In a day filled with intrigue, starting with the announcement that Tom DeLonge was out of Blink-182 for an "indefinite" time and followed by DeLonge's reply that the he was still in the band and the announcement was "weird", it appears that remaining members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker have made the definitive statement that it is time for DeLonge to stop holding the band back.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the two members detail the time leading up to the break. The three worked together, strictly through e-mails, to obtain a record deal and to go into the studio starting at the beginning of the year to record new music. All three signed off on the contract on Christmas Eve and set a January 5 date to begin. Per Hoppus:
On December 30th, we get an e-mail from Tom's manager saying that he has no interest in recording and that he wants to do his other, non-musical stuff and that he's out indefinitely. There's a flurry of e-mails going back and forth for clarification about the recording and the show and his manager sends [an e-mail] back saying, "Tom. Is. Out." Direct quote. This is the exact same e-mail we got back in 2004 when Tom went on indefinite hiatus before.
Barker went on to say, in no uncertain terms, that DeLonge has been a roadblock.
It's hard to cover for someone whos disrespectful and ungrateful. You don't even have the balls to call your bandmates and tell them you're not going to record or do anything Blink-related. You have your manager do it. Everyone should know what the story is with him and it's been years with it. When we did get back together after my plane crash, we only got back together, I don't know, maybe because I almost died. But he didn't even listen to mixes or masterings from that record. He didn't even care about it. Why Blink even got back together in the first place is questionable.
There may also be legalities involved with going forward under the Blink-182 name, especially since DeLonge is claiming he hasn't actually quit the band. Expect some court time in the future.
