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The drummer, as the new Travis Barker documentary, Louder Than Fear, posits, is the center of a band\u2019s universe. By that logic, Barker is Blink-182\u2019s beautifully tattooed ball of hydrogen. We have the 50-year-old to thank for some of the most Warped Tourian songs in the punk-pop canon, but now Barker is giving us the chance to understand the fuller scope of his life story. Filmed over nine years from 2017 to 2026, Louder Than Fear goes deep into the musician\u2019s Southern California upbringing and why he picked up his first pair of sticks \u2014 never underestimate the power of Animal from The Muppets \u2014 and the perfectionist style of play that continues to guide him throughout his career.<\/p>\n
Yes, of course it\u2019s fun to see Barker, Tom DeLonge, and Mark Hoppus get themselves into some dumb shit in the archival Blink-182 footage, but the crux of the documentary is about the most life-altering moment in Barker\u2019s life. In 2008, as a functioning addict, he was a passenger in an airplane crash that claimed the lives of two of his closest friends. Barker, who broke all of his ribs, fractured his back, and had burns on over half of his body, had a premonition about the plane crashing; he described the aftermath as if he was in Final Destination and considered suicide while he was still in the hospital. Little by little, Barker recovered, and he\u2019s since been enshrined as one of the finest drummers working today. He also takes great pride in producing records and serving as a session musician across all genres. But the brush with death forced him to ask: \u201cHow do I become a better human and healthier human?\u201d<\/p>\n
Barker is now sober and a long-distance runner and, with the encouragement of his wife, Kourtney Kardashian, overcame his fear of flying. \u201cI would love to be remembered as a great father, husband, brother, son, survivor, drummer, and musician,\u201d he recently told me when we met in New York, growing serious when discussing his craft. \u201cI would probably die if I didn\u2019t do it. It\u2019s not only how I\u2019ve survived my whole life, but I also feel completely off if I don\u2019t play drums and make music every day. I can\u2019t explain it. It\u2019s like a normal person not getting a meal or their supplements. Music is my supplement. The two hours onstage? That\u2019s do or die.\u201d Louder Than Fear, which will be released on Hulu on August 13, can even function as Barker\u2019s fairy-tale story. \u201cI knew who I was going to become,\u201d he says, \u201cand I couldn\u2019t let the bad things that happened in the past destroy me.\u201d<\/p>\n
This documentary was filmed over nine years. Can you tell me what motivated you to open up your life to a film and the boundaries you set for it?After my memoir, someone had mentioned: \u201cWould you want to do a documentary?\u201d Next thing you know, I\u2019m on a boat \u2014 the Queen Mary II from New York to London \u2014 and they\u2019re filming me. I\u2019ve had a couple of near-death experiences and felt it would be cool to share my story and maybe inspire someone that needs it like I did when I was a kid. I didn\u2019t really think anything was attainable back then. I felt guilty even for dreaming or saying anything I wished for because I was told it was impossible. So for anyone who\u2019s trapped and feels like they can\u2019t achieve anything or maybe nothing\u2019s accessible, I want them to know their dreams aren\u2019t too far off.<\/p>\n
When did you realize your goals could be attainable?A few days ago, someone asked me: \u201cDid the kids you grew up with kind of get that you were on another level? Or you were playing a lot to prove yourself?\u201d Now that I think about the question, I\u2019m like, Everyone were such haters. No one was going to be like, \u201cYeah, you\u2019re good.\u201d Everyone was like, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to make it. But I\u2019m not going to make it and none of us are going to make it.\u201d That was the attitude. My dad was working 60 hours a week at a steel mill. After my mom passed away when I was 13, the day before high school, her one wish was for me to pursue music and to never stop playing drums. So that was like, I was not going to fucking lose. I\u2019m doing it for my mom and I know she\u2019s with me on my journey.<\/p>\n
Even though I spent a short time with her, I knew there was no way I accomplished what I accomplished or how everything fell into place without her. My only goals were to find a way to have enough money to eat, have somewhere to sleep, and play the drums. I wasn\u2019t wishing for much. So it\u2019s crazy to ever think I would be successful. It was just: Can I be alive, play drums, and survive?<\/p>\n
Tom and Mark said in the documentary that when you joined Blink-182, you opened up a valve for the band. What do you think they were missing that only you were able to provide?I needed them and they needed me. It\u2019s a pretty honest observation. I\u2019ll also say, you\u2019re only as good as your drummer. It\u2019s obviously weird for me to even talk about myself like this or try to pinpoint exactly what it was, but I\u2019d have to say it was the three of us writing together and pushing a couple of different rhythms or different tempos we were playing around with. Mark and Tom were always like, \u201cDo that crazy shit you do. Just do something crazy.\u201d And to me, doing something crazy meant playing a weird Latin groove, or Stewart Copeland chops, over a punk-rock riff. I had this creative freedom to make a genre of music sound a little bit different. It\u2019s pretty simple and makes a song sound more complicated than it is. There weren\u2019t many guitar solos in our band, so there was a lot of room for me to go off when Mark and Tom told me to. And then sometimes I\u2019d be like, \u201cI have an idea. This song should be like this instead of that.\u201d That was helpful. I was a foundation and kept everything intact while they had fun, went crazy, and did their banter and everything. My job was to hold it down. That\u2019s what I tried my best to do \u2014 hold it together so they could explore.<\/p>\n
There was nothing that was off the table stylistically. It was always so fun and interesting to play with them. If you ever follow UFC or boxing, they say, \u201cStyle makes fights.\u201d It\u2019s the same thing when you mix band members or styles of musicians. I love boxing. I hated thinking of something that I wanted to do behind the drum kit and not having the skill, stamina, or endurance to follow through with it. Some drummers go out there and it\u2019s very much like a job \u2014 a nine-to-five. But it\u2019s like oxygen for me. There\u2019s times when I\u2019ll just throw everything out the window and go for broke because I\u2019m having such a good time.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t live without it. There\u2019s times where I\u2019ll start a set and relate to a fighter in the first round and think I\u2019m going to be tired. But then the second round hits and I\u2019m like, No, I\u2019m going to be fine. The second song then becomes the third song and the 13th song. And then I remember, Your kit is going to be elevated on a parallel. Stay calm. That\u2019s what I trained for. I\u2019m having the time of my life. I\u2019m ready to die out there.<\/p>\n
Last year, there was strangely a period of time when drummers were either getting fired or leaving their bands, all of whom were older drummers in legacy, long-tenured groups. You\u2019re a bit younger than Josh Freese and Matt Cameron, but I\u2019d still value your perspective about that entire cycle and if you learned anything from it.I wonder if, just stylistically, they made sense in different bands. Sometimes you make the wrong decision and your skill level versus style is different. You could have someone on paper that seems like they\u2019re really good for a project but then doesn\u2019t fit right. In my heart, I don\u2019t think Matt Cameron left Pearl Jam because he couldn\u2019t keep doing it. He\u2019s such a great drummer. There\u2019s no faking any of those things. It\u2019s all about taste.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll give you a recent example that relates to this: I produced, helped write, and played drums on an Alkaline Trio album. My job was to be their dream drummer. It wasn\u2019t about my own mission statement or what I wanted to do. I see so many musicians who go and record a song, and they try to show off their skill level or everything they know. It\u2019s not about that. It\u2019s about making this song great and what the song calls for. I love being in situations like the one I was just in with Alkaline Trio, where I\u2019m there to meet every goal as a drummer that they would wish for. There\u2019s times where they\u2019re like, \u201cWe want you to Travis Barker out on the fucking drums right here.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, you green-lit that. I\u2019ll follow my dreams.\u201d But I would never default to that. If anything, I\u2019m more reserved in a lot of playing situations. I think it might be overplaying, but if they want me to do that, I\u2019ll do that. That can be an issue, the overplaying thing \u2014 you need to make sure you have the eye on the assignment. With that in mind, I feel like maybe all of that stuff could have been avoided a year ago.<\/p>\n
How have you adapted the physicality of your playing as you\u2019ve aged, to ensure you can continue playing this instrument as long as possible? I want to play it the way I do now for the rest of my life. I haven\u2019t taken any preventative measures. Well, no. I sit a little bit higher on the kit now. Everyone has said for years, \u201cTravis sits really high so everyone can see him.\u201d Not true. My drums are just flat. Most drummers like to have a bit more weight to them, but mine are flat. Some of my favorite drummers, like Mikkey Dee and Mike Borden, played flat drums. It\u2019s not the most comfortable thing, but it\u2019s always how I loved my drums to be.<\/p>\n
I have a friend who used to be a touring drummer and all he does now is try to help drummers maintain their longevity. He\u2019ll coach them and be like, \u201cSit up straight. Stop doing that weird thing with your foot. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve ever noticed and you\u2019re doing it all the time.\u201d He\u2019s so specific, but those are the things that drummers don\u2019t think about. Hell, I never thought about some of it. One day he came over and told me I had to have better posture. I remember I had seen a video of me from years ago and I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, no, no, no. I can\u2019t ever sit like that again.\u201d Now I\u2019m trying to always sit up tall. I feel like my set goes better, too, and I\u2019m hurting less if I\u2019m not slouching and I\u2019m more aware. But sometimes everything goes out the fucking window and I\u2019m just going for it. That will always be important to me.<\/p>\n
I did a reported piece on the state of drummers after everything settled down, and one observation several drummers made was: The number of people who are able to handle A-level touring is dwindling, and the people who can are getting older. Do you feel like a drummer crisis is in our near future?I think there\u2019s so many good drummers right now. It\u2019s the age of the internet where everyone has a YouTube page where you can learn from. It\u2019s no longer \u201cI need to go see this drum instructor.\u201d You can find a video of drummers playing with other drummers. For example, I saw a video the other day of Steve Jordan, who\u2019s now with the Rolling Stones, playing a groove. All he\u2019s doing is playing it and not adding any fills. It was something to the effect of, Do you know how fucking hard that is? To not, as a drummer, want to do stuff when you don\u2019t need to \u2014 but that\u2019s when you have to lock in.<\/p>\n