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Travis Barker
(July 2005 Issue)
Life After Blink
 With Blink-182 on an
"indefinite hiatus,"
master slammer Travis Barker has his sights set on
his next release with another group'the sophomore album, titled
Haunted Cities,
from The Transplants. Collaborating again with Tim Armstrong (of Rancid
fame) and vocalist Rob
Aston, Barker's involvement in The Transplants
unearths a more groove-oriented side to the drummer, which
had
previously been found on the band's debut disc, and to an extent, on
Blink-182's 2003 full-length.
Tracked over the course of a few
sessions (some which took place in Armstrong's basement), a majority of
the record was assembled largely around spontaneous ideas. "We went
into the studio
with most of the record not being written," Barker
admits. "We just kind of elaborated on ideas, coming up with parts that
we
really loved. The songs arose from there."
Some of the drum parts were tracked conventionally, yet with
others
Barker came up with interesting loops. "I would play eight measures,"
he says, "and we'd find a bar that felt really
good and loop it. Most
Transplants stuff does lend itself to more of an electronic, drum-
bass feel than the other projects
I've worked with."
Barker primarily used his Orange County Drum & Percussion set with
Zildjian Z series
and various effect cymbals in the studio. But he also
enlisted a set of Roland V-Drums and a 1966 Slingerland kit.
"It's
pretty cool," Barker notes of the Slingerlands. "I bought it during the
recording. I wanted an old vintage kit. We
recorded with it one day,
and I fell in love with it, so I ended up buying it off the guy I
borrowed it from."
In other
Barker news, the drummer has been working with Blink-182
singer/bassist Mark Hoppus on a new project called Plus 44, which
also
features vocalist Carol Heller. They've been recording at Barker's
house, and the music has been described as
electronic-based. It should
be out some time later this year.
If Barker's recordings aren't enough, fans
have been able to get a more
intimate look into the life of the drummer and his family via the
recent MTV series Meet The
Barkers.
"It's basically a documentary of what I did in the last year and what
happened, mostly positive, with me and
my family," Barker says. "I feel
like it's more of a documentary than a reality show, because most
reality shows have
story lines and all sorts of other stuff. This was
genuinely sincere and organic. Yeah, I think it's been
cool."i
Waleed Rashidi
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