Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge And Pearl Jam: Guitarist Helped Eddie Vedder’s Band

Erstwhile Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge disclosed how he helped Eddie Vedder’s grunge greats Pearl Jam on the recent Ernie Ball: The Pursuit of Tone documentary starring the famed “All the Small Things” singer.

The special episode of the AT&T series focused on Tom DeLonge’s various multimedia projects and the rock star’s business success outside of Blink-182. Behind the scenes, DeLonge has been building an impressive direct-to-fan empire for the last 20 years. Tom’s Modlife software platform supplied e-commerce technology to artists such as Pearl Jam, the White Stripes, Nine Inch Nails, and Kanye West.

Blink-182's Tom DeLonge Reveals How He Helped Pearl Jam https://t.co/R0taCabMZG pic.twitter.com/VW29nzPiOK

— Alternative Nation (@AltNationNet) August 26, 2016

As reported by Alternative Nation, Tom DeLonge’s Pearl Jam-assisting Modlife platform enabled the longtime Seattle band to bypass traditional commerce channels when selling concert tickets. This was just one facet of Tom’s company Modlife — DeLonge’s media business covered all aspects of selling music directly to an audience.

Fans of Pearl Jam may recall the legendary “Jeremy” rockers’ longtime battle against entertainment corporation Ticketmaster. Throughout the ’90s, Eddie Vedder and his bandmates waged war against the ticketing behemoth’s questionable business practices and exorbitant service fees. Tom’s customizable Modlife software helped Pearl Jam market their tours and sell tickets directly to the band’s fan base.

“We built a platform called Modlife that would help monetize the arts. We were supplying the technology to Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye, and White Stripes to give them the ability to do fan clubs, pay per view events, and all of that stuff.”

Modlife isn’t the end of Tom DeLonge’s business interests. Early in Blink’s career, Tom started Loserkids.com, one of the first substantial outposts of culture and commerce in the dawning Web 2.0 landscape. DeLonge also started clothing line Atticus and founded Macbeth Footwear around the same time. Tom’s businesses operate under his parent company, Really Likeable People, established by DeLonge and Jon Humphrey in 2001.

Tom’s main focus now is his multimedia company, To the Stars, the Blink-182 songwriter’s artistic conglomeration of music, film, and literature. To the Stars releases music from DeLonge’s current band, Angels & Airwaves, and publishes tomes like Tom’s latest literary foray, the science fiction book Sekret Machines Book 1: Chasing Shadows.

In Tom’s Pursuit of Tone special, he discussed his satisfaction in cutting out the middleman and selling his art directly to consumers. As evidenced by a 2014 Fast Company feature on DeLonge’s businesses, the musician and author questions even mainstream music-streaming services’ benefit to fans, saying that third-party corporations “are stealing from them.”

“People need to rethink what streaming is doing for them.”

The Inquisitr previously covered DeLonge’s Pursuit of Tone spotlight. In the 90-minute special episode, Tom discussed his musical upbringing and shed light on the songwriting process behind Blink-182’s “Stay Together for the Kids” and Angels & Airwaves’ “The Adventure.” The documentary aired Friday, August 19, on Audience Music and is currently available online to DirecTV subscribers at www.directv.com.

As reported earlier by the Inquisitr, Tom DeLonge left Blink-182 last year. The former co-frontman was replaced by Alkaline Trio musician Matt Skiba. The new Blink-182 band released their comeback album California in July and is currently promoting the record on a lengthy U.S. tour.

Will Tom ever return to Blink-182? Band members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker appear to be doing fine without the former guitarist — Blink hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with their new LP last month.

What do you think of Tom DeLonge’s business acumen? Were you aware of the former Blink-182 guitarist’s multimedia concerns and industry history with Pearl Jam? Have you heard Blink-182’s latest album, California, or read Tom’s recent book, Sekret Machines? Let us know your take on Tom’s Blink-182 legacy in the comments below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS91knuzoOA

[Photos by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images & John Sciulli/Getty Images for WIRED]