Sublime’s Bud Gaugh says he had a hand in Travis Barker joining Blink-182
Sublime’s Bud Gaugh has claimed that he had a small hand in Travis Barker joining Blink-182.
Barker joined the band in 1998, after they fired founding drummer Scott Raynor midway through their summer tour in support of second album ‘Dude Ranch’. According to Gaugh, he foresaw the move and put the idea in Barker’s head.
Speaking in a new interview to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sublime’s self-titled debut album, Sublime drummer Gaugh shared “a little back story on Travis”, who is working on a remix version of ‘Sublime’.
“We were out on this SnoCore Tour as Long Beach Dub All-Stars. And we were playing with Blink-182, and this band The Aquabats from Utah,” Gaugh told Consequence Of Sound. “And Travis was actually playing drums for The Aquabats. And [street artist] Opie [Ortiz] and I were sitting there on the side of the stage watching The Aquabats play, and Travis was just ripping. It’s like, ‘Dude, this guy’s a great drummer,’ you know?”
Gaugh said he and Ortiz were so impressed with Barker’s drumming that when he got off stage, they approached him. “We were like, ‘Dude, you should kick that guy off the drums over there for Blink,’” Gaugh joked. “It’s like, ‘You’re a way better drummer than him. And you know, Blink might go a little bit farther than The Aquabats do, so if I was you…’ And so we kinda gave him that nudge I guess.”
The former and current Blink-182 members launched the side-project in the early 2000s, with the band releasing a sole, self-titled studio album in 2002.
