Matt Skiba has shared one of his biggest regrets from his time in Blink-182, replacing the band’s frontman, Tom Delonge.
The Alkaline Trio vocalist joined the band in 2015 as a replacement for DeLonge who left “to change the world for my kids”. DeLonge also left Blink in 2005 to focus on his other band, Angels & Airwaves, which was an additional project to his 2001-formed side group Box Car Racer.
After a seven-year run with the pop-punk trailblazers, Skiba’s time with the band came to an end after Blink announced that Delonge would be returning to the classic line up in 2022.
Appearing as a guest on the Tuna On Toast with Stryker podcast, Skiba opened up about his first photoshoot with Blink-182 after joining the band and explained how cringeworthy it was.
“My buddy Greg Teal, one of my best friends, ran Hurley (clothing company) at the time. I wasn’t even thinking about it but I was wearing Hurley shit [to rehearsal]. And I forgot that Blink was like the Hurley band forever,” Skiba said.
He went on to explain how he accidentally showed up in an outfit that was reminiscent of the former frontman’s style, instantly regretting his fashion choices.
“So when I showed up to practice, I’ve got a baseball hat on and this Hurley T-shirt, and
everyone was like, ‘What the fuck?’ Like, ‘You fucking poser! You’re trying to be Tom!’ and I was like, ‘I didn’t know we were going to take a picture,’” He continued.
“We took a picture against the door, the loading dock, and I’ve got my dopey Hurley shirt on, clueless to how that would read,” he said. “But that was the one thing where kids were like, ‘Dude, don’t do that.’ I’m like, ‘Do what? Oh, right.’ If I would have thought of it, I probably might have changed T-shirts, just because I don’t want to be that guy. So that was the one thing [I’d take back].”
Elsewhere in the interview, Skiba spoke about his departure from the band following Delonge’s return.
He previously responded to DeLonge’s note thanking him for keeping Blink-182 “thriving”, after the band returned to its original line-up, making Skiba “truly happy”.
He posted a message on Instagram at the time that read: “I’m sure there’s a joke in here about releases and happy endings I’m missing but I am truly grateful for my time with blink and I am truly happy you guys are a band and a family again. ????”
Speaking to Ted Stryker on the podcast, Skiba said: “It ran its course. When those guys first asked me to join the band, I thought they were on acid, thinking that that was gonna fly. And it did somehow. I mean it’s like, wow people are actually coming out to see this thing and a lot of people are buying the record and responding really positively to it.”
Though he joined the band, he was certain that it wasn’t going to be something he would be in for the long run and believed that his time in Blink-182 would eventually come to an end.
“I remember at the time I said to Mark [Hoppus], ‘Well, eventually Tom is going to come back, right?’” the guitarist recalls. “And Mark was like, ‘I don’t think it’s any secret he was pretty hurt and upset. But I think somewhere he had to know that that was true.’ And so, for me I think the timing was perfect. I think everyone is glad that Tom is back. But I’m really thankful for those guys and for the work that we did.”
In other news, Blink-182 were announced as one of the headliners for this year’s edition of Reading & Leeds festival.
Other acts to play headlining slots include Liam Gallagher, Lana Del Rey, Fred Again.., Gerry Cinnamon and Catfish & The Bottlemen.
As for Skiba, his band Alkaline Trio recently released ‘Bad Time’, the second single from their upcoming tenth full-length album ‘Blood, Hair and Eyeballs’.