How Travis Barker Became the Go-to Guide to a Punk’d Up World
collage by Yinne Smith
Punk’s not dead. Passion, pain and grief are always pulsing through our veins and they need a voice to push them beyond the utter silence that may be sitting in the hallways of our chest. For many, that voice is Travis Barker. I have a huge appreciation for Travis Barker and his chaotic yet inspiring music career and personal abilities. Barker has lived an extraordinary life, and nonetheless through all the reckless and daring experiences he has been through - which you can read about in his memoir Can I Say - Barker’s life can teach fellow punk-rockers a thing or two about living life as a rockstar - or, surviving life as a rockstar.
Barker was only 4-years-old when he discovered his rhythmic talent and knew instantly that he wanted to grow up to be a drummer. By the time he was in Junior High he joined his first rock band, Necromancy. When the 1990s approached we saw the emergence of punk rock in full force in North America. Barker then joined the ska-punk group The Aquabats in 1994, and predominantly Blink-182 in 1998 as their new drummer. Joining the infamous punk group with Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge - the band discovered their sound in the wake of the 90s punk-rock movement following bands such as Green Day and topped the charts with their 1999 album Enemy of The State. “All The Small Things” peaked at #6 on the Billboard Charts in the early months of 2000, spending a total of 23 weeks on the Hot 100. Streaking through the Hollywood streets for their “What’s My Age Again?” music video was just a glimpse into the chaotic lives of the untroubled punk-rockers.
As Barker’s musical career soared as a passionate drummer for Blink-182, he also faced problems in his personal life as he states in his autobiography “if I like something, I get addicted to it”. If you want to deeply understand more about his experiences with addiction I recommend you give his memoir a read - as all of our flaws and troubles make us who we are, Barker has an addictive personality and he wouldn’t be who he is today without these experiences. In September 2008, Barker boarded a plane that ultimately changed the course of his life. After playing a show in South Carolina, Barker boarded the flight with long-time friend Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, assistant Chris Baker and security guard Charles “Che” Still. As the flight left the tarmac, the tires blew and the plane overran the runway. The two pilots along with Chris Baker and Che lost their lives in the deadly plane crash, leaving Barker with third-degree burns on 65 percent of his body. For Barker, cheating death was the motivation he needed to stop abusing prescription medication, essentially gaining a second chance at life after the 2008 disaster.
In his 2011 solo debut album, Give The Drummer Some, it was composed with collaborations with rap and hip-hop artists as he not only wanted to be known as a punk-rock drummer but for so much more. Meeting with artists on the collab-heavy album such as Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Slash and Kid Cudi - he is no stranger to saying no to any artist who meets his vision. Much like his close friend, Machine Gun Kelly, who was known as a rapper with his initial debut as an artist, he wanted to expand his repertoire and not be tied to one specific genre.
It’s interesting to think about what event in Travis Barker’s life eventually made him the “blueprint” of the pop-punk sound. After selling over 4 million copies of Enemy of the State in 2000, Blink-182 gained mainstream success and Barker’s drumming skills were known across the punk world. However, what was that final tipping point that has made him the go-to guide to the revival of punk? Producing a collaboration with Barker has become one of the industry's secret formulas to re-creating the early 2000s sound that we all hold deep in our hearts. An artist such as Barker, who holds an emotionally heavy yet evidently successful career, creating music with today’s generation of emerging acts spurs a trigger in our minds of that nostalgic voice that we grew up with. His musical career, intertwined with overcoming his personal addictions and looking death straight in the eye - he has become a voice for artists to look up to, while still holding on to their youthful years as they may remember creating their first Blink-182 mix.There is obviously a huge pop-punk revival happening in the music industry, and Barker couldn’t be more happy about it. When Jaden Hossler, a TikTok personality, wanted to step foot into the industry to create his own tracks featuring the punk noise - he turned to Barker’s DTA Records over multiple other labels and listed Barker as his producer. There’s no better way to completely encapsulate yourself into the punk world than with Travis Barker at your side.
He has had a collab-heavy last few years with alternative artist Maggie Lindemann for her re-mixed 2019 punk single “Friends Go”, KennyHoopla’s alternative album SURVIVOR'S GUILT: THE MIXTAPE which was recently at the beginning of June 2021 and WILLOW’s 2021 “Transparent Soul” - introducing a new, pop-punk side of her. Without a doubt, punk is back in full force and that is a major thanks to the talent and the mind of Travis Barker. His collaboration with KennyHoopla is one to remember as the title of the mixtape holds the words “survivors guilt”, Barker got those words tattooed on himself to not only commemorate KennyHoopla’s album but because those two words hit home for him.
Barker creates a sound unlike any other percussionist. When you see him featured on a track, you instantly know it is about to be a smashing hit. He played a huge role in the making of Machine Gun Kelly’s most recent album Tickets to My Downfall. Not only did he rock-out on the production side of the project, he also had a hand in the making of MGK’s Downfall’s High 2020 film. We see a snippet in the film featuring his own son Landon Asher Barker and his character praising his own drumming skills as “better than Travis Barker”. I found this comment not only as a witty comedic moment in the film, but also in a more eye-opening perspective as drummers/bands who are making music now for the punk-rock genre compare themselves to the heroes that shaped them - and in this case, Travis Barker is that hero.
There were many amazing emerging acts at the end of the 1990s-early 2000s such as Simple Plan, Avril Lavigne, Paramore and, of course, Blink-182. Pop-punk is continuously climbing it’s ladder of success as we see Gen-Z creating nostalgic sounds featuring the heroes that guided them there. The future of pop-punk is looking louder than ever.