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20 years later, Blink-182 is having the last laugh

By Steve Appleford, Los Angeles Times
Published: September 19, 2019, 6:05am

LOS ANGELES — Hours before showtime, Blink-182 singer-bassist Mark Hoppus is in the VIP lounge of the Forum in Inglewood, surrounded by generations of popular music. On the walls are vivid pictures of headliners from the past and present, from Led Zeppelin to Madonna, Neil Diamond to Guns N’ Roses, and Hoppus is contemplating how his pop-punk trio fits into that company.

In the normal arc of a pop music career, an artist might enjoy a season or three of major chart success and arena concerts. Only a small number survive decades at that altitude. Blink is still here, a full 20 years after their multiplatinum “Enema of the State” album.

“Somehow Blink has had several do-over tokens,” says Hoppus, still bouncy but grown up at 47, his auburn hair standing up into a youthful, tousled Bazooka Joe spike.

The night before, Blink-182 — Hoppus, drummer Travis Barker and guitarist/singer Matt Skiba — were at an amphitheater in Chula Vista, close to the band’s San Diego birthplace, and near the end of a Southern California tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Enema.” The record contains several of Blink’s many radio hits and is the foundation to a seemingly open-ended longevity few might have predicted when they emerged from a garage as a trio of leaping, snarling, foul-mouthed goofballs.

“I used to drink before I walked on stage,” says Hoppus with a grin. “Now … I take a couple of Advil.”

Founded by Hoppus, former singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge and original drummer Scott Raynor, Blink-182 arrived in the mid-’90s as pop-punk pranksters with irreverent tunes of adolescent frustration, delivering an avalanche of sex jokes and soaring pop choruses. Alongside Green Day, Blink’s takeover of MTV and pop radio helped introduce a suburban version of punk to a new wave of restless young fans. Their songs and accompanying videos — “All The Small Things” and “What’s My Age Again?” most indelibly — were angsty, juvenile, endearingly cute and loaded with irresistible hooks.

“We would go to New York and they’d put us on ‘TRL,’ ” Hoppus recalls. “I’d look out that window and Times Square would be packed with fans. Or we’d show up for some MTV interview in Italy and there’d be thousands of people outside. We’re like, ‘Is Puffy coming by today?’ ‘No, that’s for you guys.’ ”

With Blink’s newest album, “Nine,” set for release Friday, the trio — now featuring Skiba, 43, who replaced Delonge in 2015 — is looking to reach beyond nostalgia by adding elements of hip-hop, electronics and modern recording techniques into an otherwise intact punk-rock mix.

“Making sure Blink isn’t different than modern music — rather than being something of the past — is a big achievement for me,” says Barker, who collaborates regularly with of-the-moment DJs and hip-hop artists, including rappers 03 Greedo and Lil Nas X.

Reality asserted itself in the making of the band’s new album on “Heaven,” a song initiated by Barker after a 2018 mass shooting barely 2 miles from his home, at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where 12 people were killed.

On “Nine,” the sound is tense with postmodern effects and accelerated beats mingling with Blink-style vocal harmonies, as Hoppus sings: “Make a wish that you’ll get a chance to say goodbye / Before the shots ring out in the dead of night.”

The song’s message had even more resonance for the band this summer, long after it was recorded, when Blink had a day off in El Paso on Aug. 3. Hoppus had just finished breakfast at a coffee shop with his wife and son, when he was contacted by the band’s security. “We were walking out of the restaurant to head over there and our security texted saying, ‘Hey, there’s an active shooter in the area. You should probably come back to the hotel,’ ” says Hoppus of the attack that killed 22 at the mall’s Walmart. Blink canceled the next night’s El Paso show “in solidarity with the community.”

All three band members live in the Los Angeles area, including Hoppus in Beverly Hills with his wife and son, after several years residing in the U.K. For Barker, whose domestic life with ex-wife Shanna Moakler was famously documented a decade ago on MTV’s “Meet the Barkers,” his two kids are usually nearby.

After surviving a 2008 private plane crash with his friend and EDM partner, Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, Barker faced a series of health issues, but is now fully recovered. He keeps a full schedule on the road, including a daily 3-mile run and work on multiple recording projects off stage. After Blink concerts, Barker often follows with a DJ gig across town.

“Travis keeps himself busy all day long,” says Hoppus. “I’m cool to just sitting in a room and looking at my phone for an hour.”

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