How MGK and Travis Barker revived pop punk

Photo Cred: Randy Henderson/UMG

Guest Post Note: This article is a guest post written by Steffanie Moyers, founder of pop punk blog jawbreakerr. She is a pop punk fanatic, MGK stan and has a book about the pop punk resurgence in the summer of 2022 in the works.

Love him or hate him, it’s undeniable that Machine Gun Kelly brought pop punk back to the spotlight, and with the help of Travis Barker. Thanks to his recently released Life in Pink documentary, we are able to take a look at how it all unfolded. The documentary dates back pre-pandemic to when MGK was still rapping in 2019. Early in the doc, we see MGK going hard with liquor and drugs. He admits that it got to a breaking point, and quarantine was a sort of forced rehab.

How it Started

“You can only do drugs for so long before you’re like…ok, I need a hobby,” MGK said in the documentary. He reflects on picking up his guitar between shows and how it got him excited about life again. There are clips of MGK covering songs from Avril Lavigne, Nirvana, and Paramore. It didn’t take off until his partnership with former blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Barker is also in the doc and reflects on first meeting MGK backstage at a blink show.

Barker describes how MGK hit him up during the pandemic to start to work on stuff together. After recording “Bloody Valentine”, Barker knew they had something special. “I think we were both wondering can we do this again, and again, and again? Enough to create an album full of this style of music?” The duo was hooked. They locked themselves in the studio for months and recorded what would eventually be Tickets to My Downfall.

“I just kept being like, what the f*ck? Kells really gets this,” Barker said of their collaboration. “There’s not many pop punk albums like [Tickets to My Downfall]. For me it was like working on a Blink album. I was so involved in it. I loved it like it was my own and I was so impressed by Kells.” It wasn’t long before everyone in MGK’s musical orbit was on board. Fellow artists Halsey, Yungblud, and Bert McCracken all collaborated on Tickets. “Pop punk? Let’s bring it back. F*ck yeah.” Machine Gun Kelly’s bassist Baze said.

Tickets, Mainstream and DTA Records

Tickets to My Downfall was MGK’s first album to earn number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Not two years later, Kelly’s second pop punk album Mainstream Sellout took number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart again. MGK garnered two number one rock albums in a row. During the duration of Tickets and Mainstream releases, Barker formed his own independent label DTA Records.

DTA Records revived the career of pop punk queen Avril Lavigne. She put out her first album in three years, Love Sux. The album has pulled in over 12 million streams in the U.S. alone since its release. Lavigne toured the album in her home country Canada and opened for MGK on the Mainstream Sellout Tour in the U.S. this summer. DTA Records is also the home of young pop punk artist jxdn, who opened for MGK on the Tickets to My Downfall Tour.

In addition to collaborations with MGK, Avril Lavigne, and jxdn, Barker also collaborated with blackbear, Willow, Yungblud, Halsey, Maggie Lindemann, and more. Almost all of these collaborations are in the pop punk genre. Barker seems busier than ever, being booked out for production and drums with artists new and old alike.

Fests and The Mainstream

While you can argue that pop punk never disappeared, it certainly dropped from the spotlight in the last few decades. Since the release of Tickets, we have seen a massive uptick from pop punk artists back in the mainstream. With more new tracks from OG’s like Avril Lavigne and Travis Barker in addition to other artists making the genre switch like MGK and blackbear, it seems it’s only the beginning. Pop punk legends Green Day headlined Lollapalooza this year in addition to Outside Lands and Firefly music fests. MGK headlined Lollapalooza, both domestic and international this year. A massive win considering last year he played the 1:30pm slot.

Mainstream Sellout is living up to its name and selling out stadiums like Madison Square Garden and The Forum, making it MGK’s biggest and most successful tour to date. It’s no coincidence that this year will be the largest yet for pop punk fest When We Were Young. The fest officially added a second weekend to keep up with demand and both sold out in record time.

MGK took home Best Alternative Video at the VMAs the last two years in a row in addition to being Billboard’s top rock artist two years in a row. After the second win, Barker and MGK grin and shake hands. “We did it, we f*ckin did that sh*it, we brought a f*ckin’ category back,” Barker said backstage. MGK is up for his third VMA in a row this year for “emo girl” (feat. WILLOW). Avril Lavigne is also up for an alternative VMA for two tracks, “Love It When You Hate Me” (feat. blackbear) and “GROW” (feat. WILLOW and Travis Barker). Emo OG Panic! At The Disco is back in the Alt category as well, for his latest release “Viva Las Vengeance”. Seeing Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker and P!ATD in the same category the same year? I would think we’re back in 2006 if I didn’t know any better.

The Future of Pop Punk

There is an undeniable uptick in the resurgence of pop punk since MGK and Travis Barker collaborated on Tickets. What some thought would be luck or a phase has turned into a movement. Artists new and old are equally reviving the alternative pop punk genre for the masses, and we have MGK and Barker to largely thank for it.

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