How I talked to Mark Hoppus (And why it's important)

I've had Blink on the brain for the last few weeks. Last week I went to a show at SPAC with my lovely girlfriend and saw Blink-182 with My Chemical Romance. Even though they confessed Tom was sick and Travis was very very cold, it was a great show and I had a lot of fun. I've been gearing up for the release of Neighborhoods by listening to all the older music, and reading some early reviews and such. But this summer I got an awesome and very unique opportunity to get excited about the new release.

I spoke with Mark Hoppus himself.

Yeah this guy right here.

So yes, little old nerdy RPI student me, got to chat with Mark Hoppus, the bassist for one of the greatest alt-punk-rock bands of all time, Blink-182.

I was able to do this because I got into Google+ pretty early this summer, and while I was mostly alone except for a few friends who also got into the beta early, there were quite a few musicians actors and whatnot to follow and add to my circles. I thought Google+ was pretty cool, I liked how I could add famous people and see thier posts and comment on them as if I was their friend. I even got lucky and a few higher ups on the notability scale (at least my scale) added me to their circles as well. (I won't brag) (Ok yes I will, Hilary Goldstien (former editor at IGN) and David Vonderhaar (Treyarch) both follow me on Google+ Sweet!)

But anyway, soon after "Up After Midnight" the first single from Neighborhoods was released, Mark began creating open hangouts on Google+. For those of you not familiar with Google+ "hangouts" are basically a big Skype call, where 10 people all get in a room and when you speak you get the big main screen, otherwise you are a smaller box on the bottom. After seeing Mark start a few, but not getting into them in time, and announcing he would be doing another later that night, I patiently waited at the G+ homepage, pressing F5 over and over hoping for that elusive not full hangout. As I sat watching The Wire, tapping F5 about a million times, all of a sudden there it was: "Mark Hoppus started a hangout." I immediatly pressed the join button, and clicked as fast as I could through the settings popup, and then there I was. Face to face with one of my Rock Idols, Mark Hoppus... and 8 other random dudes.

Mark looked tired, but was as friendly as I would have imagined 1/3 of the crudest and funniest alternative band to be. We all got to ask a few questions, I asked about what the new album would resemble, the more serious Blink-182, or the silly happy Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. Some people talked a lot, some just sat and watched (a little creepily) but at least no one took out their junk. (Google users are a little more tasteful I suppose from those on Chat Roulette.) Towards the end I told Mark that I wish I had thought of some awesome question to ask him, but I felt more like I was gonna pass out and soil myself. He laughed and said he'll take that as a compliment. I don't know if he got that I was kidding, or just thought I was a weirdo, but I like to think he got it. I then told him I thought it was really cool that he did this, chatting with his fans in a way that didn't use to be possible. Sitting in a hotel room, at 10:00pm, a rock star who is across the country can chat with me, a college student with no money to get VIP tickets or something of the like. That is awesome.

So a little while later Mark proclaimed that he was going to bed, and said goodnight. As fast as it happened it was over, and I was shaking with adrenaline and joy. It was a once in a lifetime experience to me, but for Mark Hoppus it was just a Monday night. And that really shows the power of current social networks and their possibilities. Anyone could set up a hangout and chat with a few of their fans lucky enough to click the link. Politicians, hell, Obama could  start up a chat and answer a few questions from some normal people and get some feedback they may, or may not like to hear. We are not living in a time where communicating with someone takes days or even minutes to do, it's instant, and the world just got a little smaller. I wish more famous people, politicians, artists whoever embraced the idea of chatting and letting people get these cool unique interactions with them that weren't possible before.

But that's it. While unfortunately it seems Google+ will never really gain much steam, I will always look at it favorably for giving me a chance to chat with a personal idol. It was a really cool experience that won't soon be replicated, but maybe if more artists find the heart and time, you could chat with someone you look up to.