“You want to see the most upsetting thing you’ve ever seen in your life?”

Mark Hoppus, bassist for current punk-pop rulers blink-182, is in his underwear. Actually, it’s not his underwear: It’s stunt underwear. More specifically, tea-stained prop skivvies. Hoppus, Tom DeLonge (guitar) and Travis Barker (drums) are filming clips for the opening of some music awards show fiasco. Naturally, the script requires blink to dash about town in their hey now—except you can’t really run around naked in public. Because that would be wrong, even in Vegas. Thus, we have a teen phenomenon in dirty drawers.

Read more: Tom DeLonge thinks it’s funny when people impersonate “I Miss You”

For whatever reason, I respond affirmatively to Hoppus’ inquiry. With that, he squats before me like an orangutan on the stage of the Monte Carlo Hotel’s Lance Burton Theater and eye gestures at his basket. Indeed, it is a sight I’d rather forget. Waiting to shoot, Hoppus tweaks both his nipples, then runs a hernia self-diagnosis. Barker counters, working himself with a two-handed technique that is anything but subtle. Not to be outdone, Hoppus crouches once more, applying dry ice fog to his… Must I say it again? Believe it or not, this isn’t Swank, or even Honcho, for that matter.

This is my introduction to blink-182. It doesn’t get any cleaner from here on in. If you’re already offended, I suggest trying a more family-friendly publication. Still, if your rubbernecking instincts have been piqued (and you don’t expect to read anything about, say, music), by all means, continue. Consider yourself warned.

Why are skateboard kids and punk-rock kids so funny?

TOM DELONGE: I can tell you where it spawned with us. Growing up skateboarding, you go to every rad place where it’s good to skateboard, and you get kicked out of every one of those places. People look at you yelling, “Get outta here! Fuckin’ skaters, ruining everything.” You’re always getting told to leave. You’re always getting pointed at and laughed at. Finally, you just start fucking with people back. So you spend your whole day as a kid fucking with people. Pretty soon you’re a professional.

Read more: Tom DeLonge shared an early ’90s blink-182 gig poster he drew himself

MARK HOPPUS: Skating is actually a pretty social sport. It’s not a team sport, but skating isn’t just about going out and riding your skateboard. It’s going out with your friends, finding a spot, doing something together with a bunch of guys. There’s a lot of camaraderie, a lot of brotherhood in that.

But it’s a particular brand of humor. It’s nihilistic, degenerate, self-effacing…

HOPPUS: I never noticed that, but it’s true. It definitely is a brand of humor.

DELONGE: Skaters and punkers tend to have similar personalities. There’s so much conservatism around that you just break that mold and go, “I want to look different. I want to act different. I want to laugh at things. I want to have fun and have no responsibilities.”

Hip-hop is funny, but the humor is usually along the same lines: macking, hustling…

HOPPUS: A lot of times, it’s about backing something up. Back that thing up. Calling somebody “Big Poppa” while you back that thing up. Things of that nature. Skater kids don’t take themselves seriously because they’ve most been pigeonholed as losers. Outcasts.

Were you an outcast?

HOPPUS: I was definitely an outcast and a loser, too. My high school was typical. The people that ran the school were cheerleaders and football players, and any deviation was considered freakish. Skating, listening to punk-rock music and wearing eyeliner to school wasn’t considered cool at all.

Did you think you were cool because you were a skater?

HOPPUS: Yeah. I liked being an outcast. I like doing something different from the norm, and I loved skateboarding. I found better friends in skateboarding than I’ve found in “real life.”

DELONGE: I was an outcast because, apparently, three testicles is not the “in” thing to have.

For more on blink-182, watch the Alternative Press exclusive video on 20 reasons why blink-182’s Enema Of The State is the best pop-punk album ever.

Recorded in California in 1999, the album includes material from the pop-punk trio’s first three albums: Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch, and Enema Of The State. This live album became an instant fan-favorite with added stage banter between Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge tossed in the mix.

Read more: All Time Low to stream ‘Nothing Personal’ documentary one day early

After mysteriously disappearing from streaming sites two years ago, fans (including Man Overboard’s Zac Eisenstein) took to Twitter to question and plea for the return of their favorite comedic live album.

https://twitter.com/ZacOvrboard/status/1155180244829200385

Following its return, almost nineteen years to the day of its debut, fans are taking to Twitter (again) to share their love.

If your region has the album, you can check out The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show on Spotify below.

More on blink-182

Earlier this year, blink-182 embarked on a cross-country tour with Lil Wayne. The unlikely pair experienced their fair share of drama, from the rapper walking off stage to him canceling a show following police involvement at his hotel. The band addressed the night he walked off the stage in a recent interview with KROQ.

When asked, “How much of a nightmare was Lil Wayne?” the band immediately jumped to the rapper’s defense. “He was awesome,” Hoppus replies. “He was awesome, his band was amazing, his whole crew, everybody. It was so fun all summer long.”

“The one day where he walked off stage, he had said, ‘I just felt like they didn’t like me,’ so he walked off stage…” Travis Barker added. “‘I didn’t want to put them through it. I just wanted you guys to be able to get on and do your thing.’”

The most controversial aspect though, might have been the “A Milli” and “What’s My Age Again?” mashup that had fans equally excited as confused. Originally released as a teaser for their joint tour, the mashup just recently hit streaming.

blink-182 released their newest album, NINE, in late September, marking their second album with guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was met with positivity from music critics across the board. 

The first single, “Blame It On My Youth,” could be heard on any music station for weeks on end. Check it out below and all of NINE here.

What’s your favorite moment off The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show? Let us know in the comments below.

See more: 10 pop-punk shows we wish we could have gone to

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