"The rambunctious goof eventually became a pretty quiet and introspective kid, focused mostly on his music and a straight-edge lifestyle," Kuse said. "His circle of friends was pretty small, mostly just other kids who thought like he did and who also played music, mostly hard-core and punk type stuff.

"I still remember the band director at the time (Don Huenfeld), who has since retired, commenting on the fact that Andy was phenomenally talented and probably the best drummer he'd ever seen."

Informed of the last comment, Hurley was thunderstruck.

"That's amazing," he said. "(Huenfeld) was a love-hate relationship. He was very strict and hard on everyone. It was probably like a strict coach, like (Packers head coach Vince) Lombardi. We'd argue a lot. After four years, I realized it was to get us to reach our potential.

"When you're young, you think that all the teachers are against you. I definitely didn't care about school. I mean, I loved being there. I loved being with my friends. But, I didn't really care about what was taught there.

"I was lucky to have a lot of great teachers. Mr. Kuse was a great teacher and he's a big reason I turned into who I am. There were other teachers and even the principal (Richard Woosencraft) who would kind of try to find ways to tailor things to me. They were always bummed that I wasn't doing the work, but they would try to figure out things I could do to pass."

Kuse described Hurley as a "so-so" student who, though bright, seemed bored by what was being taught in class.

"He was the kid who'd stay after class to discuss something he was reading, not what the class was reading, but something much more philosophical or socially relevant," Kuse said. "And that's still the way he is today.

"Though I haven't seen him in about a year now, I'd still run into Andy every now and then, more often than not when I was working part-time at a local bookstore.

"I'd ask how things were going and how he was handling all the attention, as it's really not his style to be out in the spotlight. And while he'd get excited about some of the things that had happened, wondering if I'd seen them on this show or that, or on the cover of a particular magazine, more than anything else he'd want to know if I had any good books to recommend."

When he's not working out or listening to hardcore from Manowar on his iPod, Hurley, who studied history and anthropology at UWM, voraciously devours comic books (a personal passion) and non-fiction works by John Zerzan and Derrick Jensen, who question modern civilization and its values while arguing that the industrial economy is harmful to the environment and human interaction.

Reading books like Jensen's "Endgame," which aren't exactly considered "summer beach reading," could lead one to question the rock star lifestyle. While Hurley thinks that the record industry is "in shambles" and the role of record labels needs to be redefined, he tries to ignore the "business" part of the music business.

"I don't care about the business part of it," Hurley said. "Pete (Wentz) is a brilliant business man. He's got a lot of ideas and I think that helps us a lot as a band."

From a business standpoint, Fall Out Boy couldn't be doing much better. (Even Wentz's embarrassing experience with some nude photos on the Web turned out to be a good marketing tool). Ticket sales have been brisk. Kids are screaming at shows and downloading songs. There are enough interviews, photo ops, meet-and-greets and celebrity girlfriends to keep everyone occupied.

On an elevated drum riser in the center of the storm sits a quiet, red-haired young man from Menomonee Falls who projects a calm presence even as he pounds away on his drums, unimpressed and seemingly not tempted by the accoutrements and excesses of fame.

"This is my job," Hurley said. "As long as I'm writing songs and playing music, that's what is important."