Andy Hurley Reveals Hardcore Beginnings of Fall Out Boy Riffs

"Thriller" and "Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy" were inspired by Racetraitor and Harvest, respectively

BY Bradley Zorgdrager Published Nov 24, 2017

It's no secret the members of Fall Out Boy are fans of heavy music — just check out our Questionnaire with Pete Wentz, where the bassist reveals the first CD he bought was by Slayer. Speaking to Exclaim! TV's Aggressive Tendencies, drummer Andy Hurley has now revealed that the love extends to more direct inspiration than you might guess.

In an interview while in Toronto for Fall Out Boy's "M A N I A Tour," Hurley admits the opening breakdown in his band's 2007 tune "Thriller" was ripped off from "Islands to Burn" by Racetraitor, one of his then-former (since reformed) metalcore/hardcore bands. The first riff in "Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy," from 2003's Take This to Your Grave, was also directly inspired by fellow Midwest band Harvest, specifically their song "Meditations."

"I think that was Patrick [Stump's]," Hurley says of Infinity on High opener "Thriller." "He wrote that song to a Racetraitor breakdown because he just ripped it off, which is fair because that's a band I was in — am in... Especially back then, Patrick would kind of try to adapt hardcore breakdowns or hardcore rhythmic sensibilities into a pop sensibility to kind of see where you could take that, which I think was really interesting."

You can hear comparisons between the tunes in the first video below.

While also speaking to Aggressive Tendencies, Hurley also discusses how he got into music via metal and hardcore, why his biggest drumming inspiration is Slayer's Dave Lombardo (despite his favourite band being Metallica), his time playing in/with bands such as Killtheslavemaster, Vegan Reich, Global Scam and Earth Crisis, in addition to Racetraitor, as well as how that led to him joining Fall Out Boy. He also goes in-depth on his latest heavy band, SECT and their recently released sophomore LP, No Cure for Death. 

Finally, he gets political when revealing why last year was the right time for Racetraitor to come back, discussing racism, slavery, the prison system, the NFL kneeling protests and the activist side of straight edge. Despite his project's occasionally brazen messaging, he says Fall Out Boy's management (and the other members) support his political side, something they all possess as well, despite it not being clear in their music.

Learn more about the guy whose favourite things were (and still are) "Metallica, Star Wars and Earth Crisis... and the vegan straight edge" in the players below. 







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