The Fall guy

What's a rock star without chaos and controversy? Pete Wentz, 26, bassist and pinup for Fall Out Boy, has written the lyrics for the hits "Sugar, We're Going Down" and "Dance Dance" that helped earn his pop-punk group a Grammy nomination for best new artist. But then nude photos of rock's new It Boy were splashed all over the Internet last month. As the Chicago-based band headed to St. Paul tonight, its mouthpiece -- an all-state soccer player turned tattooed rock star -- tried to explain himself in an hourlong phone conversation.

Q The first two weeks of March were kinda tough for you with your nude photos on the Internet and that stage dive in New York where no one caught you. How were the first two weeks of April?

A It can only get better. Time makes everything kind of better. You're able to laugh at yourself and get a little distance from who you were.

Q How do you deal with all the chaos and the embarrassment?

A I probably inspire some kind of turbulence in my life on a subconscious level. The best thing is the people I surround myself with, like the band, have been supportive. I don't think I'm the easiest person to be in a band with. My best weapon in defense is having a sense of humor. I just laugh about it. None of this stuff is the end of the world.

Q Any regrets?

A To be honest, I'd rather not have 3 million people see me naked. People would say, "Any press is good press." In retrospect, it's easy to say that. But I freaked out when it happened. It was really bad. If I could rewind it and not have it happen, it would definitely be the decision I would make. But at the same time, there's a lot of things you do that you have to live with.

Q What's the hardest thing about being Pete Wentz?

A Your initial goal is to never have a real job so you can always spend time with your friends and your family and never have any real responsibility. That's why you do a band. [But] you end up with more responsibility and a bigger job than you've ever planned on. You've put yourself in a spot where everyone is going to watch you make missteps and everyone is going to watch you complain about it. At the end of the day, I take myself too seriously sometimes and that can be a really dangerous, narcissistic kind of thing. My life is good and really easy compared to like people in Iraq who get bombs every single day. The thing I have to worry about is whether I have diet or regular soda in our [dressing room].

Q Do you ever reflect back on your suicide attempt last year?

A I try not to, 'cause it makes me feel uncomfortable. But when I do think back on it, one part of me is glad I had this distance from it and another part of me is like "Wow, that was pathetic." I've realized that talk therapy is what works the best for me.

Q Do you still see a therapist regularly?

A I can't on tour, but I do phone therapy about once a week or once every other week. When I'm home, I go every other day or every three days. It seems to be working better. A year ago, if all the stuff that happened in the previous three weeks [had happened], it would have been like a total meltdown.

Q What motivates you?

A I have a drive to be at the top. With Fall Out Boy, I don't want to disappoint the people who believe in us.

Q Is the motivation different from when you were playing soccer?

A If I would say if there was one thing that I was put here on the planet to do, soccer would be the thing. I didn't have to think about it, ever. With this stuff, I have to think more. Not all of it comes easy to me. So it feels like I accomplish more when I do it.

Q Why is Fall Out Boy so popular?

A It's this intangible thing -- the honesty and sincerity. That's what separates Fall Out Boy from 90 other bands that sound exactly like Fall Out Boy.

Q Are you really in touch with your fans or just smart marketers -- or a bit of both?

A We're really in touch with our fans. Our website is very interactive. Last night, I stayed out for an hour and met all the kids in New Mexico who wanted to meet us. Having a connection with your fans is marketable. At the same time, I really believe in this. ... I put everything into it. It's something that's both cathartic and enjoyable for me to do. All the fans mean a lot of me. I don't like reading when people are disappointed. It all bothers me. I may be a little bit overinvolved but it's important to me.

Q How much time do you spend on the website writing your journal and answering emails?

A Too much time. It's an hour or two a day. About that kind of stuff, I'm obsessive or meticulous or whatever. I think it's an easy way to get a sampling how people feel. Like when we're doing our arena tour, we knew there'd be backlash. So we took a poll on our website: What's important to you guys? And they said floor space and ticket prices. So those were the things we focused on.

Q One thing that stands out about you is your sense of humor. You have some silly song titles [e.g. "Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued" and "I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song"]. Where does it come from?

A My dad has this dry sense of humor. My group of friends was really into Wes Anderson movies and "Harold and Maude" -- [a] "should you be laughing at it or not be laughing" kind of sense of humor. In this scene, bands take themselves too seriously. They either want to be seen as kind of a jokey band or as a really serious band. The truth is you can kinda be both because every person is kind of both.

Q What did the Grammy nomination for best new artist mean?

A It's cool because it's the first time your parents think you're not in a garage band. It legitimized us with them. All the parents came out to California and they got dressed up. It puts you in this category that's very lofty. ... It is an honor to be nominated but you're not going to escape that little disappointment [John Legend won]. No one ever wants to be the second-best new artist.

Q Your parents come from a high-powered background. [His father is a law professor and his mother is an admissions dean at a private school.] Was it important to get approval from your parents?

A My parents have been supportive since Day One. My parents and Joe's parents bought us all of our vans. [Joe Trohman is the band's guitarist.] When your dad gives you the handshake -- where it's like he considers what you're doing a career, or on-par with what he thought you could have done -- it's a different look in his eyes.

Q How did you react when the readers of Spin magazine named Fall Out Boy both the most loved and most hated band?

A We just polarize people. I think I polarize people. It's my personality. I speak from the soul. I will give you the truth. I will run my mouth when I shouldn't run my mouth. As a band, we offer something that's very pop but it's not an easy pill to swallow. I think a lot of the lyrics can be either misanthropic or misgyonistic, whether they're intended or not. That probably polarizes people. People will either deify or demonize us. After they meet us, they realize we're just normal people or whatever.

Q You wrote the lyrics for "Sugar, We're Going Down." What's it about?

A To me, it all boils down to the chorus. It was the state of the union of Fall Out Boy at the time, where I saw us a year later. It's like we're going to go our way, go down swinging.

Q What's "Dance, Dance" about?

A "Dance Dance" was about feeling blue or miserable and realizing everybody is looking in on your life and probably perceiving you in a different way.

Q What's the most misunderstood thing about Pete Wentz?

A How bipolar everything I do and say is. I always speak what's on my head and what I'm thinking, and the problem is that I can turn back and forth kinda easily. There's times I'm so happy where Fall Out Boy is -- you're walking into a sold-out arena; it's the best feeling on planet -- and there's other times when you're like, "Man, I wish we were back at the Knights of Columbus hall. Those adventures were so great." You can definitely feel both. People misunderstand that and it bothers me.

Q Give me five adjectives that describe Pete Wentz.

A Stinky. Perpetually sleepy. Lonely. Obsessive. I think that I have a dualistic kind of thing where I feel both very private and very public. I can crave attention when I'm in control of it, and I can hate it when I'm not in control of it.

Q What goes through your mind when you're onstage?

A That's the place I feel most comfortable in my entire life. Everything else could be going wrong and like for that hour and an half, I feel alright.

Fall Out Boy

Opening acts: All American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights, From First to Last and the Hush Sound.

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Where: Xcel Energy Center, W. 7th St. & Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul.

Tickets: $13.25-$28.25. 651-989-5151.

Web: www.falloutboyrock.com

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719