Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker covers the August issue of The Red Bulletin, a global lifestyle magazine available in 12 countries. In the cover story, Barker discusses his fear of flying since surviving a 2008 plane crash, making lifestyle changes following a recent medical scare, recalls his first musical inspiration and reflects on his family’s 2005 MTV reality show “Meet The Barkers.”
Check out highlights from the interview below.
ON FAN REACTION SINCE BLINK-182 REUNITED 3 YEARS AGO AS WELL AS HIS FEAR OF FLYING SINCE SURVIVING THE 2008 PLANE CRASH WHICH KILLED FOUR PEOPLE:
“This will be the big tour that supports the album in Europe. Mind you, I’m not flying, so it’s hard to say what the band could do or what its potential is, because I can’t really get everywhere. I’m contemplating getting knocked out and getting on a plane to Australia. I want to overcome that eventually. When I do, I think it’s going to be Qantas. They never had a crash, never had a fatality –knock on wood. It’s something I want to overcome for me –and my kids are scared to death to fly. I want them to witness me overcome it.”
ON HIS RECENTLY DISCOVERED MEDICAL CONDITION:
“About 12 weeks ago, I did an endoscopy, where they put the camera down your throat. They found that I had six ulcers, and I had a condition called Barrett’s esophagus, which is basically from really extreme acid reflux or if you excessively smoked, your esophagus lining becomes pre-cancerous. Right then and there, I changed my whole life around. I had to stop eating and drinking certain things. And I had this lump in my throat around the same time. My tonsils were three to four times the size they should have been. So eight days ago they yanked my tonsils and my adenoids out.”
ON THE LIFESTYLE CHANGES HE HAS MADE TO BETTER HIS HEALTH:
“I used to love smoking weed. Especially after my accident, I got off my 19 bipolar medicines and all the stuff they said I’d be on for the rest of my life, and I would smoke weed at night if I had anxiety. I always thought I’d be able to do that for the rest of my life, but when your health is on the line, you don’t f*** around. I love being a dad and I love playing music –I’m not trying to give up any of that.”
ON WHAT INSPIRED HIM TO START PLAYING DRUMS:
“I was 4. Animal on ‘The Muppet Show’ started it all for me. I saw him and I was sold. I wanted to be a drummer. Then I saw Alex Van Halen, Tommy Lee, great jazz drummers like Buddy Rich. I saw Buddy Rich battle Animal – crazy stuff. I battled Animal two months ago. I was trippin’. When this is all said and done, in 10 or 15 years, I would love to play in a big-band jazz band and kick ass. I grew up playing jazz. I was in jazz band my whole life in high school and junior high. They didn’t have Rock Band 101 in school. I can read music, and I played jazz for six, seven years. I’d like to do that again.”
ON “MEET THE BARKERS”, THE MTV’S REALITY SHOW ON HIS FAMILY:
“It was cool for the amount of time it happened, but right as we were finishing up and we were about to start another season, they wanted us to fight more. They wanted us to not get along, and I was like, ‘Yo, it’s not going to work. This is my family. You ain’t going to make the family dysfunctional for television purposes.’ Then I realized my life was just as fun without the cameras.”
