BLINK 182: PUNK ROCK POSTER BOYS
Interview By Keith Carman
Photo by Justin Stephens

You love them... just admit it. You hear their songs, and you just want to pogo around the living room like a toddler on Jolt Cola. So don't fight the urge, dammit. Learn more about your favourite punk rock poster boys, as you let their latest release Enema Of The State clear all of that unprocessed crud out of your tired little ears.

SHREDDING TOWARD CREDIBILITY

Reading through a lot of the old press clippings, it seems as if credibility was a high priority for you guys. You seemed worried at times. Does that still hold true?

Tom Delonge: There's two different ways for that to go. We're really worried about our credibility, but not in a sense that we're gonna fuck it up if we have records in stores, or if we're on the radio.

Mark Hoppus: We're worried about our credibility, because we're credible. We're not in the business to make fast cash, we're here because we like the music, so we want kids to know that. We don't think that if we act like we're punk rock, and we keep our credibility, we're gonna sell more records and people are gonna like us more.

Tom: Credibility issues are usually just for other bands that try to sell records and stay cool. For us, it's just staying with what we believe in, doing what we love, doing it for the right reasons, and having a positive influence on kids. That, to us way more credible than the business side of things; who puts your record out, and whatever. That's all fucked.

So the cliche of staying "true to your roots" is real?

Tom: That's kind of the mould we attach ourselves to. Other bands say, "Oh, we'll never do this, we'll never do that," and then they find themselves doing it two years later, so everyone attacks them for it. We've never once done that. Since day one, we've said that we'll try and make our band as big as we can, and do it as long as we can.

Does that occasionally mean making tough decisions?

Tom: Not always. We pick and choose what we get involved in. Sometimes we say no to a certain type of promotion or show, because what it's involved with, we don't want to be a part of. But we're never worried about the decisions we've made. There also has to be a line, though. If people were to offer us a shitload of money to do something, well, we're human.

HOW OLD IS THE AVERAGE BLINK 182 FAN?

Is the average Blink fan still too young to drive?

Tom: The change came with the success of our last album. It used to just be your average high-school, skater-type punk kid. Now, we see 11- and 12-year-old kids, but there are also, like, 25- or 30-year-old Marines there. We definitely have a way more diverse crowd than ever, but I'd say the biggest change, is having younger girls come.

It seems strange that young girls are getting into punk now.

Tom: It does, but they aren't getting into it for the same reasons we are. We got into punk rock because it was a lifestyle for us. It was a music that we absolutely loved, and is something that is directly a part of us. We were tied into it. Young girls get into punk because they heard a song on the radio that they liked, which is fine. Whatever turns you on to music is great. Mark always says that we don't believe in different factions of cool people. As long as its good music that moves you.

The last time you were here touring with The Vandals; it was that split crowd. There were old guys just there to see them, and the young crowd who had never heard of The Vandals. They didn't seem to mix at all.

Mark: That's funny, 'cause out in California, The Vandals are really popular with young girls also. If you go to a show, you have 30- or 40-year-old punk-rock guys yelling "Play 'Pat Brown,'" while there are girls with cute Vandals baby-tees on, yelling "Play 'N.I.M.B.Y.'!"

Do you deserve what you've got? What with having your punk idols open for you now?

Mark: I feel like we do, because we've worked so hard, but at the same time we're very lucky - because there are so many bands that are more talented than us that never get the chance.

Tom: I think we have paid our dues. We've been around for seven years, we've slept in our van, had no money, moved in with our parents. We did all that for years, but the choices we made for the direction we wanted to go in put us here. We chose to be on a major label. We chose to play shows that would give us more exposure.

A "ONE-HIT WONDER" IN ONLY SEVEN YEARS

After seven years, how do you feel about people that may call you a one-hit wonder?

Mark: Well, we have two hits! It's not people's responsibility to try and research our band, and learn the whole history of our band. It's our job to make people know about us.

Tom: I never heard that before. I like that.

Mark: In my heart, I feel like this is a better album than the last two. I hope it does better than them, but if it doesn't, so be it. Even if you are a one-hit wonder, you can at least say that you had that hit.

Is this album more mature than past ones?

Tom: I think it is. The songwriting and the production are better. I think that when you have a successful album, you come to a fork in the road. You either learn from what you did right, or don't. I think we did. We learned how to value our strong points and separate them from the bad ones. That's what makes a good band. You learn how to stop doing things that sound like dogshit.

It must suck knowing that you have to play "Dammit," because if you don't so many people will be upset. I bet that's the only song some kids even know.

Tom: Honestly, it's kind of a bummer if they only know that song, but at least they know one, so fuck it.

Mark: If they hear that song on the radio, they're gonna go buy the record, they're gonna like the rest of the songs on it, they're gonna get into Pennywise, NOFX and Bad Religion, and so on. I've gotten so many letters telling me that we've gotten kids into so many other punk bands. They're total punkers now. I think that's a big honour, to be someone's doorway into a new world.

So, now that you're more mature, are you thinking with the adult side of your brain?

Mark: Definitely not thinking with the mature side of the brain.

Tom: We're a band that puts a lot of personality into our songs. There's always something meaningful in the songs. There's realism there, even if it's encompassed by our personality.

Are you going to be in our faces forever?

Tom: I hope so. I want to be one of those bands that just never stops. Especially to those people that hate us. "God, I hate that fucking Blink band. I hear them on the radio all the fucking time."

Those are the people that won't forget you. Anything else?

Tom: Thank you for listening to our band. And to all the young ladies, massage your breasts four times a day to keep them soft.

For more on Blink 182, check out the July '99 edition of Chart magazine.