The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan - Travis Barker | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker joins Billy for a conversation that swings from skate culture to the lasting effects of surviving a plane crash. Barker talks about how growing up listening to everything from Dr. Dre to Metallica shaped his anything-goes approach to drumming and producing.He recalls playing Black Sabbath’s farewell show for Ozzy Osbourne—and the family moment that made the trip impossible to miss. Then the conversation gets candid about survivor’s guilt, losing friends, finding his way back to flying, and how telling his story in a documentary helped him move forward.Along the way, Billy and Travis veer into the Ramones, Vans, matcha, and the cheerful chaos of a seven-kid household. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A light bulb went off from my head. I'm like, I'm never going to get a job. This is the best thing ever. I'm going to get more tattoos because then I have to play drums. I think you are probably the most influential drummer of the last 30 years. Plan B was making plan A work. There was no plan B.

Before you, people didn't play like that. And after you, almost everybody plays like you. Could I find a way where I could survive playing the drum? It's pop, power pop, but it's punk and it's skate culture and tattoo culture. I actually was in the burn center for about four to six months, 30 surgeries. You've got to, somehow you've got to find the strength,

not only to recover and heal, but you got to pick up back the thing that is your thing. He's like, I can't, I don't know. I don't know if we're gonna play drums again. So no one knew, but both of my hands were numb. Travis, nice to see you. Yeah, I'm for being here today. Of course.

So, you're having me. Usually when I interview a musician, you know, the easiest journey is, to just kind of go down the musical. Because, as you know, we almost define our life on, oh, I was touring on that album. Do you have to do that, too? Is that not the same for you?

What do you mean? Well, it's like, somebody will say, oh, remember when this happened? I'm like, oh, yeah, that's when I was touring on this album. It's like, my life is always segmented by what album I was doing at the time. Do you have that? You probably have a way better memory than me. It's all a blur to me.

Really? Yeah, I can't remember. This interview is going to go great. I can't remember anything. Well, no, I can't like. I know what you mean. Even my wife or band. will be like, you remember that hotel? And I'm like, no. But then when I get there, something will

hit me like, I remember the pool. Are you a living the moment type of person? I am very much so. Yeah, okay. Well, maybe that's. Yeah. So congratulations, new documentary, louder than fear. It's interesting because you've had such an interesting life in so many different directions that in a way, if we just talked about the musical journey, it doesn't really sum up your life experience. Yeah. I was thinking about that on my way over. I was like, I don't know what I would ask me. Okay, well, you know. So we'll see how I do. Yeah. So I want to start here. we last talked when I saw you at the, back to the beginning, the last Sabbath show.

So let's start there. I mean, I was very honored to be there, and I got the feeling you were too, but I don't want to speak for you. Me too. I couldn't, and I wouldn't miss it. I grew up on Ozzy, grew up loving Randy Rhodes, and I don't know, Ozzy was everything.

He was like this character that almost seemed to make believe because he was so cool. He was such like, I don't know. didn't seem real. And yeah, I remember I was telling, I was telling one of my best friends because I've always had a, I've always struggled with flying,

you know, when it came up, I was like, oh, I want to do this so bad, but the flight to England just scares the shit out of me, you know? And then I was talking to my friend, he's like, there's not a chance you don't do it. And I'm like, you know what, you're right? And then my son, who was like a year and a half at the time, was in the backyard wearing an Ozzy Osbourne shirt.

And this guy that was helping build this playground with me, who was like an older guy with long hair, saw my son's t-shirt, and he told me how much Ozzy Osbourne means to him. And it stopped me in my tracks. And I went in the house and I was like, babe, 1,000% were going. There's not a chance I would miss this for anything. Like, it just reminded me how special it is to be able.

part of something like that, you know? So I'm glad you brought up your wife and your son because one of my favorite memories was, you know, it was very much a family atmosphere. I think Sharon really set the tone with that. It really felt like the family of the bands. Yeah. And as you know, because you've played a lot of festivals, bands don't always hang out, but that was a rare time when everybody was hanging out.

Everybody was watching each other play. And one of my favorite memories from that day was watching your wife and your son watch you play. Oh. And I was missing my kids. So I got teared up looking at your wife and your kid because I saw how much love they had for you. It was like that kind of that moment of feeling that that love that goes on. Yeah. And unfortunately, we don't always get to experience that because we live in these weird silos with our bands and the thing and the travel and what time are you on.

So it was a really nice moment to just step back and say, wow, here we all are, such a unique group of artists. And you see the influence that Sabbath has had so many different directions. Yeah. You know, the diversity of artists that were up there, but the ton of true love for the band in Oz, it was such a beautiful thing. But I have a very clear memory of looking down and seeing your kid. Oh, that's beautiful. It's just so beautiful. There's not a better feeling than being in that environment and seeing, like, my son and my wife.

Because your kid was kind of the right of the stage. So you were right there, and they were watching you play, like, right there. It was so cool. That's just the person. And that was just beautiful. It was like heavy metal band camp. It was so cool. It's one of the coolest experiences in my life as far as playing with other musicians.

And I love collaborating and stuff. That was unbeatable. Yeah. I talked to Scott Ian recently about it, and he was saying it was as far as he was probably the greatest musical day of his life. You know, there's something about being there with all his peers and us. And it just meant so much to him. And, you know, I said,

you imagine that the guy who was going to see Dio when he was a kid would be up there with Oz and the band and he was like, no, it's like a dream, you know? Yeah, it was a, it was a dream. It was, it was unreal. It was so cool. This is a weird question, so, but please put up with me on this question. Cool. You'd be one of the only people I would ask this question to, and the context for it is,

is growing up in Chicago, you know, Chicago's very working class. So our conception of the West Coast was always television, like 70s television, like chips and everybody looked beautiful and was cool. But L.A. or California, it's all the same in my brain. But the West Coast, it's a much different experience for people who grew up here. Is that a fair thing? Do you think to say? Yeah, depending on where you grew up. I think maybe, okay, because you were Inland Empire, right?

Is that fair? Yeah. So I'm just saying as like when we first came out here when we were young, like in, early 90s. You know, we were all starry. I like a lot of people get when they come out, like movie stars and, but people in L.A. or they were just kind of like, oh, yeah, like, it's not a big deal. You know, there's celebrity everywhere. Yeah. But the reason I'm asking you this question, and I think it has to do with your musical life, is it seems like to me coming from Chicago, that there was a greater sort of mixing of influences and style. And I know for us and the

pumpkins, we found it kind of confusing. Does it make sense the way? I'm asking or is it too esoteric the way I'm asking you? What was confusing? Well, it's like the mixture between like Power Pop, like using your band as Blink as an example. It's like, it's a weird mixture of influence to us from Chicago, who grew up on like classic rock. Yeah. It's like, okay, wait, so it's pop,

power pop, but it's punk and it's skate culture and tattoo culture and like we found it all kind of confusing. Are you talking about like the genre in which Blinks from is that you're talking about? Sort of, but also, also that there's something about growing up here that I think maybe because you get exposed to more influences, there's a greater openness to influence. Like when I think about you through the years, like, not only the way you've adorned yourself, but you're forays in a fashion and DJing and the people you've worked with, there seems to be a different openness. I mean, I know I've probably said it a lot in like recent interviews, but skateboarding really raised me. And skateboarding, it was everything. Skate videos, skate videos were like you would have the far side, which was like a rap group in a skate video or the alcoholics.

Then you would have Operation Ivy and JFA, whatever, you know what I mean? You would have all these different kinds of music. Also, where I grew up in Fontana, there was a big, huge, like, lowrider community. and I would see low riders on a daily basis. Then I would see a bunch of bikers, and then there would be punk shows, and then there would be metal shows. That's kind of what I'm after.

Yeah. It seems to be a different set of influences that seems very, on one level, it's very akin to this part of the world, but on the same level, it seems to create an openness in the artists. Yeah, I think so, because I know I was what I like to call happily confused.

I was, you know, growing up on Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Tupac, whatever, but at the same time, I'm listening to smashing pumpkins, dinosaur junior, screaming trees, you know, minor threat, Dagnasty and Gorillibis, everything. You know what I mean? It was beautiful. So you think that had a lot to do with skate culture.

But we were also, you know, people would try to put you in a box. Yeah. When I was a little younger, it was like, oh, if you wore a palporelt shirt, you were a skateboarder and you can only listen to this type of music, but I think skateboarding helped break those walls down too because it was like, nah, we like everything, you know, we're inspired by everything. Like, I know for me, even in Blink, I'm inspired by everything.

I let myself be inspired by everything. It might be something I heard from like a Beasties record or something I heard from a Jay Diller record or a DJ Shadow record. It was, it was like no rules. Anything that I heard I was inspired by. Yeah. You know? I was last time I saw you

was fanboying a bit on your production because I think you're a great producer. And I don't say that about a lot of people. And I was kind of curious, like, do you have a production philosophy or is it just part of that same openness? Like wherever your excitement goes, that's where you go.

Yeah, and whatever I'm feeling, I think is really important. I don't really have, it's kind of different, no rules, because it's different for every artist. Yeah. You know, so whatever I'm thrown into, I try to really submerse myself into that world.

Is production something you want to do more of? Because you're kind of an infrequent producer. Is it more based on relationships that you have? I just finished like two entire albums. So now I have like a little break and it's fun to do something different. Like right now I'm learning 30 songs for Ramon's tribute that I'm playing with Billy Joe and CJ and Tim Armstrong. So that's like so fun to jump into it. that right after two full albums.

Yeah. I had a lot of fun doing the two albums. Can you say who you worked with? Yeah, I just finished Alkaline Trio. It was from Chicago. Yeah, I just met the gentleman from the band, not too long. They're such great guys, so talented. And then I just finished the second Yellow Card album that I've produced,

and then some stuff for game, like a rapper. And, yeah, and now I'm listening to the Ramones. 24-7. Do you feel like you have strength as producer? Yeah, I love producing. I love arrangements. I love tempos. I love keys. You know what I mean? I love all of it. It's something that I'm really passionate about. Yeah. I really enjoy doing it. I mean, it's a bit unfair way to put it, but I was surprised how good a producer you were because, you know, you just think he's the guy in the band, you know what I mean? And we had met a couple times and you were always very nice. So I didn't have a negative thought about you. But my general assumption was like, oh, he's producing.

And then as soon as I heard your production, I was like, I got it right away. Oh, awesome. Thank you. Yeah. It means a lot. Yeah, no, I just think you're very talented. It's like it's not something everyone can do. I don't think I could do it.

You know what I mean? I'm sure you could do it because you have such a great, you know, history of amazing songs and albums. I have to really care. Yeah. Maybe it is. Maybe it is like hard to, for some people to care about. other people's projects or like But I feel like you're in it

I can hear the love that you have for the artist that you're working with. It's hard to explain how that translates to me sonically but I get it right away. I kind of don't sign up for anything that I know I won't feel like it's my project. It's got to feel like my project. Whatever you're doing, I'm

all about it. Thank you. When you think of it's a similar question to what I was asked you and you kind of said it had to do with skate culture. But at some point, you know, when you have like 50 different influences, at some point you have to kind of start putting them together. So when did you first feel as a musician you were putting the things you love together into a musical languaging? Well, I liked so many things.

And then I never had identity crisis to whatever project or whatever band I was working on, you know? Is it as an intuitive thing that you just kind of go with whatever you feel and that's... Well, some artists and some artists that I've worked with, instead of focusing in on who they are as an artist, they'll be like, I'm listening to this a lot right now. I want to sound like this. Whereas I never get confused like that. I'm like, oh, I love this.

And I love this project that just came out. But I'm not going to make it sound like my band. I'm not going to make my band sound like that, right? But I think, you know, growing up playing to whatever my sisters were listening to, like Janet Jackson or whatever it was at the time, Pet Shop Boys, and then playing to Beastie Boys records and Led Zeppelin Records, and then being challenged by the kids in my neighborhood

to learn Metallica Records, that really helped me develop my sound. Yeah, sort of. But do you feel, I definitely feel you have a musical identity, but do you have a way of expressing your musical identity? I do and I don't. I can go in and I can do a project. I did a project one time with a bunch of friends, mainly rap artists that I was working with, and I did all the production, but I could make that for, I can make a punk album, I could make a rebel country album, I can make a metal album, because I love all those genres. So picking which one best suits me or helps me express myself is really difficult because I would make all of it. of them. Yeah. And no one wants to hear that. You know, I'm like, I love Billy Corgan, but I'm like, would someone want to hear your country album, your metal album, your punk album, your punk out? I don't know,

you know? That's like tough for me. Maybe you, they probably would want to hear it from you, but for me, trust, not everybody wants to hear everything. I'm like, um, yeah, I don't, I don't know. It would get confusing to me as an artist, even if my favorite artist did it. I'd be like, but who are you? Yeah. You know, like, what is, like, what is your favorite genre? Well, I I did it, speaking to now, like, an artist or producer. I did it to see if I could pull it off. You did? Yeah.

What, another project? Whatever, like when the band would make hard turns musically. Yeah. And it was interesting in that I played in a band that was totally supportive of that concept, which is really kind of suicidal. Like, oh, we just had a lot of success doing this. We're not going to do this anymore. We're going to do something completely different. They would be like, okay.

And we would just go off into this other direction, try to bring in all these other influences. And it was almost like a dare. Yeah. Like, could we be a metal? band, could we be a psychedelic band? Could we be a country band? Yeah. It's so hard. I always think of, like the Ramones, for example, I'd always want the Ramones to sound like the Ramones. I would be heartbroken if they came out with an album that sounded like whatever's popular right now, you know, if they were still around them. Like, you like the Ramones because they're the

Ramones, you know? So I always, and it's hard to put yourself in that position as a person in a band, because you also don't want to live in a box. Yeah. But, still want to like, you know, just be aware of your identity. Yeah. You know? I saw where you started playing drums at four. That's really, that's young. Yeah, I started.

I mean, I'm not, I mean, do you, do you, how can I put it? Do you remember consciously thinking this is what I want to do? Or you're so young, it's just, it's, it's something else you're doing and it somehow becomes your thing. It's all I knew from the time I was four years old. Wow. I beat on pots and peasant. bands and then my my parents saved up enough money to buy me like a toy drum kit that was an animal drum kit and i i beat that thing to like a bloody pulp like to where it didn't even it wouldn't

even work anymore and then my dad found it like a used rogers drum kit uh in the paper and played on that and yeah it's it's all i knew that's so funny yeah did you so was it as simple as you you quite young, that's what you wanted to do? Yeah, there used to be these books. I think my mom made it. And then in school, they would have it too, where you'd say, I want to be this when I get older. And a lot of kids were saying, I want to be the Incredible Hulk when I get older. I want to be a policeman.

Yeah. Every one of mine was, I wanted to be a drummer. From the time I was enrolled in school, like kindergarten, till my junior in high school years when the counselors would look at me just blank face like what are you talking about and I'd be like I don't want to go to college I just want to play drums and they would they would just be like you're delusional like that's not going to happen yeah like there's no way so what do you want to do yeah I'd be like that's all I want to do you know well yeah um I saw your mom passed when you were still young I mean, you'd delete teens?

Yeah, 13. Okay, I thought it was a little long. That's, that's, that's a, that's a rough one, because she was so supportive of you. Yeah, she was, I was, I was, I was, you know, my dad worked at a steel mill and worked 60 hours a week. And I was, my mom, you know, I spent a lot of time with my mom. My dad and mom would take me, I learned how to write, read music when I was really young, like learn jazz charts. Was that because of the support for the musical education side of it all? or do you remember?

Yeah, I think my mom and dad, no one being musically inclined and just very blue collar. Yeah. They were just like, he needs to learn how to read music if he's going to be a musician. Well, that's heard you well. Yeah, I learned how to read music. And then he was a jazz teacher, but he, you know, as far as learning Van Halen records or whatever I was listening to, he's like, that's not music. I'm not going to teach you any of that.

So I got what I needed from. from him learning how to read charts and stuff and I just spent a lot of time in my bedroom playing music but now my mom was and my dad were very supportive of me playing music and it's actually like the last thing my mom said to me was like please please please play your drums and just let it take you you know wherever but don't give up and that's amazing yeah I just carried that with me and it was like

there was no way I was going to fail her. Did you, when you, I'm not saying there was a moment, but is there a spot where you're like, did you have a conception of what it would mean to be a professional musician other than just I want to play the drums and I want to be in a band? Is there a moment where that clicks in your brain, or was there just a straight line into that life? You mean, was there a moment where I figured it out like I did it?

No, it's like, it's like, you know, You know, I went to high school, and there were a bunch of guys playing the guitar, but you didn't get the sense they wanted to be professional musicians. My father was a professional musician, so I had a clear understanding of like, okay, if I'm going to do this, this is kind of what it looks like. Yeah, I had no idea what it looked like. Yeah, I kind of had a feeling like, okay, I love to play the drums, but you didn't necessarily know what it meant to go into that world.

And even my dream, I didn't know if it was attainable. It was just... What was the dream? The dream was, could I find a way where I could survive playing the drums. Yeah. Where I'd have enough money to eat, somewhere to sleep, and just survive. You know the famous joke, what do you call a drummer without a girlfriend?

What? Homeless. Oh, that's so funny. Yeah. So my dreams were very, you know, and also from where I was from, I didn't have a lot of supportive people around me that were like, you can do it. Yeah, this is how you, you know, there was no, there was no answers. It seems so far from reality, but there was no convincing me to not be relentless and try everything in my power, you know?

Yeah, it was kind of like plan A. Plan B was making Plan A work. There was no plan B. Yeah. Yeah, that conviction has always come across. I wrote down the word hyperactive, but it doesn't feel like it's the third. right word. I even wrote question mark, but it's like, it's hard to describe your drum style. You know what I mean? Because you're a great groove drummer, but there's a lot of energy in your

in between, maybe? Yeah, I think maybe, or at least from the style of music that I'm best known for playing. It is a lot of playing on top of the beat and being explosive and having... Is that maybe the rap influence on some level? I don't know. I mean... Because when I think of you, big, big groove drummer, right? But a lot of groove drummers are just space. And you, there's a lot of, like, stuff going on. Yeah. You know, and I don't, I don't, some guys when they play like that,

my musical thing is like, it's like a kind of a show-off. With you, I'm like, no, this is his, his enthusiasm is like, this is his expression, you know what I mean? Yeah. Well, thank you very much. That's really kind. I think I've always, I think it started. with air drumming, all the stuff you would want to air drum to.

And then that led to me as far as playing, like thinking and feeling parts and executing them. Yeah. And always having this stamina and endurance as well as the skill to be able to play whatever I thought of. So that's what it was. And a lot of the times I'm, I think now I'm cautious. of it and people are like no no no we want you to be you like stop stop holding back and I'm like

okay you know because I am very conscious about especially when I'm recording like the song and song first and whatever else in there sometimes where people say I want it to sound like you and I'm like I really don't think it calls for it yeah but I will if you want me to recently uh I don't know if you heard it but we young blood wanted us to re-record a song zombie oh I love that because he basically said, you know, it's a pumpkin song in hiding. So could we do a version where you do like basically do the pumpkins thing? So he came to Chicago to work and so we're working on the song and it's a good song and it's a good arrangement and all that. And he kept going like, you know how he is. Yeah, yeah, man, you know? And I kept saying, are you sure you want that thing? Because it's, it's busy. There's a lot more going

on in the way would I do it. And he was like, more, more, more. And I kept going, okay, okay. And And then finally I reached the line where I saw his eyes kind of go like, you're going to ruin my song. Oh, that's so funny. Was it a vocal performance that he was looking for it? It was more the busy guitar work. You know, this kind of classic way too much going on with the Pumpkin's guitar work. And I kept saying, are you sure you want that? Yeah, yeah, man, yeah, man.

And then finally I just saw him give me this look. And I was like, I tried to tell you. That's so funny. No, I mean, you guys were, I actually dove in and I, I, once I dropped, off my family. I was like listening on my way here just to like some of my favorite smashing pumpkin songs. And I think of like, I think of like tonight, tonight.

And I think of like the drum parts, how one orthodox and how like, crazy, right? Yeah, it was like, really was like risky like to do, you know that. But it was so, it fit the song so great. And even the guitar tones and oh, thank you. And meanwhile, your vocals still sounds so like, like beautiful and intimate. I don't know.

It's just like. It's a weird combination of things. And that's why you guys are so great. And those songs, those albums sound so great. Tonight, tonight, we were very influenced by the Who. Jimmy, by and large, naturally, was not a hyperactive drummer. And when we were doing tonight, tonight, it kept saying, play like more like Keith Moon. Like, I want more of that insanity.

And like, and it just seemed like the more he did, the more exciting a guy. So it breaks every pop rule in the world. I mean, it's so busy. It's like there's marching drums. In our parlance, we called it orchestral, like, almost as if you're playing with an orchestra. So the band version actually sounds kind of like a 60s kind of power pop. But the entire time we're like, we're going to put an orchestra over the top. But we did the version without knowing what the orchestra was going to sound like.

So if you just listen to the band version, it's kind of a cool power pop song. And then after that was all done, then we've done. put the orchestra on. Yeah. So even that, it's like, so he's basically playing a orchestra that wasn't there. Yeah. It's all those swoops and, you know, just jean. It's all, it was all in our heads.

Yeah, or the cadence, I think it goes through the whole chorus, right? Yeah. Yeah. And the fact that that was on MTV, you know what I mean? That was like also. It's amazing we got away with it. It's also so cool because, I mean, that was like early 90s and that's, you know, you guys were popular 10 to 15 years before. where I was ever successful or whatever.

I was surprised because my memory was that you guys got big earlier than you did. Like it was your popularity was like late 90s early 2000s. Yeah, 99. That's that kind of four or five years where you guys seemed to go straight up. In my mind, it was you were earlier, but I was surprised it was in a different time frame. No, I'm so thankful that there was stuff like that that was influential and people playing instruments and bands and stuff. It's just so cool. Okay, so I'm going to totally put you on the spot.

Okay. And I'm not trying to do this in any weird way, but I feel I need to say this. And it's a bit weird to say it on camera, but I'm going to put you on the spot. I've said this in rehearsal, and I've said it to Jimmy Chamberlain Pumpkin's drummer privately. I think you are probably the most influential drummer of the last 30 years. Oh, that's so kind. I don't even... And I mean that.

When I first heard you play, because again, back to your influences, I didn't understand it. because I grew up on the Ramones and so I knew kind of like let's call it the general influences and you know we were on K rock starting early 90s so that kind of SoCal power pop that you guys are great at

like that even that wasn't that unusual but when I heard you playing I didn't understand where it was coming from but now obviously over time I've grown to love it but also when I look at what's followed you have influenced more popular drummers in the last 30

years than any drummer I can think of when we talk about rock alternative. Something about the way you played kind of unleashed this different way of playing, I guess, power pop or rock drums that comes directly from you because before you, people didn't play like that. And after you, almost everybody plays like you. Well, thank you. I'm speechless, like honored. Yeah, so I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but I really believe that. That means so much. Yeah, I mean, I don't even know what to say. when, you know. Yeah, it's a compliment. Yeah, I'm like, you don't have to say anything.

I'm like honored and, yeah. Yeah, it was just this weird kind of mixture of everything, like I said, that I was like raised on and that I listened to. And great drummers before me, I owe it to like Buddy Rich. And everyone from Buddy Rich to like the meter's drummer was like a huge influence. Like Sissy Streat was like, I would sit at home and try to figure out these drum parts, you know? Even Tommy Lee, like seeing a drummer in the forefront of the band was, there was so many things that I saw, like Jimmy Chamberlain, Dennis Chambers.

There was just so many great drummers. Animal from the Muppets was my biggest influence as a child, you know? So all these things, I think it just like, I saw a lot of drummers that were having fun. That were enjoying themselves. It didn't look like, you know? and I still appreciated some of the other ones that were simple because at some point someone said to me, like, your job is to keep time.

You know what I mean? Like learn how to keep time. Like, learn how to play with the metron. But I got this hi-hat over here. I know. I'm like, I have this hi-hat and all these tombs. The high hat just waiting to be spoken with. Thankfully, I always had a small kit too.

From the time I started gigging. Yeah. I realized like a four-piece drum kit was going to be the extent of my drum kit. because it's easy to lug around. Yeah. And I want to do the most on the least amount of jumps. But you have. That's, I think that's what I'm saying is something about the economy of your choices.

Because of the, because of the last 25 years of the rise of pop music, rap music, a lot of people kind of cribbed like what you had figured out early 2000s. And they were like, oh, I'll take that. So I think that's the greatest compliment because they basically sort of. said, oh, he's already figured it out, and I'm just going to drag it over here. Yeah. So that's why I say you're the most influential drummer, because there's, I mean, I can't tell me how many records I've heard over the last 25, 30 years where it's like they literally are just doing their version of you.

And of course, you're you're you're not doing you. They're doing you. Well, thank you. That's the nicest compliment, and especially coming from you, like someone I've idolized. Thank you. I met you and the blink guys. We were playing like a radio show. I feel like it was Detroit, but it was somewhere like early 2000s,

and you guys were definitely on that kind of whatever that is. And, you know, when you're on it, it's kind of a crazy ride. So we don't have to go over all that, but at least reflect on that period of your life because that only happens one time, if that makes any sense. Like that first time you're like, oh, my God, this is working and all these people are singing our songs, and so many songs now are classics that came out in that.

And it was a very compressed period of, time, right? It was, I know you guys have, you took a hiatus and stuff, but that, that's that first period, whatever, it was five, six, seven years. Yeah. A lot happened in that time for you. You can tell a lot about a neighborhood by its small businesses. I love walking in a local shop and finding something I haven't seen everywhere else. The selection feels more personal and you can tell the owner actually has a point of view. That's what makes you want to come back. And that's where Fair comes in. Fair is a B2B wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers with a over 100,000 unique brands worldwide.

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For sure. I mean, we were, I mean, we came from like the punk scene, opening for punk fans. And Warped Tour, playing Warp Tour and stuff like that. I think we never took our band very seriously, you know? Well, that came across to. Yeah.

And there was, I remember there was a guy. It's in my documentaries. Like, you're going to be more popular than you ever thought you were. You're going to make more money than you ever thought you were. So you better be ready. And we were like, this guy is so high. Like he does not know what he's talking about.

And then, yeah, I think it all happened so quickly. And we were all sort of in disbelief because of, you know, where our band came from and how not serious we were. We were just having fun. And we were, I mean, the music was serious. There was songs about suicide. There was songs about divorce. There was, you know, we touched on, like, you know, as our band grew, like, by the time I joined the band for Inam of the State, we were. we were writing about a lot more things than what the band originally wrote about,

but still having a lot of songs that were fun too. But I think we just never took ourselves that serious. So I think there was not a bunch of pressure on us. And we just couldn't believe it was happening. And I think they kept us so busy. We were playing two radio shows a day. You know how it was. It was insane.

It was insane. Especially when the music business started going down in the early 2000s. You didn't necessarily experience it then because you guys were still going up. But a lot of the business kind of went down because of illegal streaming. So there was a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff where, like, suddenly radio stations were asking to do weird stuff that they wouldn't have asked you five years before. Yeah. There was just a lot of people kind of flailing around trying to figure out the new world of Internet. And so.

Totally. Yeah, I think, like, bands like... Green Day and offspring and Rancid. All the bands that got popular right before us helped so much. And in the community and the scene that we came from was so supportive. And I think just excited to see anything that was inspired by related to punk rock. And I felt like everyone was really supportive. Yeah, somebody who grew up in the early days of punk.

And I was listening. Like I had the Ramon's albums when they were coming out in like, whatever, 78. Like I was listening even as a little kid. Wow, as they were coming out. Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm old enough that I was there. But if you'd asked me, like, Green Day, when we play Lollapalooza, when it was traveling in the 90s, 94, Green Day was like they were the second stage baby band.

And like Longview had just kind of come out. If you had told me that not only was Green Day going to be a huge stadium band, if you had told me that like, let's call it SoCal or California Power Pop, Punk, whatever that is, was going to be huge as it became, especially with you guys, I would have bet a lot of money against it because I'd already seen it be around for so many years, and I used to go see all the DOA in seven seconds,

and I saw all those bands, and I thought it was a cool scene, but never in a million years did I think it would get popular. Yeah. I mean, we would have said the same thing about our bands. So that's kind of what I was, no way this is going to get popular. That's what I was going to ask you. So that's what I'm saying,

and I've never been the biggest punk guy. I always respected it, it wasn't really my thing. You know, as you know, there are people like, you know, the clash, you know, it's like, I wasn't one of those, the clash guys. Yeah. Love the clash. I mean, great band.

But I wasn't like, oh, my God. So in a time machine, I'm watching it, I'm watching it grow and then do whatever it is. And Green Day obviously had success. But I thought, okay, they're just another kind of thing. When it got big and you guys seemed to like sort of break it open out of this other level, it was kind of like, wow, what is this? Now it seems obvious in hindsight. Great songs and really a lot of generation of fans

that sort of grew up on the influences and like yourself, they were able to put the pieces together. How do you view the institution of punk now as it's become, you know, because every scene kind of struggles at some point where it becomes mainstream. Yeah, I think it was a little tricky. Like looking back or like zooming out for blink,

if you think of songs like all the small things, or what's my age again. Yeah. That got really, really popular. And I still hear them at baseball games. Yeah, they were like,

they were almost like, I say it to even bands that I work with. Like you have a song or you put out a project and one song on the project actually exceeds past your genre. And everyone hears it. And that's a beautiful thing. Yeah.

And they don't, they don't really know where it's from. You know, all the small things. I don't think people knew, oh, this is a, band that was like a punk band that toured with, you know, a bunch of other punk bands that, like, they don't know that. You know what I mean? And I, uh, I think that's so cool when that

happens. Um, and I'm sure it happens in other genres too. Yeah. You know, uh, but it's, um, I just like seeing anything. I, I root for like punk rock and I root for hardcore. I love, I love that people from that scene kind of like, don't, um, I don't, um, I root for punk rock and I root for hardcore. I love, I love that people from that scene kind of like don't so much think of the people on stage as, you know, that they're doing something that's unattainable. A lot of people that go to punk shows and our core shows, they go, that could be me. Well, that's, to me, that's, again, no disrespect to the music, but to me, that's punk's greatest legacy. Yeah. Was breaking open the floodgates that anybody could be on stage. Yeah. That is the most radical idea in the world. And that's, you know,

that's one of the great legacies of the Ramones, was people could say, well, I can do that. Yeah, totally. It's harder than it looks, but still, it was like, oh, we can do that. Even the sex pistols were like, we can do that. It started with the Ramones. Yeah.

And there's something about the angst and the, just someone being able to, like, think I can do that and I can express myself and I have something to say. Yeah. I think it's so cool. Yeah. And then maybe you go on, you know, it's like, look at Radiohead's journey.

Yeah. You know, their first album was very, I mean, it was great, but it, like... I just thought they were just another kind of alternative band doing kind of what everybody else was doing. Me too. I was like, oh, are they like a grunge? I didn't know what it was. And then it turned into this art project. So I'm like, who knows where you go from there, right?

Yeah. When the band took the hiatus was there... I purposely didn't research this. So if it's a well-known thing, I'm sorry. But what was the sort of general vibe of like, why are we stopping? It's tricky. There really wasn't one thing. You couldn't, it's not like on paper,

or I could even tell you sitting here with you. I think it was this one thing. It was just lots of touring, lots of working. We all had families. I had, you know, I met my oldest daughter when she was two, and I raised her since she was two. I just had had Landon and Bama, my other two kids.

we all wanted to be home with our kids or be traveling with our kids so but that was just you know that's just the the challenge of touring right it was more just a light it was less of a band thing inside and more like like let's just kind of go this way a little bit I think so I think like me looking back like my view of it was I think maybe some people wanted to like do their own side project and see if they could do it without the band you know that's what it kind of felt like to me And at the time I was, I don't know, I was kind of like forced into a break when the band broke up

or when Tom left the band. And that's when I started playing with DJ AM. Yeah. And it was like playing with someone where I could play every genre of music I ever loved. Yeah. So it was like my dream project, honestly. It would have never happened if I was still touring and doing this.

You know what I mean? This crazy schedule. Yeah. So it was honestly that break, the first time we broke up, gave light to one of the, my most favorite collaborations I've ever had in my life. I remember watching at the time, but I, you know, doing research, but the Meet the Barker's thing, I meant to ask you about that from the standpoint of like, were you cognizant of opening up your life, your family,

to the outside world, like, was that part of the decision making? Because you don't strike me, and I use this word as sort of half-jokingly. I mean, there are those of us in our world that are fame horrors. You've never struck me as a fame whore. You know what I mean? Yeah, it was a true. It was, when I looked back on it, number one, I wasn't sober. I was far from sober.

By that time I had, you know, I had not liked flying from the time I started flying. developed an opiate addiction, you know? And then... Was this something that crept up on you kind of thing? It did. Yeah, someone gave me a pill and said, hey, those will help with flying because they saw me white knuckling every time we'd fly.

And then I never... Once I had kids, I never wanted to be away from them. I had... And I think it might have... It might have started from when I lost my mom at a really young age. My mom was so great.

My dad was so great. I wanted to give my children that same experience. I wanted to be the best father I could be. And it was really hard because, like, my dream from when I was a child just to be even remotely successful being a musician. And then getting a chance to be as great of a parent as my mom and my dad were all happened simultaneously. Yeah. So I was, it was tough, you know. So a lot of that, during that time, I was, I was struggling with all that. I was in a new relationship. I really didn't love being on a, you know, or having a reality show. It was also a crazy time because our whole house, we had about 70 cameras in our house. So it wasn't like there were people following you and you were always aware of cameras there. Your house was just wired up. Yeah, our house was just wired up.

That's, that's... It was wild. But, you know, I unapologetically was myself. And I didn't change anything for what was going on. And at the time, my friend, I'm sure you knew him too, Jesse Ignatovic. He did all, like, the diary, the diary show and MTV. He followed us around on a tour once for about five months. He's so cool.

And he does all the MTV music award. It's still a dear friend of mine today. And it was with him. So I was just so comfortable. I get it, yeah. And when I look back, I don't regret anything because I have all this cool footage of me and my family. But no, I am more of a private person. That's kind of why it surprised me.

Yeah. I really just like making music and playing drums and hanging out with my kids and running and boxing, you know. So the documentary, I know it's not just about the playing. crash and it's like how does one even talk about it without it sounding sort of clickbaity right so I guess I'm not trying to jump around it because it was obviously a huge issue so I guess where I would jump in on the on the plane crash um which 2008 if I'm yeah um I kept I when I knew I was going to talk to you day I kept I kept thinking like what's the way to talk about it without being lame what's a way to talk about it without being modeling, about being like, you know, like you're trying

to peer into a place where you don't belong. And so the only thing I could think to ask was like, because you're burned over 65% of your body, is that, yeah. So traumatic, people died. And, and your sobriety came later or did it come right away when you were in recovery? Sobriety came in the burn center. Okay. It sadly took my accident to bring me to be sober. Okay. So the image that kept coming to mind was like, because, you know, I guess it's the most horrible thing to imagine to experience such a traumatic thing. So I was like, but you know, you almost, I'm speaking for myself, but it's like you try to almost put myself in your shoes.

Like, what would I do? What would I have done? What decisions would I? I've made. And the thing I kept thinking of for you was like the first time you picked up a set of sticks. Does it make sense? What do you mean? Well, it's like, you know, we're musicians, our hands are everything. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like our whole, we express ourselves literally through our hands and in my case through my voice. Yeah. And I just kept thinking of like everything you'd been through this incredibly traumatic thing and then being burned, being in the

Burn Center, the first time you're, like, you're picking up a set of six to play drums. Like, I don't know if that's, does that strike anything in you? Like when I was four? No, no, no. Or after my accident. After the XRI, sorry, sorry. Oh, yeah. I mean, so, yeah, sorry, I was so confused.

Yeah, no, I'm a little bit of an already weirdo, but. No, I love that. Well, thank you. I mean, what you said, you're spot on because, so, you know, you have, like, I'm, I start playing drums when I'm four. I play every day. We didn't really get into it, but my parents were very disciplined with me. I had to play two to three hours a day, or I couldn't go outside and go skateboarding or ride BMX bikes or do anything.

That's wild. Yeah, so my dad was also, you know, in the military, very militant with stuff like that. Yeah. You know, very disciplined. Thank God. And then when my mom died when I was 13, what did I do? I became obsessed with my drums, even more than I was. was before. And it was also this, the only thing I was probably confident at. And I, and I knew I was

somewhat good at it, you know, and it made me feel good. So when, it's, sorry, that's what I was after is like, I try to imagine what you're going through. Like, you almost lost your life. People lost their lives. It obviously, your friend. And then you got to somehow you got to find the strength not only to recover and heal, but you got to pick up back the thing that is your thing. Yeah, it was the first thing. Your identity, your voice is like, and for you, it's holding those sticks. Yeah, it was the first thing I did when I got out of the burn center.

Really? Yeah, the first thing. I actually was in the burn center for about four to six months, 30 surgeries. I actually didn't tell Dr. Grossman, who was my burn doctor, because you know during that during that six month you know period there was first when I got there

it was you know we don't know if you're going to make it you know um blood transfusion after blood transfusion uh we might have to amputate your foot there was this from infection yeah just from infection you know when you have your your body's basically an open sore an open wound you know 65% of your body um

so yeah there was a lot of like what-ifs when I was in the in the hospital and I wasn't sure and he was a straight shooter he's like I can't I don't know I don't know if you're going to play drums again so no one knew but both of my my hands were numb but I didn't want to say anything because I just wanted out of the hospital so I didn't tell Dr. Grossman and then turned out I had a bunch of nerve damage but I just couldn't wait to get home and they would push me outside and I would play on a practice pad my hands were still scabbed my burns weren't even completely healed yet and it was it was that was I finally felt connected to something because I didn't I didn't have anything and and there was a lot

of talks when I was in the hospital at my post-traumatic doctor you would say you know you don't you don't have to play drums anymore you don't have to tour anymore you don't you don't have to leave the house if you don't want to like don't pressure yourself you know um so I think that gave me some piece that I never had because I think I always thought I did need to do that, but it's also what I loved and it's the only thing I knew. And it just proved when I got out of the hospital and I got home, that is all I want to do. So I want to be with my kids and I want to play drums. You know, it was never something that felt like work to me.

Like drumming and music always was, you know, it was like that saying, like, find something you love and figure out a way to get paid for it. Like, that was drumming for me. I was very touched to read that, and I mean, maybe this is a little bit too like a TV movie, but I was touched to read that your guys would come and visit you in the hospital. Yeah. Your band guys. Yeah, like Skinhead Rob, who was in the transpons with me with Tim Armstrong, he was there every day with me.

All my best friends were with me. Like, Mark would come visit me a lot. It was special, especially because I didn't get visitors for a long time when I was in there, because it was so just prone to infection. When people would come by and just stay the night, you know, and have someone to talk to. I got really close to my dad after that, and he would tell me stories from Vietnam.

And I don't think I ever had those conversations with him before. So it was, yeah, I felt like I had a lot of growth. I did see a little bit from the doc poking around. There's that beautiful scene where your dad talks about getting a tattoo. You guys call each other pal or... Yeah. And he got a pal tattoo just the same script in the same spot that you have it. I was like, as a dad, I was like, wow, it's pretty cool.

Yeah, by the same tattoo artist. Yeah, it was pretty cool because my dad, I think growing up, he just thought I was going to... He was so worried about me being like a complete cup or loser, you know? So I think he was really... Drums. Drummer's don't have a great reputation. Let's face it. I know. I think he used to get worried.

would come home on his Harley every day and I'd be in the garage playing drums and he'd just be like, God. The neighbors hate us. Like, you know what I mean? The cops keep coming. So, yeah. And at an early age, too, he said, these tattoos are never going to get a job. You're never going to be able to get a job.

And of course, a light bulb went off on my head. I'm like, I'm never going to get a job. This is the best thing ever. I'm going to get more tattoos because then I have to play drums. So I really, really just... you know, positioned to myself. This is all I could do. Yeah. I meant to ask you because I'm out here part-time with my kids and raising kids out here in the celebrity bubble. I know it's not that simple and I'm not trying to ask for personal details. It's not the question I'm after. I'm

saying, do you struggle at times with being out here in this world? I know it's the world you grew up in two, so it's not like me if I live out here because I'm from Chicago. But growing up here, this is your home. I mean, this area is your home. But do you wrestle at times with the sort of a celeb bubble with the kids? I do. And the culture of, you know,

because, you know, technically speaking, although it's not a fair thing, my wife is a nepo baby. Her dad's a very famous fashion designer and she works in the fashion business. So even times when people throw around the nepo baby thing, you know, people tend to look at the kids of famous people

and make assumptions. You know, I'm sure you get that. Oh, is your kid going to play music? care. Yeah. You know, I didn't have that experience. Like, where I grew up, there was, there wasn't a lot of options or ways out. And I grew up very humble, like, we didn't have running hot water, you know, when I was a kid. And we, we, was it just poverty or? Yeah, just, you know, like lower working class. You know, my pops was doing the best he could. And we didn't, we didn't have anything my kids have, you know, nowadays.

I do struggle. Yeah. You know, someone I was in the studio with the other day was like, you know, we were saying, like, how exactly how you should describe it. Like, you know, they are growing up in L.A. and all these things and they have more opportunities. And obviously, I'm, you know, I'm able to do more than my parents were able to do. But he's like, life's going to kick them in the balls, like straight up, whether you help them or you don't. So, like, help them as much as you can, you know, because life's, life is hard. So I don't really, I try not have to look at it like, you know, like, I don't want to,

I don't want to give them anything that's unrealistic. Yeah. But when he said that, I was like, yeah, life is going to kick their out regardless. So any way I can help them, I want to as long as it's, you know, but I also want to teach them the lessons and I always, I always talk to my, I'm always told my son and, you know, he's really into music and I say, you know, I obviously practiced a lot and I had some talent, but it was the hard work that really, really, really made a difference. You've got to work hard.

You've got to be obsessed with something. You've got to be, you got to eat, sleep and breathe it if you want to be successful and be great at it, you know? Yeah, my son's 10. And, you know, like I said, people ask you, oh, you know, you can't. kid going to play music and I always say I just want him to be happy and whatever he does I want him to do it full on. Yeah. So he's like really into video games and he talks about being a video game designer and I was like, okay, you're going to have to go to school and, you know, we have that same

conversation because I'm like, you don't want to cheat. You don't want to, you're not going to get what you think by cheat into the front of the line, you know. Yeah. And you won't. Yeah. It's not yours. Yeah. Yeah. And you want to be great at it, you know. Yeah. I feel weird if someone gave me some shortcut to get where I'm at and then I'd get here and I'm like not what people think you know yeah um this is an unfair question but I think you've had such an interesting life do you feel you've found happiness yes I think for a for a long time it's it's roughly been about I think it's 18 years you know there was a long time I didn't I didn't fly and I think I I convinced myself that I was happy I was so

I learned how to better deal with survivors' guilt. Can you, can you, because I think that's an important distinction, because as you know, a lot of people go through survivors' guilt, and it's not always necessarily off as something as traumatic as a plane crash. A lot of people, so I think you can speak to that because you faced it head on. Can you talk about that a bit? Yeah, I mean, I mean, in the situation I was in where I was, turned out to be the only survivor from this accident, you know,

and just beating myself up for years, you know, why I made it and my two best friends that were in the plane with me didn't make it, and the two pilots didn't make it. And then A.M. Adam Goldstein, who was my inspiration and motivation to be sober one day, to have him, you know, die of a drug overdose. I really, I was, I was grieving and I was, I was just, I was lost for a long time, you know. Sorry, because I didn't know him, but I had a lot of friends that knew him, and he was really loved.

He was one of those guys, like, everybody talked about, like, he had a halo around him when everybody, anybody talked about him. Yeah. And that's rare, you know. Everybody talks in this town. Yeah, for sure. But he was one of those cats. It's like, everybody was like, oh, he's the best. Yeah, he was the best.

Like, the best friend. One of the best DJs, arguably to ever have lived or done it, you know? It was like, yeah, all that stuff was really rough. And then, yeah, I just, I mean, I owe a lot to my post-traumatic doctor who would just, you know, say you're here for a reason. You know, you got to trust God. You got to have faith. and then I think me making, just like making peace with myself

and I'm really close to, you know, both of my friends' moms who passed away and I stay in contact with them. I talk to them every mother's day, every anniversary of my accident, my assistant Chris who passed away in the crash, like his son is my godson. Just like, like paying my dad.

do's like with them you know what i mean and like showing up and and um and loving them just the way i think they would if the roles were reversed you know i think was really big for me and um yeah and just also like flying again opened like a a big big piece of my life that i i couldn't imagine if i went the rest of my life with like letting this thing that happened to me yeah like restrict me from living the rest of my life like I should, you know? That was, that was a big battle. It was like this giant monster. I would, I would like, yeah, I would see every day.

And it was like, it was always coming up because someone would say, we have an offer for blink to go play here. We have an offer for UNAM to go play here. And I couldn't, my hands were tied. It bugged me so bad. And I think, you know, the same person that quit doing drugs and battled addiction, my eyes were set on flying and beating that monster, you know?

Wow. So, yeah, that was, that was, that was, that was huge for me. Yeah. In making a documentary, I mean, does it, does it bring you some sense of peace or a sense of completion of something? It did. You know, it almost didn't come out in 2017 because I hadn't, beaten that monster. And I was, I was sort of at this place where I was, my story was told and I was in this plane crash and I was sober. But the truth was I, I was still struggling with survivable skill. I would never get on a plane. There was all these things that had power over me. So,

now that it's out and it's in, you know, out in the world. And, you know, back then in 2017, the producers that were making the documentary, we're like, can we just have you look at a plane? Oh, geez. And I was like, I can't even look at a plane. Billy, I wouldn't have even come here because it's too close to the airport and I could smell jet fuel at one time, you know?

Because I was in a hospital burping up jet fuel because it was in my body. Oh, my God. And I was just, I was so hypersensitive to all that stuff. So to have it come out now and, I watched it 10 times before it came out, and I was like, wow, it really, it really completes my story. And I couldn't think of how a film could better speak for me than that documentary. And then once it was out, having people reach out and just, you know how like your podcast, your albums, your tours, you know how like someone could find something wrong with everything?

They're like, Billy, I don't, that album is like, that's not. It's not a great album or we don't like your pot. I don't like your shoes, whatever. Story of my life. Yeah, like they don't like something. They can find, you can save like a million puppies from, you know what I mean? Yeah, and they'll find something wrong with what you did. And the world's so, the world's got so much hate and everyone has a voice, you know,

with social media. And my documentary has been nothing but an outpour of love. Wow. You know, which is, it's rare in this day of age, whether it's people going, I reconnected with my dad or I watched. your documentary and I'm going into rehab tomorrow or I woke up my two-year-old son

to hug him like that's like I couldn't nothing's more rewarding I saw in your marriage that you guys were friends for many years and the thing I thought to ask about it is you know is it is it on some level because you knew each other

is it one of those things where it's like there's things that hey, you got to know each other as people before a romance, but also is it one of those things that you both have had such interesting experiences that there's only so many people on this planet that even understand where you guys sort of live mentally and emotionally on a daily level. Yeah, I think both. I think, yeah, it was someone that was always in my, like, a friend

that I always thought about. Yeah, I was like, oh my gosh, but I was, at that time of my life, I was in the studio 18 to 20 hours a day. I got all the love in the world for my kids and joy from my kids. And I was obsessed with music like I've always been and work at that time. It was just there was. Was that also a way of processing grief and trauma and just to keep moving? I think so.

And I'm like, I don't I don't idle well. Like I like getting into stuff, you know? Again, that's a drummer thing. So, yeah, when that happened, and it was like symmetry, perfect symmetry from both of our sides, her friends would be like, oh, you and Trav, and she would just be like, oh, yeah, I don't know if that'll ever happen, whatever. And people would say the same thing to me. We both wanted it to happen, and we knew if it did happen, it would probably be, like neither of us would have a choice. We would just be overwhelmed with whatever, you know, and fall madly in love.

And we did. It was just, and I'll be honest, I didn't have a lot of friendships for years and years before entering into a relationship with someone. So it had such a strong foundation. I already loved her as a friend, you know? Yeah.

And I can't say I had that much before her. Yeah. You know? She was, yeah, she was, I loved her for years. I saw this, this kind of just a different direction. Vans collab, which I think is pretty cool. I mean, if you're talking punk world, collaborating with vans, I mean, I got to give you a, that's pretty cool. It was honestly a big, it's like a big, one of the coolest things to ever happen to me, you know? It's the first,

it's the first shoe I ever wore where I grew up in Fontana, there was a van store and I don't know, I don't know how it was in Chicago, but like you could go to a van store and design your vans. And then they would ship them in six weeks. I don't think it was like that back in the day. It was so cool. You could design, like, pick something for the side, like what color each pattern was, you know? So when it came up and I got an opportunity to work with fans, it was such like bucketless, like child dream. I grew up skateboarding in vans. I was already wearing them. I used to have a, I used to have a deal with DC when Blink first started. And they were like skate shoes, and I to get in trouble for wearing vans.

Like, if we see you wear vans one more time, we're deading all of your, our deals with you. So, yeah, it couldn't be a better, cooler relationship. A couple more things. Vegan. Yep. I'm a vegan, too.

Are you awesome? And you know, I have a vegan cafe. I didn't. Where's it at? North of Chicago. Oh, I'm going. It's called Madam Zuzu's. So if you're ever in Chicago,

you're always welcome who left to have you up there. Oh, I'm there. But I saw a clip of you bragging saying you make the best matcha. I do. I love my. Masha and I love making matcha. You know, mach is the new in tea world, because I own a tea house. It's the, that's the newest thing.

That's the new coffee. Yeah. Everything is like literally coffee sales are going down and everyone's running towards matcha. I love it. I still drink coffee, but I only have it in the morning and then I go to Mothia. So my wife's new baller move is she's got a drink there at our shop. She calls the Cloud and it's coconut water and Macha.

I want to try that one. Yeah. And then we also make a cream sickle. Macha. That sounds delicious. My daughter just told me, we have a, we have a coffee place in Calabasas. Yeah. And she was like, she actually just pitched it to me that she was making a macho with coconut water there. So I tend to like my matcha, no sweetener. Oh, you're, extra matcha. Oh, G. Yeah. And I just like, I like, I like it like bold, like strong, you know? Yeah. Have you had like the hardcore matches in Japan? Have you ever gone down that road?

I haven't been to Japan. in a minute. I keep trying to talk my band into going. If you go, you go to these like OG kind of tea houses that have like the super, super great matcha. Yeah. Oh, I can't wait. And have you ever seen where they do the thing where it's like, it's like shaved ice and matcha? Have you seen that? Sounds delicious. No. I want that though. Yeah, so it's like, imagine you take the shaved ice and then you put matcha over it. Wow. And then you need it like that. Wow. Wait, so they have something similar to that? I remember at Matahisa. Yeah. You can get shaved ice

but I think they'd call it it. It's a green tea syrup that they put on it. Yeah. This is the hardcore, like only in Japan. Yeah. I'm sure somewhere here they have it because there's such a big Asian population. The other day I was in San Diego and I just got to the city and I was like, I'm looking at matcha spots and I actually went to a spot that doesn't serve macho lattes.

They just had a huge retail space as big as this room with macha. But you couldn't drink any. Like there wasn't any to drink. buy. Yeah, you only bought. And I'm like, this is pretty serious, you know? And they're like, oh, no, we don't make macho lattes or any macha. You can buy it here. Okay, two more things. Thanks for indulging me. One, I had to kind of laugh because I never thought about it because I was looking up, you know, your kids and you guys have your own kind of Brady Bunch thing going on. Yeah, we have seven kids together. Seven kids between you. Yeah. That's really amazing.

Yeah, starting at two and a half and my oldest is 27. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a insane if they all have a friend over we have 14 kids in the house I mean if you just do the math so it happens more than you think yeah is it is it is it challenging to have a uh a family where you have all these kids coming from different directions is that have you has I'm not trying to be personal about I'm just curious it's like yeah it seems like because that was the whole Brady bunch premise did you watch the Brady bunch as a kid yeah sometimes age the ages oh it's the confusing because like my kids are older and they'll have friends over. Um, the younger kids are trying to sleep, you know, stuff like that. Pretty, but pretty, I mean, not like any serious problems,

thankfully, you know, um, and kids, I always say, like, I, I feel from my friends that are older, that don't have kids, like kids make me feel that's the best. So young, they make me feel invincible. They make me feel young again. They make me feel like I have. superpowers, you know? Yeah. It's the best. Yeah, my kids are 10, 7 and a baby. Oh, amazing. And, you know, the band's doing well and my music life's doing well. And there's no way it would be happening without my kids. My kids kind of put some kind of pep back in my step. Yeah, they give us extra energy. It's a reason to fight for good things. Totally. Yeah. Yeah, they give us superpowers and there's

nothing like waking up and going to sleep with them. Okay, so this is a bit Gothic. But as somebody who's literally stared down the greatest fear in life and been through great success and tragedy. And I'm curious, list your priorities. What do you mean? Like when you wake up, like what's your number one priority? For example, what do you mean? Family music, macha. Oh, family.

Family comes before. That's kind of, yeah. I was asking a loaded question. Yeah. I kind of thought I knew the answer. Yeah, family over everything. It seems like family, just my sense, and I don't know you very well, but my sense is like family is the thing that everything comes from.

Yeah, I couldn't be great in the studio or great at running or drumming or anything without them. If I was just Travis Barker in this world without my family, that's a sad world. Yeah. Like, I'm sure I wouldn't know anything else, but like I feel so enriched and I feel just an abundance of love. inspiration from my family. So I like what you're saying is, you know, I'm 59, so I had kids later in life, but people ask me like, oh, what's it like to have kids later in life? And I said, it made all the music make sense to me.

Mm, yeah. Because I did all this amazing stuff, but I never felt it the way I feel it now with the family. Yeah. So for people, I would just say it, maybe I'm not trying to speak for you, but I'm saying is we're living examples of like, we had all the. that other stuff. Yeah. And we've had all that other stuff. But without family, it's like it somehow it makes the glue on everything. Yeah. Imagine having all of that and not being able to share it with

anything. But that's why I go back to watching your beautiful wife and your kid on the side of the stage at the Ozzy show. Yeah. I got teared up because I understood what was happening. Yeah. You know what I mean? Been like that on tour when my family's not out with me and I see it. And I'm like, oh. Right. Like, yeah, that's, there's no better feeling. God bless. Thank you for God bless you. Thank you.