Scott Raynor - Music Career

Music Career

Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus state that they recruited Raynor to the band that would become known as Blink-182. However, Raynor states that he and DeLonge formed the band, which Hoppus later joined.

I put 6 years into something I loved and not only is it stolen from me by people I thought were my friends, but I am left behind in the dust. I started that band with Tom. They even made some story about how DeLonge and Hoppus met and then recruited me, they are rewriting the books, it's weird. —Scott Raynor

DeLonge and Raynor began playing together in DeLonge's garage when they were in high school. In 1993 they recorded the band's first demo, Flyswatter, in Raynor's bedroom. Most of Flyswatter's tracks were re-recorded on their second demo, which was simply entitled Demo 2.

Their last demo, Buddha, was recorded at Double Time Studios in San Diego, California, and released by Filter Records. It was remastered and re-released in 1998 by Kung Fu Records. In 1993 the band began recording their album Cheshire Cat at Westbeach Recorders. Raynor did not sign the record contract with Cargo Music as he was still a minor at the time; Hoppus was the only member to sign. The album was finished and released in February 1994 on cassette, then released on CD in 1995 and remastered and re-released in 1998 by Cargo Music/Grilled Cheese Records.

In late 1994 they released a split called Short Bus with The Iconoclasts on Big Weenie Records. In 1995 the band released an EP called They Came to Conquer... Uranus on Cargo/Grilled Cheese. Blink-182 toured throughout 1995–1996 and followed up with the release of Dude Ranch in 1997 on Cargo/MCA. Raynor had broken both heels at the time and had to record the drum tracks for the album while on crutches. Hoppus and DeLonge fired Raynor in the middle of a 1998 tour, citing his alcohol abuse. He was replaced by Travis Barker.

I was contacted over the phone and asked to quit drinking. I asked for the weekend to think about it, I came back and agreed. They said, "too bad," and I don't really know why. —Scott Raynor commenting on being fired from Blink-182

In a 2004 interview Raynor stated he had played guitar for the band Death On Wednesday for a while but had since left and was now playing drums for a band called One Track Mind, as well as volunteering to teach music classes to homeless and street youth with the non-profit organization StandUp For Kids.