

Cargo was at the heart of San Diego's music scene, which was not particularly thriving but still produced several skate punk acts. The three eventually were playing concerts at local venues such as SOMA, which alerted local independent record label Cargo Music.

San Diego-based trio Blink-182, formed in 1992, first promoted itself by recording low-fi demos to distribute to local record stores and at concerts. Cheshire Cat is cited by bands and fans as an iconic release, and has sold over 250,000 copies as of 2001.īlink at The Gorilla Pit in October 1993. The band toured in support of the album vigorously, most notably on the GoodTimes Tour in 1995, which brought them outside of California for the first time. " M+M's" and "Wasting Time" were released as singles to promote the album, and received popularity locally through radio play. Released during the breakthrough year for punk rock in California, the album brought the band great success in and outside of the San Diego skate punk scene. The album was originally released with the band's name as Blink, until an Irish band of the same name threatened legal action, after which the band appended "-182" to the end of their name. As such, the band spent an additional week re-recording several tracks at Santee, California's Doubletime Studios. Producer Steve Kravac engineered the recording and advised the trio to record additional overdubs. In addition, their reputation as an irreverent local live act at venues such as SOMA alerted the label, who was seeking to expand into different genres.ĭue to budget constraints the album was recorded quickly with producer Otis Barthoulameu at Westbeach Recorders in Los Angeles, California.

The trio, composed of guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor, formed in 1992 and recorded three demos that impressed the San Diego-based Cargo label. Cheshire Cat is the debut studio album by American rock band Blink-182, released on February 17, 1995, by Cargo Music.
