It was announced by local radio station KROQ Monday that Tom DeLonge, co-founder and co-frontman of Blink-182, had left the band “indefinitely.” The band announced that he was to be replaced by Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio for the remainder of the band’s previously booked shows. The only problem was no one told DeLonge.
Soon after the initial declaration by members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, DeLonge took to social media to deny that he had quit, calling the the whole media storm “weird” and “#awkward.” Hoppus and Barker still maintain that DeLonge has quit and accuse him now of being disingenuous and ungrateful.
In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone Monday, Hoppus and Barker stuck to their side of the story, saying that everything that they had heard pointed to DeLonge being out for the foreseeable future.
The initial announcement by the band seemed contrary to everything the Blink-182 camp and DeLonge had been saying over the past few months. In a late 2014 interview with NME, DeLonge himself claimed that the band was getting down to business in regards to putting out its next album – the follow-up to 2011’s “Neighborhoods.”
“A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio, we got an email from (Tom’s) manager explaining that he didn’t want to participate in any Blink-182 projects,” Hoppus and Barker said.
If right now you’re wondering what is going on, you’re not alone. DeLonge’s social media blast has sent waves of confusion throughout the music world, leading to follow-up reports for the initial story by everyone from Rolling Stone to NME.
If DeLonge is out of the band, this seems to beg two questions in terms of Blink-182’s future: How long will DeLonge’s hiatus last and how far might Skiba’s role as stand-in guitarist and singer extend? This isn’t the first time fans of the band have heard the phrase “indefinite hiatus,” as it was used by producer David Geffen in his announcement of Blink-182’s 2005 break-up, which lasted until October of 2008.
At this time, Skiba has not made a public statement in regards to the extent of his new role in Blink-182, however Hoppus and Barker have assured Alkaline Trio fans that his work in Blink-182 will not interfere with his ability to record and tour with his band. However, that assurance does little to comfort Blink-182 fans, who are left wondering what will become of the band’s seventh studio album, which now sits on the back-burner. With Alkaline Trio set to embark on its tour “Past Live” this spring, it would seem that Skiba has little time to jump back into the studio with both bands this year.
The possibility still remains that this is a ploy by the now middle-aged pop-punk demigods to rekindle public interest. “Neighborhoods” was the group’s worst-received album to date, putting the band’s ability to continue cranking out teenage anthems firmly into question. If all this is real, it speaks poorly of these three men, who have played together for 22 years, and their ability to work as a cohesive unit.
Perhaps it is time for Blink-182 members to let go of the punk scene and focus on their individual side projects. DeLonge has been the frontman of Angels & Airwaves since 2005, Hoppus formed a new band called Nothing and Nobody just last year, while Barker runs the clothing company Famous Stars and Straps and LaSalle Records.
Whatever the future may hold for Skiba and the boys of Blink-182, fans are blessed with a back-catalogue of angst-rich nostalgia to fall back on in the meantime.
– Nick LaRosa, A&E; contributor