“We’re the best that we could be because of the break.” Fall Out Boy’s Andy Hurley explains it to us

The new issue of AP is on stands now, and it features an extensive story with the newly reconstituted Fall Out Boy. In this interview—exclusively on altpress.com—drummer Andy Hurley tells Ryan J. Downey about trying to shake their fans off the premature reunion trail, being more active in the creative process and being amazed at the shortcomings of paparazzi.

Fall Out Boy almost broke the internet with all the conjecture about the reunion.
It’s cool though; it worked out well. Ultimately none of the [rumors] ever got it fully right; they had certain things right. No one knew we had a record finished. We were waiting until we could release the single the same day as announcing shows, touring and stuff. It was tough: We just had to keep denying it. I pretty much stayed off Twitter for a while just so I wouldn’t even run the risk. I didn’t allow myself to geo-tag. Kids are fucking spies. They'll look at that and think, “Joe [Trohman] is here and Andy is here.”

Was there a secrecy plan handed down from your management? You have a tight-knit group of dudes at home: Did you have to tell dudes in Misery Signals not to tweet about Fall Out Boy making an album? Like, “No, seriously dude, don’t tweet.”
Nothing like that, not for me. Some of the other dudes may have. There are definitely people I just didn't tell or I'd say, “Yeah we'll be back eventually; we never broke up.” I'd phrase it that way. The dudes I live with knew. I'm not going to lie to them—I see them every day. They know I'm going to Los Angeles for something, so I told them. But I'm not worried about any of them saying anything. As for the bigger picture, I don't really know the ropes of how they did that; that was all management stuff. I think it was just a small group of people who were a part of the process. We didn't take any photos in the studio. It was cool because we were recording in Santa Monica: It's not a place where paparazzi are going to be.

There were a few scares. One time, I went somewhere with Pete [Wentz] and paparazzi dudes followed us, but they didn't put two and two together, which is kind of insane. They just thought we were eating at this place together; they didn't run with that. They were just like, “Oh, look at his hair today.” So that worked out.

How did the conversation begin between all of you? What put it in motion?
I had always talked to everyone. We didn't not talk to each other. We had Joe's wedding, we were at Patrick [Stump’s] wedding and hung out there. I talked to everyone the most and hung out with everyone when I was in their respective towns. I think it was Patrick who started writing, maybe two years ago; he had called me and told me. Then the conversation started. I know he was talking to Pete and sending ideas back and forth. It took maybe another year and six months [before] it turned into something where they both thought it was time we actually got the ball rolling. Then it was Patrick again who called me and told me they thought they had something and that we should start getting this going. I think I was on the Dammed Things tour then.

Were you ready to go then and there?
Yeah, I always wanted it to come back sooner than later. It’s so much better than it’s ever been. We’re the best that we could be because of the break.

A lot gets made of the creative displacement of you and Joe. Will that change going forward with Fall Out Boy?
Yeah, it’s changed a lot. Early on when talks started up again, Patrick and Joe were talking a lot and sending ideas back and forth. The break was really good for Joe; he really came into his own as a songwriter. He's always written stuff for Fall Out Boy, but it was always a song or two when Patrick wrote 40. So obviously, when someone is writing this huge amount of songs, it's going to flow better. This time from the start, they were going back and forth and writing over each other’s ideas. Joe is totally integral in the writing of this record, more than ever before. That part is awesome. I've sung a lot of back-up stuff on the record; that's different than before. I have not done that. It is kind of exciting and scary. It’s definitely a much more collaborative process now. But I never minded it. A lot of the bands I love, there's a dude that writes the music and that's fine. Bands are different entities; I've always had a million hardcore projects or things with friends, anyway. That was never an issue for me. alt

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