California LP

Since their humble beginnings 24 years ago, when they started playing in a San Diego garage, blink-182 has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and rocked audiences from Hamilton to Zurich having become one of the defining rock bands of their generation. They combine high-energy dynamics with an artistic ambition that transcends any genre. Now with Matt Skiba (of Alkaline Trio) joining blink-182 as singer/guitarist, the group starts a new chapter. Skiba debuted with blink-182 in March 2015 with a live performance at the MusInk Tattoo and Music Festival: "It was the best they've sounded in over a decade," the OC Weekly raved about the band's set.

Early in 2016, Skiba finally entered the studio with Hoppus and Barker. Although the band had written over 30 songs in the months before the sessions, once they started working with producer John Feldmann, they soon discarded all the old material. "We hit the ground running so hard that we just kept writing and writing," Hoppus says, "and suddenly we realized that we had written more than 20 new songs, and they were all really great." While blink-182 has already racked up more than their fair share of platinum records and blockbuster singles, they're emphatically looking forward to their seventh studio album.

"This is the next step for us-it's not a stopgap and we're not punching a clock," Hoppus emphasizes. "We're not just a greatest-hits band, although we will play the hits. Blink is alive and well and we're excited about doing cool new stuff." It feels just like the old days, spending 14 or 16 hours in the studio until two o'clock in the morning, blasting the latest rough mix of a song as you drive home excited and exhausted, waking up and the band is the first thing you think of in the morning and then working all day on it. Every day in the studio has been a lot of fun." According to The New York Times, "No punk band of the 1990s has been more influential than 'blink-182'."

"I've never joined a band before-I've started every band I've ever been in," Skiba says. "It's a crazy dream-come-true feeling, but it feels organic. I spend a lot of time pinching myself." "We had a great chemistry with Matt right away," Travis Barker says. "We've been friends with Matt for the past 17 years, so it was a real natural fit for him to come on board."

Hoppus sums up their partnership: "I love our band − I've loved every single step along the way. I'm glad that we've continued to write music that we love and that connects to people 20 years later, and that we still feel like we did when we were playing garages back in San Diego in 1994."