Editing Mark Hoppus (section)

====Early career====
[[File:Mark Hoppus, May 1994.jpg|thumb|upright|Hoppus at age 22 in 1994]]
After moving to [[San Diego]] in the summer of 1992, Hoppus was reunited with his sister Anne Hoppus, to whom he expressed his desire to be in a band.<ref name="halfnakedtruth"/> Anne attended [[Rancho Bernardo High School]], and had become friends with new student [[Tom DeLonge]] over the summer.<ref name="TalesFromBeneathYourMom"/> In August 1992, Anne introduced the two, and Hoppus and DeLonge immediately began performing music in DeLonge's garage.<ref name="halfnakedtruth"/> To impress DeLonge, Hoppus climbed to the top of a streetlight outside of DeLonge's home – however, he broke both ankles on the way down, resulting in being on crutches for the next few weeks.<ref name=p8-9>Hoppus, 2001. pp. 8–9</ref> DeLonge recalled the meeting in 2000: "When I first met Mark, we were running around naked, doing weird stuff. We were up skateboarding until late hours of the morning, antagonizing security guards, and we were just always having fun."<ref name="enemaofthestage">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/b/blink00/index.jhtml |title=Blink-182: Enema of the Stage |publisher=[[MTV News]] |access-date=June 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104195646/http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/b/blink00/index.jhtml |archive-date=November 4, 2012 }}</ref> DeLonge recruited old friend [[Scott Raynor]] from his days at [[Poway High School|Poway]] to become the drummer for the new band, named blink.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hochman |first1=Steve |title=Psst . . . Blink-182 Is Growing Up |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-may-30-ca-42373-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=May 30, 1999 |access-date=November 22, 2020}}</ref>

Hoppus and his girlfriend at this time lived in a basement apartment, barely scraping together funds to pay rent. With money in savings, Hoppus went out and bought his first professional equipment: a new amp and bass cabinet. He came home and his girlfriend proceeded to argue with him, angry that he spent money on something they did not need. "I just kept telling her that this was what mattered to me, this was my life," Hoppus recalled. She demanded he make a choice between the band and her, which resulted in Hoppus leaving the band shortly after formation.<ref name=p13-15>Hoppus, 2001. pp. 13–15</ref> Shortly thereafter, DeLonge told Hoppus he had borrowed a [[Multitrack recording|four track recorder]] from a friend and was preparing to record a [[Demo (music)|demo tape]], which prompted Hoppus to break up with his girlfriend and return to the band. ''Flyswatter''—a combination of original songs and punk covers—was recorded in Raynor's bedroom and landed the band their first shows.<ref name=p16>Hoppus, 2001. p. 16</ref> Three more demos were recorded over the course of 1993 and the band began performing its irreverent live show at local all-ages venue SOMA, which alerted local independent label [[Cargo Music]].<ref name=p245>Hoppus, 2001. p.&nbsp;24–25</ref> Cargo signed the band on a trial basis, and 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> During this time, Hoppus lived at home in San Diego at his mother's, where the band would prepare cassette demos and the entire family would fold cassette inserts. Raynor, whose parents moved to [[Reno]], [[Nevada]], stayed with Hoppus in summer 1994.<ref name=p28>Hoppus, 2001. p. 28</ref>

Blink's first album, ''[[Cheshire Cat (blink-182 album)|Cheshire Cat]]'' (1995), was a strong seller for the independent band and would come to be regarded as iconic within the [[skate punk]] scene.<ref name="MTV influence"/> In 1995, the band signed on for their first national tour, which extended as far as the East Coast. The band purchased their own tour van and embarked on the GoodTimes tour with Unwritten Law, [[Sprung Monkey]] and [[7 Seconds (band)|7 Seconds]].<ref name=p44>Hoppus, 2001. p. 44</ref> The band slowly built a young, devoted following with indie recordings and an endless series of performances and various clubs and festivals.<ref name=rsency>Romanowski, Patricia. George-Warren, Holly. Pareles, Jon. (2001). ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Revised and Updated for the 21st Century)''. New York: Touchstone, 1136 pp. First edition, 2001.</ref> MCA Records signed the band in 1996 and would co-distribute their next release, the sophomore effort ''[[Dude Ranch (album)|Dude Ranch]]''. Hoppus penned the record's lead single, "[[Dammit]]", which became a nationwide rock radio hit single as the band toured on the Vans Warped Tour.<ref name=p70>Hoppus, 2001. p. 70</ref><ref name=billboard>{{cite magazine| date =January 24, 1998| title =Blink 182 Propelled By Cargo's Vision|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| volume =110 | issue = 4|pages=11, 100 | publisher =[[Prometheus Global Media]]| location =New York City| issn =0006-2510| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=nA0EAAAAMBAJ&q=blink+billboard+1998&pg=PA98 | access-date =December 16, 2012}}</ref>