Origins (2002)
Conceived by Blink-182 guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker, the band was formed during a break from touring for Blink-182. A European tour for Blink-182 in winter 2001 was delayed in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and rescheduled dates in early 2002 were also canceled due to DeLonge's back problems. According to interviews, Box Car Racer grew "out of boredom" and, according to DeLonge, "is just for fun in the few days we have off from our real jobs". The idea began with DeLonge playing acoustic guitar during recording sessions for Blink-182’s 2001 album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket and grew from there.
The band was originally supposed to be named "The Kill" and the cd was to be titled Et Tu, Brute. The name of the band, Box Car Racer, was originally the name of a band Barker was in shortly after high school. DeLonge liked the name, but was uneasy after learning the origin: the term was a reference to the B-29 Bomber which dropped the second wartime atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan – the plane’s name was "Bockscar". The plane’s name was commonly misspelled as "Boxcar", and, due to Barker’s desire for the band name to be three words, was spelled out as Box Car Racer.
The band began recording their first and only album in December 2001. Jerry Finn, longtime producer of Blink-182, was hired to produce the album. The band soon turned to be an outlet for DeLonge’s lyrics that were not "Blink-friendly" – e.g., fast-paced, goofy pop punk. Instead, the band’s material was promised to be a tribute to DeLonge’s post-hardcore influences, such as Jawbox, Quicksand, Fugazi and Refused. According to DeLonge in interviews, the album’s recording sessions were difficult for him because of constant back problems. The depression that came from being in constant pain influenced the lyrics of the album largely.
With DeLonge playing bass for the album, a bassist went unannounced until the band made their live debut with touring bassist Anthony Celestino on April 1, 2002. They continued with a string of live shows in California until Blink-182 set out on tour with Green Day and Jimmy Eat World for the Pop Disaster Tour on April 17.
Read more about this topic: Boxcarracer, History
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
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Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)