Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician and record producer. Hoppus is one of the founding members of the pop punk band Blink-182 and the alternative rock band +44. He plays bass guitar and provides vocals for both bands. As of late, Hoppus has produced albums for groups like Idiot Pilot, New Found Glory, The Matches, and Motion City Soundtrack. He is known for his lower voice and, in Blink-182, usually sings either lead or provides harmony and backing vocals for fellow singer Tom DeLonge. He is also known for his concern over the environment and global warming.
Biography
Mark Hoppus was born in Ridgecrest, California on March 15, 1972. At the age of 15, Hoppus received his first bass guitar as a gift from his father and earned money for a set of amplifiers by helping him paint his garage. Hoppus never took bass lessons, instead he taught himself by playing to bands such as the Descendents, The Cure, and Bad Religion. Hoppus played by himself and sang in the band Pier 69, primarily covering songs by The Cure. He also played in a band called The Attic Children in 1988, during this time he lived in Washington D.C. He later moved to San Diego, where his sister Anne (now Anne McMurray) introduced him to Tom DeLonge in August 1992. DeLonge was a friend of Anne's at the time, and constantly complained about wanting to join a band. When Hoppus first went over to DeLonge's house, he was told DeLonge would be at the local skate park. Hoppus went over and found DeLonge skateboarding with his friends. Hoppus wanted to impress DeLonge, so he climbed on a lamp post, jumped off and cracked both ankles and heels and was on crutches for three weeks. He then started playing with DeLonge in his garage and they recruited original drummer, Scott Raynor. They went on to form Blink-182. In 1998, Travis Barker joined the band during a tour in California. Blink-182 went on to record many more albums which made the band very successful. The band recorded two number one hits, "All the Small Things" and "I Miss You". After Blink-182 went on an indefinite hiatus in 2005, Hoppus wanted to continue to write and play music so he started +44, with fellow Blink-182 band mate Travis Barker. In 2006, they released their first album entitled When Your Heart Stops Beating. The band have recently signed a deal with Interscope Records and are currently in production of their second studio album.When asked about a possible Blink-182 reunion, Hoppus usually replied with "I don't know. Ten years ago I would never guess that I would be where I am now, I can't guess where I'll be ten years from now." On February 8, 2009, Blink-182 reunited for the first time in four years to present at The Grammys, at which Hoppus proudly said "Blink-182 is back!"
Blink-182 subsequently mounted a nationwide tour during the summer, and are already working on material for a new album as well as a possible European tour in 2010. Although Hoppus still carries his work loads as a producer and duties to +44, he has stated that Blink-182 will be his main priority.
Personal life
Hoppus married Skye Everly in 2000 after meeting on the set of Blink-182's "All the Small Things" video shoot. Two years later, Skye gave birth to their son, Jack Hoppus on August 5, 2002. The three currently reside in Los Angeles, California.Equipment
Hoppus has been seen using his signature Fender Mark Hoppus Jazz Bass in a variety of different colors since the days of Blink-182. Though considered to be a Precision Bass, Hoppus's signature consists of a Jazz Bass body with a Precision Bass neck and pickup. Recently, Hoppus's signature underwent a slight modification: the bodies are now made of Ash instead of Alder, making the bass lighter. The pickup locations were also switched from their usual positions: they were placed under the E and A strings was also placed under the D and G strings and moved above the original position, placed higher than the pickup under the E and A strings, giving the D and G bass strings a warmer, thicker bass sound. The pickups Hoppus uses are Seymour Duncan Quarter-Pound pickups, the same as is on the Fender Precision Bass. The current colors of his +44 touring basses include Olympic White, Sunburst and See-Through Blond all coupled with a tortoise shell pickguard. During Blink-182 first live performance his signature bass colour changes to white. Besides his signature basses, Hoppus was seen using one other bass guitar live on stage: the six-stringed Fender Bass VI, most notably for the song "I Miss You". Mark also uses Fender Precision Bass which was first seen in Dammit, What's My Age Again?, and All The Small Things His later P-Bass like his signature bass has only one volume knob. His P-Bass last appearance was in the video Stay Together For The Kids with a Sunburst Colour and White Pickguard.His Sunburst P-Bass was also seen again with Mark recording (+44)'s second studio album. Prior to the use of Fender Basses, Hoppus heavily used Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray basses in various colors during the early days of Blink-182 up until the early Enema of the State period.For live sound, Hoppus plugs his basses into three Ampeg SVT Classic bass heads running into two Ampeg 8x10 SVT bass cabs. Prior to the use of the all-tube SVT Classic heads, Hoppus used two Ampeg SVT-4 Pro heads which only feature a tube preamp.
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