Blink 182’s original drummer Scott Raynor would be fired from the group just as the
band was getting their first taste of mainstream success. But was his firing related solely to
his personal problems or was there more? That’s what we’re going to explore in today’s video.
Scott Raynor would hail from Poway and pickup the drums at the age of 11. He would meet
vocalist and guitarist Tom Delonge at a party where the duo hit it off and decided to form
a band and needed to find a bass player. Delonge would meet bassist Mark Hoppusd
by 1992 Blink 182 was formed albeit being called Blink and the band would audition in
Raynor’s basement since he had done the best job of soundproofing his basement
with egg carton shells. The band’s first show would take place at a biker bar for 1 patron.
The band would release their first LP Budha in 1994 on label Filter Records. The following year
the band release their record Cheshire Cat. It was around this time the band added 182 ot their name,
because a band across the pond already had the name blink and threatened the band with
litigation. The tour to support Cheshire Cat saw the band play their first set of overseas
shows and tour alongside pennywise. The band soon caught the attention of major label MCA
who signed the band putting out their commercial breakthrough Dude Ranch, in 1997, which went gold.
But during the tour to support the album the following year the band parted ways
with Scott Raynor. Raynor’s drinking was creating tension within the band. But is that the full
story? Others have pointed to disagreements over business and creative decisions.
Raynor was just 14 when he joined the band and when the band first signed to Cargo records he
was too young to sign as he was a minor. In fact Raynor had expressed a desire to at some point
go to college and even brought homework with him on tour so he could get his high school diploma.
In 1996 when the band was being courted by major labels, apart from MCA Epitaph
and Interscope wanted to sign the band and Raynor wanted to sign with Epitaph instead
of MCA. It was during the making of the album Raynor apparently broke both heels in a drunken
accident and recorded Dude Ranch while he was still on crutches. Producer Mark Trombino would
recall the sessions telling MTV “Right after they signed their deal with MCA, they were
celebrating and Scott, I don’t know exactly what happened, but he jumped off a roof and broke both
his feet,”. “By the time we made the record, he still had a cast on one foot and he was in
a wheelchair. He would wheelchair up to the drum set and scoot onto the drum throne and play. I got
the sense that they were bummed, and maybe that was the start of whatever came to be. I didn’t
sense any major [tension], but he did amazing.” As the band dealt with new found fame and success
it also created tensions within the gorup. The group had a lot of touring commitments,
and press and were feeling burnt out and by february of 98 the band toured as part of
the snowcore tour, basically the winter version of warped tour. It was during the tour Raynor
left the tour to deal with a tragic loss in his family and Aquabats drummer Travis Barker was
brought in as a replacement. Upon returning ot the band Raynor’s relationship with his
bandmates was tense andh e started drinking heavily and was given an ultimatum by the band
quit drinking or go to rehab. Raynor would tell Chorus.fm
The best way for me to put it is that everything got kinda haywire in my personal life,
and in the band, and with Mark and Tom. They wanted different things than me and at the same
time our friendship was put to the test adding he doesn’t tlak to his ex bandmates anymore saying,
our friendship was put to the test and it kinda failed … but we went down our
different paths which to me was the right one. They are doing things that they wanted to,
that I wouldn’t have done, and vice versa. He would add…I have no problem with
success on that level just not in that way. Music turned into music business, and I wasn’t ready
to deal with the game. And I was always the one saying, “let go this way” and they wanted to go
“that way,” and so did everyone else surrounding the band. So guess who got kicked, “overboard?”
The band’s history with Raynor is thought to have inspired the song Man Overboard that appeared
on their follow up album Enema of the STate. He would add in the interview that he wanted
to keep playing smaller clubs, touring in a van and didn’t want to get any bigger and
wasn’t comfortable with everything that came with being a bigger more recognized band.