Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge said backstage during the band’s appearance at the U.K.’s Leeds Festival last weekend that fans can get a clue about what the group’s next album will sound like by listening to the solo work from all three members.
DeLonge told the U.K.’s Rock Radio, “The record will be very modern, relevant, fast and fun. It’ll be a mixture of drum ‘n’ bass, indie rock and stadium rock . . . Anyone who listens to my band Angels & Airwaves will know where I sit musically. If you imagine that, mixed in with what the other guys do in their spare time, you get it. It’s going to be a really great collaboration of the best of three different genres of music.”
Blink plans to get down to work on a new record later this year after finishing up their current overseas road trip.
The band reunited after a five-year hiatus in early 2009, partially as a result of drummer Travis Barker‘s near death in a plane crash.
DeLonge says that the punk trio are “getting on better than we ever have, and there’s a confidence there now. We love what we do and we know we do it pretty well.”
Here’s an interview done by the band Destine with Tom at the LowLands festival. It’s a pretty good interview, with a bit different questions than what we are used to see. And a dutch accent in there as well.
Pop-punk trio blink-182 normally offers a series of puerile jokes at their live shows, but singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge raised eyebrows with a context-free crack at President Barack Obama while headlining the U.K.’s Leeds Festival on Saturday (Aug. 28), according to Spinner. DeLonge told the crowd that he was “going to go down on Barack Obama” during a performance of “Anthem Part Two.” The band also cursed off Reading Festival, which took place the previous day (Aug. 27) in the U.K. (Spinner)
Read about the charity event that Tom DeLonge attended in behalf of Macbeth.
The event was to launch the Macbeth Footwear – the band’s own shoe brand – Fall collection, and was held at Sportie LA. Soles4Souls spokesperson, TV personality CaCee Cobb, came out to the event to raise awareness for those who are not fortunate to have a single pair of shoes.
Tom talks a bit about the “new” music platform he created, Modlife. From MSNBC.
He’s a rock star and a businessman. And what Tom DeLonge is doing in Carlsbad could make a lot of the major music labels nervous.
DeLonge, 35, is best known as the lead singer of the pop-punk band “Blink 182.” But he also fronts the alternative rock band “Angels and Airwaves.” Last year, “Angels and Airwaves” decided to strike out one their own without the support of a label. They not only used their own money to record their new album “Love,” they also released it on their own, exclusively as a download and for free.
“Giving away the record for free is not because we are dumb,” said DeLonge. “It’s because we are trying to build the business on all these different levels.” “Everyone is not making money selling records,” adds bassist Matt Wachter. “We needed to find other ways to keep this going and to make money.”
Just how do “Angels and Airwaves” plan on making money in a recording industry that has seen record sales cut in half the past decade? The key, the band says is their website called “Modlife.” “The dream was with “Angels and Airwaves” is that we would have a platform on our website that would not only protect all the content, it would self-market, self-distribute it,” DeLonge said. “And because of that, it’s also what allowed us to give our record away for free and build other assets.” And it’s the other assets that keeps fans coming back to the website. From live band rehearsals, to pay per view concerts to exclusive merchandise, a small monthly subscription fee gives fans VIP access to the band. “We broadcast live on our site, where we have conversations with these people and they are world wide,” said DeLonge. “We are good friends with them at this point”. “You’ve introduced yourself to all these people, now if people want to get closer, there was something that was created that will hopefully help the band create some security,” said David Kennedy, lead guitarist. “And the money that came in from Modlife, we just invested into ourselves.” Other major bands, like “Korn” and “The White Stripes” have taken notice. They are now using Modlife to reach out to their fans. “The music industry has taken such a turn from that state of mind, where I’m going to be on a major label, ” said drummer Atom Willard. “Things have drastically changed in the past 5-10 years. I think this is the way bands are going to succeed.” These musicians are businessmen. And they are not closing the door to possibly working with labels in the future. “All we want to do is celebrate the fact that we are 100% independent at this moment,” said DeLonge. “Because this leaves it open to create new ideas and build a future.” Angels and Airwaves is currently on tour across the country.