All Time Low “wouldn’t be a band” without Blink-182.
The Alex Gaskarth-fronted pop punk group owe a great deal to the genre’s veterans, especially co-frontman and bassist Mark Hoppus, who has been a huge support over the years.
Reflecting on their 20 years as a band, Alex told GRAMMY.com: “I don’t think we’d be a band without Blink-182. Over the years, as we got a little more recognition, Mark reached out and asked to write together for All Time Low. It was either for [2009’s] Nothing Personal or [2011’s] Dirty Work. We worked on a song that didn’t make a record, but it was the start of that friendship.
“Mark’s super funny and sarcastic; Blink-182 are funny guys. So I would always try to be funny, but then I’d cringe at my own attempt to be funny, and he’d just roll his eyes. I have to give him so much love, because he saw whatever it is that people see in us, and took a shot on us. And even though the songs didn’t come out, he continued to be a supporter in the wing.”
The pair also formed their own duo, Simple Creatures, in 2019, and although they have been quite since, Mark is still close with Alex.
He added: “Mark’s a really good friend of mine now, and we’ve gone through a lot together. I don’t know that I really think about it, but if I zoom all the way out and think about our career and the way things have gone, yeah, I absolutely pinch myself. It is a dream come true for who I was when I started doing music, but now I just feel lucky to know the guy, because he’s a really good dude. Sometimes you can meet your heroes.”