Earlier in the week Marvel News caught up with Fall Out Boy drummer Andy Hurley to discuss comics, touring, and the success if their new record. All right here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 By Ryan Penagos

One of the cool things I get to do here as Editor of Marvel.com is interview genuinely awesome celebrities who are also big Marvel fans. I get an extra special buzz when I'm a big fan of the work the superstar Marvelite produces. Such is the case with Andy Hurley, drummer extraordinaire for the rock band Fall Out Boy.

Fall Out Boy, Hurley at far right

Andy and I actually met at last year's Wizard World Chicago comic book convention. He was just hanging out at the show, shopping for original art and geeking out just like the rest of us. So with the new Fall Out Boy album, "Folie à Deux," hitting stores on December 16, I linked up with Andy to talk about Marvel, music and more.

Marvel.com: Who's your favorite marvel character?

Andy Hurley: I'd say [it's] between Daredevil and Punisher.

Marvel.com: Why those two?

Andy Hurley: Daredevil because he's been written by so many good people. He's just such an awesome, flawed character—badass, my roommate says. There's the Frank Miler run, Kevin Smith, Bendis obviously—[it's] one of the greatest comic runs ever, Ed Brubaker. And then Punisher just because he's the ultimate dude. He's kind of Batman to the Nth degree, where he's just this regular dude who is trained to perfection, but he goes the extra step and gets rid of evil for all time.

Marvel.com: Yeah, also he's a little crazier than the guy from our Distinguished Competition. At least, some would say.

Andy Hurley: Oh, way crazier.

Marvel.com: Between all those writers' DAREDEVIL runs, whose would you say is the most definitive?

DAREDEVIL BY BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS OMNIBUS V. 1

Andy Hurley: Definitely Bendis for me. I mean, I love the Miller run. I got into comics for like a second when I was a younger, when I got into punk rock and I think that Kevin Smith's run is kinda what pulled me back in, but I'd definitely say Bendis's run is one of the best runs in comics.

Marvel.com: So would you say that DAREDEVIL has been your favorite series through the years?

Andy Hurley: Yeah it's a series that I've been reading for a long time in my life and since the restart I've been reading since issue one and I read every issue and I never miss it. But I'd say PUNISHER, too. Garth Ennis' run, especially on the MAX [series], is one of the greatest runs. Not mired in the continuity and just free to be more realistic, I guess. It was just the perfect Punisher.

Marvel.com: Are you more of a writer or an artist guy?

Andy Hurley: Writer. When I got back into comics, that's when I got hooked into writers more. Definitely when I was younger I was into all the Image stuff and back when they were all at Marvel. Pretty much since I got back, [I've] just [been] discovering more and more writers, so definitely writers.

Marvel.com: Do you have a favorite artist?

Andy Hurley: I have a couple. I love Brian Hitch, I love Frank Quietly, pretty much all the dudes that Morrison, Millar, Ellis—any of those dude have worked with. I love Michael Lark, and that dude who was doing IMMORTAL IRON FIST, David Aja. I love that dude.

Marvel.com: When you're on the road do you still get to keep up with your books?

Andy Hurley: I try as much as I can. On normal tours where it's more consistent—we're on the bus and we're not flying as much—I at least have a runner go to the comic shop every Wednesday and pick up the stuff I'm reading and then the rest I'll just order online in my house. But lately for the promo and press for the new record, we're in Europe which is kind of impossible to get comics and then just playing shows where we fly every other day so it's been kind of hard.

Marvel.com: It's gotta be crazy. I've talked to other guys in bands and some bring their favorite trade or collection on some tours. Do you do anything like that where you bring books with you and read over and over again?

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ULTIMATE COLLECTION BOOK 1

Andy Hurley: Not really, I always have to read new stuff. I pulled out some Alan Moore stuff or some Grant Morrison stuff or Warren Ellis, but usually I have so much stuff that I'm not caught up on. So usually for tours I'll bring a bunch of trades. I just recently finished Transmetropolitan, I'm bringing out all the ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN [volumes] because I was so behind on that that I'm just starting over. [It's] a pretty immense undertaking.

Marvel.com: It's over 120 issues, that's at least 15 trades, probably more!

Andy Hurley: I just wanna get caught up on that because of ULTIMATUM. I'll bring all the trades for one series and try to catch up on that. And then each week if I'm able to, I'll get singles. That's usually what I do.

Marvel.com: Have you been reading SECRET INVASION or anything that's going on right now?

Andy Hurley: Definitely! I love it. I personally like the Avengers stuff that he's doing a little more. I feel like SECRET INVASION is moving slow, but in my opinion it's one of the coolest crossovers and the most meaningful one. Especially with the main thrust of it [being] the two Avengers books and SECRET INVASION. It's just so well thought-out and he filled in every last hole and every question you had about how long he was really building it up and you know he was really building it up for years and you just don't see that. I think that's awesome! I love that. I'm stoked. I love Bendis. I love that he has a hand in where the Marvel Universe is going.

Marvel.com: It's great stuff, even moreso with what follows. Anyway, as I mentioned before, we had originally met at a comic convention. Do you get to go to many of them?

Andy Hurley: I went to San Diego and Wizard World Chicago [last year].

Marvel.com: What do you look for when you go to a convention? I know I like to look for original art and get sketches, and sometimes pick up some rare books but everybody has a different thing that they go to conventions for.

Andy Hurley: I mainly go for sketches and artwork and stuff. I used to go to fill in my collection but I think I have everything that [Alan] Moore has done, everything that [Garth] Ennis has done, [Grant] Morrison, [Warren] Ellis, [Frank] Miller, all the dudes I love. So I'm not looking for that anymore, but I definitely bring my sketchbook. I got a couple of commissions in Chicago, I got one from David Mack, I got one from Alex Maleev, and then other than that I go for panels.

San Diego was cool 'cause "Lost" was one of my favorite shows I got to see that panel and it was awesome. [And] Bendis was really good [on his panels] 'cause he's just so funny.

Marvel.com: So one of our mutual friends told me that you have a Western sketchbook?

Andy Hurley: Yeah I have a Clint Eastwood sketchbook. Mainly "Man With No Name" and then "Unforgiven," but you know it could be whatever, but it could be just western influenced.

Marvel.com: Have you picked up anything cool in the conventions you went to this year?

Andy Hurley: Just at Wizard World, that's where I got the couple of commissions and a couple of sketches in the sketchbook, but San Diego I didn't really have time for anything. It was so busy. I went with a friend so we went to a bunch of panels and that was pretty much it. I don't think I even visited the floor that day. I might have for like 20 minutes.

"Folie à Deux"

Marvel.com: So let's talk about the new record, the band and everything. How long were you guys working on "Folie à Deux"?

Andy Hurley: Patrick [Stump, Fall Out Boy lead singer] was kind of writing it the entire time we were touring last year on the last record "Infinity on High." So by the time we were done with that, he pretty much had about 60 songs and then we took about 6 months off and he'd still write some stuff and it was about June when we started kind of working in it. We all kind of picked songs that we wanted and then when we got back, Patrick was working with our producer to cut the songs even further 'cause there were about 30 that we picked. We actually started recording Mid-July. By the time we started recording, we gave ourselves a really short amount of time because usually we can record for like 3 months and this time I think we gave ourselves a month and a half. Which you know by the old days' standard that's a lot, but with a lot of the other stuff we did getting some guests appearances and orchestrating strings and stuff on the record, that's pretty short.

Marvel.com: Do you have a favorite song on the record?

Andy Hurley: "What a Catch, Donnie" I think is definitely my favorite song. I feel like if we were going to break up—not that we're going to, definitely not going to —that would be the ultimate kind of swan song, 'cause there's this part in it at the end of the song where there's a reprise of a bunch of different choruses from different songs throughout our career and it reprises a chorus from another song on "Folie à Duex." It's just really, really well written, I think. In my opinion, it's just the song I'm most proud of being a part of.

Marvel.com: I asked people on Twitter if they had any questions for you, and there was one good question I pulled from a fan. He asked, if you could do a song for a super hero movie, what movie would it be for and what kind of song would it be?

Andy Hurley: I don't know. I mean, that's hard. I'd say "Iron Man" I guess.., I don't know what it would be, though. I don't think I'd want to. [In] my personal opinion, I don't really like it when [bands write songs for movies]. To me, a comic book movie is the ultimate thing, so I guess I like the scores to movies better than I like bands, because I think bands kind of date [the movies]. I don't think it's up to me though.

Be sure to pick up Fall Out Boy's new CD, "Folie à Deux," on sale now and check out Fall Out Boy on tour throughout the winter! For dates and more info head to www.falloutboyrock.com now!

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Sources:  www.marvel.com