Mark Hoppus on New Podcast

Funny hearing Mark joke about how he doesn't like it when bands act like divas and instruct openers/crew to not look at them when they're walking down the hall because that DIRECTLY contradicts Laura Jane Grace's experience opening up for Blink in her bio.

 

hahah oh no I hate hearing that. Was it a consistent thing? I always get suspicious of one-off anecdotes since we all have our moments. Also, I’ve met Mark twice and both times he was awesome, so for what it’s worth my anecdotal experiences were quite lovely.

 

They likely have the "these people do not wear passes" ID sheet backstage so they don't get hassled by security. But also like ... just wear your pass?

 

Idk the LJG story but I’ve met Travis and Tom in unconventional ways. Tom many times. They were were super chill and actually seemed interested to talk with me.

Still haven’t met Mark outside of answering a Twitter question of mine regarding Apple Watch and Fit bit haha.

Speaking of wearing passes backstage. The Brian Baker/Bring Me The Horizon story is pretty funny.

 

Might just be general protocol for tours of that size so the band members don't constantly have people hassling them throughout the day. LJG did note they all had separate dressing rooms which, again, can be standard but at that point in their career the 3 members of Blink definitely had a ton they operated on outside of the immediate band.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised during their heyday that Mark, Tom, and even Travis had huge egos. Now they’re all pretty down to earth but 2001-2005 blink is a different story.

 

Mark doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy with an ego. Considering he’s made friends with fans of his band and went on to form bands with one of those guys (Alex). He’s made guest appearances on so many different podcasts, small bands, big bands, and just seems like he’s the kind of person who wants to be liked. Usually people who love the attention sound more pretentious in interviews or work off an unrealistic standard.

As mentioned above, we all have our bad days, but doesn’t have an obvious public ego.

Ive worked with Lady Gaga before. I expected a big ego, but she struck me as another “wants everyone to like her” personality. I was expecting the opposite strictly based on her mega famous place in pop music at that point and her eccentric reputation. Her manager and handlers, they had a bigger egos than she did.

 

That's an interesting point and good to hear about Lady Gaga. That being said, part of the reason people pay managers/handlers is so those people have the difficult conversations the artist does NOT want to directly have.

 

I get that with lawyers, managers, publicists and agents need to be firm and handle the difficult stuff. Even personal security has the right to be more abrupt when the situation requires such.

Handlers need to take their cues from the talent they are working with. You can get the job done without being an egomaniac or rude. Don’t put your talents reputation on the line.

 

I'd be very surprised if this was referring to him (I cannot speak for Tom or Travis.) Mark is the guy who hangs out and talks to the openers, friendly to event staff etc. There really isn't a difference between how he treats his personal friends/family, and how he treats strangers/fans, etc. I've worked/interacted with artists who are a fraction as successful as Blink, but have egos that don't fit in the room. Mark's a sweetheart.

 

Totally understood with the contradicting stories/points of view - I've read LJG's book and it was really good, at the same time giving a bit of shit to the likes of blink or Alkaline Trio, but I'd be foolish to forget those were personal bits of some of the days in their lives - I'm not going to judge them as people given just a handful of their reactions etc., it wasn't that much (and as for blink, yes, it was a one-off anecdote as well). It could always have been a worse day or a general rule for the festival whatsoever.

Ps. That's a bit too much though saying Mark plays in bands with his "fans". Alex was a fan, sure, but also he is a music star on his own, having some leverage to work with to get to new people. But yeah - it is awesome all in all how it's all turned out - it's a bit different with Matt Skiba, who might have been a "fan" of blink on his own terms, but he's a peer to them, not really "brought up" by their music as much.