text: buddha ( album ) buddha is the third demo by the american rock band blink - 182 . recorded and released in january 1994 under the name blink , it was the band 's first recording to be sold and distributed . blink - 182 was formed in poway , california , a suburb outside of san diego , in august 1992 . guitarist tom delonge and mark hoppus were introduced to one another by hoppus ' sister . the duo recruited drummer scott raynor and began to practice together in his bedroom , spending hours together writing music , attending punk shows and movies and playing practical jokes . the band had recorded two previous demos in raynor 's bedroom — flyswatter and demo no.2 — using a four track recorder . most of the tracks from the demo were re - recorded for their debut album cheshire cat . pat secor , hoppus ' boss at music store the wherehouse , was attempting to start his own record label , named filter records . secor pulled money from his savings and helped finance and produce the demo recording . buddha was recorded live at local santee studio doubletime , compiling a collection that represented nearly all of the songs the band had written up to that point . hoppus and friends cam jones and kerry key created the cassette artwork , and the original cassette packaging was compiled by the band and hoppus ' family . locally distributed to several san diego record stores and available for purchase at early concerts , buddha helped the trio cement an audience and was a deciding factor in their signing to local label cargo in 1993 . the recording became the subject of a legal dispute between the band and secor in later years . the band accused secor of selling the tape without paying royalties , and attempted to put a stop to his distribution with help of lawyer joe escalante of the vandals , who also owned independent record label kung fu records . kung fu digitally remixed and remastered the demo and commercially re - released it in october 1998 , deleting two original tracks for other recordings from the original session . kung fu has since reportedly sold 300 , 000 copies of buddha . it is currently the only commercially available demo by blink - 182 . background blink - 182 was formed in poway , california , a suburb outside of san diego , in august 1992 . after mark hoppus graduated from high school in ridgecrest , he relocated to san diego to work at a record store and attend college . tom delonge was kicked out of poway high for attending a basketball game drunk and was forced to attend another local school for one semester . at rancho bernardo high school , he befriended kerry key , also interested in punk music . key 's girlfriend , anne hoppus , introduced her brother mark to delonge on august 2 , 1992 . the two clicked instantly and played for hours in delonge 's garage , exchanging lyrics and co - writing songs — one of which became " carousel " . delonge recruited friend scott raynor for drums , whom he met at a rancho battle of the bands competition . raynor was by far the youngest member of the trio at 14 , and his event account differs significantly : he claims he and delonge formed the group after meeting at the battle of the bands and worked through a variety of bassists before meeting hoppus . the trio began to practice together in raynor 's bedroom , spending hours together writing music , attending punk shows and movies , and playing practical jokes . hoppus and delonge would alternate singing vocal parts . the trio first operated under a variety of names , including duck tape and figure 8 , until delonge rechristened the band " blink " . hoppus ' girlfriend was angered by her boyfriend 's constant attention for the band and demanded him to make a choice between the band and her , which resulted in hoppus leaving the band shortly after formation . shortly thereafter , delonge and raynor borrowed a four track recorder from friend and collaborator cam jones and were preparing to record a demo tape , with jones on bass . hoppus promptly broke up with his girlfriend and returned to the band . flyswatter — a combination of original songs and punk covers — was recorded in raynor 's bedroom in may 1993 . southern california had a large punk population in the early 1990s , aided by an avid surfing , skating and snowboarding scene . in contrast to east coast punk music , the west coast wave of groups , blink included , typically introduced more melodic aspects to their music . " new york is gloomy , dark and cold . it makes different music . the californian middle - class suburbs have nothing to be that bummed about , " said delonge . san diego at this time was " hardly a hotbed of [ musical ] activity " , but the band 's popularity grew as did california punk rock concurrently in the mainstream . the band 's first performance was at a local high school during lunch , and soon the trio graduated to san diego 's spirit club and influential local shop alley kat records . delonge called clubs constantly in san diego asking for a spot to play , as well as calling up local high schools convincing them that blink was a " motivational band with a strong anti - drug message " in hopes to play at an assembly or lunch . the band soon became part of a circuit that also included the likes of ten foot pole and unwritten law , and they found their way onto the bill as the opening band for local acts at soma , a local all - ages venue which they longed to headline . the band 's equipment was piled into a blue station wagon for touring purposes and they first began to play shows outside san diego . recording and production buddha was financed by pat secor , hoppus ' boss at wherehouse music in san diego . secor was wanting to start his own record label and offered to help pay for costs . " he was like , hey , i 'll front you the money , and we 'll split the profits until you pay me back , " recalled hoppus in 2001 . the two had met when secor transferred from a north san diego location . the two became friends quickly , despite secor 's seniority of post . " at that point they 'd played around enough to get their chops up so i took all the money i had in savings and we went into the studio for two days , " said secor . the recording sessions at doubletime studios in santee , california took place in january 1994 , and were scheduled around work and school commitments . hoppus was sick at the time of recording . despite this , the band carried on and the demo was complete within two days . " buddha was cut live then we added the vocals . two days and they were done — including the mix . it 's quite standard for a young punk band to do that , " said engineer jeff forrest . despite this , the liner notes for the cassette claim it was recorded in twelve hours , while the later remaster of buddha contend it was recorded " over three rainy nights . " the trio were " super stoked " about a sound effects tape they found at the studio , and took time out to add in applause and laughter tracks because they deemed it humorous . hoppus and delonge took the songwriting for their first legitimate release very seriously . the two strove for perfection writing songs that they felt would be relatable . blink also recorded joke tracks , as they felt that , in addition to the serious songs , " it was almost as important to make people laugh . " delonge recalled that the band spent more time at the end of production on buddha trying to perfect the joke songs rather than their serious tracks . the band 's main influence on buddha , according to delonge , was the descendents . " i was trying to emulate that band . really punchy guitars , fast , simple and formulaic nursery rhyme love songs , " he said in 2012 . packaging and release the photographs in the original cassette release of buddha were photographs taken by friend of the band cam jones . kerry key , drummer for the and friend of the band , also is credited with artwork in the original cassette . to produce the artwork , hoppus and jones spent an afternoon together taking " artsy " photographs in and around raynor 's backyard . the cover art is a picture of a buddha statue , which was a present from hoppus ' stepfather that the bassist grabbed on the way to raynor 's for the photos . after developing the photos , they took them to a copy shop to run off color copies . afterwards , they cut , pasted and rearranged them until they found something suitable . the lyric sheets were handwritten and photocopied . hoppus and his family in ridgecrest would spend hours folding and combining pieces of artwork to compile the buddha cassette . when this was complete , hoppus would load the cassettes into his car and deliver them to local record stores around town . " i totally remember driving around to all the record stores to drop off tapes to sell . i 'd go to lou 's records , and off the record , and music trader . it was so cool because the tapes were actually selling , that 's why i had to keep going back every week . music trader would have sold one copy , off the record sold two , or whatever . but that meant people were actually walking into a music store and buying something we had written and recorded . it was awesome . " the demo tape , which was originally untitled , came to be known by the name buddha , and was released by filter records in 1994 . cassette copies of buddha were also sold at early blink concerts , alongside homemade t - shirts . reception stephen thomas erlewine of allmusic called buddha a " promising debut , " considering it " a solid record that illustrates the group 's flair for speedy , catchy hooks and irreverent humor . " rolling stone viewed it , alongside proper debut album cheshire cat ( 1995 ) as " slapped together lilting melodies and racing beats in an attempt to connect emo and skate punk , a sort of pop hardcore . " " this fast and furious beauty may have been recorded in two days , but it soon had the labels knocking at delonge and co ’ s door , " said total guitar in 2012 . controversy the rights to buddha and its associated recordings were the subject of a legal dispute between the band and secor in later years . according to secor , he and the band had a gentleman 's agreement : he would pay for the costs of recording and manufacturing the tape , and in exchange would receive half of all the profits from it . raynor contends that the oral agreement was that secor would invest $ 1 , 000 and when that money was recouped , the band would have complete ownership of the work product . secor helped the band sign to cargo music in 1994 , as he had connections at the label ; he felt that by helping the briskly growing band sign a deal he could build his own label , filter , in the wake of blink 's success . according to secor , he attempted to contact the band to discuss the rights to the tape , but would only receive comments such as " oh , let me call my manager and i 'll call you right back . " secor asserted he should have the rights to the master tapes , as he financed the entire production . cargo music began calling and making threats , and secor had no money to fight back with , as they had no written contract . in 1996 , the band signed a joint - venture deal with major label mca records , who also began making calls to secor . " try going up against that , " secor remarked in 2001 . the band began to grow suspicious that secor was keeping the money from selling the tape , and contacted their lawyer — joe escalante of the vandals , who also owned independent record label kung fu records . the group informed as escalante that they believed " someone 's bootlegging it , " and requested his legal help to stop secor . in exchange for legal fees , blink - 182 would allow escalante 's label , kung fu , to re - release buddha on compact disc . the band had told secor to not sell any more copies of the tape , but they held suspicions that he had anyway . , escalante ordered a tape from secor , and secor sold it to him . the band asserted that they were not receiving royalties for these sales . " i paid off all of the royalties for the remaining stash of tapes that i had of buddha , " said secor in 2001 . " it was about 25 . the tapes sold for five bucks , and i gave them half of what their profit would be . i wanted to have a few to give to people and to have on hand . " secor felt it was his right to sell his stock of the tape , as the band " had been paid royalties for that already . " kung fu re - released buddha on cd and cassette in november 1998 , and has since re - released the recording on vinyl and retains digital distribution . the remaster cleans and sharpens the sound of tracks , and contains a slightly different track listing . " they 'd already sold 60 , 000 copies of cheshire cat , and i thought , ' man , if i can sell just 10 % of that that would be great for the label , ' and of course it sold a lot more because they went on to be superstars , " said escalante . in 2001 , the label had reportedly sold 300 , 000 copies of buddha . " at this point it 's not even the money , " secor said at the time . " it 's the fact that there is no mention of my work anywhere ; no credit has been given to me . " track listing all songs written and composed by mark hoppus , tom delonge , and scott raynor , except where noted . personnel