Testing Travis Barker’s Music Knowledge

- Before we start with the music, just introduce yourself. - What's up, I'm Travis Barker. - How you doing? - I'm great, how are you? - We're in the Big Apple right now. - I love it. - All right, I'm gonna play you some songs, you have to tell me who the artist is. ♪ I've been had a little horsey named Paul Revere ♪ - Beastie Boys, they raised me, Beastie Boys raised me. They taught me how to dress, they taught me about Elvis Costello, they taught me about punk rock, skateboarding, hip hop, drum machines, everything. - I feel like they're at the center of what you do. They have the hip hop DNA, they have the hardcore DNA, they're rock stars. - I always felt like I was like the lost Beastie Boy, born at a different time than them, but I just adore everything they've ever done. - One for one. ♪ Beat on the front, beat on the front ♪ - Ramones. - Yep. - One of the best punk rock bands ever. - Some people say that that's, they're the OGs. - I mean, it was like poppy, but it was like fast to the point where his right hand was gonna fall off. They were playing so fast. I always say like the Ramones sometimes were playing at the peak of probably everyone's skill level, and that's why it sounded so fucking good. It was like almost a loose train. And it was also so much fun. There was so much melody, right? There was other bands that were out at the time that were more aggressive. - In the DNA of Blink-182 is like 100% pop melody, play it hard, play it fast, play it loud. - I don't think you can be associated with punk rock or pop punk and not say you weren't inspired by the Ramones. - Two for two. - I played drums for hours to Van Halen Records. One of the best bands ever. One of the best guitar players ever. One of my favorite drummers ever. One of my first concerts. Eddie Van Halen's guitar, the crazy red, black and white one, I actually made a drum kit after it. Eddie was really protective about it, so I was hoping he wasn't gonna get pissed off that I made a drum kit like that, but I think he thought it was cool from what I hear. - There's a story that he was like in a record store. What did he do, Beat It? He did the solo on Beat It. And that was like playing there, and some kids in the store were like, this guy's trying to do an imitation of Eddie Van Halen. And he was like, that is me. And they were like, oh. - I heard he rearranged it. - He rearranged the song too. I already helped with the arrangement. Such a legend. - So fire. Did you grow up on MTV? - I did. It taught me everything. It was like Yo MTV Raps, Headbangers Ball, 120 Minutes if you're watching Alternative. I guess it's like YouTube now, right? But it was a little more curated then. - There was a period where it was just so important, the music video, the storytelling around the music videos. And you guys were in the peak of that era too, where it was like, okay, we have these amazing songs, but let's go out the box and do something really, express our personalities in a whole other way. On this side, I remember watching those music videos and being obsessed. You guys were running around naked. - Yeah. ♪ I took her out ♪ ♪ It was a Friday night ♪ ♪ I walk alone ♪ - Also very young, I would say, it was our first release on a major label. And we were like, sure, we'll do that. Yeah, we'll do it. We didn't really know we could say no, but it was also fun and just, I like not overthinking much. - What do we got next? - Led Zeppelin, yeah. One of the best to ever do it. - Tell me about the drums. - The bottom, just nasty. One of the nastiest, best feeling drummers ever, best drum solos, best feel. No one really compares. - Do you like all Led Zeppelin or is there- - I think like when I discovered Led Zeppelin, it was like, first it was Animal from the Muppets. That's what like drew me into drumming. Then Buddy Rich. Then I'd see like Tommy Lee. I discovered Alex Van Halen. And then I bought the box set of Led Zeppelin. And I listened to every record because I was just trying to figure out, emulate what he was doing. Same thing with Neil Peart. There was these drummers you had to listen to and you had to check out if you're gonna play drums. - You were always playing along? - Always. If it was like Paul's Boutique or it was a Minor Threat album or whatever my sisters were listening to. The biggest one was to skate in my neighborhood at the older kids' skate ramp. They would kind of say like, the only way you could come skate our ramp is you learn Injustice For All Metallica from front to back. So I'd go home and I'd learn those records. I had all these cool things around me that really shaped who I am and my drumming and what I sounded like. ♪ I got a small friend who has a bad friend ♪ ♪ Who has a big friend ♪ - Yes, the Aquabats. One of the coolest bands ever I've been in. Like no style was off limits. We were inspired by Devo. We were inspired by The Specials. We were inspired by absolutely everything. It was really fun. - You have a documentary that's coming out that's about your whole life? - I do. - 'Cause your career like has just been insane. Like you've touched so many different things. - Musically I've been able to weave in and out of genres and play with some of my favorite artists and not be like, be boxed in, which is, I think a musician's dream. - Oh, that's country, hip hop, rock, punk rock, like whatever, like. - Yeah. I was on Country Music Awards with, you know, a huge Mohawk and I remember they told me, "Can you change your shirt?" 'Cause I was wearing a shirt, I think that said fucking awesome. - By the way, it's surprising you were wearing a shirt. - Yeah, totally. I think, I think that was one of the things that he can play it, but he's gotta wear a shirt. ♪ Well I bet you I'm gonna be a big star ♪ - But yeah, music is amazing. And the places it's taken me are just, I'm so grateful. Descendants? - Here, we'll get a little vocal in there. ♪ My wife ♪ - Black Flag. - Yes. - You know what, it's so weird because sometimes, you know, Bill Stevenson, who was in Black Flag, was also in the Descendants. - Yeah. - So sometimes the beginning of songs sound like the Descendants, but same part of the rhythm section, right? - I was gonna play, I was gonna play this for you too. ♪ I'm the one ♪ ♪ I've been here ♪ ♪ For you all my life ♪ - Dude, one of the best songs ever. - What is it about the Descendants that is? - To me, they kind of picked up where the Ramones left off, where I was into more aggressive stuff, but I was also into Gorilla Biscuits, Dag Nasty, where it was melodic still, but Descendants, it was like songs about girls, songs about not being a loser, songs about food. It spoke to me, especially, I think, right around the age I started listening to it. I have a Descendants tattoo, I have an All tattoo. Love Bill Stevenson, love everything he's done. Descendants changed my life. - Last song, I gotta pick a good one. Let's go heavy. ♪ Drop dead purgatory ♪ ♪ I love it ♪ - Slayer. - Yeah. - The best. That was a band that I listened to since I was young, and it was one of those bands that kind of scares you, but you like it. Just the greatest metal band of all time. There's no one I like more than Slayer. - What is it that like resonates with you about that type of music like that? - I think the aggression, like going to skate and listening to that was awesome. Driving a car and listening to that was awesome. Riding a bike and listening to that was awesome. I grew up learning jazz and reading charts. So the one thing my drum instructor when I was a kid wouldn't teach me is rock music or metal music. So it was my job to turn on Slayer Rain In Blood and learn that shit, you know? Or Metallica or King Diamond. And that was some of my favorite hours spent in my room playing drums. - I have to do one more. - Buddy Rick? - Yeah. - Animal introduced me to Buddy Rick. There's like just enough flash to where if you're not a drummer, you're entertained. And then if you're a drummer and you understand everything he's doing, all the crossovers, all the rudiments, no one still comes close to touching Buddy Rick. And he's inspired generations to come. I'm not just a jazz drummer and I'm so inspired by Buddy Rick. - There's not that many musicians or bands or artists or whatever where the drums really get, really in the front. I feel like in a lot of your projects, it's up there. And with him, it's like that's what's, that's the thing that's clicking with you. - Yeah, it's called the Buddy Rick band for a reason. - I mean, of course, when he's in his band, there's that clip where he's like yelling at them on the bus, like yelling. - Yeah. One of my best friends used to play drums for Prince, rest in peace. And he would always tell me after a Prince show, you would go in the bus and he would review the show and he'd kind of tell everyone what you could do better, what they need to change. And then you'd go play an after hours show for a few hours. - Yeah, that's what you got to do. - Yeah. It's gotta be a combination of having fun and also playing great and performing well, you know? Thank you so much, man. Pleasure. Great to meet you.