Travis Barker
Not Just A Punk Drummer

Most of our favorite drummers could go days, weeks, or months without being stopped and recognized in public. Often, they sit behind the kit, shielded by cymbals and toms, barely making themselves visible to any camera lens. Such is not the case with Blink-182's Travis Barker.

Alongside bandmates Tom Delonge (guitar/vocals) and Mark Hoppus (bass/vocals), Barker's heavily tattoo-covered, boxer shorts-clad body (a spoof of the controversial Calvin Klein underwear ad campaign) was featured on posters, advertisements, and in magazines around the world, largely in promotion of the band's huge 1999 MCA Records release, Enema Of The State. Suddenly, people began to recognize Barker's appearance, and connected his image with the massive airplay from the album's pop-punk singles "Adam's Song" and "What's My Age Again?" Life was great for the drummer, yet also disturbingly difficult.
"I had stalkers," Barker explains. "I had people climbing up on my balcony and leaving me flowers. These people climbed two stories high and had to get past my two rottweilers! I really don't go anywhere anymore. I don't go to the mall, I don't go out to eat. I only go to drive-thrus and use Homegrocer.com."

Barker is the drummer for an unusual band, as Blink-182's subject matter and demeanor are rarely serious and their fanbase consists primarily of kids in their early to late teens. Tom and Mark are notorious for being the kings of potty humor during their live sets. Barker, however, doesn't join the zany circus of which his bandmates share ringmaster duty. "When I was in high school I was exactly like Mark and Tom," Barker points out, "with the same kind of jokes, except ten times worse. But I just kind of snapped out of it."

And be careful about how you label Barker. Although he's best known for his work with Blink-182, he's quick to shoot down the tag of being strictly a punk rock drummer. "Someone just sent me something in the mail that said I was the best punk drummer of the year - and I scraped the work "punk" off," he laughs. "Don't you dare put punk right next to my name! I don't think of myself as a punk drummer."

Yet it's hard to look past those loose, carefree attitudes, especially through the jokes, laughs, and snotty music. Still, the band realized they had a serious matter at hand - following up the huge success of Enema Of The State. At the time of this interview, Barker had just finished tracking their new album, Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (due out June 12) and recently moved into a brand-new home in Corona, California. Based on Blink-182's previous success, the insanity that began a couple of years ago is poised to strike all over again.

Waleed Rashidi

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