Blink 182, a band from the San Diego area, has recently risen from the depths of obscurity where all groups must begin, into the upper echelons of the punk scene. The band, which formed five years ago, first gained recognition touring with Pennywise, another local product, then made further strides over the last two years as a member of the traveling Warped Tour.After meeting at a party when Scott was a mere fourteen, Tom two years older, and Mark, the grandfather of the band at twenty, the band took to the garage to perfect a sound which rings with wit and sarcasm, while pouring out catchy, humorous tunes. After starting with some backyard parties, and moving on to the side-stage of SOMA, a local all-ages venue, the band quickly was pushed to the main stage, and then out onto tour. The first album, Cheshire Cat, was produced in a three-day period in 1994 by the local label Cargo Records. Cheshire Cat, a glimmer into the bands budding genius, was a local hit, selling in excess of 70,000 copies. It served as a precursor to the bands more "mature" second album, Dude Ranch, which was released in June of last year. This album comes through with all the potential foreshadowed in the first. Humorous themes intermingle with lyrics of a higher order and the fast paced, furious music that has defined the punk scene over the last several years. The album mixes hilarious songs like Degenerate, "Nude in a gutter is how I was found, thrown in a police car and the door slammed, no noise just silence as I screamed my dick was jammed," with more insightful, thought provoking numbers like Dammit, "I've been here for too long to face this on my own, well I guess this is growing up," and I'm Sorry, "And there's no harm, at least nothing we can see, as for you, not so true, you couldn't choose where his road would lead."

Dude Ranch, as with most punk music, is a ride along the road to growing up, with all its pain and uncertainties. It is a fun album mixed with the lessons of life and love, young people struggle with every day.

A week before Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to interview the youngest member of the band, drummer Scott Raynor. Below is an abridged version of that interview.

Richard Van Heertum:     How did you guys originally meet and form the band?
Scott Raynor:      Well, we all met in high school, and then we met Mark, because Tom's friend was dating Mark's sister and then Mark moved out to San Diego from Ridgecrest, in the desert, and we started from there.
Richard :      What do you think have been the major factors in your rise in stature from those early days?
Scott Raynor:      I think the key points were, first getting signed with Cargo Records and then getting our manager, Rick Darrow, who's, like, our good friend. He helped us out a lot, booking a lot of local shows with bigger bands. Besides that, just being able to do tours and being able to go and work out our music.
Richard :      From the material I read, it seems like you've had long-standing relationships with bands like Pennywise and Dance Hall Crashers. Do you believe they have helped your development as a group?
Scott Raynor:      Pennywise definitely has . . . they took us on our first Australian tour, which we went back on our own a second time, and it was really good. They also helped us out a lot in the U.S., since we went around touring with them, and it has definitely given us a lot of exposure.
Richard :      How was that first tour in Australia with Pennywise?
Scott Raynor:      It was good, really good. And we were opening, so when we played there weren't too many kids there, and as far as the tour goes, playing with Pennywise was pretty crazy.
Richard :      Do they party hard?
Scott Raynor:      Yeah . . . and there is this kind of hazing ritual when you tour with Pennywise . . . actually no matter when you're with Pennywise, there is this whole like hazing thing going on. Lots of bee bee guns, that kind of stuff, a lot of fire extinguishers. Yeah, they're a great band.
Richard :      The Warped Tour has seemed to give the band a big boost. How do you look at the experience over the last two years?
Scott Raynor:      It's been good. First of all it's a great tour, with just all the people on it, all the people who run it, the bands on it. And no one on the tour has a bad attitude, everyone is doing it because they love doing it, and then on top of that it has such a name to it, and everyone knows like 'Warped Tour', plus it's the skate scene, and that's kind of where we came out of. And, it's good to find a tour that, you know, has the same ideas about how to put music together well. It definitely has done a lot for us, because Warped Tour is "the" tour, you know. All the bands on it are great, all the people on it are great, and we just hang out, barbeque every night.
Richard :      How did the band originally hook up with MCA?
Scott Raynor:      Uh, well let's see, Cargo was talking to them because Cargo was going to sell part of the label to MCA, not to MCA directly, but to a subsidiary of MCA called 'Way Cool' and, uh, so we were looking around for a new label, and we were already in a contractual relationship . . . I don't know, and we still had a lot of records with Cargo, and it seemed like the easiest route, because if we went with another label they would have had to buy us out, and it actually turned out that we didn't find any other labels that were as appealing as MCA, and they're a great label. Plus, at the same time, Cargo is still involved, which is good because, I mean, they're the one's who originally put their trust in us and gave us money for the first record, hoping that it would actually sell something, and somehow it did . . . I don't know how.
Richard :      It was a killer album, I love that album.
Scott Raynor:      Thanks. Yeah, it turned out that MCA was the best option, because MCA is a great label and we still got to work with Cargo, and they're a great label, so we were lucky that we ended up in the situation we're in now.
Richard :      Are you at all worried that punk seems to be on a down turn in popularity recently?
Scott Raynor:      I'm not worried about it . . . I mean, it definitely is but, I don't know, my perspective on music is kind of blurred, because I don't see really, I just, kind of, see it all as being rock. I think punk rock is a lot more passionate than most types of music, you know, and that's why I like it so much. But, the punk that's going downhill, I don't know, is like the new school punk, because it's been around for a while and I think that style of music, with those kinds of tones, will definitely reemerge in different ways. I think there will probably be a movement toward more simple, rootsy punk or rock, that will probably come back but, I can definitely see that it is on a downturn.
Richard :      To what do you attribute the drop in popularity?
Scott Raynor:      Well, I think mostly, I mean, I remember growing up when I first heard like Anthrax and Pennywise and it was incredible and I had never heard anything like it. I think a lot of kids got turned onto it and a lot of those kids are now starting to grow up, and have different interests in music. I mean, there is only so long that you can stay, in kind of, a fast stead, there is not a whole lot lately that has been brand new, and, I don't know, I think it's just that the kids who were into it at first either grew up and are kind of starting to get different interests, or were just fair-weather kids that were into it because it was the new thing, in which case, as soon as it, kind of, starts to go downhill, they lose interest.
Richard :      I understand you just finished touring in Europe with Warped Tour. Any interesting/funny stories from the trip?
Scott Raynor:      Mark got naked on stage in front of probably like 3,000 Spaniards. Mark gets naked a lot, but this was the first time he got naked on stage. I don't know, it was a fun tour with great guys and great bands.
Richard :      It seems like you guys have been all over. Where is your favorite place to play?
Scott Raynor:      America. I just like touring America, it's like anywhere I go in America now I feel at home. It's like anywhere we go we can just go off because the crowds are all really into it. There are different spots, like Los Angeles and San Diego are our best places to play, and Florida, stuff like that. But, it seems like any country or any place you go there are always good and bad shows, although I guess San Diego and LA are always solid.
Richard :      Who have been the major influences on your music style and philosophy?
Scott Raynor:      Well, starting off, I really got into punk when I heard Marcus Wyman (?), NOFX, and the blue Pennywise record; and Against the Grain. Those were my first, like, real taste of all that stuff, but I guess everything else from there on . . . I guess now, like, The Clash and Paul Westerberg, The Police, and there are so many bands. The way I see it is like, good music is good music, you know, it doesn't matter what style it is. Once you get over that bias of, like, something not being punk, or not being fast enough, or not heavy enough, you realize that there is just so much music out there.
Richard :      Do you like the new ska scene at all?
Scott Raynor:      I'm not a very big ska fan. I mean I like a lot of the older ska. I like The Specials a lot. I don't know, I like stuff a little bit darker, a little slower. I don't like the new faster, (happier) music. It's cool, but I never really had an ear for it.
Richard :      At 18, you have already traveled and performed all over the world, produced two albums, and stand on the brink of fame and possible fortune. What's it like . . . and where do you go from here?
Scott Raynor:      It's good, and I'm happy where I am. Wherever it goes from here, up or down, is fine with me.
Richard :      What is the band up to now?
Scott Raynor:      Right now we have a little vacation. We're playing a show with Reel Big Fish the day before Thanksgiving and then some Radio shows, and then January 3 to Warped Tour in New Zealand, then Australia, Japan, and Hawaii; that's like a month. Then we go straight onto Snow Core, which is like another sports-related tour.
Richard :      For personal reference, I was wondering how to perform the exercises on the one but cheek?
Scott Raynor:      (Laughs) It's really mysterious, because there is a time before (Mark) goes on stage where he has to be alone, like absolutely has to be alone. He'll go into a closet, or anywhere, he doesn't want to let anyone see. But he does have one really big but cheek and he can kick your but with it.

A week after the interview, I was off to Irvine to catch their show with Reel Big Fish, The Aquabats, and The Cherry Poppin Daddies. After driving for two and a half hours in traffic and pouring rain, with a friend following me the whole way, I was reminded of the cruel path of age. My friend and I entered the arena looking more like chaperones than fans, to the cadre of teeny boppers tramping around. The show started with the ska/swing band the Cherry Poppin Daddies, followed by the silly, somewhat pathetic Aquabats. Blink was up third, and put on a solid show, though they related afterwards that they were not that happy with the performance, feeling the stage pushed them too far away from the fans. Reel Big Fish was up last, and they confirmed that they are not planning on being another of the multitude of one hit wonders who have emerged recently, backing up their smash single Sell Out, with a number of other upbeat, fun and melodic songs.

If you've never seen or heard of Blink 182, grab a copy of their new album, and you are sure to mix in a few laughs with an overly enjoyable experience... ARCHIVE 1998