In the early 2000s, skateboarding was experiencing a surge in popularity. The X-Games were gaining mainstream attention, skateboards were flying off the shelves, and skaters were becoming recognizable figures. Simultaneously, a new wave of pop-punk bands emerged, many claiming roots in the skate scene. Leading this charge was Blink-182, a band known for their catchy melodies and juvenile humor, which helped propel the skater-pop-punk image into the mainstream.
Tom DeLonge, the band’s vocalist and guitarist, was known to be a skater in his younger days. But to what extent was his skater background genuine, and how much of it was a marketing strategy? We talked to Tom not just about his early skateboarding experiences, but also about fame, adolescence, and how they all intersected when Blink-182 hit the big time. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be 23 and have every teenager in the country recognize your half-naked image, then this is the interview for you.
Have you ever skated completely naked?
Absolutely! There’s a parking garage in Downtown San Diego called The Concourse. You could take the elevator to the tenth floor and then spiral down as fast as possible. Doing it in your “birthday suit” was the go-to for a while.
“Birthday Suit?” Is that what you call being naked?
Yeah, I guess. I just didn’t want to say I had my dick out.
I was interested in this interview after seeing a picture of you skating you posted online. It felt like that part of your life hadn’t been talked about much. Is that fair to say?
When we first gained popularity, being skateboarders was a big part of our identity. It’s funny, in every music video we made, they always tried to include skateboards, and we thought it was ridiculous.
Every interview, they would ask, “Oh, you guys are skateboarders?” But nobody really went into detail about it. It kind of just faded away. For me, skateboarding was a huge part of my life from seventh grade until I graduated. I even skated quite a bit after that. It wasn’t until I started touring around 19 that I stopped. Skateboarding is actually how we started the band in the first place.
You grew up skating with guys like Dan Rogers, Jeremy Klein, and other people affiliated with Birdhouse?
Yeah, there was one main pro in our group, and that was Dan Rogers. Dan was good friends with Jeremy, Willy Santos, and Tony Hawk because he rode for Birdhouse for a while.
I saw Jeremy all the time and skated with him quite a bit, but Dan was a daily thing. Some people would stay at Dan’s house, or we’d skate Tony’s ramp in Fallbrook. I remember one time we went to Tony’s place, and he was editing a Birdhouse video and going through Dan’s section. That might have been the only time we saw him at the house.
But our group was just a bunch of misfits. We’d stay up all night pulling pranks, messing with security guards, and coming home at 3 a.m. after getting fresh donuts.
Did you ever beat up a rollerblader?
No, but we definitely made fun of them. We would drive around, and if we saw anyone riding a bike, we’d yell, “Get a f***ing seat for that bike!” It didn’t make any sense.
Do you think making fun of other subcultures is a thing of the past? For instance, in the “All The Small Things” music video, you were mocking the popular boy bands of the time. Nowadays, it doesn’t seem like that’s as common.
Yeah, because people are more aware now. They’ve realized that some of the things you say can be pretty offensive, depending on who hears it. We were very rude to people. Everything Blink did was very explicit on stage. I think Congress labeled us, Eminem, and 2 Live Crew as the three most explicit bands of all time. But, we were just being ourselves—a group of skateboarders. That’s how we talked.
I just directed my first film, and I wrote it. It’s about skateboarders in Encinitas, and they talk the same way. Everyone’s always saying things like, “Shut the f*** up,” and “F*** your dad.”
I got into a lot of trouble outside of that group with my brother as well. We were bored kids in the middle of suburbia. We could have hurt someone, physically or emotionally, who didn’t deserve it. But that’s part of growing up and maturing. There’s a way to be rebellious and anti-authority without picking on random people. We were just angry kids.
“I would skate through the Kmart aisles with my arm out and knock everything down just screaming laughing.”
What kind of trouble and antics did you get into?
With skateboarding, you’re always trying to get out of the house and get a laugh. But you’re angry because you’re constantly getting yelled at. Getting kicked out of spots and yelled at for skating. Then you start messing with people, and before you know it, you’re in trouble. We would skate through department stores like Target or Kmart, and I would skate through the aisles with my arm out, knocking everything down while screaming and laughing.
I remember one time I came crashing through the doors, grabbing my board, and my buddy followed me. Then, a security guard chased us, and I tackled him with a headlock right to his face. His whole face was bleeding, and then the cops came. We were screaming at the security guard, completely forgetting that we started it.
I’ve noticed that skateboarders often channel their anger into their skating, partly because a lot of them come from difficult family situations. Was that true for you?
Oh, absolutely. Some of us had domestic violence in our homes. Some of us had fathers who abandoned their families. Everyone had a difficult story, so our way of celebrating getting out of that was through extreme humor.
That’s something a lot of people misunderstood about Blink. They thought we were just being funny for the sake of it. We were being funny because we were angry about where we came from. It was our coping mechanism. We wanted something that was extremely joyful all the time because all of our families were messed up. I think that’s partly why Blink worked and resonated with people.
“We wanted something that was joyful to the extreme all the time because all of our families were messed up.”
Did you experience domestic violence or abuse in your family?
I didn’t experience domestic violence, but we definitely had a broken family.
My dad had affairs and was in and out of our lives. He was also battling cancer. There was a lot of screaming and anger. My mom was a born-again Christian, while my dad wasn’t, so they had conflicting beliefs. The codependency and abuse of authority in that household were attempts to control everyone and make things okay when they were out of control. I had to rebel against that control, and that’s why I got kicked out of high school.
There was physical abuse like getting smacked across the jaw or pinned down and whipped as a kid [laughs]. That kind of stuff was common in the ’80s. Can you imagine holding down a seven-year-old and whipping them with a belt now? Oh my god. If anyone tried that with my kids, I would kill them.
I have empathy for my parents now, as messed up as my childhood was. You realize that everyone is just human and they had their own issues growing up. Everyone’s just trying to get by the best they can.
Back then, skating was closely linked to punk rock music. In Southern California, they were practically the same thing. That’s why old skate videos are always set to punk rock. Nowadays, you can’t really tell what people listen to or what their hobbies are or what defines them.
Most successful or famous people I’ve spoken to have come from turbulent backgrounds. Have you met any “well-adjusted” successful people who come from good families?
Not really, in my experience. Every artist I know in rock bands that I like are the ones who have something to say. If you grow up without any pain, obstacles, or challenges, then what do you have to say that will resonate with people?
That’s why I want to listen to people who have gone through something. Wisdom comes specifically from the trials of the human spirit. If you don’t have that, then you have no wisdom to share.
I grew up on “Enema of the State” along with millions of others. I’m trying to imagine, you were only 23 at the time?
Yeah, I think I was around 23.
Did you hook up with a lot of girls at that time? Does it eventually become boring when it’s so easy or unchallenging?
[Laughs] No, at that point, it was really hard to get close to the band because we had so much security, and people just didn’t get to interact with us. It’s not like we were hanging out in a club and people were walking in and out backstage. We were in serious relationships, and there were always wives or girlfriends around. Everyone took their relationships pretty seriously.Do you see a lot of attractive women and think, “That would be fun?” Yeah, of course! You’re a guy. But, at the same time, a lot of them are crazy, or they’re too young, and you don’t know if they’re just trying to take advantage of you. Honestly, the fame got so crazy that it was the last thing you wanted. Are they going to accuse you of something? Or get pregnant and say you’re the baby daddy? It’s terrifying.
So, you were very isolated and didn’t interact with many fans?
Yeah. We were alone. We would show up to the venue as late as possible, warm up, and play. Then, we’d walk off stage into a van, get to the hotel, and there would be security and people trying to get us to sign things. Even if we had just left the stage, they were already there. So, we would go straight to our hotel room and hide under a fake name.
You become standoffish to people because everywhere you go, people are staring at you. I couldn’t go to malls, movie theaters, restaurants, or grocery stores. It was insane. So, I definitely wasn’t interacting with many people at all.
When you were younger, did you always want to be famous? Or was it just a byproduct of being in a band?
I never ever thought of being famous. The only thing I thought about was being as big as the band NOFX. That was it. They played in front of 1500+ people a night. I thought if I could ever reach that level, it would be amazing. I never thought about fame or money. I just wanted to take care of myself and have a decent fan base.
I heard a famous actor say, “Being famous in the ’80s was awesome. Who would want to be famous now in 2020?”
Yeah, it sucks being famous. Having people stare at you. Imagine you walk into a California Pizza Kitchen, and a hundred people are staring and whispering about you while you’re just trying to order a salad. They’re all pretending not to look right at you. So, every time you look up, someone at a table side-eyes you and whispers about it. I have many times just gotten up and left because I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t want it.
“Imagine you walk into a California Pizza Kitchen and a hundred people are staring and whispering about you, and you’re just trying to order a salad.”
Have you ever worn disguises to get by?
Oh yeah. Mark [Hoppus] and I used to wear disguises at our own shows. He would put on a security guard shirt and a wig and go out and direct cars in the parking lot. I would wear a wig and a weird hat and weird clothes and walk around the audience and talk to people.
I remember one time, I sat with these girls and tried to talk to them. They were so annoyed that they turned their backs on me. There were twenty thousand people waiting for us to get on stage, and I was just trying to talk to some attractive girls, but they wouldn’t give me the time of day. We did stuff like that.
Usually, when I went out in public, I’d wear a hat, keep my head down, or wear a hoodie where the hood covered my whole head. A lot of times, I would wait in the car until someone went inside and confirmed it was clear, then I would race into the movie theater or whatever it was. It still never worked. They always found out I was there. Those days were very difficult. It’s not like that anymore, but back then it was crazy.
Are you happy those days are behind you, or would you welcome more attention again?
I’m much happier now. You can’t live your life normally. I have things I need to do [laughs].
When Blink got popular, did you get annoyed with copycat bands?
I was annoyed only because I felt that they could do better. But, we all steal from things that influenced us, so it is definitely flattering. What annoyed me was that I didn’t see any musical progression. To be exactly like someone else doesn’t achieve much. I’ve also been exactly like other people before and have learned to grow out of it or change it. So, it’s not like I’m removed from that. I think every artist goes through that at some point. We didn’t invent pop-punk; we were inspired by other bands. I can’t pretend that we didn’t do the same thing, but we definitely put our own spin on it.
Yeah, you guys didn’t sound like other bands.
We were better [laughs].
Interview: Ian Michna
Special Thanks: Kari Delonge & Cheyenne Arnold
