Tom DeLonge Comments on New Blink-182 • Page 3

I feel he just really wanted to make sure people new that Blink was doing the "same old stuff" and he was doing all this grand and progressive art. It's not really progressive when you write the same song like 40 times and pay someone to write a book for you... oh and it's all pretty meh

 

Tom saying they didn't need a producer is the craziest statement he has made in a while. Possibly one of the biggest problems with the new Blink music (pre-skiba) was the production and lack of clear vision that Jerry Finn brought to the table. Not to mention some of the horrible mixing that has plagued Toms music over the past decade.

I get the feeling there is no talking to Tom and convincing him otherwise though he comes across a guy that won't be changed once he gets an idea into his head.

 

Outside of normal duties that fall under the job of "producer", did John really "co-write", as Tom suggests? From what I gathered from their KROQ interview, John was just there as an outside voice/filter/suggestion box, like what a typical producer does. I don't know if I'd call that "co-writing", moreso just producing an album. Which is what he was there for. Which is what Tom could use more of.

@Jason Tate just read your comment, and I couldn't agree more. They seemed really optimistic and positive about their future as a band during that KROQ segment, and it's such a nice transition compared to everything that's happened.

 

i would bet that feldmann didn't give any more input than jerry finn did. people are mistakenly confusing "producing" and "co-writing". Butch Walker CO-WROTE "my happy ending" by Avril Lavigne. Jerry Finn and Feldmann (who both produced blink) helped steer the ship and make sure everyone reached max potential. there is no doubt "Neighborhoods" is the worst blink album in terms of cohesiveness of songwriting and the actual sonic sound of it. it's the worst blink album. compare it to ename, take off your pants, self titled, and now california, they are all shiny and beautiful sounding, neighborhoods is subpar. and no, California it's not "over produced" a lot of people use this blanket term and have no clue what they're saying.

 

Here is the thing. There is no right or wrong when it comes to making records. Of course the seeds of these songs were written by the band...or maybe they got to the studio, scrapped everything they had done and wrote all new stuff with Feldmann. Who knows? I don't see how that diminishes their accomplishments or gives the record less cred.

Some bands like Fugazi have a singular vision and could make amazing self produced records but the majority of bands need help in the studio. It is very difficult to self produce a record and an outside perspective is almost always needed.

Look at the new Face to Face record. It is head and shoulders above 4 Chords and A Half Truth. I think going to the Blasting Room was just a better idea than trying to self produce like they did on 4 Chords. The universal positive reviews would back that up.

I don't know how many people hear listen to the Copyrights or Direct Hit but Report and Brainless God were reported with Mike Kennerty from AAR and he is a guy who sprinkles in a lot of stuff, really gets in and looks at melodies and song structure and I think those bands benefited greatly.

I'm not saying I like the Baby Fat record or Ben Weasel but Ben did a podcast with Kennerty wherein Ben played the original seed of the song he recorded on his phone, he sent that to Kennerty who then played around with it and sent it back to Ben, then the actual demos, and then the final recorded song and it was fascinating.

 

Sounds like an ex boyfriend trying explain why her new boyfriend isn't as good as him while also poorly trying to hide the fact that he's severely not over her.

 

I definitely think that Feldmann excerpt is a bit weird, but other than that -- really not such a bad statement. The two entities clearly have different goals and are best remaining separate. He's totally right about people comparing new Blink with new AvA, that makes no sense.

 

I would not be surprised if Feldmann has a co-writing credit on some of the songs on this album. Just like Mark has credits on a whole lot of other songs that aren't Blink-182 as well.

 

Jerry Finn is probably the connection between Blink and Alkaline Trio.

 

I love the new blink. Everything Tom does now is complete shit. 15 year old me would never believe I'd be saying this, but I hope Tom's gone for good. They are better off.

 

A producer can help co-write to make the song the best it can be. The song idea/structure is mostly done by the band. I doubt John wrote any of the songs himself haha.

 

So petty. And trying to link blink to 5SOS and Good Charlotte because Feldmann produced/wrote for them, like they're who he's famous for working with, is pretty low. Sure Feldmann has worked with some trash artists, doesn't make him any less of a legend.

Never been more glad Tom's off doing his own thing than I am after this.

 

The first two AVA albums had Critter as a co-producer. Those were a hell of a lot better than Love 1 and 2. Then he decides to bring in a ringer, Ilan Rubin, who is fantastic with several instruments as well as Aaron Rubin to co-produce for the Dream Walker. He has co-authors for his books too. Get off your damn high horse Tom. Blink needs a guitar player/singer so they got Matt. Blink's best albums were produced by Jerry Finn so they hired a similar producer to take his place. They aren't doing anything different than what they did for every album any of them were on before 2006. It's definitely not "too far a change".
How can he show so little interest in the band in his actions and then try to double back and try to leave the door open for himself? I'm beginning to think that he wants to have Blink as a fallback in case he needs money to search for Bigfoot,.., I mean Atlantis.. wait no... aliens.

 

yeah he also produced all the goldfinger albums which is bad ass.

 

There's also nothing inherently lesser about acts like 5SOS and GC

 

Not to mention, you know, being the vocalist/guitarist of Goldfinger.

 

Honestly who cares if someone helps you write songs. Kanye has like 15 people help him on every one. If they help you make sure the song is great (Like bored to death) then we should be stoked.

 

I honestly would prefer listening to 5SOS and new GC over AVA anyways.

 

This is really the way everyone should see it.

Hell, I like those artists in their own right.

 

Even if there was, nothing wrong with being their producer. The guy has to make a living... I wouldn't say no to the $$ I'm sure he was paid to produce a 5SOS album.

 

Exactly. Agree basically entirely with this. I think the idea of there being a "right" or "wrong" way is completely on point. And I would argue that Blink's a band that definitely has shown without a producer they get far too into that George Lucas prequels era of yes men and no one standing up and reigning it in.

Also, I love the Mike Kennerty shoutout. He's got a fantastic ear for melody and is really getting into the production stuff lately. Also, he's one of the nicest humans alive. (And, not surprising really anyone, I really dig Direct Hit.)

And I think we talked about this before: everyone should into the Blasting Room. Haha. I think that's what's also funny about the "punk" mentality is that the moment you say Bill Steverson co-wrote a song, even if that's flat out what he did when you guys were bouncing ideas around in the studio, you lose cred. Some co-write credits these days can be as little as ideas even, but yet stuff that has happened in a studio for years and years and years gets hit with a stigma just by using that one little word "co-wrote" and so a lot of people (IMO) have gotten kinda fucked over by being not given credit for their contributions in order to maintain this myth of cred.

 

If Producers, Studio Owners, and Sound Engineers only worked with bands they loved or were fans of they would all be broke. Feldmann is hired to produce a record. He is going to try and take the band and songs and make the best record he can even with trash artists. I hate The Used and 5SOS but they are well made records. I just think the songs and bands aren't very good.

 

True, there's also that too. It's this whole mentality people have against "selling out" and "cash grabs"

 

What the fuck does the US Department of Defense have to do with this?

 

Hey, I'm not begrudging the guy his chance to make a paycheck, nor do I respect him any less for doing so. I'm a huge fan of Feldmann and always will be thanks to my love for Goldfinger. Nor am I trying to insult people that enjoy 5SOS or Good Charlotte. I'm just saying that's the reason why Tom mentioned 5SOS and Good Charlotte over more well-respected artists that Feldmann has worked with/been a band member of (Goldfinger, Saosin, The Used, even All Time Low). He did it to get a rise out of people and demean Feldmann's contributions. It's petty. Whether one likes those artists or not is irrelevant, there's a reason why those are the two that Tom chose to associate with Feldmann and, by extension, the new blink.