Alternative Press
May 2008

Panic At The Disco is featured on the cover of the upcoming issue of Alternative Press magazine. The magazine has an exclusive alternate cover available for subscribers only, click on the image above to view both covers. This is the issue former bassist Brent Wilson was interviewed for.

Alternative Press held an interview today with former Panic bassist, Brent Wilson. The interview will be published in an upcoming feature on Panic At The Disco in the magazine.

The following interview was conducted in the latter parts of 2006, and is comprised almost entirely of questions compiled from fan submissions on this very website. We want to thank the band, Panic! at the Disco, as well as their management team for helping us put this interview together.

What is with the makeup you wear during your performances on tour and other shows? Why do you feel the need to wear it?

Ryan: “I feel pretty, oh so pretty…”

Spencer: We always want our fans to be entertained and to feel like they came to see a show. What’s weird is I can’t understand why it bothers anyone.

When did the band decide to make a switch from seemingly normal clothes and nothing on stage to the costumes, makeup, and circus act? Do you ever think that the theatrics you put into your live show all of the sudden will make people think you’re a “gimmick” band? If you don’t, why isn’t it a gimmick?

Spencer: We switched when we were able to headline and control the overall show. When you’re an opening band, you have a very short set and limited stage room. You’re also not making enough to pay for gas, let alone a crew and production so it doesn’t make sense to half ass it. I don’t get why trying to do the best show possible for our fans makes us a “gimmick” band. The album doesn’t wear makeup. If you liked the album before we had make up on. Why would it suddenly become worse? Read the full article »

Are you any more anxious than usual about playing your first arena show in your hometown?

Brendon: It’s pretty much just another show, except that on that day I can go to my house and pick up something that I forgot- little conveniences like that. And we have a day off, I’d love to sleep in my bed.

What does an arena afford Panic! that a club or theatre doesn’t?

It’s our first time really doing the kind of size production that we’ve been wanting to do for a long time. The way that we present our show to people is less in the fashion of a club show, where it’s intimate. It’s more in the fashion of a Broadway musical where people pay money to see a spectacle and we try to give it to them with our production and performers that we have. It’s more like if you were going to see Cirque du Soleil or the Blue Man Group- you go to see a performance, not just a show. Read the full article »

At 21, bassist Jon Walker is the oldest member of Panic! at the Disco, one of the country’s hottest young rock groups. When they’re not on the road, Walker and his fellow bandmates — Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith and Brendon Urie — still live at home with their parents.

Despite their youthfulness, the band managed to record a show-stopping debut album, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” which has sold more than 1 million copies since its release last year.

At last summer’s MTV Video Music Awards, the band won Video of the Year for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.”

“It’s been an awesome year for us,” Walker said in a phone call from a tour stop in Denver. Read the full article »

Former Panic! At The Disco Wilson, who left the cult US band in May (06), has launched legal proceedings over royalties he claims he is owed from the group’s 2005 debut album “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out”.

Wilson claims he was dumped after a row over money, but his former bandmates insist his lifestyle and attitude were in stark contrast with their own.

Guitarist Ryan Ross says, “It was tough, because we all went to high school together. (But) it just got to a point where it didn’t seem like he was taking it seriously and was along for the ride. And he started to get into things we weren’t happy about. It was a hard decision.”

Replacement bass player Jon Walker adds, “This band is everything to these guys, so it’s not fair to them if someone in the band can’t keep up.” Bassist Brent Wilson was fired from the group because “he couldn’t keep up” musically and didn’t take his responsibilities seriously enough.

Source: pr-inside.com