Interview...:

"Success is strange," says Blink 182 guitarist Tom DeLonge. "When you go from selling no records to selling lots of them, you have to wonder---did your mom buy them all? Are they just sitting in your garage?"

As their new song, "What's My Age Again?," Flies up the charts, it's safe to say that the success enjoyed by the three members of Blink 182 is no product of mere motherly love. Maintaining their tried-and-true-formula of teenage angst and bodily function humor, Blink has snagged a headlining spot on this summer's Vans Warped Tour. "We went from being one of the smaller bands on the tour in '92 to where we are now, " says DeLonge. "I think it's just amazing."

But Blink 182's music is more than just potty pop. With their new album, Enema of the State (MCA), the band is out to prove that they can grow musically, and that a sophomore album doesn't necessariloy have to be sophomoric.

"We feel this is our best songwriting to date," says DeLonge. "On the one hand, we act as lame and immature as we did seven years ago. But we also want to branch out. We can't write about fart jokes for the rest of our lives."

DeLonge admits that Blink 182 is just lucky to have gotten as far as it has. And while the fuckle nature of mainstream success can turn headliners into tomrrow's burger-flippers, the boys in the band aren't too worried.

"We're just normal guys who love playing music," says the guitarist. "And if next year we're nothing, at least we can remember back and say, 'Look what we got to do.' How many bands can say that?" -Brian Stillman

Guitar: Custom Fender Strat
AMP: Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier
Currently Listening To: Crossroads and Illusions--Strung Out
All Time Favorite Album Less Talk, More Rock--Propaghandi