Hey, did you hear about that collaboration between Ashlee Simpson, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump and Cobra Starship keytar player Victoria Asher? Yeah, they totally got together for a slinky little synth number called “Black and Light,” which Asher made available for download on her MySpace page earlier this week.”I recorded keys, Patrick Stump recorded the bass and drums with MIDI and Ashlee Simpson helped me with some of the lyrics,” she wrote in a blog entry about the song. “All and all pretty collaborative. It’s short, a bit dark … and yet a bit dancey.”
It seemed like a pretty cool project – one born out of the sheer synergy of Decaydence Records (Simpson dates Decaydence co-owner/ FOB bassist Pete Wentz, Cobra Starship are signed to Decaydence, Stump is producing their new album, etc., etc., etc.) – and even could’ve given us a hint as to what we’d be hearing on both Ash and Cobra’s upcoming albums.
The only problem? Seems that despite Asher’s claims, neither Simpson nor Stump had much of anything to do with the song … at all.
“The story isn’t true … someone got a bit off-base in the communication. Ash didn’t work on it and neither did Patrick,” Wentz wrote in an e-mail to MTV News. “I have no idea what the deal is, but they both told me they hadn’t worked on it.”
That sentiment was echoed by Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta, who said that while Stump “taught Victoria how to use [the Mac program] GarageBand,” he wasn’t sure that he actually played or recorded anything on the song. And the same goes for Simpson’s alleged involvement, too.
“Before Victoria was even in the band, she had a song on her MySpace page that I really liked,” Saporta said. “And she’s always writing her own stuff. But it’s almost like we got into something really fast, and I think there’s a learning curve. I think what happened is that she didn’t want to leave anyone without credit. I really don’t know anything about [Stump supposedly recording bass and drums on the song]. On the whole tour, whenever there was free time, Patrick was writing stuff with us. All the creative stuff he was doing was for the Cobra Starship record.
“We’re all friends, so it’s a fine line, and I know she’s learning to use GarageBand and wanting to do her own songs, so maybe she just wanted to give everyone credit,” he continued. “I also don’t know if Ashlee helped her with the lyrics … I’m sure Victoria passed some stuff by her, but that’s all I know.”
So just who did work on “Black and Light”? Well, Asher couldn’t be reached for comment about the song, though someone has since removed her blog entry about it from her MySpace page (the tune does remain available for download though). And while Cobra Starship are no strangers to keytar-related drama , this whole thing seems to be just a gigantic misunderstanding, a notion supported by a statement Stump released to MTV News through his – and Cobra Starship’s – management company, Crush.
“I just finished producing the Cobra Starship record. While we were doing pre-production for the album, I was showing Victoria how to use GarageBand,” the statement reads. “I’m not familiar with the song in question, it might be something she made after I taught her some programming, but I was not creatively involved whatsoever. If you want to hear what I produced and collaborated on, check out the new CS album Viva La Cobra! in October.”
