andPOP » Blink 182

Interview: Manchester Orchestra On ‘Simple Math,’ Touring with Blink-182

@coltondaniel — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:19:47 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Overlooking the Toronto skyline from backstage at the Molson Amphitheater, Manchester Orchestra’s rhythm-guitarist and singer-songerwriter Andy Hull took in a drag and the scene.

“It’s pretty awesome to wake up in the city that you grew up in,” confessed Hull, moments before opening for My Chemical Romance and Blink-182 as part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour. It would almost seem that, other than sharing a stage, lyrical honesty and vulnerability is about all that these three bands have in common.

“It’s fun man, they’re all really kind people,” says Hull about being on the road with MCR and Blink. It’s been a sleepless summer for Hull and company, leaping between a plethora of festivals from Montreal’s Osheaga to Chicago’s Lollapalooza. “It’s been quite an experience to play these venues. It’s definitely this casting vision tour to really see how big a band can get. It’s kind of crazy. And [Blink-182] is definitely a band that represented a huge part of our childhood.”

“I used to hide [Blink-182's] ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’ from my mom all the time,” adds keyboardist Chris Freeman, dawning a black MacBeth Footwear t-shirt, a company owned by Blink-182′s singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge.

Manchester Orchestra was founded by a 16-year-old Hull in 2004 with his buddies: bassist Jonathan Corley, Freeman, guitarist Robert McDowell and drummer Tim Very. Their suburban Atlanta walls likely plastered with posters of the English city Manchester, a city that has spawned musically rich children from Joy Division to Oasis to Stone Roses.

“Growing up at 16, we pretty much named the band after the Smiths,” reminisces Hull as he looked to Freeman’s smile. “It was a band we were all really, really into.” He also cited the range of musical influences to be “anything from Pavement, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Granddaddy, the Weakerthans, and the Flaming Lips.”

The five grew to produce arena-worthy anthems that hinted at an intimacy of an “indie rock” mix-tape. This signature sound was honed in 2005, while playing over 200 shows behind their first release: “I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child.” A massive sound emerged that rippled exploration into issues of life and the human condition, essentially shredding the chains that age and experience wrapped around him.

Inspired by classic nineties efforts like Nirvana’s “In Utero” and Weezer’s “Pinkerton,” the band shifted their distorted textures to create their sophomore album, “Mean Everything to Nothing.”

After opening for their friends Kings of Leon at Madison Square Garden in 2010, the band went into the studio to patch together a musical vengeance of emotion. Almost like Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” responded to his carnage of relationship, Hull painted a comparably darker and more modern picture of the lover’s debris. Its melodies sound like enlightening promise, yet the undercoated lyrics protest distraught and failure (check “Virgin”at the band’s website).

Their third full-length album, “Simple Math,” surfaced in May and critics have praised its intimacy and Rolling Stone magazine found it “tough to look away”. It debuted at No. 21 on The Billboard 200 and at No. 8 on the magazine’s Rock Albums chart. A mixture of spiritual and marital confessions, it’s not just a few good songs; it’s an album.

“We made a strong commitment to each other that we wouldn’t make any records that were a step backwards or even a step on the same plain,” Hull looks at Freeman, almost like reaffirming a non-verbal agreement. “So that was pretty simple. We just wanted to step it up and make something that was grand, potentially better. But, still have it feel like a counter-piece to our record before.”

Freeman notices that, “the writing process was kind of easier on ['Simple Math'] and it felt natural.”

For the first time, the band recorded without former drummer Jeremiah Edmond, who parted ways with the band in January 2010 to focus on his family and the band’s record label, Favorite Gentlemen. “He was such a power drummer,” Hull says. “It was cool to work with guys who had a different feel, finesse and pocket to their vibe. We were playing outside of what we were used to doing when it came to recording and writing. It allowed us to explore different areas.”

This fall, the band will be dedicating their time by embarking on a 25-city tour in the U.K. and across the States. Aside from their hometown, the band is looking forward to playing their namesake.

“It’s one of the coolest cities we play, the people are so appreciative of us,” says Hull, cracking a Jack Nicholson-esque smirk.

Imagining the scene, Freeman chuckled to himself, “those Manchester crowds are crazy.”

“They’re just ready to get it on.”

Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 Blogs About New Track

andPOP Staff — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:19:19 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 blogged late last night about the band’s new track and album. Based on his comments, it looks like he is pretty excited.

“first track!!
1230 at night here in los angeles. sitting on the floor of my hotel room, listening to the first mix of the first track to come back from the new album. stoked beyond words to be listening to new music from our band. on the OTHER side of the creative process. listening to the songs not to figure out what and if it needs more of. listening just to hear the music. i love this song, and the mixer did a great job, it sounds amazing. i can’t wait until this album comes out, and i hope that when it does you all are as excited as i am sitting here by myself in the middle of the night, cross-leeged on the floor of a hotel room, with headphones on, listening to this song over and over. thank you for supporting our band. blink-182 life, for life.”

Mark Hoppus Says Blink-182 Album Is On The Way

Christian Allaire — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 05:34:46 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Singer and bassist Mark Hoppus has told MTV News that a new Blink-192 album is on its way.

Back in February, drummer Travis Barker told MTV News that his band’s long awaited album would be finished in “June or July,” an announcement that was greeted with much anticipation from fans. The album’s release date has had a timeline that stretches all the way back to February 2009, though, when Blink-182 announced that they were not only reuniting, but “in the studio writing and recording a new album.” Three years later, the album still isn’t here – but it’s on its way.

Hoppus post a brand-new studio clip on his Facebook page on Tuesday, but when MTV News spoke to the bassist last week, he backed up Barker’s claims of a summer release. Blink fans unite!

“The timeline! The Blink-182 timeline! Always an interesting point of discussion!” Hoppus laughed. “We are still planning for an early-to-midsummer release, we’re working very hard at it. Right now Travis is back on the road, so I’m back in L.A. working on the record, [guitarist Tom DeLonge's] working on the record, we’re sending stuff to Travis; as soon as [he] gets back, hopefully Tom and I will have the album in a shape where Travis can come in and we can spend, you know, a month, month-and-a-half working really hard on pounding out the album and get it done.”

Hoppus explained that most of the recording’s delay has been due to the way Blink have chosen to work this time around — in bits and pieces, alone and together, in a pair of California studios — all due to the members and their busy schedules.

“It’s definitely a very different process … before, at least we were all in the same room at the same time,” he said. “With this, with Travis having his solo record, me being in L.A., and Tom doing his stuff and also being in San Diego, at first it felt like maybe it was a bit piecemeal, but now it feels like we’re getting into a good rhythm.”

“Between sending songs back and forth to each other, we’ll all meet up in the studio every few weeks and go over everything, listen down to everything and I’ll say, ‘OK, I love what you did with this idea. Let me take this song for a week and try some ideas on it,’ ” he continued. “And I’ll take a song for a week, try a bunch of stuff on it, present it back to everybody else, they’ll make their comments and then move on from there.”

“It really depends on the day how finished songs are … there’s songs that I think are finished that we go back and work on some more, there’s songs that I think are going to take a long time and they end up progressing pretty quickly,” Hoppus explained. “I feel like we’ve worked on about 16 tracks, of which 12 of those are making the cut. When songs don’t seem to be working, we let them fall by the wayside, and I think we’re pretty good about putting the better songs forward. So, we’re working on 12, five or six of those are in states that are near completion, and the other ones are formed ideas with structures and parts — they just need filling in. The skeletons are all there, we just need to fill in the pieces.”

I’ve never been a huge fan, but I know many who are, so this is great news for them. Let’s see if they can reinvent themselves and bring something fresh to the table!

A Different Spin with Blink 182′ Mark Hoppus Series Premiere

andPOP Staff — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:44:32 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Blink 182′s Mark Hoppus has a brand new show starting tonight on Fuse!

Every week, Hoppus will offer a place for music fans to discover and indulge their passions through interviews with artists and celebrities and musical performances by mainstream and emerging bands. A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus will also feature Schumer, Mark’s hilarious counterpart who will be part of the show both in-studio and on the field at concert tours, festivals and other music-related happenings. The show will also contain music news and fun panel discussions, offering an entertaining spin on what’s hot in the music industry

Blink-182 Pairs up with the Red Cross for Haitian Relief

Blake Dillon — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:50:44 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Yepp – More Haitian relief.

Pop-punkers Blink-182 can now be added to the long list of celebrities who have contributed to Haitian aid.

The band has released a new t-shirt with the “Blink-182 bunny” holding a Haitian flag, and according to Mark Hoppus’s twitter account, the shirts are being sold for $15 with one hundred per cent of the proceeds going directly to the Red Cross.

After only a few days, the shirts have already raised $30,000.00.

If you are interested in buying a shirt, they are available on www.blink182.com.

Blink-182 Hit the Studio

Blake Dillon — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:55:52 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

According to a teaser for “The Blinkumentary,” a documentary focusing on the reunion of pop-punk legends, Blink-182, the band is hitting the studio this month to continue the sessions for their new album.

Tom DeLonge, guitarist and singer of the trio, stated that the album is shaping up to be the best thing they’ve ever done in their collective lives.

“No one really knows what to expect from the next Blink record,” said Delonge. “I’ve always said that this band can do anything, but at this point, if you look at our careers and everything that we have done independently and outside of Blink, we did some of the best growing as musicians on the last Blink record and immediately afterwards.”

This record will be their first release since the drop of their Greatest Hits album in 2005.

Travis Barker Settles Plane Crash Lawsuit

Sara Harowitz — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:14:11 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Punk band Blink-182′s drummer Travis Barker has settled a lawsuit that he filed over the plane crash in 2008 that left him with third-degree burns and killed four other people, reports CHARTattack.com.

Barker was a passenger on a chartered Learjet plane on Sept. 19, 2008 when it crashed and burst into flames after overshooting a runway in Columbia, Southern California. The crash left Barker and DJ AM with third-degree burns, and killed the four other people aboard the plane.

Barker sued three major companies in November, 2008. First, Bombardier Inc., which manufactured the Learjet plane that crashed. Second, the charter company Global Exec Aviation. Third, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, which made the plane’s tires. As well, he sued the companies that brokered the chartered flight.

Barker’s claim was that the companies did not properly operate or maintain the Learjet.

The crash killed Barker’s assistant Chris Baker, his bodyguard Charles Still, and the plane’s two pilots. Still’s mother is part of Barker’s settlement.

DJ AM, the plane crash’s only other survivor, died of a drug overdose in August.

According to Billboard.com, the man who represents some of the defendants, William L. Robinson, said the details of the settlement will stay confidential.

Travis Barker Promises New Blink Song on Solo Album

Sara Harowitz — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:06:47 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

With a high-energy reunion tour wrapped up, 90′s punk band Blink-182 is taking some time to rest. Still, according to their drummer Travis Barker, a new song is on the way.

Barker announced that Blink-182 will create a brand new song that will go on his solo album, reports MTVNews.com.

“There’s some stuff on my record that’s not going to have a bunch of guitars, that are just straight-up hip hop records,” he told MTV News. “We got a new Blink song on there, I think I’m going to do something with Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. Hopefully a guest appearance from Slash, I’m doing his big fundraiser that happens in a month. I think there’s going to be a collaboration with [Kanye West's touring DJ] A-Track, so it’s gonna be really in all directions.”

Barker does not have any details about the new Blink-182 tune, mostly due to the fact that the band hasn’t written it yet. But one thing is for sure: the song will be brand new. While the band wrote a new song recently, entitled “Up All Night,” it wasn’t played on their tour and so far does not have a home. Still, “Up All Night” will not be the track on Barker’s solo album.

“No, ‘Up All Night’ will have its own home, and it won’t be on my record,” he said. “That will continue to be part of a new Blink record or will be released through Blink182.com or something, it’s going to be a surprise. The new song that we record for my record is just going to be something from scratch, and just us doing our thing.”

Barker said the plan is to have music on his solo album completed in January or February. He also hopes to support the disc with a tour, but that’s a pretty loose idea since he and his bandmates are taking it easy after their time on the road.

“We’re kind of taking the rest of the year off, for everyone to finish up other stuff they have going on,” said Barker. “We want to re-group next year and start getting together once a week or once every two weeks to start doing the beginning work on our record.”

Barker has also worked hard at remixing. He premiered his version of the Drake/Eminem/Kanye West/Lil Wayne collaboration “Forever” on Wednesday on MTVNews.com.

Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson’s Public Blow-Out

Vanessa Baker — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:22:44 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Ashlee Simpson was seen instigating a fight with her husband, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, Saturday, reports Perez Hilton. Wentz was celebrating the one year anniversary of his bar, Angels & Kings, following a performance by his band at the Blink 182 concert in his hometown of Chicago.

Eye-witnesses say an extremely drunk Simpson went up to her husband in the bar’s DJ booth and yelled at him to leave. “They fought,” reported a witness, ”she told him he was horrible in front of a whole group of people and made him leave his own party early. So they make a scene and leave the bar.”

The couple reportedly continued to fight once outside the bar, and Simpson chased a passerby down the street and forced him to erase photos he’d taken of the incident. Security then escorted the pair back to the corner where their driver picked them up in an SUV.

This follows an incident where Simpson publicly berated Wentz’s ex-girlfriend, Michelle Trachtenberg.

Blink-182 To Kick Off Reunion Tour In July

Eva Lam — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:18:37 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

After a five-year hiatus, Blink-182 are coming back in a big way this summer.

The band has announced a nearly 50-date North American tour that kicks off July 25 in Las Vegas and runs through Oct. 3 in New Jersey. The trek includes eight Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto.

And the band isn’t setting out on their own – the trio will be supported on various dates of their arena-and-amphitheatre tour by Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French and Asher Roth.

Fans can also look forward to some nifty visuals courtesy of stage designer Martin Phillips, whom the group worked with to create “the most ridiculous display of lights and images we can imagine,” according to a statement from Blink-182′s Mark Hoppus. Phillips has worked on stage designs for the likes of Kanye West, Daft Punk and Nine Inch Nails.

Tickets go on sale May 30 via livenation.com. Amphitheatre lawn tickets will be available for $20, including all fees.

As fans will remember, the band last went on tour in 2004 before breaking up the following year. Earlier this year, Hoppus revealed in a blog entry that the band members were back in touch following drummer Travis Barker’s near-fatal plane crash and the death of Blink-182 producer Jerry Finn.

Here are Blink-182′s upcoming Canadian tour dates:

- July 28 – Vancouver (GM Place)
- July 30 – Calgary, AB (Saddledome)
- July 31 – Edmonton, AB (Rexall Place)
- Aug. 1 – Saskatoon, SK (Credit Union Center)
- Aug. 2 – Winnipeg, MB (MTS Centre)
- Aug. 7- Quebec City, QC (Colisee Pepsi)
- Aug. 8 – Montreal (Bell Centre)
- Aug. 23 – Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre)

Mark Hoppus Is Going Solo

Ilan Mester — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:34:10 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Former Blink-182 vocalist and guitarist Mark Hoppus is going solo and said “the future is wide open” to a possible Blink-182 reunion with drummer Travis Barker and the rest of the band, to MTV News.

“Travis has played on a bunch of [my] tracks, and he’s working on his own album as well,” Hoppus told MTV News. “We totally support each other in whatever we’re doing. He’s like a brother to me.”

According to Hoppus, him and Barker have been collaborating, “I see him in our studio every week, and we’ll be in the room of the studio he’s working in, listening to stuff he’s recorded, or he’ll come into the room where I’m working and check out my songs.” said Hoppus to MTV News.

Fans can expect to hear a song Hoppus co-wrote in the movie “Fired Up,” coming out in February. Hoppus also produced the New Found Glory record “Not Without A Fight” which hits stores in March.

Travis Barker and DJ AM Badly Burned in Jet Crash

Irene Ogrodnik — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:27:09 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM (Adam Michael Goldstein) were aboard a Learjet that crashed upon takeoff Friday night, reports E! News.

There were 6 passengers on the flight and while Barker and Goldstein survived, the other four passengers were killed.

A friend of Goldstein’s says that the DJ is “really, really badly burned” and confirms that “his face is very burned.” The sources adds, “More than 50 per cent of his body is burned and the worst is on his face.”

Barker is said to be burned “mostly from the waist down.” Both Barker and Goldstein are in critical but stable condition at the Joseph Still Burn Center in August, Ga.

One of the four passengers who died was Barker’s friend and business partner “Lil Chris” Baker. “He was the sweetest, nicest guy. He was like Travis’ right-hand man,” said the source.

Angels and Airwaves Take Off With NASA

andPOP Staff — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:07:45 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

When Tom DeLonge shoots for the stars, he really means it.

DeLonge told Billboard.com that his band Angels and Airwaves will be teaming up with NASA during their upcoming fall tour. “I’m working on doing some incredible things with them and incorporating NASA’s technologies into our show,” Delonge said. “I think people will be wowed with what I have in mind. Hopefully I can pull it off.”

DeLonge has 24 other partners in mind for the tour.
And that’s not all the band has on its plate: a documentary about the formation of Angels and Airwaves entitled “Start The Machine” has already been submitted to several film festivals and will be released in theatres in 2008.

Of the doc, DeLonge said that “We started out making this documentary about the making of the record, and so much more happened. I told (director Todd Fjelsted), ‘Dude, just make it true and make it real and don’t let me come in there and edit you at all.’ I saw it the first time … and I’m like, ‘Jesus Christ, look at me. I’m crazy!’”

Barker And Moakler Back Together

andPOP Staff — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:07:26 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

LATEST: Rocker TRAVIS BARKER has reunited with his estranged wife SHANNA MOAKLER, the former Miss USA has confirmed.

The MEET THE BARKERS stars split in August after less than two years of marriage and two children together.

Barker held a party to celebrate Moakler’s 32nd birthday in Miami, Florida over the weekend, although her actual birthday falls on March 28.

Despite their rekindled romance, Moakler insists she is not pregnant, despite reports to the contrary.

She tells People.com, “While I hope one day to have more children with Travis, I am not pregnant. But yes, I’m madly in love with my husband.”

Barker and Wife Battle It Out Online

andPOP Staff — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 20:26:38 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Travis Barker’s soon-to-be-ex-wife has broken her silence on her marriage ending with the Blink 182 singer, and did so in the form of a message on her MySpace page.

“I am very devestated [sic] and very much heartbroken over the demise of my marriage and for the upset of my family,” Shanna Moakler wrote on her message board.

Barker then fought back with a post of his own on his own page saying that he took care of the kids while she slept in, and that she often was out late partying.

“I was informed by our realtor [sic] that Shanna was doing Dancing wit [sic] the Stars? Why wouldn’t she tell me, right?” he wrote. “A MySpace account? Where she posts pix of our kids and her and I half naked??????? Weird [sic]???” Barker wrote.

He also said he got suspicious of his wife when he found condoms in their home because the two did not use condoms.

But it didn’t end there. Moakler retorted back via her publicist.

“I have been 100 percent faithful in my marriage and a devoted mother, two facts of which Travis is well aware. I still happen to be very much in love with Travis, and his using the media to take low blows at me isn’t just embarrassing, it’s hurtful,” she said.

She also claimed the entry was not written by Barker, and said she was afraid for her safety. Soon after that, Barker removed his statement from his MySpace Page.
Looks like the reality show for these two stars hasn’t ended yet.