Blink-182 talks 25 years of songwriting and touring + new album ‘California’ on Lithium

Blink-182 has been one of the most successful punk bands of the last 25 years. You can’t help but feel nostalgic when All The Small Things, Adam’s Song, Stay Together for the Kids, Dammit, First Date and What’s My Age Again (among other favorites) play on Lithium.

After five years and a recent lineup change (swapping Tom DeLonge for Matt Skiba), the Southern California rockers are back (and continuing to ignore their age) with their eighth studio album, California, which is currently No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart – the band’s first No. 1 album in 15 years. They are set to embark on an extensive North American tour in support of the effort later this month.

But before they hit the road, they stopped by the SiriusXM studios with host Jenny Eliscu and an intimate group of subscribers for an extensive conversation spanning their entire career.

They spoke about what it was like being a punk band at the top of the charts and dealing with the haters.

“People always hated Blink from day one,” Mark Hoppus explained. “From day one, Blink had to fight for every fan we won over. Even coming out of the punk scene, we were jokey, we didn’t take ourselves seriously. We made jokes on stage. … We always had these serious songs, but for the most part people always wrote us off as a joke band.”

“With Enema [of the State], it got way bigger than we ever imagined, and I think we had this longing to prove we weren’t this pop band or whatever we were kind of commercialized to seem like,” Travis Barker added. “So I felt like we had a lot to prove with Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and that’s probably why we tried to write a little bit more serious songs.

Barker continued: “… I think it was a cool time and I think  once that album passed us, we were able to kind of like prove to ourselves that we had some staying power and just kind of felt better in our own skin.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the band discussed the influence of Manhattan Beach punk band Descendants, among other topics.

SiriusXM’s Town Hall with Blink-182 premieres Friday 7/8 at 12pm ET with rebroadcasts airing 7/8 at 3pm and 11 pm ET; 7/9 at 8 am and 8 pm ET; 7/10 at 6 am and 6 pm ET; 7/11 at 11 am ET; 7/12 at 7 am ET; 7/13 at 2 pm ET; and 7/14 at 1 am and 9 pm ET on Lithium (Ch. 34).

For a free 30-day trial, check out http://www.siriusxm.com/freetrial/blog.