Matt Skiba Talks Future with Vulture

Alkaline Trio

Vulture:

So Mark and I would talk, but we weren’t really talking about the band. We’re friends before we’re a band. Far beyond what the band is to me is Mark’s health and his friendship. So we just were talking. And over the course of, I don’t remember the exact timeframe, but Mark said that they were talking to Tom and starting to work on things. So it didn’t come as any — it was just as far as the actual information dropping and the schedule of everything was revealed to me when it was to everyone else, but I knew that it was coming. It wasn’t this huge surprise, nor was it a stab in the back. Those guys, we were friends — and this includes Tom. Tom especially has been a friend and a fan of my band for many years. Long before I started playing with Blink, Alkaline Trio was out on tour opening for Blink. And Tom had, if not everything to do with it, a lot to do with that. So we’ve always been buddies. We haven’t talked in recent years.

Matt Skiba Talks With NME

Matt Skiba talked with NME about Alkaline Trio and Blink-182:

While ‘Is This Thing Cursed?’ was written about “having such a disgraceful thing in The White House”, Skiba said that he was at least thankful that it felt like “Trump against the world, not Trump’s America. The whole world realised that by-and-large, most Americans were not pleased that that thing was president.”

He continued: “I’m not writing about the Biden Administration. He might be half-drunk and sleep through almost everything but at least he’s not stoking the flames of hatred and division. There’s always a girl to write about though.”

As for the sound of the new material, Skiba said: “Recently started to take inspiration from The Strokes.

“There’s a lot of really cool stuff on that latest record (2020’s ‘The New Abnormal’) and when I’m just tinkering around the guitar, I catch myself referencing it. There’s some mid-tempo songs that may or may not be on the new Trio record that were definitely inspired by The Strokes.”

And, regarding writing for Blink:

“In the beginning, I would come in with song ideas but we all soon realised they just sounded like Alkaline Trio songs,” he said. “It’s my songwriting, so of course it was going to sound like Trio. Occasionally, I’ll now come in with a guitar part or a bunch of lyrics but never a complete idea. Songs become Blink when it’s the three of us writing together.”

Vagrant Records Celebrates 25 Years

Vagrant

Vagrant Records have announced a bunch of cool things for their 25th anniversary. First, they’ll be launching a podcast hosted by The Get Up Kids’ Matt Pryor. You can subscribe on Spotify. Second, they’ve announced special Record Store Day pressings from Alkaline Trio, Senses Fail, and Thrice. And, they’ve announced new pressings from The Anniversary, Balance and Composure, and Bad Suns. The full press release is below.

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Review: Alkaline Trio – From Here to Infirmary

Alkaline Trio

Pop punk was taking the world by storm in 2001. Blink-182, Green Day and The Offspring were some of the biggest punk bands around, while groups like New Found Glory and Good Charlotte started to make a name for themselves in 2000. It was no coincidence that Alkaline Trio, a three piece punk band from Chicago, decided to lean into a poppier sound on their third LP, From Here to Infirmary. Some viewed this record as a “sell out”, but it quickly became clear this type of punk was the type of music they were meant to be playing.

While another band with dual singers was gearing up to release Take Off Your Pants and Jacket 20 years ago (Ironically, 20 years later Skiba is now a member of Blink-182), Alkaline Trio – consisting of singer/guitarist Matt Skiba, singer/bassist Dan Andriano and drummer Mike Felumlee (who left the band in 2001 and was replaced by current drummer Derek Grant – dropped what still remains their most complete record as a band. 

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