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Interview: Pete Wentz (Pt. 2)
Interview: Pete Wentz (Pt. 2)
- Genre : More Music
- Type: News
- Author : Super Admin
- Date : Fri, 11 Jul 2008
When I first read about that, I turned to my coworker and started talking about how it was back in the day when Michael Jackson videos would premiere.
Exactly. They were events. People used to tune in to them.
Looking at the wide variety of artists on the show, you’re going from one end of the spectrum to the other. Do the suits ever get concerned about your picks?
No, the suits at MTV—and I swear I usually just make fun of everything—have championed this show in ways that blow my mind. I asked an executive, “What are the ratings we need to keep this show going?” He said, “Pete, this show isn’t about ratings. That’s not something you need to concern yourself with. This show is something that’s important to our collective idea of videos.” That was pretty cool of him to say.
As an artist that’s worked their way up from the underground and now has this platform on a major media outlet, do you think that’s it’s become easier or hard over time to get this kind of exposure?
I see it in two different ways. The playing field has been leveled. Someone in Nebraska can get their music out as easily as someone in New York City. Now, the difference is that so many artists are copying so many other artists. There are so many bands that are just versions of other bands. There are so many labels that want to sign bands into deals that will take over their career forever. There is so much music out there that individual bands might not mean that much to people anymore. That’s something we are going to have to wait and see over the next few years.
It’s cool that right now you have this chance to give some independent artists a big look on a huge stage. I thought it was cool the way you came out of the gates with a band like No Age.
You have to champion bands like that. And you want to know the coolest thing about No Age was? The audience really wanted them to win. They really wanted their video to be great. No Age were running up and down the aisles, high-fiving people, and you could feel their excitement. Rather than coming out and acting gloomy like, “We’re too cool to be here.” I think that was something that was different and exciting about that band, and I want to give them a lot of props for that.
You get the chance to hip other people to what’s hot in music with this show. How do you stay connected to what’s hot?
The three ways that I stay connected: I listen to what’s being played in Asian sneaker stores—those dudes are always early. I listen to what my little cousins are into, because they’re always early. And I listen to the bands on my label, because they’re always early. I’m an old man now. I have no idea.
—Chas Reynolds
07.11.08
1
Exactly. They were events. People used to tune in to them.
Looking at the wide variety of artists on the show, you’re going from one end of the spectrum to the other. Do the suits ever get concerned about your picks?
No, the suits at MTV—and I swear I usually just make fun of everything—have championed this show in ways that blow my mind. I asked an executive, “What are the ratings we need to keep this show going?” He said, “Pete, this show isn’t about ratings. That’s not something you need to concern yourself with. This show is something that’s important to our collective idea of videos.” That was pretty cool of him to say.
As an artist that’s worked their way up from the underground and now has this platform on a major media outlet, do you think that’s it’s become easier or hard over time to get this kind of exposure?
I see it in two different ways. The playing field has been leveled. Someone in Nebraska can get their music out as easily as someone in New York City. Now, the difference is that so many artists are copying so many other artists. There are so many bands that are just versions of other bands. There are so many labels that want to sign bands into deals that will take over their career forever. There is so much music out there that individual bands might not mean that much to people anymore. That’s something we are going to have to wait and see over the next few years.
It’s cool that right now you have this chance to give some independent artists a big look on a huge stage. I thought it was cool the way you came out of the gates with a band like No Age.
You have to champion bands like that. And you want to know the coolest thing about No Age was? The audience really wanted them to win. They really wanted their video to be great. No Age were running up and down the aisles, high-fiving people, and you could feel their excitement. Rather than coming out and acting gloomy like, “We’re too cool to be here.” I think that was something that was different and exciting about that band, and I want to give them a lot of props for that.
You get the chance to hip other people to what’s hot in music with this show. How do you stay connected to what’s hot?
The three ways that I stay connected: I listen to what’s being played in Asian sneaker stores—those dudes are always early. I listen to what my little cousins are into, because they’re always early. And I listen to the bands on my label, because they’re always early. I’m an old man now. I have no idea.
—Chas Reynolds
07.11.08
1
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