LOS ANGELES, CA  [Wednesday Jun.16.2004]  /WMQT.com/ -- Travis Barker says he, Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge had a great time writing and recording Blink-182's latest release, "Blink-182." They enjoyed the process so much, that they took a year to make the album rather than the band's usual two months.

In an interview with Washington state newspaper, The Herald, drummer Travis Barker explains, "During 'Take off your Pants [and Jacket],' it was a time that I don't think all of us wanted to be in the studio." He notes that the group was contractually obligated to deliver the 2001 album by a deadline. Barker says, "With this record, it was like you have a band that wants to be in the studio, of course we're going to take a year because we're having the time of our lives."

With "Blink-182," the band set out to redefine its sound. Change was natural, says Barker, because "a lot of things happened." For one, Barker recorded and toured with the bands Box Car Racer and The Transplants between the two Blink-182 albums. He explains, "Boxcar happened. The Transplants were working hard...I went through a divorce... I moved to L.A., and I went on vacation. And on vacation all I could think about was our record, and I came back to Mark and Tom and I was like, 'When we step forward to do this record, all I want to do is pretend it's our first record...."

Barker adds, "For us to try to make another 'Enema of the State' or 'Take off your Pants and Jacket' would be, I think, uncalled for. It's already been done. Two years had gone by and so many changes have happened."

Those changes include Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge becoming husbands and first-time fathers and Barker getting divorced and later becoming engaged and having a son with former Miss USA Shanna Moakler. But Barker says the more mature lyrics of the new album were determined by the fact that "for once in our lives we had a whole record of material, of music that we loved." Barker adds that the band still has a sense of humor. "We don't take ourselves that seriously. We have fun live."

"Live, absolutely, we make complete asses of ourselves. That will never change."

For the full interview, go to http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/06/11/ae_blink182001.cfm.

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