Friday, November 22, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Finding an Edge

Tom DeLonge's surprised to discover his Box Car Racer gets more respect than Blink-182

Blink-182's Tom DeLonge says his stint in Box Car Racer is "almost like band camp." From left are guitarist David Kennedy, bassist Anthony Celestino, singer-guitarist DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker.

Blink-182 climbed to the top of the pop-punk heap by making punk seem more fun -- and funnier.

Although the band's two- and three-minute songs sometimes address serious issues, from suicide to peer pressure and bad relationships, the tone of the band's songs is normally light and bouncy.

And Blink's stage shows embrace the silly. Band members joke about having sex with each other and their moms and such.

Now, two of the three Blink players -- singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker -- are on the road in another band, while taking a break from singing such Blink hits as "All the Small Things" and "What's My Age Again?"

They started a side-project band called Box Car Racer, so they could play harder-edged sounds to accompany DeLonge's usual mix of serious and funny lyrics.

To DeLonge's amusement, Box Car Racer, which headlines a punk outing Tuesday at the Hard Rock Hotel, quickly compiled better critical acceptance than has Blink-182. The band also has hit modern-rock radio with "I Feel So" and "There Is."

In a Q&A, DeLonge says he will try to keep both Blink-182 and Box Car Racer together as long as possible, even as he and his wife, Jennifer, raise a newborn, and while the freshly divorced Barker dates former Miss USA and Playboy model Shana Moakler.

Elfman: Weren't you just in ePregnancy magazine?

DeLonge: No, that was my wife. I wasn't the one who was pregnant. They thought I was, but they never could find the baby.

Elfman: You know, I just read what I think is the best interview you've done, a chat in TeenPeople.com, where you said the one song you can listen to over and over is Modern English's "I Melt With You."

DeLonge: That song is good. I don't care what anyone says. There's a whole list of '80s songs people could listen to over and over again that are the most amazing thing ever.

Elfman: You also said that when you started Box Car Racer, you wanted to make a Violent Femmes record. But it ended up so much harder than that.

DeLonge: I thought it'd be cool to do, like, a Violent Femmes-type thing, where it's acoustic and kind of punk rock-influenced. So we wrote the songs and then we started turning up our amplifiers a little bit louder. It just sounded cool, louder. Some songs stayed in their original formula, like "There Is." A couple ended up electronic. ... When we were in the studio, we just thought it would be better to make it more dynamic.

Elfman: That's probably good that you just went with what you were feeling, instead of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

DeLonge: Yeah, when you're in the studio and you're making these records ... it'll take a shape of its own. You kind of know where it needs to go.

Elfman: My favorite song on the album is "My First Punk Song." It starts with that serious line, "What is it with these bands that keep comin' with their politics?" Then it's funny when you sing, "I (had sex with) your brother. I got brownies for your mother."

DeLonge: It makes no sense, but at the same time, it's kind of a (dismissal) to (punks who are) into politics. ... I remember I got to go surfing one day, and literally a 15-year-old punker rides by wearing a Dead Kennedys shirt, and he says "Blink sucks." What do you say to a 15-year-old? I'm looking at him, and I'm, like, OK, this kid was in kindergarten when I was in my first band playing punk rock music.

Elfman: I like how you make that serious statement and still go funny.

DeLonge:All these bands have these songs about what is punk and what isn't. And if they don't take the time to listen to my song, I'm gonna say anything I want. I'm just gonna start rambling on about "I (had sex with) my brother," and "I have no (penis)" and all this stuff.

Elfman: It must be nice in Box Car, to go heavier.

DeLonge: It's cool to be able to do things like that, and then do the emotional, real dynamic songs as well. That's what I love about bands. You can make things really simple, and you can make things really complicated at the same time. Not that we're real complicated. But that's what's rad about this style of music. Punk rock encompasses so many types of genres. You got your hard-core, your emo-core, your sno-core thing, your pop-punk, whatever. ... That's what we tried to do with Box Car. There's more angst in it. I was going through a lot of weird stuff at the time when I wrote that record. ... I had tremendous back problems. I couldn't even stand up for five minutes. I was on all this pain medication. I was in so much pain. ... And then 9-11 happened. All that stuff together, I don't know, I was in a weird state of mind, so I started writing all these sadder songs, these somber songs.

Elfman: Is Box Car permanent? I know you're not breaking up Blink.

DeLonge: Blink is such a tremendous gift and a blessing, that I've even had a chance to be in a band as large as that, plus with two guys who are super-super close to me. Box Car is just a venting. ... It's almost like band camp. You go away and you learn all these things that you did from different (times in your life). You challenge yourself within yourself, rather than have somebody else come to you and expect something.

Elfman: How long do you think Box Car will be around?

DeLonge: Hopefully, Box Car will be around forever. It's just a matter of finding time to do it. ... Blink is our No. 1 priority. But we will be doing another Box Car record, and we will come out with something unique and challenge us.

Elfman: I'm sure it'll be hard finding the time. I mean, you've got a new baby. Travis is dating Miss USA or something.

DeLonge: Yeah, there's lots of things going on around here. ... But at least we think it's good. We don't get many 10-star reviews with Blink, but we got a lot of positive critical acclaim with Box Car. I knew when I made this, I went, I betcha critics are gonna like this. It's gonna give them an excuse to like the music we create, because, they can't just come out of the box and say they like Blink. There's no way they want to admit they like it that we run around in our underwear and stuff. The songs are good, I think. I think it's just a cop-out to say they like that but don't like the other.

Elfman: Too many critics aren't honest. They think they have to like a certain something.

DeLonge: Or be cooler. I think "critic" is even the wrong word for that position. You're like a "music lover." If you don't like something, describe what it is and how it moves you; it's not your cup of tea, or whatever. But to say that it sucks or whatever, like, "Our opinion on art is better than someone else's opinion on art," is interesting.