or ugly or stupid or morally empty.

There's no first impressions anymore. You go to a job interview, and they'll probably Google you. It's a shame - people should play it a little closer to the chest as far as what information they release to the world. If I'm angry about something, I'm not going to take to my Twitter.

All of the agreed-upon pariahs throughout pop-culture history put their identities into the thing we decry. And yet we derive our own identities from the act of hating. We connect on the things we are disappointed in. Some may argue that nothing in history gathers a crowd like complaining about Lady Gaga's meat dress.

'Punk' doesn't mean Mohawks and safety pins. It's about not conforming.

I wasn't necessarily frustrated in Fall Out Boy, but there were things that didn't get satisfied, desires left wanting. We didn't all meet on the same kind of music. When bands break up, there are all these buzz words that get tossed around to maintain a front for the audience, but in this case there literally were creative differences.

I was going to record a solo album when I was 15 on a four-track. I started working on it, but then Fall Out Boy happened. The band was awesome and took me in a totally different direction. I don't regret it at all, but the band delayed the record I had been planning.

Everyone wants to pretend like they sprang out of the ground with an Animal Collective record in their hands and a David Bowie haircut, and that's just not the case. You discover these things gradually.

One of the things that always was Fall Out Boy was trying new things and kind of pushing ourselves in different directions.

Touring on 'Folie' was like being the last act at the vaudeville show: We were rotten vegetable targets in clandestine hoods.

For some people, home is family and their mom's house or their girl or whatever, and I have those experiences as well, but the biggest thing for me is Chicago. I don't know how to explain it.

There's a certain fear of simplicity. I think that's the thing, when you're younger as an artist, you get this idea in your head that complexity equals quality. The more notes you're playing, the better.

When you're No. 1 or No. 300, you still get to play and write the songs.

I think you can totally be a totally normal kid from the suburbs of Chicago and go off and play shows. It's one of those things that when you go home, you're still the nerd you were when you left, and your parents still get to yell at you about cleaning up your room, and your girlfriend still drags you to the pet store.

I think when you're 17 and you're angry, you're angry about very short-term things. And there's nothing wrong about writing that record. It's a very real record to write; it's the realest record I could write when I was 17. The problem is, when you're 28, it's not the same thing; it can be a put-on.

As far as criticism, I don't mind critics. I mean, I wrote for 'Rolling Stone' for a hot minute. I like criticism. I enjoy criticism. The thing I don't like is cruelty for cruelty's sake. You don't have to be a jerk to say something negative. You can say something in the negative sense and have class.

Between Prince and my dad's fusion-jazz records, I didn't have a choice in being funky.

Written by the ancient Chinese philosopher of the same name, the 'Zhuangzi' is one long perplexing puzzle of a rambling collection of enigmatic short stories. It's a strange feeling to laugh at a joke written by someone in the 4th century B.C.

I write really scathing, angry stuff when I'm in a better mood, and then uplifting and happy stuff when I'm at the absolute bottom.

Whatever notoriety Fall Out Boy used to have prevents me from having the ability to start over from the bottom again.

When I eat something like vegetable bibimbap, I get that warm and fuzzy feeling of eating stuff that I grew up with.

We're so busy broadcasting our latest cultural disdain that we scantly notice anything we enjoy. 'Oh man, this Rebecca Black kid is terrible! Let's laugh at her!' has become more culturally relevant than, 'I really love this new Bilal record.'

I am genuinely into soul, R&B and hip hop - all these genres that get slapped under the 'soul' genre. That spoke to me more than it did to my punk-rock friends. And punk spoke more to me than it did to my soul friends. I basically didn't fit comfortably in either world.

I have a girlfriend and she hasn't minded, ... She thinks it's funny I have to sing about that stuff.

Here's the thing about Kelly Clarkson. At the end of the day, she's an amazing singer, and you can't fault her for that.

Our fans are pretty loyal. In the beginning, we had to play a lot of shows to, like, one kid at a time. Those kids stuck with us and have been incredibly supportive. They have a lot more ownership of us than other bands, they can have Fall Out Boy. That's how we feel.

(Wentz) just gives me lyrics and phrases and sentences and ideas that are just kind of disembodies from any song, ... I'm his word editor and he's my music editor.

Yeah, I've been writing a bunch of new stuff, but it's all secret. In fact, I may or may not have been writing stuff this entire interview.

We wanted out of it. It was the most negative thing in the world.

First off, we came from hardcore bands, and, in a lot of ways, we still see ourselves as a hardcore band. That said, that's just how we play. I don't know how else to play when you're in a rock band. If you're in a rock band, that's how you're going to do it.

I started playing music when I was really young. I didn't start off on guitar because I couldn't fit my hands around the neck and fret board. So I did the drums. And back then, all I did was hit things.

I'm really glad I put aside whatever ego I had and just let (Wentz) be free,

I moved to L.A. and really didn't dig living there until I found places like Koreatown and Little Tokyo. I really like hanging out in the grocery stores and restaurants.

I never really ate that bad, I just ate too much. It wasn't like I had to switch to whole wheat bread or something like that. I really just had to eat less of what I was eating, and I had to exercise more.

I love playing Michigan, I'm really excited that we begin the tour in Detroit. It's one of those places where we know the kids like the back of our hands and they know us -- it's like home.

I don't think we care anymore about what we're gonna do. We're just gonna be our own band and we're not gonna pretend to be any more rock or any less whatever than we are. We're kinda hardcore kids, we're kinda a metal band in this weird way, we're kinda into soul, we're kinda into folk, we're kinda into a lot of stuff and we're just gonna do whatever we do.

The last record was good but lyrically it wasn't focused - I was writing a lot of the lyrics and I am not the best, ... It was one of those things where I had to reflect on it and this record is all Pete.

I love New Zealand. Every time I'm in New Zealand someone makes a joke about it being mostly sheep, which I think is unfair, because it's mostly nice people. It's mostly nice people and really wonderful scenery.

I used to work in a record store. I'm kind of a record nerd.

Drums were my first instrument, my first love. I need rhythm, something that moves.

I love Korean food, and it's kind of like home to me. The area that I grew up in outside Chicago, Glenview, is heavily Korean. A lot of my friends growing up were Korean and when I would eat dinner at their houses, their parents wouldn't tell me the names of the dishes because I would butcher the language.

I lost about 60 pounds. I don't really have a moment specifically that made me do it. I remember little things, like, when I was in Japan, I remember looking around at the portion sizes of a fast food restaurant and being like, 'Well, this has something to do with it.' Americans definitely eat too much.

Yoko Ono never deserved any of the hate she got. Paul McCartney and John Lennon weren't getting along.

The music that I made in my band wasn't the expression of everything I was into. Bands are based on compromise.

Wow, I really need to take [singing] more seriously!

I don't believe any genre of music can be unilaterally dismissed (aside from like, white-power music or something).

In Fall Out Boy, we were all playing with our pop punk influences, so that was always within that kind of framework.

I moved to L.A. and really didn't dig living there until I found places like Koreatown and Little Tokyo. I really like hanging out in the grocery stores and restaurants.

I'm very curious about David Bowie's new record [2016]. I'm very, very... I'm just incredibly curious, I want to see what's happening with that. I don't really know who else is putting out records, we've had our heads buried working on ours. I haven't really been paying much attention lately.

Advice? Focus on the craft. Study the greats. Try and understand how and why they made the writing choices they did. Then, start by copying them...just as an exercise. See if you can do similar things. Learn how to write a song like so and so. Then, when you've done that, write a song like yourself. Learn to color within the lines before going outside them.

American Suiteheart I must confess Im in love with my own sins

I would love to hang out with Elvis Costello, to see what he's up to because he seems so fascinating to me.

Lyrically, I personally lean towards venting.

Gym Class is a band I am more directly involved with than any other band except for Fall Out Boy.

The music business is one of a few places where everything you've heard about it seems entirely cliche, but it's true.

Everything I've ever wanted to do, we've kinda done. Everything beyond this has been just the cherry on top. I've been so happy with the band, and we're so lucky and blessed to be able to do it.

I don't see the songs as uplifting, but rather as trying to make lemonade from lemons, or whatever. When I listen to them, I understand the context. I don't like to pepper songs with my own experiences, though.

Kid problems are when you're bummed because girls don't like you or something silly, but then you get older and people start dying and going broke and whatever. People get sick. When you get older these things just happen.

I don't want to put out something I'm not psyched on just because I finished it. That's the stupidest reason to do something, really. I want it to be up to my standards. I don't want to put out something I wouldn't listen to.

Be yourself! Love your mom, but if she's trying to get you to be someone you're not, she's in the wrong

You have total freedom. It's like, if you do a solo record, there are no restrictions and you can do whatever you want, good or bad. You can have these passing fancies where you go in to the studio one day and you want to do something like what you did on the way in. That's dangerous. You have to have some sort of focus.

I don't want to be George Lucas and go back after the fact.

I'm really attracted to music that sort of toes that line between pop and avant-garde, that pushes the envelope of what you can get in a pop song.

I really like pop music, I don't think it's a four-letter word.

I think any good artist - and I'm not saying that I am one - takes notes and should first emulate their heroes and then try to move beyond them.

I very often think about doing things that I would want other artists to do. Like, if I'm a fan of whoever, I want to be treated a certain way. So I realized it came off almost elitist to ignore the whole world of Twitter and Facebook.

I don't want names, but you have to have bumped into some pretty nasty artists with pretty big chips on their shoulders. I'd like an anecdote about the most obnoxious personality you had the misfortune of working with, albeit as anonymously as you feel comfortable divulging.

Most producers get into it because they were just never handsome or charismatic or talented enough to be the star.

We wanted to wait until the music felt right. We didn't want to do it, just to do it. We didn't want to do it for money, I guess, is the thing that would have just bummed me out so much.

In reply to 'how do I flirt with people?': Just be yourself and not want anything out of anybody. Desire is the killer of all smoothness.

The song that's affected me the most profoundly is probably Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' or, more specifically, the couple seconds of instrumental break before Vincent Price starts 'rapping.'

I think writing is a much more personal thing.

I always think about opportunity and how you regret the things you don't do.

There are some bands for whom that works very well and it's no disrespect to them because I'm sure there's something honest and natural about it, but for us I feel like it would be dishonest and kinda disrespectful to that artwork to do that. To be like: "Okay, we're going to go back and only play these songs, even though we have an hour to an hour and a half set and we gotta play more songs, but we'll skimp you on your extra half hour." That's just silly to me.

I am genuinely into soul, R&B and hip hop - all these genres that get slapped under the 'soul' genre. That spoke to me more than it did to my punk-rock friends. And punk spoke more to me than it did to my soul friends. I basically didn't fit comfortably in either world.

Steven Tyler isn't in Aerosmith anymore, but his gravestone will probably say something about Aerosmith.

Eh. Hipster's not really a thing anymore. Plus, hipster or out of touch old dude? Same uniform really...

I'm good with telling people what I think, too, but I don't know why people are so content to treat each other poorly.

I was talking to my grandpa last Thanksgiving. He pulled me aside and was like, "This Thanksgiving is the 150th for the Vaughn family in Chicago." I was like, "Cool, whatever," but I think when you have a culture like that, you should have a real appreciation for it. My family's been there forever and I don't want to leave.

I still have access to enough money to live on in order to avoid bankruptcy for at least a few years as long as I stick to my budget Still, there's no amount of money in the world that makes one feel content with having no self respect. There's no amount of money that makes you feel better when people think of you as a joke or a hack or a failure or ugly or stupid or morally empty.

I love playing our older songs along with newer ones but If all I have is my old stuff, I quit. Creating is more rewarding.

He's writing what I'm singing, and I'm writing what he's playing.

I didn't want to give up my Illinois driver's license and was unaware that was a crime. It is, by the way, in the state of California. Lesson learned. I technically broke a law, so technically I deserve whatever I get.

I'd hate wearing suits every day.

Good! Hang in there! It's normal! [Low self-esteem] Often it's a sign of intelligence (but don't let that go to your head haha)

I always thought 'Stump' was kind of like, you dropped something on your foot. It's not the most exotic rock-star name.

Self-deprecating or arrogant, it's all selfish. Hard as it is, life's better when you spend more time on the rest of the world

Stray thought for the day: Putting boundaries on how punk should sound/look is the least punk rock thing one can do. Be yourself=Very punk.

My bucket list is pretty much checked off. But oh, we should play in space! Let's do that. We'll play in space, up on a satellite somewhere.

There are two types of bands - there are the ones that are basically solo projects anyways, where there's clearly the one guy who's driving the ship and everyone else is just along for the ride. And then there was my band, where you have a few very disparate-taste, creative people who kind of meet in the middle somewhere.

I definitely love kimchi. The biggest influence that eating so much Korean food growing up had on me was that I have no limit for spiciness. The hotter the better.

In Fall Out Boy, I noticed that I wasn't putting all that much soul into it. It was just kind of screaming, I guess. I was just dying to get out of there!

Speed is absolutely key to creativity. The more time it takes to create something, the less likely you are to create something.

Quiet IS the new loud.

I don't mind critics. I mean, I wrote for Rolling Stone for a hot minute. I like criticism. I enjoy criticism. The thing I don't like is cruelty for cruelty's sake. You don't have to be a jerk to say something negative. You can say something in the negative sense and have class.

I don't mind if someone thinks I'm a sell out. I go to bed happy knowing I do what I do and I'm not doing anything for reasons of money, and if I were trying to pick up chicks, I'm doing a horrible job. And if I wanted to drive awesome cars, I'm doing a really bad job there too.