Clothes Encounters

Fall Out Boy bassist and songwriter Pete Wentz can't stand being limited by 4/4 time. He has aspirations of becoming the next Russell Simmons. "People didn't just buy a Def Jam record," he says. "People bought a culture." The multitalented entrepreneur talks about the need to create a similar counterculture to house his mad ideas.

New Times: Can you talk about your record label, Decaydance?

Pete Wentz: It's just a more artist-friendly home, unlike a lot of labels out there. I think a lot of times, bands are too hungry that they sign bad deals. I want to be the antidote to that. The first band we ever found was The Academy Is. They were always good friends of ours, so we got them signed at Fueled by Ramen. Then we signed Gym Class Heroes and did a split-label release with Fueled by Ramen. The latest record we've put out is by this band Panic at the Disco.

NT:What's your clothing line all about?

PW: I do that by myself with a few designers. It's called Clandestine Industries. We're opening a store in Chicago. We're in the process of doing that now. It's kind of a place to expand and go beyond, because there are only certain things we can do with Fall Out Boy accessories and merchandise. There are other things I'm really interested in doing. There's, like, high fashion -- I think that's really cool. So that's what Clandestine kind of offers the opportunity to do. Like, if I'm like, "Hey, man, I want to try to make a blazer," I can't really do that with Fall Out Boy.

NT:You write all of Fall Out Boy's lyrics, but you've also written two books. Can you talk about the latest?

PW: It's called Rainy Day Kids, and it's being edited right now. It's different [from A Boy With a Thorn in His Side], a lot more stream-of-consciousness -- more of what I'd call my true voice as a writer. It reads closer to something like maybe Bukowski, but fiction. It's probably not as insane as Bukowski, either. I'm just going to publish it myself through Clandestine.

NT:Is writing closest to your heart?

PW:I think so. I'm addicted to words. I think verbiage is just about the coolest thing in the world.