During a recent interview with Kerrang Magazine, BLINK-182 guitarist Matt Skiba talked about his fondness of Satanism and being a member of the Church of Satan. You can check out the conversation below.
Kerrang: “You mentioned you weren’t religious earlier, but when [Alkaline Trio‘s] 2005 record ‘Crimson‘ came out, a lot was made of the fact that you’re a card-carrying member of the Church of Satan. Do you think people misunderstood what that actually meant?”
Skiba: “I love the art and the fashion and the aesthetic of the Church of Satan. That’s what always drew me to it. I have a lot of books about black magic and demonology, and I err on the side of that being real, but I wasn’t putting curses on people.
“There was a time when I would say I was a Satanist. Me and Derek [Grant, Alkaline Trio drummer] bought each other Church of Satan membership cards for Christmas because we didn’t want to pay the $300 or whatever it was to join, so that kind of shows you how loyal a member I am.
“For me, it was all aesthetics, and my interests were solely on the black arts. Then a friend of mine gave me a book that I have on my coffee table to this day. She introduced more of what a witch would call white magic – or, as I’ll put it, positivity, kindness, beauty.
“You also keep revenge and all the seven deadly sins in your pocket because they’re good to have, but you need balance. Before that good juju came into my life, there were a lot of kids who really loved it, but somebody said to me recently, ‘Your band probably would have been a lot bigger had you not had the satanic imagery,’ and my answer to that was, ‘Good!’
“I feel people made a bigger deal of it than it actually is. I’m still a fan of black magic, but I’ve also learned such a lot in the last 20 years that that little black-magic kid seems like a different person to me now.
“I mean, I have crystals at my house that I meditate with. I’m such a f*cking hippy. But it works for me and if you were me you’d do it, too. You’d try f*cking anything.”
