When did you know that blink was getting back together?
When we all talked about it in the courtyard of our studio.

What direction will you take with the new album, musically? Will it be similar to older blink material, the untitled album, or something completely new?
I think it'll be the next step beyond the Untitled album. It'll sound like blink-182 still, and retain all the stuff that blink-182 is, but we were really excited about the last record and want to take the next step from there.

How much songwriting have you done since you got back together?
Quite a bit, actually. The first few months after we got back together were pretty much dedicated to writing, and throwing ideas back and forth. Some of them worked, some of them didn't, and we're really excited and positive about the new songs, and can't wait to get back to the studio and hash those out.

Do you have any timeframe for releasing Up All Night?
Nope, just as soon as we can get it done.

Who wrote Up All Night?
This is one that Tom wrote, and like all blink-182 songs, everyone's ideas go through everyone else's hands, and people change things and add stuff. The original idea came from Tom.

As far as vocals go, is it going to be both you and Tom? Just Tom?
Both of us are singing in it.

How do you feel about Tom still being a part of Angels & Airwaves?
Well, everyone does stuff outside of blink, you know, Travis works with a bunch of different artists, and produces things, and I work with a bunch of different bands, doing a lot of remixing and producing as well. I think the great thing about blink right now is that everyone is going to it, all three of us, because it's something that we love and don't get anywhere else. It's a very positive thing.

Before blink got back together, you mentioned doing a solo album. Do you still have plans of that?
I don't think so right now, but who knows what the future holds. I'm really happy with blink getting back together, and getting a lot of producing work and remixing work right now, and that's a lot of fun for me. I don't even think I'd have time to think about a solo record at this point, but, I'll never say no.

How have you grown as people and as artists through the hiatus?
I think we've done a lot of growing as people, just having a 4-year break from blink-182, and some time to step away from it and appreciate how lucky we are for what we've built. And, obviously with the different projects that everyone's been involved with and working on, we have a whole new skill set to bring to bink-182.

The so-called "blinkumentary" we've been hearing about lately. Is it going to be a continuation of the Urethra Chronicles, or something...

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Tags: Interview, Mark

Let’s take a moment and reflect. Obviously, a ton has happened since Blink-182 called it quits nearly four years ago — numerous side projects, a near-death experience and the rekindling of friendship. But I’ll start out slow — how is touring with the newly reformed Blink-182?
So far, it’s been super fun. This tour right now is probably the most fun I’ve had in the last ten years.

I was excited when you guys first announced it back in February at the Grammy Awards. Is there a certain way this all came about, or was it a collective agreement between all of you?
It was a collective agreement between the three of us. We started hanging out just as friends after Travis’ plane crash last year, and even before that, we were at a place where we were ready to hang out as friends. There was no speculation about the band at that point. But we started talking, hanging out, letting the past be the past. There felt like there was this gigantic elephant in the room when we were hanging out. We were in the studio, and Tom asked, “What do you guys think about Blink?” I said that we should really get back together and do our thing. Do what we do best, you know. And everyone seemed to be in the same mind-frame. It was really easy and natural to get back together, and it was really positive.

I would imagine with yourself and [Barker] doing +44 and guitarist Tom DeLonge doing Angels & Airwaves that it would take a while to get back into the groove of performing live again.
Well, we actually jumped into the studio right away to start recording … started bouncing ideas back and forth, and we decided we wanted to go back out on tour. We were really tight as friends and a band. Getting back together after four years, everyone is being respectful and polite to one another and trying to keep things even. Back in the studio though, you have to be able to speak your mind and such. So, we decided that going on tour would bring us together and make us tighter before we would go back into the studio and finish an album.

The cool thing about the band is talking to all the listeners on the air here in Detroit. I grew up with Blink, so it’s a hit with the generations like myself, but also with the younger generations. The band seems to cover the whole spectrum.
Yeah, it’s really amazing to us that we can go back on tour after four years of not being around and the response is incredible. It’s a huge cross section of people — people that were there since day one, people that hooked on at the end of the career and people that are there for the first time ever. It’s really humbling and amazing.

While the side projects are well-publicized, it is not so well-known of your production work, working with bands like All Time Low, Motion City Soundtrack, even a few Panic! At The Disco cuts … not to menti...

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Tags: Interview, Mark, Tour