Tom DeLonge: Blink-182 has always been about “forcing happiness with brute strength”
“I still think we’re writing our best songs,” says the guitarist.
Image: Christopher Polk / Getty Images
Blink-182 has always been about “forcing happiness with brute strength”, says guitarist Tom DeLonge, as he reflects on the band’s musical origins in a new interview.
Speaking to Fender, DeLonge says that “the thing about rock and roll that separates us from pop music is the authenticity of the people doing it — the story of where they came from. Something that’s really true to them that they’re trying to emote and trying to communicate it back for other people to see your point of view in the world.”
“You know, we came from broken homes. We came from broken families. So we wanted to viciously attack with happiness, and humour, and energy, and speed. And so it was very much like forcing happiness with brute strength, you know? And that’s what the band’s always been about.”
The guitarist adds that despite all the time that has passed, “I still think we’re writing our best songs.”
“I think our album coming out is probably our best album we’ve ever made,” DeLonge says of the band’s forthcoming record, arriving this October. “And the production that we brought on this tour, it’s finally the first perfect cohesive branding and symbol of everything that the band is about. It’s got the nostalgia in there, and the history in there, but it’s also got the fun, and reverence, and childhood, you know, kinda charm. And it’s got the rebellion, but it’s got all the technology, too.”
“So it’s like this really cool like rebirth of everything, or the best of everything that we’ve done, but done the way people always wished we would’ve done it, you know, like, ‘Oh, you guys aren’t half bad now,’ and we’re like, ‘Thank you.’”.
Elsewhere in the interview, the musician also takes us through his songwriting process, and the way he writes everything on a “little shitty acoustic”.
“It’s probably worth like 200 bucks,” DeLonge says. “Everything gets written on that, and if I can make it sound good on that, I’m like ‘it’s gonna sound really good once it’s on an electric guitar.’”
Listen to Blink-182’s latest single EDGING below.