INK: Thinking back on the Fueled By Ramen days, there was this group of bands (Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is…, Cobra Starship, P!ATD, Gym Class Heroes) that became a movement as well as a community, and then it started to come apart. What was the moment for you where you realized that it was the end of an era?

I don’t know, I never really thought of it that way. I mean, we’re all friends, but our bands are different. We were friends and we toured a ton together and we’re still friends, but I don’t think we thought of it as much of a movement until everyone else did. Now, looking back, I feel like it certainly was.

I don’t know when that changed… probably when people started blowing up on the radio. And then, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. Time changes things, time changes people, their passions change, their inspiration changes. Everything has to end. At some point, every road ends. Even if it’s coast to coast, you’re going to hit that shoreline, eventually. It’s your decision where you go from there—do you turn back around and travel that same road? For me, I kinda just started swimming.

— William Beckett Writes a Song For One Direction, Talks FBR and Recalls Being ‘A Bit of a D***’