Blink-182’s Travis Barker on turning producer for new Alkaline Trio recordings

Alkaline Trio and Travis Barker — (Image credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images/Jonathan Weiner)

Blink-182 are currently in the middle of a US tour with Alkaline Trio opening up for them, and presumably Blink drummer Travis Barker knows more of the support band’s new material than most. Barker recently produced three songs for the punk rock veterans, whose frontman Matt Skiba was co-vocalist and guitarist in Blink-182 during Tom DeLonge’s wilderness years from 2015-2022, and today they released the second track from the batch – Bleeding Out is out now.

The material marks the first recorded output for Alkaline Trio’s revamped line-up – long-standing drummer Derek Grant left in 2023 after recording their tenth album Blood, Hair And Eyeballs and was replaced by former Rocket From The Crypt and Offspring sticksman Atom Willard.

“Recording with Alkaline Trio was such a treat,” said Barker. “Bringing these songs to life from the demos Matt recorded was so exciting. Both Matt and Dan are incredible lyricists, two of my all-time favourites. The studio never feels like work, just a magical place to create. The process was so natural and easy, I could’ve kept going forever. Really proud of these songs that me, Matt, Dan, and Atom recorded. Excited for what’s ahead for Alkaline Trio and for fans to hear these special songs we made.”

"The release of the new songs we did with Travis Barker and Adam Hawkins mirrors the recording process,” added Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba. “We’re releasing them in the order in which we recorded them, which I feel mirrors the excitement and energy felt in the studio when we were writing and recording them. Bleeding Out has an energy and a spontaneity that reflects the vibe in the studio as accurately as anything could. I’m really excited to share this song with our fellow earthlings. You can sing and dance along to it, and sadly, it’s a song of our time.”

Watch the video for Bleeding Out below:

Alkaline Trio - Bleeding Out (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Watch On

Artists

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, Champions Journal, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleague Ted Kessler. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Radiohead, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.