Travis Barker
Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975 in Fontana, California, USA) is the drummer for blink-182, The Transplants, Box Car Racer, and Plus 44.
Life
Barker previously played drums for The Aquabats (as Baron Von Tito), The Vandals, the Suicide Machines and a punk band called "Snot" . He began taking drum lessons at the age of four, when he studied with a jazz teacher, and was exposed to many different styles of music. While he was in high school he played in the jazz ensemble and marching band. He subsequently gained experience performing at regional competitions and festivals. During his senior year of high school, Barker passed up drum corps tryouts to tour with a rock band. After graduating from high school in 1993, he gained more experience as a rock drummer in a few early bands.
Explaining his large number of tattoos, Barker explained "I tattooed my body so I couldn't fall back on anything. I purposely did that so I couldn't get a normal job."
In 1998 Barker's band, The Aquabats, was opening for blink-182. On this tour blink-182 parted ways with their original drummer, Scott Raynor, and asked Barker to fill the drum stool until the end of the tour. Barker had to learn the entire blink-182 set of 24 songs in just a couple of hours. A few months later, he was asked to join the band full time.
Barker's major musical influences include Latin, jazz, and hip-hop. He has stated that two of his favorite drummers are Stewart Copeland and Tommy Lee.
In 2003, he appeared on Punk'd, MTV's version of Candid Camera, to take part in a set up bareknuckle boxing match. In 2005, he starred in his own MTV reality show Meet the Barkers, with wife Shanna Moakler, whom he married on October 30, 2004. The couple has one son together, Landon Asher Barker, born October 9, 2003. Travis and Shanna are expecting another child in December 2005.
Recently, he has performed on records by The Black Eyed Peas and Nelly, to name a few.
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External links
- Interview with Travis and ThePunkSite.com
- Travis Barker, blink-182, Plus 44 and Angels and Airwaves fan site featuring news, facts, quotes and more.
- Video of a Travis drumsolo