Travis Barker
Travis Landon Barker is an American musician, songwriter, and music producer who is the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has collaborated with hip-hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transplants, co-founded the rock band +44, and has also joined Box Car Racer, Antemasque and Goldfinger. Barker was a frequent collaborator with the late DJ AM, with whom he formed the duo TRV$DJAM. Due to his fame, Rolling Stone referred to him as "punk's first superstar drummer", as well as one of the 100 greatest drummers of all time.
Born in Fontana, California, Barker began drumming at an early age. He began playing for The Aquabats in 1996, but left to join Blink-182 in 1998, which encountered mainstream success with Enema of the State. Barker established himself as a versatile drummer, producing and making guest appearances in music projects of numerous music genres including hip hop, alternative rock, pop, and country. He also starred in an MTV reality series named Meet the Barkers. He survived a plane crash in 2008, and after he recovered he released his debut solo album, Give the Drummer Some, in 2011. He has continued to work with rappers, releasing extended plays with Yelawolf, Asher Roth, and Nottz, as well as with Blink-182 and the Transplants.
Aside from drumming, he founded the clothing company Famous Stars and Straps in 1999, and the record labels LaSalle Records in 2004 and DTA Records in 2019. Companies such as DC Shoes and Zildjian cymbals have co-designed products in his name. He released a memoir, Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums, in 2015. Barker is also a vegan and has invested in the Los Angeles vegan restaurant Crossroads Kitchen.
Early life and education
Barker was born in Fontana, California, on November 14, 1975, When Barker was four, his mother gave him his first drum kit, which was the only one he would have until he was 15. Barker began taking drum lessons at age five with a drummer named Michael Mai, who would expose young Barker to many different playing styles. At this time, he also began taking trumpet lessons. In junior high, Barker learned to play the piano and briefly tried singing, joining the madrigals men and women's choir. In addition, Barker had non-musical aspirations; he also was interested in becoming a professional surfer and skateboarder. However, Barker states that "I always migrated back to drums, though. That was the one direction that kind of felt like I was connected to and I could kind of understand. I could express myself better through my drums than I could anything else."Barker has described himself as a stoner during his tenure at Fontana High School. His mother, who had been diagnosed with Sjögren syndrome three months earlier, died the day before he started high school. She told him to keep playing music and to follow his dreams. At Fontana High School, Barker played the drum set in the jazz ensemble and snare drum in the marching band. He gained a lot of experience performing at regional competitions and festivals. Barker employed a variety of styles including military and jazz rhythms, but was attracted to the driving rhythms of hip-hop and punk rock.
Career
Musical beginnings (1993–1998)
After graduating from Fontana High School, Barker worked as a trash man in Laguna Beach and played with the punk rock band Snot and Feeble, a Fontana-based band where he met Chad Larson. Larson went on to co-found the ska punk group the Aquabats in 1994. After local shows and demo tapes, the band recruited Barker through Larson's connection. Barker, who was "sleeping on friend's couch" and still working as a trash man, only intended to fill in for a few days but ended up joining the band. The group then went into the studio with veteran producer Jim Goodwin to record The Fury of the Aquabats! Barker's speed and accuracy meant that once his parts were recorded, he was free to head off and rehearse. He had picked up a nickname with the Aquabats—Baron Von Tito—the reasons for which are lost to history as none of the members recall why.After the October 1997 release of The Fury of the Aquabats!, the group toured nationwide with San Diego–based Blink-182, who had recently completed their second album Dude Ranch. The trio's drummer, Scott Raynor, announced to his fellow members that he would depart following the SnoCore Tour in February 1998. The ensemble enlisted Barker to fill in for Raynor. Barker, who did not have time to prepare or practice with the duo, learned the drum tracks for the 20-song setlist in only 45 minutes before the first show and performed them flawlessly thereafter. Raynor returned that May, but arguments only grew worse. Raynor was fired by DeLonge and Hoppus, ostensibly over a drinking problem, and the band recruited Barker once more. "I remember Travis rehearsing backstage for an hour or two, then playing with them during sound-check", recalled Aquabats member Adam Deibert. "A few of us were standing by the stage and I vividly remember the feeling of this is the new Blink. We should have looked for a new drummer right then because it was so obvious what band he belonged in." The addition of Barker inspired DeLonge and Hoppus to "play better" and keep up with their new member, whom DeLonge called "perfect". Barker continued playing with Blink-182 throughout 1998 and stepped in to play with the Vandals, where he filled in for Josh Freese as the year closed.
Mainstream success (1999–2004)
Barker's first album with Blink—Enema of the State—was released in June 1999 and catapulted the trio to stardom, becoming the biggest pop punk band of the era. Three singles were released from the record—"What's My Age Again?", "All the Small Things", and "Adam's Song"—that crossed over into Top 40 radio format and experienced major commercial success. "All the Small Things" became a number-one hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, but also became a crossover hit and peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Its video parodied boy bands and pop music videos and won a Moon Man for Best Group Video at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The album has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and had a considerable effect on pop punk music.The band's success did great things for Barker. "Four years ago, I couldn't afford to feed myself," he said in an interview at the time. "But now I can buy art, work on old Cadillacs, and live in comfort. I can finally buy a dog and afford to feed him." He began dating Melissa Kennedy and purchased a rehearsal studio. Barker branched out into retail at this time, opening a store in Riverside called Famous Stars and Straps. The storefront was shut down by the city, but FSAS products began to be carried by other retailers and via the Internet. Barker also began offering drum lessons and added Guitar Center drum clinics to his list of activities. The band began its first arena tour in the fall of 1999, but Barker missed much of the 2000 Mark, Tom and Travis Show tour after he broke his finger.
Blink-182's next effort, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, was greeted with immediate success, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and going triple platinum within three weeks.
In 2001, Barker married Melissa Kennedy, but the two divorced in August 2002 after nine months of marriage. Following a cancelled European tour, DeLonge went back to San Diego to record an album he deemed an experiment in ideas he felt weren't suited to Blink-182. DeLonge, not wanting to pay for a studio drummer, simply asked Barker to step in and perform on the record, called Box Car Racer. The experiment became a full-time band and toured in 2002, which led to strained relations between DeLonge and Hoppus.
Through a connection with Jerry Finn, Rancid vocalist Tim Armstrong contacted Barker in the summer of 2002 to record tracks for a rap/rock collaboration called the Transplants. For his role on the Transplants record, Rolling Stone called Barker "punk rock's first superstar drummer". He also began appearing in music videos, including Puff Daddy's "Bad Boy for Life", as well as adding to his collection of vintage Cadillacs. Blink-182 released their fifth, untitled album in 2003, which marked a more mature direction. Shortly before the album's completion, Barker's girlfriend, ex-Miss USA Shanna Moakler, gave birth to their son, Landon Asher, in October 2003.
The Kinison, who supported Blink-182 on their tour dates, impressed Barker and were the first group signed to LaSalle Records, a record label Barker officially set up in 2004. LaSalle was named after Barker's favorite Cadillac, and the label was designed to branch out to find all types of music, be it country or hip-hop. Barker met once a week with designers at Famous Stars and Straps to oversee designs for shoes and in his spare time picked up boxing. He injured his foot at a Melbourne, Australia show in 2004 but performed the next night using his left foot for the kick-drum; he was in so much pain afterward that the tour had to be canceled. Barker's doctor informed him that not only did he break his foot, but he tore tendons and ligaments—described by Hoppus as "the type of injury that people get in motorcycle accidents." In the meantime, Barker purchased a Wahoo's Fish Taco franchise in Norco, California, and began work on a new Transplants record. The year for Blink-182 rounded off with a European tour that was soured by division in the band. In February 2005, the band issued a press statement announcing their "indefinite hiatus".
Reality television star and collaborations (2005–2008)
After a Nightmare Before Christmas-inspired wedding in October 2004, Barker starred in the MTV reality series Meet the Barkers with wife Shanna Moakler. The series followed Barker and his new family through his daily life, including Blink-182's final tour and the new Transplants album. The new Transplants album, Haunted Cities, was completed in the aftermath of the Blink-182 "hiatus" and released in mid-2005. Meanwhile, Hoppus and Barker continued recording music together and began working on electronic demos, which they called +44. Barker began another new project in 2005 called Expensive Taste, featuring Paul Wall and Skinhead Rob—the project would be more traditionally hip-hop. Barker also turned his direction to producing, working with artists such as Bun B and T.I. The +44 project came to a turning point when Hoppus and Barker purchased their own studio in October 2005, named Opra Music. When Your Heart Stops Beating, the debut of +44, was greeted by less-than-stellar reviews and little commercial success.Barker filed for divorce from Moakler that August; both used their MySpace blogs to comment on the situation. Their breakup and the drama surrounding it made them tabloid favorites. After he and Moakler split up in 2006, he was frequently spotted at nightclubs—and photographed necking with Paris Hilton. According to Barker, he was trying to blot out the guilt of giving his children a broken home, and consumed "excessive amounts" of prescription painkillers, marijuana and alcohol. The painkiller usage eventually developed into a full-fledged addiction over 2007. Barker broke his arm during a video shoot for +44, but continued to tour performing using one arm. In early 2007, Barker began to work on hip-hop remixes and production techniques for many artists, preparing some loops and beats for Juelz Santana and looking to open two new boutiques, one in Los Angeles named Fast Life and one in Venice Beach by the name of Rogue Status. He kept busy drumming for Idiot Pilot and the Federation, as well as creating well-received remixes of Rihanna's "Umbrella" and "Crank That ". After a stint on the Honda Civic Tour with Fall Out Boy and Cobra Starship, +44 began work on a second studio album that October.
Barker continued releasing hip-hop remixes in 2008; a well-received remix of Flo Rida's "Low" followed the "Crank That" rendition. The videos of Barker playing the revamped tracks grew heavily in popularity on YouTube. Barker hoped to collate his growing arsenal of remixes with a bunch of new tracks on which he was working. It began to germinate into the idea of making a solo album, producing it all himself. As 2008 wore on, it became evident that the project would supersede +44 for the immediate future, though the band would return, by all accounts, once everything was in place for the solo record. Guests who recorded with Barker included Young Dro, E-40, Willie Nelson, and Damian Marley. He began performing with DJ AM in June 2008 in a collaboration called TRV$DJAM. Essentially, DJ AM would mix a set of classic songs live with two turntables, then Barker would "enhance AM's groove" with live drums. The duo performed at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 7. "Our little duo of drummer and DJ reached heights we never thought were possible," said Barker in a 2011 interview.
In 2008, Barker and Goldstein were in a [|plane crash] that killed the other four people on board and left them both in critical condition.