Today in Anti-Matter: I’ve always suspected that my readers were intuitive, but when I announced Anti-Matter’s upcoming hiatus, I was surprised by how many of you understood that there was also a mental health component to this decision—in spite of the fact that I never actually mentioned one. Out of quite literally hundreds of comments, DMs, and emails that I received from well-wishing readers, I’d estimate that a good 40 percent of them included some reference to the importance of “taking care of myself.” Your kindness to me did not go unnoticed. Today I go deep on the pressures of what I call “being perceived,” and how I’ve struggled with living in public my entire life—even at a modest level. I attempt to answer the question: How does growing up as a hardcore kid prepare you—or leave you unprepared—for notoriety at any level? There are few people whose stories can answer that question under the most extreme circumstances the way that Pete Wentz (@petewentz) of Fall Out Boy can. Having grown up in Chicago’s fertile ‘90s hardcore scene—and having played in so many bands of that era, including Arma Angelus, Racetraitor, Extinction, and Firstborn—Pete’s radically unpredictable journey towards becoming a pop culture figure was not exactly a smooth ride. “Being at the level where you can just call a restaurant and get a reservation, that’s a great level,” he tells me. “But anything beyond that is excessive. What you gain is not worth what you miss out on.” I offer a preview of my upcoming interview with him in today’s essay, and I am truly excited to share our entire conversation with you on Thursday. Head over to antimatter.substack.com and don’t miss a thing. Thank you, friends ✨ 📸: Pete Wentz in the 1990s. Photo by @jeanpaulfrijns