The Blink-182 saga continues, with both Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus adding more fuel to the fire with statements and interviews. Hoppus has now addressed DeLonge's assessment that the band had discussions about replacing Travis Barker and DeLonge has offered a lengthy posting on all of the current relationship woes that are playing out in public.

First off, Hoppus granted Alternative Press an interview about some of the things that have been said of late. First, he addressed the DeLonge comment that the band had discussions about replacing Travis Barker. According to Hoppus, the subject came up after the band's planned trip to Australia for dates. Barker, who survived a plane crash, was understandably reticent to hop on a plane for the trip and had talked about getting a fill-in for the dates, but that led to a dust-up with the promoter. Hoppus says that there were phone calls, but it was mostly DeLonge "blowing off steam" about the situation and suggesting they find a replacement for Barker. "I don't think Tom was ever truly serious about it. Even at the time, I felt he was angry and just needed to vent," says Hoppus.

As for the divide with DeLonge, Hoppus says it's partly because he and Barker don't know what to believe. "Travis and I have been ready to go for years to tour, to record this next album. Tom even did an interview with you guys: Most Anticipated Albums Of 2015 [saying] 'Yeah, we’re gonna get in the studio. Yeah, we found a new partner for this [record].' All this stuff and then when it comes time to do the work and get in the studio or get on a tour bus or whatever it is, we get an email from his manager saying he’s out indefinitely," says Hoppus. "I know it’s confusing for people, but only as much as it’s confusing for us, because for Tom to insist that he loves Blink-182 or whatever it is, I think that his actions speak much louder than what he posts online." Hoppus goes on to say that he and Barker are fine with the idea that DeLonge doesn't want to do Blink-182, but they just want to move on if he's not going to be engaged.

Meanwhile, as stated, DeLonge has offered his own take on things. He discusses the relationship downfalls, the band's working agreements and his sadness at the current immaturity being shown to fans in a public forum. In a lengthy statement posted at his Facebook page, the singer states:

Where to begin?
The truth is always a good place. Let’s go there.
I love Blink and am incredibly grateful for having it in my life. It has given me everything. EVERYTHING. I started this band, it was in my garage where I dreamed up the mischief.
So what have I been doing behind the scenes? Well, I’ve tried to make things work. I’ve tried to help move this band down 50 different paths using my people, or other people, and people we don’t even know. I tried to put forth ideas about how we can grow and challenge ourselves to become a better band. I’m not sitting around waiting for someone else to do the work. I’m not wired that way.
The big reset was when I tried to put together a band summit in Utah where we’d talk and work things out. It quickly was narrowed down to three hours in someone’s dressing room in a shitty casino. What I hoped would be a positive get-together away from everything turned into an awkward meeting in a smelly convention hall dressing room. But it was there that I told Mark and Travis that as long as we talked, and things were good between us as real friends, that I would be engaged and work passionately. I'd mirror our personal relationship. Exact words.
Then, the EP was the test. Months later, we’re recording those songs. I was in the studio for two months and they came in for around 11 days. I didn’t mind leading the charge, but we had all agreed to give it 100%. And this time- no baggage.
Despite that, we still somehow managed to self-sabotage.
At one point, squabbling and politics forced me to pull the EP down at a time when 60,000 fans were trying to purchase it. And that blew my mind. I’d been trying so hard but that moment ultimately broke my spirit. I then realized that this band couldn't lose the years of ill will.
It was after that episode that I promised myself I would never be in that position again – to rely on the words we said to each other.
I remember asking one of them on the phone, “did you try your best? Like we all agreed to?” He was silent.
Are they at fault?
Am I? Of course. I'm nuts.
But there’s three of us – we’re all accountable. At the end of the day, we’ve always been dysfunctional, which is why we haven’t talked in months. But we never did. In the 8 years we have been together it has always been that way.
Over the past two and a half years, while a recording partner was being sought for a new Blink record, I launched a media company. I just put out a new Angels & Airwaves record and as some of you know, there’s a lot more coming – comics, books, a film, etc. The books will all come with music. This is a wheel that’s already in motion. So you can imagine my frustration when I was handed a 60-page Blink contract saying I couldn’t release an Angels album for 9 months and that the Blink album had to be recorded in 6 months, which was impossible for me. Doing so would force me to breach several artist contracts. Authors, Concept Artists, Animators... Many people.
They did eventually drop the Angels provision, but the part about having to finish a Blink album in 6 months remained. All of these other projects are being worked, exist in contract form– I can’t just slam the brakes and drop years of development, partnerships and commitments at the snap of a finger.
I told my manager that I will do Blink 182 as long as it was fun and worked with the other commitments in my life, including my family.
But Mark and Travis know all of this.
I wrote this same letter to them a year ago. But it created a massive argument, the biggest one yet actually. I just wanted us to do things we all agreed on. But that was their moment to dig in. From their view I was controlling everything. In reality, I was scared to put myself out there again. To repeat the EP experience.
I also wrote all of this to their managers this past December (who told me my bandmates weren’t angry and agreed with some of my ideas of how to grow the band).
So you can imagine my surprise when a press release went out yesterday—without my knowledge—about the band’s future. This is new to me. It’s not in my nature to fuel negativity about the legacy of the band on something as trashy as the Internet world.
But I guess that’s another example of how I differ from most. I follow the light... I follow passion and I make art. I hang with my son, my daughter and my wife.
At the end of the day, all of this makes me really sad.
Sad for us.
Sad for you- that you’re witnessing this immaturity.
I know them very well, and their current actions are defensive and divisive.
I suppose they’re doing this as a way to protect themselves from being hurt.
Like we all do.
And even as I watch them act so different to what I know of them to be, I still care deeply for them. Like brothers, and like old friends. But our relationship got poisoned yesterday.
Never planned on quitting, just find it hard as hell to commit.

Tom

So there you have it -- the most in-depth breakdown of the Blink-182 issues to date with both Hoppus and DeLonge offering detailed accounts of their communication woes.

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