Former Blink-182 guitarist Matt Skiba has spoken out about the most regrettable incident from his tenure with the band.
After making a name for himself with the Chicago-area emo pop outfit Alkaline Trio, Skiba replaced Blink's founding guitarist Tom DeLonge in 2015. He appeared on two of the band's albums, 2016's California and 2019's Nine.
'Everyone was like, "What the f**k? ... You f**king poser! You’re trying to be Tom!"' the guitarist said.
On a recent episode of the Tuna On Toast with Stryker podcast, the guitarist revealed what went wrong during his first photoshoot with Blink.
"My buddy Greg Teal, one of my best friends, ran Hurley (clothing company) at the time," he said in the interview transcribed by Loudwire. "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."
Fans thought the guitarist was trying to emulate DeLonge with 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 f**k?’ Like, 'You f**king poser! You’re trying to be Tom!'" Skiba said. "And I was like, 'I didn’t know we were going to take a picture.'"
The pop punk legend also spoke about knowing that his time with Blink would be limited.
"It ran its course," Skiba said of his 2022 departure from the group. "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."
The guitarist always had a sense that DeLonge would rejoin Blink.
"I remember at the time I said to Mark [Hoppus], 'Well, eventually Tom is going to come back, right?'" Skiba said. "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."
After DeLonge returned to Blink, the group released its latest album One More Time… in October. The band also went on a massively successful worldwide tour that hit locales across North America, Latin America and Europe.
Skiba joined blink in 2015 and left when founding member Tom Delonge returned in 2022.
Skiba never left Alkaline Trio. The band is currently preparing to release its newest album Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs, which will come out on Jan. 26. A new single called "Bad Time" was released in November.
The band is also planning a nationwide tour to support the new LP with support from Drug Church.
He's now releasing a new LP with his band Alkaline Trio.
Check out a full list of the upcoming dates below:
02/22 Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blue Anaheim
02/23 San Deigo, CA @ Soma
02/24 Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
02/26 Dallas. TX @ House Of Blues Dallas
02/27 Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek
02/28 Houston, TX @ House Of Blues Houston
03/01 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
03/02 Orlando, FL @ House OF Blues Orlando
03/03 Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore Charlotte
03/05 Washington DC @ Fillmore Silver Spring
03/06 Philadelphia, PA @ Fillmore Philadelphia
03/08 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
03/09 Queens, NY @ Knockdown Center
03/10 Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
03/12 Toronto, ON @ History
03/13 Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre
03/15 Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
03/16 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
03/17 St. Louis @ MO @ The Pageant
03/19 Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore Minneapolis
03/20 Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
03/21 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
03/23 Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo
03/24 Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
03/25 Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
03/27 San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
03/29 Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
03/30 Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas
