_Kyle_

blink's merch is maybe the worst out of any band I can remember

well I guess my wish came true

I think mark was doing deadpan/awkward humor there about the dead dogs. Typical intrusive thoughts too. I did not come away from the book Mark was on the spectrum of autism, but obviously OCD and just being in control of certain things/thoughts. I know that typically goes hand in hand with people who can be really hard on themselves and Mark seems like the type where he struggles with self-worth along with cynical aspects of themselves (this is kind ironic considering he's an unabashed Disney adult, but it sounds like a nice reprieve from dark thoughts and makes sense when openly has some arrested development). I don't remember if he firmly states it, but Tom being in his life gave him an outlet to be the blink 182 "Mark" and probably let him escape the side of him that dwelled on negativity and stuff he can't control. Almost like the friendship/competition between them gave Mark a form of regression therapy of sorts. You stay young/free and you don't have to deal with the problems of being an adult as much and never confront the hardships of childhood. Then you write a bleak song like Adam Song because you've been shielding/medicating yourself with friends/girls/bandshit for years and you just got into a huge fight with a true friend like Scott. When I got to the part where he was not sure what he was gonna do with his life until he met Tom/Scott and that propelled him, it felt like that was a pretty low point in his life/self-worth and that lasted until he was threatened by BCR (as far as we know). I think that was a hook for me with this memoir. I could very much relate to all of that.

at least we got Mike Love still holding it down

having blink 182 sign some shirts through their tour bus windows being one of the best experiences of their life kind of makes me sad. damn.

dude was such a hack

isn't he a seasoned musician? why is this news? did he think our band could be your life was fiction?

i hate shit like that. I'd rather someone just ask wild ass questions.

I do wonder how long people keep this up and how they skirt around in life. Like does this interfere with his friends/family? Does he not have a job he has to answer to? Will he give me a refund me for his disappointedly chaste onlyfans account?

Wolfgang Binder

this is all verrrrrrry interesting

Ah, maybe it wasn't much of an issue until that Geffen/Interscope contract was done-done. The narrative that Mark/Travis were not into Modlife was pretty evident even during the Neighborhoods era right?

Depends on who you ask in terms of being "interested" also. M+T went to Rolling Stone and openly speculated that Tom was disingenuous about the band since the reunion and only did it for the fame/money/opportunity and was essentially using it as a lazy payday. Still kind of blows my mind it got that bad and they had the balls to do it. I mean, why not? It was widely speculated in the fandom for some time. While refreshing in its honesty, it's pretty aggressive for them to do so openly in the press, unprecedent in the blink-verse. Just challenged his entire prerogative in the matter too. Tom then hit back with a "Well Mark and I were just discussing kicking Travis out" and that was a misrepresentation of their talks according to Mark (letting Tom vent was as far as it went according to Mark). I don't see Mark leaving Travis out ever considering how big Travis is a member and how they both stonewall Tom in his ideas (this is really the overall problem with the band for Tom "I can't be apart of something I can't control" Delonge. Travis is also smart enough to know that Blink will be legacy and loyalty means a lot to him. I'm sure there were more petty shit going on in the background too. But this was about as nasty/messy as it got. For all the shit Scott gets, he never seemingly went around moaning about it all unless asked specifically about it. I'm gonna rant again, but putting the break-ups in context is kind of hard unless you know a lot little details. I think Mark's book at least gives you a rough idea of that and I appreciated any and all details he put in there. I personally remember in 2005 was the first time I had heard how much they were fighting and it was quite shocking considering how successful the band was operating. It was also the first time any legit info came out and people were on record saying "they hate each other". I still can't quite imagine these fights but Mark even mentions how bad they were during this period. I also do remember people saying in 2002-03 that Mark hated BCR, felt slighted, and I always thought it wasn't exactly true, I mean he was ON the record. Also I remember the Conan fight was used as a way to joke naive fans too, but people actually persisted they did in fact hate one another and the band had tensions. Now we know that the speculation was at least somewhat accurate. How much was all that legit is interesting. It was a big rumor that Mark/Tom would go on the blink message boards/chats and fuck with people. BCR was sometimes presented as a diss to Mark in some weirrrrrd way and nobody understood why either, maybe not even himself. I think that would be a great question to ask Mark, if at the time he felt BCR was some kind of passive "this is the real me and not the blink me that Mark wants me to be" kind of creative fulfillment that Tom just didn't want to own up to. Tom of course has rebuked this, but he seems to think Mark thinks so. Them in 09 signing to a major label for the reunion was supposed to be a way for them to not go to Modlife and I think force Tom to prioritize the band in a fair way. I think Mark used that as a way to usurp any of Tom's ideas about them being part of that fold and allowing Tom being the means of production. I'd imagine Tom knows Mark is apprehensive to his ideas/businesses being right for blink and resents he has to go through so many people for his ideas to work in blink. Unfortunately Interscope/Universal was pretty inept in of itself with knowing how to book the band outside of their name recognition/already laid groundwork and Tom used that to prove they weren't going to get Tom 100% unless they go with Modlife (Dogs Eating Dogs/Modlife couldn't even handle an EP according to Mark). That test was a failure, at least in Mark's eyes and that was that. Neighborhoods as a whole also proved two major things; they still had it but weren't cohesive enough to make it all work. It's such a 3/4th of a great record. It needs that Jerry Finn touch so bad. Mark probably can hear this still and the way it turned out is like watching a parent blame the other for not caring about it enough. I think blink had so much go right for them for a very long time they didn't have the tools after something like that to guide them through these growing pains. They didn't have a manager (they all have managers now) to give them the real feedback they need. Mark is down to earth, but hard truths are easy to lose perspective of until it's really a problem. That's been the problem with this band since 2009 really. But if you had to surmise the bigger problems with the band, it was that it had 3 huge stars in it that somehow had to coordinate around their wants/needs. Also they had a lackluster live show that embarrassed the others. AKA Tom was drunk and under-performing. Watching the old sets online and you get how much Tom feels the need to be tore up to do his job. I think that Mark/Travis really carried him and felt like fans could come to resent how much they paid for a mediocre performance. That's also the big money maker, which you should probably still be able to sing/play somewhat competently. I think that tension made Mark crazy considering his OCD/anxieties. I think Mark ultimately challenged Tom this time and won. Of course they had to come together and allow blink to exist for the whole Skiba-era. So I guess it wasn't super, super bitter. Tom kept saying he was still in the band too, which is kind of hilarious. ---- I'm kind of looking forward to a Tom tell-all. Or at least a rousing session on Hot Ones.

mark fails to mention when he quit blink because a girl told him to

I’m glad someone found that nugget