When Landon Barker was offered a spot on The Voice, his dad, Travis Barker, didn’t think it was time to jump at the opportunity.
Instead, the Blink-182 drummer asked his 22-year-old son to consider what kind of artist he wants to be and whether the opportunity actually fits into that vision.
“My son called me the other day and he’s like, ‘Hey, they offered me to go on The Voice,’” Travis said during an Aug. 8 appearance on The New York Times’ Popcast. “And I was like, ‘Dude, you’re way too cool for that.’”
For Travis, the decision came down to authenticity. He encouraged Landon to look toward the musicians who have influenced him and consider whether they would have pursued the same route.
“You got to think about your idols,” he said. “If your idol is Kurt Cobain, would he ever do The Voice? No.”
This advice comes as Landon is pursuing his own musical career, aiming to establish himself as a singer and songwriter in his own right. Instead of just rushing into trying to capitalize on every available platform, Travis said his son should give himself time to develop the music he actually wants to make.
“I’m in the studio, I hear the songs that he’s creating,” Travis said. “There’s no rush, you know?”
That doesn’t mean Travis is against televised music opportunities across the board. The drummer has appeared on American Idol several times himself, a distinction he pointed out while acknowledging that his advice to Landon could sound contradictory.
“I’m different,” Travis said. “I’m doing fun sh– that’s just fun for me ’cause I’m a drummer and I’m not in the forefront. It’d be different if I was singing with all these people.”
In other words, Travis sees a difference between making a guest appearance as a member of a band and putting yourself into a competition designed to introduce a singer to a mass audience. For Landon, he wants the focus to remain on developing his own sound and identity. “Stay on your own trajectory,” Travis advised his son.
Landon has already had some notable moments in his young career, including joining The Fray on tour. Now, according to his father, there’s no reason to let the pressure to move quickly dictate what comes next.
Travis also reflected on how his own relationship with fame has changed over the years. He recalled once having a much more confrontational attitude toward paparazzi, admitting that he “used to almost get in fights with paparazzi” and “used to have a temper.”
“Nowadays, I’ve realized it’s just all noise,” he said.
His approach now is considerably simpler: “Be happy. Try not to harm anybody and just be a good person.”
Travis has spent decades navigating the music industry himself, from Blink-182’s late-1990s, early 2000s Billboard 200 dominance to the band’s return to No. 1 with California in 2016.
Watch Barker’s full Popcast interview below:
