Editing Cheshire Cat (Blink-182 album) (section)

==Background==
[[File:Blink-182 at the Gorilla Pit in October 1993.jpg|thumb|Blink at the Gorilla Pit in 1993]]
San Diego–based trio Blink-182, formed in 1992, first promoted itself by recording [[Lo-fi music|low-fi]] demos to distribute to local record stores and at concerts.<ref name=p245>Hoppus, 2001. p.&nbsp;24–25</ref> The three eventually were playing concerts at local venues such as SOMA, which alerted local independent record label [[Cargo Music]].<ref name="p29"/> Cargo was at the heart of San Diego's music scene, which was not particularly thriving but still produced several [[skate punk]] acts.<ref name=shooman1819>Shooman, 2010. p.&nbsp;18–19</ref>  Pat Secor, who funded the trio's demo ''[[Buddha (album)|Buddha]]'' and was the former boss of Hoppus, pulled for Blink's move to Cargo through a roommate who knew Cargo executives.<ref name=shooman2122>Shooman, 2010. p.&nbsp;21–22</ref> [[Otis Barthoulameu]], guitarist of local Cargo Music-signed act [[Fluf]], saw potential in the young band and pushed them from the beginning. Eric Goodis, president of Cargo, wanted to diversify the label by incorporating different styles of music.<ref name="p29"/> His son, Brahm Goodis, thought Blink and their style of Southern California punk fit the bill and encouraged his father to listen to a tape. Together, Barthoulameu and Brahm Goodis convinced Eric Goodis to attend a live performance of the band.<ref name=p29>Hoppus, 2001. p. 29</ref>

Goodis invited the three musicians into his office and made the band an offer: he wanted to "start small" by releasing a [[Single (music)|7-inch]] with the band.<ref name="p30"/> Blink were more interested in pursuing a full-length release; they had already saved money for a budget and made arrangements with a friend from a local band to record and release one on their own.<ref name="p30"/> Upon knowledge of this information, Goodis withdrew his original offer and signed the band on a trial basis. Hoppus was the only member to sign the contract, as DeLonge was at work at the time and Raynor was still a [[Minor (law)|minor]].<ref name=p30>Hoppus, 2001. p. 30</ref> DeLonge has said that Goodis did not favor the band, and invented the Grilled Cheese imprint of Cargo in order to keep them away from the main label.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/sd-et-music-delonge-book-20170227-story.html |title=Tom DeLonge aims beyond this world with his post-blink-182 books and movie |work=[[San Diego Union Tribune]] |author=George Varga |date=March 4, 2017 |access-date=March 6, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306210725/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/sd-et-music-delonge-book-20170227-story.html |archive-date=March 6, 2017 }}</ref> The ''Cheshire Cat'' sessions were to be the last performance with the band for Raynor, whose family had moved to [[Reno, Nevada]]. Raynor stayed with his sister for the summer of 1994 in order to rehearse for the recording of their debut album. The band rehearsed in DeLonge's garage, where they wrote "M+M's".<ref name=shooman24>Shooman, 2010. p. 24</ref>