Good Charlotte’s Benji and Joel Madden have weighed in on what they believe to be the best blink-182 era.
The twins recently sat down with blink’s Mark Hoppus on his podcast, After School Radio, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their ratbag debut self-titled album.
During the interview, the conversation deviated towards the eternal debate of whether the blink-182 lineup starring Tom DeLonge or Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba was superior. To which the brothers argued that both members have brought something to the table.
“So I’ve been a fan of Matt for many, many years,” admitted Joel. “Obviously, I’m a big Alkaline Trio fan. I think he’s got kind of an appreciation for what blink-182 is, that you can see him. When I watch him on stage with you guys, I feel the same appreciation I think he feels with the music, singing the songs.
“He’s done such a good job carrying the songs in a way that a blink fan wants someone to and appreciates. So I think he’s just filled a very hard spot in a very unique way that as a music fan, I’ve appreciated. Not everyone can pull off stepping in and singing in a band.”
Benji echoed Joel’s sentiment, arguing that Matt Skiba hasn’t been brought into the fold to replace DeLonge, rather he brings something new to the mix.
“I don’t think Skiba is like going to try and replace someone,” Benji explained. “I honestly can’t choose.
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“I think it’s two different things. [I] think the thing that I would say in respect to today, so okay, I’m just going to say what every other Blink fan would say, is that it’s a different era, right? There’s something really special about the memories you have with you, Travis and Tom.
“But watching Tom’s journey since blink has been really enjoyable for me too. It’s amazing how he’s really sort of been seeking all of the knowledge and aligning himself with all these different people in his To The Stars Academy.”
Despite having nothing but praise for Skiba, Joel Madden admits that there’s a part of him that yearns to witness the original, inimitable blink-182 lineup reunite.
“I will say that as a fan, lifelong fan, it would be a shame if I didn’t get to see Tom on stage,” he mused. “I actually think if Matt could be on stage too, I think there’s a version of this where we watched the whole thing, but seeing Tom on stage singing over the years, some of my favorite songs of all time, it would be a shame if I didn’t get to see that again.”
Tom DeLonge left blink-182 back in 2014 to focus on other musical endeavours, and his ongoing quest to chase aliens.
In other news, last month it was revealed that Tom DeLonge is set to make his directorial debut with coming-of-age sci-fi film, Monsters of California.
The pop-punk hero turned UFO conspirator penned the script for the film alongside Ian Miller. In addition to his writing-directing duties, DeLonge will write and perform the film’s score. Read more about it here.
