Wentz shuffles the deck with Black Cards

By Luis Gomez

INDIANAPOLIS ——

What is the status of Black Cards — Pete Wentz’s first band since Fall Out Boy split up — now that the group and lead singer Bebe Rexha parted ways last month?

“We just put out a mixtape and have a couple remixes on the way,” said Wentz, taking a break from deejaying Rolling Stone’s Volkswagen Rock and Roll pre-Super Bowl tailgate Sunday. “And we’ve been in the studio working on original stuff. This all has been building. Its been like a 10-month gestation of figuring out what this is. I think we’ve figured out where we fit in.”

Black Cards performed at the opening of Wentz’s club, Angels & Kings, in the Hard Rock Hotel a little more than a year ago, and at Lollapalooza in August. Wentz said he doesn’t plan on replacing Rexha — at least not right now. He’d prefer to write lyrics and music and use different vocalists on the band’s songs, which is how he originally envisioned the band.

As for Rexha, Wentz isn’t sure if she will pursue a solo career but did reiterate that the breakup was a “mutual decision.”

“Everybody always says that, but it was a mutual thing,” Wentz said. “There’s no bad blood. We’re homies still.”

In addition to the break-up of the successful Fall Out Boy, Wentz also went through a public divorce last year with pop star Ashlee Simpson. The couple has a son.

“I feel like it’s been 10 months or a year that I haven’t really reacted to the stuff happening in my life,” Wentz said. “So I think the stuff I’ve been writing lately will be my first chance to be vocal about it.

“I feel like I’m at a point in life where I’m genuinely happy. I think before there was a lot of turmoil. I was trying to figure myself out. I think ‘Pete Wentz,’ as an idea at the time, was pretty toxic. It was hard for my friends to be around me. It was hard for me to be creative with people. But now I’m excited to be in the studio again with people. I’m no longer in a dark place, which is great.”

(Source: chicagotribune.com)