It's been a whirlwind week for fans of the hi-fidelity mall punk band Blink-182, and the plot keeps thickening. The band recently announced a new album and tour plans (including a stop hanging out with Abbotsford, BC's many youth pastors). Here's where things get confusing, however — Tom DeLonge claims he's still in the band.
For the last year or so, DeLonge has been in a fairly public dispute with his fellow Blinkers Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker. The latter two claimed DeLonge hadn't been feeling this for a while, with the mystic punk millionaire more content with writing a comical amount of sci-fi novels and talking to Area 51. Hoppus went on to say that Blink-182 was having a "friendly divorce" with DeLonge, and replaced him with the similar sounding (albeit far less nasal) Matt Skiba.
Here's where things get confusing, however — speaking with Rolling Stone, DeLonge says he's still a member of Blink-182. Reaching out to the interviewer weeks after they first spoke, DeLonge said, "I'm still in the band," adding that he had never quit or been fired.
"I love those guys," DeLonge said of his former bandmates. "The only thing I think about is, I want them to be happy. [But] I don't want the legacy of the band to get fucked with. I do care about that. I don't want an incredible legacy to be ruined."
Further, he said he'd still be willing to perform with Blink-182 if they reached out to him. "I'm not opposed to it. I still would be interested, if people would just pick up the phone and call."
Understandably, DeLonge's a little down in the dumps about how things have shaken out with Blink-182. "But I don't work on ego," he added. "It doesn't define me. Is it awkward and weird? Yeah. Does part of me get bummed? Totally. But it doesn't consume me. I'm doing some of the best stuff I've ever been involved in. People look in and they go, 'How could you walk away from something like that?' or 'How could you not get so pissed?' Well, because I'm more than that."
That said, you don't interview Tom DeLonge without having him bring up aliens and the government. In the Rolling Stone piece, he credited his top secret, X Files-like work as one of the things that was distracting him from Blink-182.
"I couldn't tell the band I was working with people in the government," he said. "That's another big part of this story. People think I want to just put out a novel and make a movie. I have 10 people that I'm working with that are at the highest levels of the Department of Defense and NASA and the military. Big shit, and no one knows this. I'm doing all this stuff already."
Whether or not DeLonge is involved, Blink-182 will release their new album California on July 1. Angels & Airwaves released their Chasing Shadows EP earlier this month with DeLonge's Sekret Machines novel.
For the last year or so, DeLonge has been in a fairly public dispute with his fellow Blinkers Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker. The latter two claimed DeLonge hadn't been feeling this for a while, with the mystic punk millionaire more content with writing a comical amount of sci-fi novels and talking to Area 51. Hoppus went on to say that Blink-182 was having a "friendly divorce" with DeLonge, and replaced him with the similar sounding (albeit far less nasal) Matt Skiba.
Here's where things get confusing, however — speaking with Rolling Stone, DeLonge says he's still a member of Blink-182. Reaching out to the interviewer weeks after they first spoke, DeLonge said, "I'm still in the band," adding that he had never quit or been fired.
"I love those guys," DeLonge said of his former bandmates. "The only thing I think about is, I want them to be happy. [But] I don't want the legacy of the band to get fucked with. I do care about that. I don't want an incredible legacy to be ruined."
Further, he said he'd still be willing to perform with Blink-182 if they reached out to him. "I'm not opposed to it. I still would be interested, if people would just pick up the phone and call."
Understandably, DeLonge's a little down in the dumps about how things have shaken out with Blink-182. "But I don't work on ego," he added. "It doesn't define me. Is it awkward and weird? Yeah. Does part of me get bummed? Totally. But it doesn't consume me. I'm doing some of the best stuff I've ever been involved in. People look in and they go, 'How could you walk away from something like that?' or 'How could you not get so pissed?' Well, because I'm more than that."
That said, you don't interview Tom DeLonge without having him bring up aliens and the government. In the Rolling Stone piece, he credited his top secret, X Files-like work as one of the things that was distracting him from Blink-182.
"I couldn't tell the band I was working with people in the government," he said. "That's another big part of this story. People think I want to just put out a novel and make a movie. I have 10 people that I'm working with that are at the highest levels of the Department of Defense and NASA and the military. Big shit, and no one knows this. I'm doing all this stuff already."
Whether or not DeLonge is involved, Blink-182 will release their new album California on July 1. Angels & Airwaves released their Chasing Shadows EP earlier this month with DeLonge's Sekret Machines novel.
