None of This Rocks: A Memoir

by Joe Trohman

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

From plucky emo underdogs to one of the biggest acts of the early aughts, Fall Out Boy has became pop-punk royalty. Here, Trohman reflects on his youth, mental illness, antisemitism, pills, petty larceny and everything in between. You may come for the insider perspective on the band's history, but it’s Joe’s voice, humor and heart that fuel this book and make it stand out in the sea of rock memoirs.

Lead guitarist and cofounder of Fall Out Boy shares personal stories from his youth and his experiences of modern rock and roll stardom in this memoir filled with wit and wisdom. 

Trohman cofounded Fall Out Boy with Pete Wentz in the early aughts, and he’s been the sticky element of the metaphorical glue-like substance holding the band together ever since, over the course of a couple decades that have included massive success, occasional backlashes, and one infamous four-year hiatus. Trohman was, and remains, the emotive communicator of the group: the one who made sure they practiced, who copied and distributed the flyers, and who took the wheel throughout many of the early tours. As soon as he was old enough to drive, that is—because he was all of 15 years old when they started out. That’s part of the story Trohman tells in this memoir, which provides an indispensable inside perspective on the history of Fall Out Boy for their legions of fans. But Trohman has a great deal more to convey, thanks to his storytelling chops, his unmistakable voice, and his unmitigated sense of humor in the face of the tragic and the absurd.
 
None of This Rocks chronicles a turbulent life that has informed Trohman’s music and his worldview. His mother suffered from mental illness and multiple brain tumors that eventually killed her. His father struggled with that tragedy, but was ultimately a supportive force in Trohman’s life who fostered his thirst for knowledge. Trohman faced antisemitism in small-town Ohio, and he witnessed all levels of misogyny, racism, and violence amid the straight edge hardcore punk scene in Chicago. Then came Fall Out Boy. From the guitarist’s very first glimpses of their popular ascension, to working with his heroes like Anthrax’s Scott Ian, to writing for television with comedian Brian Posehn, Trohman takes readers backstage, into the studio, and onto his couch. He shares his struggles with depression and substance abuse in a brutally honest and personal tone that readers will appreciate. Not much of this rocks, perhaps, but it all adds up to a fascinating music memoir unlike any you’ve ever read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306847356
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	09/13/2022
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	399,267
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Joe Trohman was born in Hollywood, Florida but grew up in Ohio before moving to the suburbs of Chicago. He is the cofounder and lead guitarist of the two-time Grammy nominated, multi-platinum, twenty-year-old rock band Fall Out Boy. Outside of his career in music, Trohman writes for television and is currently developing an animated series with Brian Posehn. Together, the two recently released a comic for Heavy Metal Magazine. Trohman has been Bar Mitzvah’d once, and currently lives on the Eastside of Los Angeles, California with his wife, two daughters, and an odd-shaped dog.

Table of Contents

Bygone Baby Bygone 1

That's the Power of Hugs 15

The Bummer Chapter 31

May the Force Be with Jew 47

Much to My Chagrin Falls 59

Give Up the Punk 75

Warped Speed 91

Hey, I Just Work Here 111

Pills, Pills, Pills 129

Those Darn Things 143

I Fret, Therefore I Am 157

Uh, I Think You're in the Wrong Room 167

Pregnant Musings from an Infertile Man 191

Get Back … Surgery 205

Finally, the End! 219

Acknowledgments 231

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2022

In this bloated memoir, Trohman, lead guitarist of the pop punk band Fall Out Boy, wisecracks through his journey from being a midwestern misfit to becoming a rock star. Raised by a mentally ill, emotionally distant mother, Trohman felt ill at ease as one of the few Jewish residents in 1990s South Russell, Ohio, where his family was treated with “genuine curiosity and legitimate revulsion.” But punk music came to the rescue. After moving to the Chicago area, he clawed his way on stage, culminating in a tour when he was 15 as the “fill-in bass player for Arma,” and went on to form Fall Out Boy in 2001. The band’s massive success was liberating, but also led to crippling self-doubts about his creative role, especially after submitting “what I thought were my best tracks, only to have them ignored” in the recording studio. Along with band drama, he dealt with drug addiction (“volleying between uppers and downers”) and suffered “raging depression and anxiety,” but music saw him through to the fulfillment he eventually found in starting a family. Trohman’s musings are punctuated by his somewhat grating humor (he jokes about putting his kids in “some sort of murder bag”) and a meandering narrative. It’ll thrill hardcore fans, but will prove of limited appeal otherwise. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Trohman’s first book feels less like a traditional memoir and more like a surprising confessional from the guy sitting next to you on a cross-country flight. Even at 37, the author already has a fascinating life story. When he was 15, he went on his first punk-rock tour, following a few years of therapy prompted by his struggles with antisemitism in his elementary school and his tumultuous relationship with his mother, who was coping with brain cancer. Stunningly honest about his depression, low self-esteem, and drug addiction, Trohman also has a charming literary voice of his own, using self-deprecation and clever quips to keep things moving briskly.”—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

08/26/2022

Trohman, lead guitarist of the pop-punk band Fall Out Boy, whines and berates his way through his life to this point in his life (at age 37), vacillating between self-hatred and rock star status. He grew up in an upper-middle-class environment with a doting, workaholic father, and a mother who suffered from and eventually died from multiple brain tumors. He is open about his own struggles with depression, his complicated relationship with his mother, drug and alcohol misuse, and his experiences growing up Jewish in small-town Ohio before his family moved. He relates how Fall Out Boy's cofounder, Pete Wentz, convinced Trohman's parents to let him go on tour at 15, and how the success of his band has allowed him to work on other music and entertainment projects. Fall Out Boy fans will be drawn to this memoir, and readers interested in pop-punk history might find some entertainment. There is little, however, about personal relationships among band members or the band's ups and downs. VERDICT Trohman's self-deprecating humor and rambling asides sometimes take away from what is otherwise an important discussion about mental health.—Rebekah J. Buchanan

Library Journal

2022-06-29
A debut memoir from the lead guitarist for Fall Out Boy.

Trohman’s first book feels less like a traditional memoir and more like a surprising confessional from the guy sitting next to you on a cross-country flight. Even at 37, the author already has a fascinating life story. When he was 15, he went on his first punk-rock tour, following a few years of therapy prompted by his struggles with antisemitism in his elementary school and his tumultuous relationship with his mother, who was coping with brain cancer. Stunningly honest about his depression, low self-esteem, and drug addiction, Trohman also has a charming literary voice of his own, using self-deprecation and clever quips to keep things moving briskly. He writes fondly of a friend who was able to “pull me out from my tightly wrapped burrito comprising seven layers of beans, cheese, and shredded self-hatred” and how his inner voice nagged him into speaking to the woman who would become his wife. The author’s storytelling is sometimes uneven, straying off into odd asides about Corona commercials or his vasectomy while quickly glossing over stories about the formation of Fall Out Boy or its little-discussed hiatus. Though Trohman has been in two bands each with bassist Pete Wentz and drummer Andy Hurley, he offers little about what they are like offstage or how fame has affected them. Instead, he provides more about his work composing music for TV shows and commercials, which didn’t really work out, and his recent interest in writing and producing his own comedies. Ultimately, Trohman’s tales are thoughtful and interesting enough to keep most readers engaged. “Looking back at old footage of myself,” he writes, “it was as if I were the physical manifestation of full-blown hypermania, though it’s clear now that this acting out was my way of releasing all the negative energy I had stored up from years of trauma.”

A rock star’s intriguing memoir ends up revealing way more about his compelling life than his famous music.

Kirkus Reviews