| Mark Hoppus | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mark Allan Hoppus[1] |
| Born | March 15, 1972 Ridgecrest, California, U.S. |
| Origin | Poway, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop punk, punk rock, alternative rock, skate punk |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, record producer, television host |
| Instruments | Bass, vocals, guitar, drums, double bass, euphonium |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Labels | DGC, Interscope, Geffen, Grilled Cheese, Cargo Music, Kung Fu |
| Associated acts | Blink-182 +44 City (Comma) State Box Car Racer Motion City Soundtrack All Time Low New Found Glory Good Charlotte Simple Plan Less Than Jake |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Mark Hoppus Jazz Bass Fender Bass VI Fender Precision Bass Music Man StingRay |
|
Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bassist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bassist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands. As of late, Hoppus has produced albums for groups such as Idiot Pilot, New Found Glory, The Matches, and Motion City Soundtrack. Hoppus currently hosts his own weekly television series, Hoppus on Music that premiered on September 16, 2010 on Fuse.[2]
Born in Ridgecrest, California, Hoppus spent his childhood moving back and forth between his mother and father's houses, as they divorced when he was in third grade. He became interested in skateboarding and punk rock in junior high, and received a bass guitar from his father at the age of fifteen. He played in various bands until his sister, Anne, introduced him to Tom DeLonge, who she had met while attending Rancho Bernardo High School. Hoppus and Delonge then formed Blink-182, which became one of the most popular bands of the 2000s. Blink-182 disbanded in 2005, leading Hoppus to form the band +44 with fellow Blink-182 member Travis Barker. Blink-182 then announced their reformation in 2009. However, Hoppus states that he does not consider the +44 project to be "done".[3]
Contents |
Mark Hoppus was born in Ridgecrest, California on March 15, 1972,[4] to Connie and Tex Hoppus.[5] One of Hoppus' ancestors, Michael Happes, fought in the Revolutionary War, leading Hoppus to describe himself as "a proud Son of the American Revolution."[6] His father works for the Department of Defense, designing missiles.[5] His mother, Connie, reflects on her son as "...always a happy kid. Really smart, sensitive."[5] Hoppus spent much of his early years in the small town of Ridgecrest until his parents divorced when he was in the third grade, which affected him greatly. After shuffling around with sister Anne for two years, Mark left with his father for Monterey. His father was often away earning a postgraduate degree in college. In a 2000 article, Hoppus recalls "[I] was living by myself in the fifth grade."[5]
Hoppus describes himself as "pretty awesome" until junior high, when he began skateboarding.[7] Beginning in his freshman year, Hoppus gained solace through music of The Smiths and The Cure.[5] Hoppus lived in Fairfax, Virginia (a suburb of Washington, D.C.) during his early high school years and attended Annandale High School during his sophomore year; at which time he received his first bass and attended his first concert (They Might Be Giants).[8] Hoppus received his first bass guitar as a gift from his father and earned money for a set of amplifiers by helping him paint his garage.[9] Hoppus never took bass lessons, instead he taught himself by playing to bands such as the Descendents, The Cure, and Bad Religion. Hoppus played by himself and sang in the band Pier 69, primarily covering songs by The Cure, and recorded a live demo with a group named The Attic Children in 1988, featuring covers of The Cure songs.[10]
Hoppus returned to Ridgecrest in 1989, completing high school at Burroughs High School. While there, he faced teasing over wearing eyeliner to school.[11] After graduating from Burroughs High School in 1990, he began playing in a band called Of All Things he formed with two friends, covering songs by Descendents. Hoppus left Ridgecrest in summer 1992 to attend college and get a job at a local music store in San Diego. Hoppus continued playing gigs with Of All Things, returning on weekends, Eventually, Hoppus' manager became suspicious of his weekend activities (Hoppus having told him he worked with mentally disabled children in Ridgecrest) and refused any time off on weekends.[11]
Hoppus studied in college with plans to become an English teacher.[12] He recalls he "hated" college and his reasoning behind becoming a teacher involved sights set for educational reform. He dropped out in the early 1990s after "things began to take off with Blink-182" and lived with his mother for many of the early years of the band.[12] Hoppus describes his mother as always supportive in his decisions to drop out of college and tour with Blink-182, however, he describes his father as "more realistic, [...] he said, "Have something to fall back on.""[7]
After moving to San Diego in the summer of 1992, Hoppus was reunited with his sister Anne Hoppus, who he complained to over his desire to be in a band.[5] Anne attended Rancho Bernardo High School, and had become friends with new student Tom DeLonge over the summer.[11] DeLonge recalled the meeting in 2000: "When I first met Mark, we were running around naked, doing weird stuff. We were up skateboarding until late hours of the morning, antagonizing security guards, and we were just always having fun."[13] In August 1992, Anne introduced the two, and Hoppus and DeLonge immediately began performing music in DeLonge's garage.[5] To impress DeLonge, Hoppus climbed to the top of a streetlight outside of DeLonge's home – however, he broke both ankles on the way down, resulting in being in crutches for the next few weeks. DeLonge recruited old friend Scott Raynor from his days at Poway to become the drummer for the new band, initially named Duck Tape until DeLonge renamed the band as Blink.[11]
Blink released various demos throughout 1993 and caught the attention of local San Diego record label Cargo Music, where they signed and recorded their debut album Cheshire Cat in February 1994.[5] The band quietly gained success in southern California, touring throughout 1995 and 1996 in their own van.[14] The band was threatened with legal action by an Irish pop band of the same name in 1994, and, to avoid a legal dispute, the band appended "182" to the end of their name.[15]
The band moved to Encinitas, California in 1996, where they would record their second album Dude Ranch with producer Mark Trombino. Blink-182 recorded the album under Cargo Records, but signed with MCA in 1998 in order to handle increased distribution. The album was released in 1997 and was relatively commercially successful, selling 1.5 million copies worldwide. The single "Dammit" did well on U.S. modern rock charts, and the band received a small degree of mainstream success.[5][15]
Hoppus and DeLonge fired Raynor midway through a U.S. tour in 1998 after a drinking problem became far too prevalent.[16] Hoppus and DeLonge asked drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182's support band The Aquabats to fill in for Raynor for the remainder of the tour, and, after being impressed with Barker, asked him to join the band.
The band released their breakthrough album Enema of the State in June 1999 to commercial success, fueled by successful singles "What's My Age Again", "All the Small Things", and "Adam's Song".[15] After releasing live album The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!) in November 2000, the band entered the studio and recorded their fourth studio album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, released in June 2001. The album continued the band's commercial success and popularity.[15]
After performing with Box Car Racer for much of 2002, DeLonge and Barker rejoined the band to record their eponymous fifth studio album, released in November 2003. The album continued the commercial success that previous albums had endured, as well as being critically acclaimed: Blink-182 represented a more "mature" band than seen in the past,[17] with the band infusing experimentalist elements into their usual pop punk sound, inspired by lifestyle changes (the band members all became fathers before the album was released) and side-projects (Box Car Racer and Transplants).[18]
Tensions arose between the band members as DeLonge expressed his desire to cancel the tour and enter a half-year respite from touring in late 2004, and the band officially announced an "indefinite hiatus" in February 2005. DeLonge formed Angels & Airwaves while Hoppus and Barker continued playing music together in +44. In August 2008, the band's frequent producer Jerry Finn died of a cerebral hemorrhage,[19] and Barker barely survived a plane crash, sustaining second and third degree burns on his lower body and torso. Both events would be catalysts for the band reuniting; in 2009, DeLonge reflected, "If that accident hadn't happened, we wouldn't be a band. Plain and simple. That was fate."[20]
The band announced their reunion in February 2009 at the 51st Grammy Awards ceremony.[21] A well-received reunion tour took place in mid-2009, with a European leg performed in summer 2010. Currently, the band is returning from the aforementioned tour and preparing to record their sixth studio album.[22]
Blink-182 is recognized as a key pioneer of contemporary pop punk music, influencing various acts over their career.[15]
After the announcement of the Blink-182 reunion, the band toured around states of America and UK, and has also participated in major events & concerts like Reading and Leeds. It was also announced, along the tour around different states & cities, the band has entered the studio and recorded several tracks of the upcoming studio album. Blink's frontman Mark Hoppus has also confirmed that the first single off the upcoming LP would be titled "Up All Night". The much anticipated sixth studio album titled Neighborhoods was released on September 27, 2011.
In April 2005, shortly after Blink-182's "indefinite hiatus" announcement, +44 was announced as Hoppus and Barker's new project.[23] The band name refers to the international dialing code of the United Kingdom, the country where Hoppus and Barker first discussed the project.[23] After toying with various demos recorded in 2005, Barker and Hoppus acquired a studio in 2006, a move which marked a "turning point for +44." The band began working solely in the studio they had purchased, playing live drums, guitars and vocals. The band's original electronic elements became less evident, but still remained a key feature.
Guitarist of The Nervous Return, Shane Gallagher joined the band, as well as Craig Fairbaugh of Mercy Killers. When Your Heart Stops Beating, the debut album by the group, was released in November 2006. The album is made up of lyrics directly related to ill feelings after the breakup of Blink-182; a notable song, "No, It Isn't", addresses the concerns head-on and was leaked though the +44 website in December 2005: coincidentally, on DeLonge's birthday.[24]
In October 2007, Hoppus stated that +44 had officially signed a deal with Interscope to start recording the new record.[25] However, plans fell through in 2008, eventually being canceled after Barker's September 2008 plane crash. Soon after the accident, rumors began circulating regarding a possible Blink-182 reunion, which the band confirmed in February 2009 at the 51st Grammy Awards ceremony.[21]
In an interview with Alternative Press on February 19, 2009, when asked about the future of +44, Hoppus stated "I don't consider it done. We'll never say never with anything. As soon as you say, 'I'm not gonna do that anymore,' you find yourself in a situation where you wanna do that. Shane [Gallagher] and Craig [Fairbaugh] are awesome guitarists and great fun to play in a band with, so we definitely won't say that the band is done. But obviously, for the foreseeable future, all of our energy is going into Blink-182."[3]
Hoppus was a judge for the 9th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[26] Mark was also featured in the Fenix TX music video for their single "All My Fault"[27]
Hoppus has made guest vocal appearances and worked with several artists, all of which can be found later on in this article. His first non Blink-182 appearance was with The Ataris for their 1998 EP Look Forward to Failure. Notable guest appearances include vocals on Simple Plan's single "I'd Do Anything", vocals on Box Car Racer's track "Elevator", and "In Transit" with Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, recorded for Almost Alice (2010).
Hoppus began producing albums in 2005. The first record Hoppus produced is Motion City Soundtrack's Commit This To Memory (2005). Since this, Hoppus has produced a variety of both tracks and albums for indie artists and major artists: he produced New Found Glory's Not Without a Fight (2009), Fall Out Boy's America's Suitehearts: Remixed, Retouched, Rehabbed and Retoxed EP (2009), Kronic Ketchup Krews's Vatican city (2011) and a remix of "Hallucinations" for Angels & Airwaves' Love (2010). Recently, he has been credited as producer for Motion City Soundtrack's My Dinosaur Life (2010).
Hoppus was a large part of City (Comma) State's debut album Shady Lane, currently set to be released in 2011. He helped produce and co-write a majority of the songs on the album; bassist Justin Siegel said "I've never laughed so hard so consistently in my whole life. It really was and continues to be a dream come true, and I feel lucky that we got the opportunity to work with him."[28]
In the Fall, 2010, Hoppus had a guest star role in the digital comedy short film Lil DPC from writer/director Michael Ratner which also features the Soprano's Steve Schirripa and rapper Fat Joe.
Hoppus has been seen using his signature Fender Mark Hoppus Jazz Bass in a variety of different colors since the days of Blink-182. Though considered to be a Precision Bass, Hoppus's signature consists of a Jazz Bass body with a Precision Bass neck and pickup. Recently, Hoppus's signature underwent a slight modification: the bodies are now made of Ash instead of Alder, making the bass lighter. The pickup locations were also switched from their usual positions: they were placed under the E and A strings and also under the D and G strings, the latter being placed higher than the former, giving the D and G bass strings a warmer, thicker bass sound. Hoppus uses Seymour Duncan Quarter-Pound pickups, which feature 1/4 inch pole pieces. The current colors of his +44 touring basses include Olympic White, Sunburst and See-Through Blond all coupled with a tortoise shell pickguard. During Blink-182 first live performance his signature bass colour changes to white. Besides his signature basses, Hoppus was seen using one other bass guitar live on stage: the six-stringed Fender Bass VI, most notably for the song "I Miss You".[9] Hoppus also uses Fender Precision Bass which was first seen in "Dammit", "What's My Age Again?", and "All The Small Things" His later P-Bass like his signature bass has only one volume knob. His P-Bass last appearance was in the video Stay Together For The Kids with a Sunburst Colour and White Pickguard.His Sunburst P-Bass was also seen again with Mark recording (+44)'s second studio album. Prior to the use of Fender Basses, Hoppus heavily used Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray basses in various colors during the early days of Blink-182 up until the early Enema of the State period. He uses a Plectrum exclusively to play rather than plucking with his fingers.
For live sound, Hoppus plugs his basses into three Ampeg SVT Classic bass heads running into two Ampeg 8x10 SVT bass cabs. Prior to the use of the all-tube SVT Classic heads, Hoppus used two Ampeg SVT-4 Pro heads which only feature a tube preamp.[29]
Recently, Mark has announced that his signature Fender Mark Hoppus Jazz Bass has been picked up and is in production and will be available this spring.[30] It will be available in Surf Green Transparent, Black, Daphne Blue and new White Blonde.[31]
Hoppus and Tom DeLonge co-owned two companies, Atticus and Macbeth Footwear, Hoppus has since sold his share in both companies; as well as loserkids.com.[32]
Mark Hoppus has made several acting appearances in films and television, often as part of Blink-182. He first appeared as a member of a garage band in the hugely successful teen comedy American Pie (1999) with bandmates Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker, (Though the film's credits list Barker as Scott Raynor.) He appeared again with DeLonge, singing a cover of Jan and Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" in the CBS television movie Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story (1999).[33] The band appeared in the Two Guys and a Girl episode "Au Revoir, Pizza Place" in 1999, as well as an animated cameo in The Simpsons episode "Barting Over" in 2003. The band made a guest appearance on MADtv in 2002, in a segment titled "Leave It to Blink-182", spoofing 1950s-era sitcoms.[34] Hoppus was a guest actor on an episode of the show Haunted in 2002.[35]
He also wrote columns for Risen Magazine's March/April and May/June 2005 issues entitled "Beyond Us".[36] Mark Hoppus has been confirmed to be a part of a documentary about modern punk music entitled One Nine Nine Four. The film was due to be released in 2009 but has been delayed.[37]
Mark Hoppus worked to help relief efforts in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami Tōhoku. He announced that his group Blink-182, will be auctioning off items to benefit the American Red Cross on EBay. “So sad for what’s happening in Japan. Gonna dig in the bins & find some old blink-182 items to auction for the Red Cross" said Mark. The items auctioned off included the original lyrics sheet to the group’s hits “The Rock Show” and "Adam's Song", Bad Religion autographed cymbal, hand painted 1.5 FT tall Bunny, blink-182 tour backstage pass, stickers, postcard/magnets, trading cards, the band’s dressing room sign from the 2000 VMAs, and Hoppus orange sweater from the “Dammit” music video. Among the 33 items auctioned off for charity he totaled 4,318 dollars.[38]
"HiMyNameIsMark" was a podcast that was set up in the wake of the Blink-182 hiatus by Hoppus, and can be found at HiMyNameIsMark.com. Every few weeks he released a show of songs by underground bands, interviews with band members and/or friends, and reminisces about happenings in his life. He is often joined on the show by his friends Chris Holmes (+44's engineer) and James Ingram (+44's assistant engineer). In 2005, Hoppus won the "Best Podcast" award, beating out many of the hottest podcasts. Hoppus has also created various side projects including "Hopp on Popp" where he reviews one of his favorite up and coming artists, some of which have been Matt & Kim, fun., and Japandroids.
On June 22, 2010, Fuse announced that Hoppus would be hosting his own weekly, one hour television series entitled A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus. In relation to the press release, Hoppus stated "I am stoked to join the Fuse family and have a show where I can talk about a topic that I'm passionate about, music. More importantly, I'm excited to force millions of people to watch me on a weekly basis on national television." According to Fuse senior vice president of programming and development Sal LoCurto, "A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus was developed to compliment the wide variety of music programming on Fuse – including live concerts, festival coverage and in-depth interview series with the biggest names in music. On August 5, Hoppus revealed the co-host of the show will be comedian Amy Schumer."[39]
The show focuses on music news, fun panel discussions and special reports from the show's correspondents. The show also features musical performances by both mainstream and emerging bands.[2][39] The show officially premiered on September 16, 2010 on Fuse. The show's second season premiered in March 2011 and the show was re-titled Hoppus on Music.
Hoppus married his girlfriend, Skye Everly, on December 2, 2000.[40] Hoppus met Everly at a rehearsal for the music video to the Blink-182 single "All the Small Things". According to a 2004 interview, Everly, who was then an MTV talent executive, initially said no to dating Hoppus: "Tom [DeLonge] always used to embarrass me. Any girl he’d talk to, he’d say, 'Hey, you wanna go on a date with Mark?' He asked Skye [Everly], my wife, who looked at me and said 'No.' That’s how it all started."[41] Two years later, Skye gave birth to their son, Jack Hoppus on August 5, 2002. The three are currently living in London, England. However, Hoppus announced on his blog that he planned to reside in the United Kingdom for one year only. After that he would return to the United States.
In 2008, Hoppus was vocal about his opposition to Proposition 8 in California and urged Californians to vote against the measure. Hoppus explained that while he had never felt compelled to publicly voice his political beliefs, he believed that this issue was more about civil rights than about politics.[42] Hoppus wrote an editorial for The Huffington Post in October 2009, discussing how quality health care to all of U.S. citizens would be beneficial and advocating health care reform.[43] A 2000 Rolling Stone cover story describes Hoppus as believing in God and "praying every night"; aside from that one instance, Hoppus has never discussed his religious beliefs.[5] Mark now lives in London with his wife Skye and Son Jack. He supports Chelsea Football Club due to the location of his London house.
| Year | Album title | Band | Record label | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Attic Children Demo | The Attic Children | Self-released | Vocals and bass |
| 1998 | Look Forward to Failure | The Ataris | Fat Wreck Chords | Vocals on "That Special Girl" and "My So Called Life" |
| 2002 | No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls | Simple Plan | Atlantic Records | Vocals on "I'd Do Anything" |
| 2002 | Box Car Racer | Box Car Racer | MCA Records | Vocals on "Elevator" |
| 2002 | Sticks and Stones | New Found Glory | Drive-Thru Records, MCA | Bass on "Something I Call Personality" |
| 2004 | The Passion of the Christ: Songs | MxPx | Lost Keyword | Vocals on MxPx's song "Empire" |
| 2005 | Panic | MxPx | SideOneDummy Records | Vocals on "Wrecking Hotel Rooms" |
| 2005 | Commit This to Memory | Motion City Soundtrack | Epitaph Records | Vocals on "Hangman" |
| 2006 | White Heat | Renee Renee | Sweet Ass Records | Vocals and bass on "Paper Doll" |
| 2006 | Kevin & Bean's Super Christmas | Various artists | KROQ-FM | Vocals and bass on +44's cover of "Christmas Vacation" by The Descendents |
| 2007 | Changes | Vanilla Sky | Universal Records | Vocals on "Nightmare" |
| 2009 | Fired Up soundtrack | Richard Gibbs | Screen Gems | Co-wrote and Vocals on "Until the Stars Fall From the Sky" |
| 2010 | Almost Alice | Various artists | Buena Vista | Vocal and Bass on "In Transit" |
| 2010 | Pinch Me | Forget The Pacific | Self-released | Bass on "Sweet 16" |
| 2011 | Shady Lane | City (Comma) State | Vocals on "You Crush My Heart" | |
| 2010 | What Are You Scared Of? | Tonight Alive | Sony Music | Vocals on 'Thank You & Goodnight' |
| Year | Album title | Band | Record label | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | In with the Out Crowd | Less Than Jake | Warner Bros. Records | Co-wrote "The Rest of My Life" |
| 2009 | Nothing Personal | All Time Low | Hopeless Records | Co-wrote 1 song – not released. |
| 2011 | Shady Lane | City (Comma) State | Writer and co-writer |
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