Music, tattoos and cars will blend at Musink festival
Travis Barker’s love of music, tattoos and cars has been a force behind the Musink festival, and he believes this year’s event will top the rest.
For the past couple years, the Blink-182 drummer has performed and been part of the organizing committee for the annual, three-day event in Costa Mesa, which features musical performances, more than 500 tattoo artists and nearly 20 classic cars and lowriders on display. This year he joins Transplants and Yelawolf onstage.
The ninth annual three-day show, taking place March 4 to 6 at the Orange County fairgrounds, will be headlined by Snoop Dogg, Deftones and Circa Survive, which is a lineup that makes Barker proud.
“Every year is, I guess, a challenge to outdo ourselves, and our first priority is to create a really cool event,” said the 40-year-old Los Angeles resident, who began overseeing the event with Bill Hardie, John Reese and Sean Akhavan in 2014.
“I hold creating the music part of this event very dearly to my heart. Having artists like Snoop Dogg, Taking Back Sunday, Face to Face, Atreyu and Circa Survive on the bill is really awesome. I feel like every year it just keeps getting better.”
In particular, Barker, who once worked as a garbage collector in Laguna Beach and played in Orange County ska superhero band The Aquabats under the nickname Baron von Tito, said he is especially excited to have Snoop Dogg on the lineup.
In past years, Musink, a primarily rock music event, has had hip-hop artists like Tech N9ne and Rittz, but Barker said having Snoop Dogg brings it up to a whole new level.
“Every year, we have some type of hip-hop act because the tattoo community isn’t just one type of person,” noted Barker, who said 70% of his body is covered in ink. “A lot of people in different music genres and lifestyles get tattoos. I feel like tattoo festivals have generally stayed away from hip-hop.
“I grew up loving hip-hop just as much as I loved punk rock or metal. Having Snoop a part of it, whose lifestyle also encompasses Musink’s lifestyle with tattoos, cars and music, is just really cool and one of the highlights for me.”
Transplants, which has Barker on drums and is fronted by Tim Armstrong of Rancid and Operation Ivy, will open for Snoop Dogg on Friday along with Yelawolf, which will feature Barker on drums.
Deftones, an alternative metal group made popular by songs like “Change (In the House of Flies),” will headline Saturday, with openers Taking Back Sunday and Plague Vendor.
Barker said he’s been wanting Deftones to play Musink and is glad they found time to finally participate, especially with their new album, “Gore,” coming out in April.
“This is a festival that we would always be excited to do,” said Deftones bassist Sergio Vega. “It’s awesome that we actually have a chance to do it now with our album coming out. It’s going to be really killer.”
John Nolan of rock outfit Taking Back Sunday said the event should combine, in a beneficial way, the different followers of his band and Deftones.
“With something like this, there are probably going to be more people who are not aware of the band or haven’t seen us play before,” he said of Taking Back Sunday, which arguably had its hey-day during the emo music days of the early 2000s. “There’s a little bit of that challenge to win people over and get their attention. That’s something that’s pretty enjoyable for us right now. It makes for a different kind of feeling for the show.”
Circa Survive will headline Sunday, along with openers Atreyu and Face to Face.
Barker said that because he’s only playing on the first night — last year, he pulled double duty playing with Yelawolf and Blink-182 on the festival’s last night — he’s looking to get more tattoos on Saturday and Sunday.
More than 500 tattoo artists from all over the world will fill the convention hall. Fans are encouraged to book appointments ahead of time by contacting the individual artists.
One of the artists Barker said he’s most excited about is Corey Miller, who has been tattooing at Musink since the first festival in 2008.
“It’s a show that I always enjoy, just being a musician myself as well as a tattoo artist,” said Miller, who was featured on the reality TV show “LA Ink” with Kat Von D, who founded Musink in 2008. “It’s the ultimate combination of really cool bands and artwork. When people like Bill and Travis, who is covered in tattoos, get involved with something like this, they’re not doing it for the business. They’re doing it for the love of the art and the love of the music.”
Ticket prices for admission to the concerts and tattoo hall range from $45 for one-day passes to $319 for VIP three-day passes. Admission into the car show, which will feature 16 American classics and lowriders, is included. A car from Barker’s own collection will also be on display.
For the first time this year, fans will also have the option to purchase separate tickets for the tattoo convention. Those tickets will be $25 for individual days or $60 for a three-day pass.
“The music part of it is definitely amazing, but there are also like 500 tattoo artists all under the same roof who aren’t always in California,” Barker said. “Some people are just going to the tattoo part of the event and some people who don’t get tattoos can buy tickets just to see whatever musical act they’re interested in going to check out.”