Blink-182 formally known as blink is a punk rock band formed in Poway, California. The band’s original trio consisted of guitarist Tom DeLonge bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Scott Raynor. According to interviews done by MTV, the band formed when at the time girlfriend of Tom DeLonge introduced her brother’s friend (Mark Hoppus) to him. Since they both had similar music tastes they instantly clicked. When looking for a drummer the two bandmates both found it hard when one day Tom went to a local talent show and saw Scott Raynor on the drums. He later described him as “A little middle schooler who killed it on the drums” so Tom invited him to play with both him and Mark. This was the beginning of a career they couldn’t imagine.
The band started playing at any local gigs they could get including bars that most of the time they weren’t allowed in until the band went on stage. Once the band had enough songs to play they decided to record a record. Their first record label was a local independent one named “Kung-Fu Records” Together the band created their “first” album: “Buddah”. Tom’s idea of spreading the word was by sneaking into his local high school after hours and putting the band cassette tape in everyone’s locker.
Later on, the band put out its official first album: “Cheshire Cat” which had both songs from Buddah and new ones specifically for this record. This is where the band had its first hit.
Carousel and M+M’s were the band’s introduction into this new music business. This is where major record labels started taking notice. This is also the band’s first trip to warped tour where they received more recognition.
The band got so big that there was a bidding war between three record labels: MCA, Interscope, and Epitaph. The band eventually chose MCA and then put out their second LP: Dude Ranch. The single on this album was “Damnit” which had heavy airplay during the time and in 1998 Dude Ranch went gold.
After the release of Dude Ranch the drummer Scott Raynor had been heavily drinking. This forced the band to send him to rehab but once he got back he wanted nothing to do with the band. When Scott left the band had to find a new drummer.
While on warped tour a band named “The Aquabats” came into the picture. The drummer at the time Travis Barker was looking to expand his musical influence and that’s when Blink came to him to ask him to be the new drummer. He accepted and learned all the bands’ songs in less than a month and this was the start of the mainstream success of Blink-182.
