Oztix | News | Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump Reckons Sia Is A “Genius”

Ahead of an Australian arena tour this March in support of their latest album, M A N I A, Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump has gushed over Adelaide pop powerhouse Sia, calling her a bona fide "genius".

Having worked with the singer/songwriter on their second single, Champion, Stump tells The Music, "Sia’s a genius! I was just gushing about her. She’s one of my favourite artists alive right now.

"I should preface this by saying we weren’t in the studio with her and I’m very disappointed by that. We’ve known her for a long time but it just didn’t happen that way for this particular record.

"We’d been talking about working on something together for years. But we sent her some ideas, she sent us an idea for what became Champion."

The band have been friends with Sia for some time, with Sia even enlisting Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz to don a blonde wig and accept an award on her behalf at the APRA Music Awards in 2015.

"The thing that is so amazing about her – beyond that she’s just a rad person and I’ve learned a lot about how to be a public figure from her because she just understands how to do it – but one of the things that blows my mind is that as a writer, so much of what you deal with is rejection," Stump continues.

"So much of writing anything is 'here’s my idea' and someone going 'it’s garbage!' and you having to take that. You put everything into it, how do you put everything into it and not cry yourself to sleep when someone says that? But she knows how to do it.

"Every time she stands in front of a microphone, she sings like you’ve never heard anyone sing, it’s incredible. Every time she writes, she writes this thing and you’re like, ‘What was that?! That was genius!’

"But then she walks away, right? She’s like, ‘If you like it, you like it – if you don’t, I don’t care. I have 30 more brilliant ideas before lunch.’ And that was incredible," Stump exclaims.

"But yeah, I was really pissed off we weren’t in the studio this time because I wanted to study her and wanted to learn from her, figure out what she does because she’s such a genius."

Stay tuned for our full interview with Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump and catch them live around the country later this month; click on theGuide for more details.