I found this interview while looking for news about Scott. This was taken by Alexandra Flood and NOT by me.
Blink-182 is a three-piece band of lovable and yes, sometimes scatological, goof balls. If you're a long time fan you already know this. If you are just becoming acquainted with the San Diego based-trio, you're learning about their consummate wackiness and their witty music videos, which are mini-high school-themed movies full of camp and youthful circumstance.
Blink-182's latest album, Dude Ranch, released last year, bore the sunny punk post-break-up track, "Dammit." Now comes part duex, "Josie," about the love of a good woman, with a clip featuring Who's The Boss? and Melrose Place star Alyssa Milano. The boys from Blink-182 are moving up in the world. They've traveled it, as well. Last year they appeared on the WARPed tour and at MTV's Sports & Music Festival, to name just two. This year they've been all over the alt. circuit, including the Big Air, Sno-core, and Board-Stiff events.
I talked with Mark Hoppus (vocals/bass) and Tom Delonge (guitar/vocals) via cell phone recently about the state of Blink-182, which seems pretty all right as Mark was calling from his fishing expedition and Tom was maxing and relaxing. Despite some technical difficulties with those cell phones, the boys from Blink-182 were amenable to my questions, even if their answers were a little off the wall at times. They wouldn't be Blink-182 if they weren't.
Have you all cultivated the image of goof balls, or are you just natural clowns who happened to form a band?
MARK: We don't try to cultivate any image at all. That's one thing that we're totally against. Maybe we come off as retarded or stupid, but we're totally sincere with our music and how were are on stage and how we are in real life. We make just as terrible jokes offstage as we do onstage.
How does the real Josie feel about the song?
MARK: There is no real "Josie." Josie is a girl that I made up. It's actually the name of my friend's dog.
Your videos are really great. They're so fresh and funny.
MARK: Thanks a lot.
TOM: Thanks. When are they going to be played all over MTV?
Hopefully soon. Who comes up with the ideas for the videos?
MARK: We all do. The director Darren Doane is a good friend of ours and he totally knows us and our sense of humor. And he knows what kind of people we are. So working with him is really easy. We'll come up with a basic idea and Darren will say, "Yeah, we could also do this." And it will usually be pretty funny.
What was it like working with Alyssa Milano on the "Josie" video? Who was the boss there?
TOM: I was the boss. The day she showed up at the shoot she didn't know anybody and it was kind of awkward, but as soon as she saw my striking good looks she fell in love with me. She told me, though no one was around to hear it because she was embarrassed, that if there were a perfect guy somewhere in the world that I would be him. I was just hearing all of these compliments and it kept escalating and she started trying to kiss me and then she tackled me and I said, "I can't do this, I've got an image to protect." And next thing you know, I'm running and she's chasing me and there're knights on horses and I'm in armor…
MARK: Is that when the dragon came?
TOM: That's when the dragon came and I fought the dragon to death ... Or it might have been a dream, I don't know.
There's a mean food fight scene the "Josie" clip. How many takes of that did you have to do?
MARK: It was just a one-take deal. We only had one chance to do it.
TOM: It turned out all right. A few of the kids were throwing all the food as hard and as fast as they could right at Mark.
MARK: The kids -- all of the extras, had to sit on the video shoot all day long and it was really hot. They were really tired and bored. So that by the time that the food fight scene came around, they were just so ready to pelt me with anything that they could. They were picking up furniture, too.
A lot of your songs are about girl trouble, but I have a feeling that you do okay. What's the real story there.
MARK: Tom does okay.
TOM: I do okay. I have a girlfriend so I get ...[cell phone fade out]... anytime I want.
How about you, Mark?
MARK: Me and girls? Girls are initially very attracted to me, because I also have very striking good looks and a charming personality. I can basically charm the hair off of Ron Jeremy, is what people like to say about me.
TOM: Do you know who that is?
No.
MARK: Ron Jeremy is a disgusting porn star who's covered with hair. Actually, I'm pretty sure he's an ape.... So, girls are initially attracted to me, but once they get close to me, I think it's the smell that I think turns them off.
How does Dude Ranch differ from your previous records, besides production value, as this was your first major label release?
TOM: It sold some copies.
MARK: I think Dude Ranch is the next step for us. I think it's all in the same vain. I think the songs are still kind of fast and kind of funny, and sing-alongy and poppy. And they're songs about girls, and life and relationships. I just think that our abilities as songwriters and musicians has gotten better, not good, but better.
TOM: Aren't you a [verbal] diarrhea boy.
In both of your singles, "Dammit" and "Josie," the refrains -- "I guess this is growing up" and "I know that everything's going to be fine," respectively -- sound not only like a mature perspective on life, but almost wise. How do you explain that?
MARK: Wow! You know, I've never once in my life been accused of being wise. I love you for that.
TOM: I know, I was just going to say the same thing.
MARK: I definitely have a very worldly wisdom when it comes to life and the world around me -- No -- I don't know. I think it's just sincere. I wouldn't say wise, I would just say, sincere.
What is the official explanation of your name, moreover, the numerals? Inquiring minds want to know.
TOM: Blink stands for two things. One: it's the name of our neighbor's dog.
MARK: Tom and I used to live together a long time ago.
TOM: Also, it's short for Boys Lusting Incredibly Nude ...[static]. The 182, if you add of the numbers, one, eight, and two, you get 11.
MARK: That's it. 11.
11? Just like in Spinal Tap.
MARK: Yeah, exactly. Spinal Tap. "It goes to 11." Or we could have also been call 443, or 191. If you can add you can come up with various combinations.
Tell me a funny story about drummer Scott Raynor?
MARK: Scott's not in the band anymore. We have a new drummer named Travis Barker.
TOM: We'll tell you a bunch of Travis stories.
What happened to Scott?
MARK: Scott's doing his own thing now.
TOM: We prefer not to talk about it.
You guys have been touring like crazy. Tell me a funny story from the road.
TOM: A long time ago the guys from Pennywise busted down our door and poured tabasco sauce on us. They had some kind of electrical shocking device and they were shocking the …(static)… out of us and they tore all of our clothes off. This was in Valdese, Alaska. It was kind of crazy.
They went to a lot of trouble.
MARK: Yeah they really planned it out. (Laughing) They were big gnarly Pennywise guys and we're all, "Don't you hurt me!"
As another three-piece high-spirited band from the California skate/surf scene, what do you guys have that Green Day doesn't?
TOM: Gonorrhea.
MARK: We have less money. I really have a lot of respect for Green Day. They're an awesome band. They're trailblazers.
TOM: We're a different band. We're trying to do our thing without being compared to anybody.
Is there anything you'd like to tell your fans?
MARK: You know what I like to tell the fans? "Stop kicking me, it hurts!"
TOM: And thank you.
MARK: Yeah, thank you so much, and my advice to them is: Don't sweat the big stuff. Sweat the little things. Your job, and college, your career and love -- all that will work out. The things that are important are what are you going to have for dinner tonight and who are you going to hang out with? Those are the important things.
What's next for Blink-182?
TOM: Mark's sweating getting his boat back into the slip.
MARK: Yeah. We have another tour coming up at the end of July in the U.S. and Canada. That's the last tour on this record. Then we're going to take some time to write and go into the studio in December/January for a late Spring release of 1998.
1999? Next year, you mean?
MARK: Oh shit! We missed our fucking deadline! Yeah, 1999.
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