Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus has opened up about the group’s early days, discussing the embarrassing nature of the band’s debut show.
Ask any musician ever, and they’ll likely tell you that their first live show was a bit of a shambolic mess.
Sure, we’ve seen artists like G Flip make well-received live debuts, but others likely look back on their early shows and cringe, wishing they could tell their younger selves about the good things still to come.
However, while artists such as The Killers have regaled us with tales of their first show, so now has Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, painting a picture so bad that it’s hard to imagine the group going on to become the pop-punk icons they are.
Speaking to Rock Sound in promotion of Simple Creatures’ new release, Mark Hoppus noted how Blink-182’s earliest rehearsal started off well enough, featuring covers from Bad Religion and The Cure. However, when they hit the live stage, it was a different story altogether.
“The first Blink show ever, we played this biker bar in south San Diego,” Hoppus explained. “It was the bartender, one patron, the three of us.”
“We played one song, then the one guy said ‘can you please turn it down?’, so we turned it down. Then we played another song and he said ‘can you please turn it down more?’ – we turned it down.”
“We got a third song in, and he said ‘you know what guys? Let’s just call it. Let’s call it,” he concluded. “Have some Snapple, you guys earned it.'”
Check out Mark Hoppus and Alex Gaskarth discussing their early years:
We talk the Early Years with the guys in @simplecreatures! In part one we cover their first band practise and first gigs pic.twitter.com/wLsabQ2t0z
— Rock Sound (@rocksound) April 13, 2019
In related news, Mark Hoppus recently revealed that Blink-182’s new material is sounding much “darker” and “more aggressive” than their previous efforts.
“It’s very different to California,” Hoppus explained. “It’s a lot more aggressive. It’s darker in theme and tone.”
“If you like California to Enema Of The State then this album is more like the Untitled record where we are trying to experiment more: trying to experiment more, trying different sounds, and trying to expand upon what people think Blink-182 is.”
It doesn’t sound like we’ll be waiting too long for new tunes though, with drummer Travis Barker revealing that the new record will likely arrive before the end of June.
Check out Blink-182’s ‘Bored To Death’:
