Buddha

Buddha is a demo album 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. The band had recorded two previous demos in drummer Scott Raynor's bedroom—Flyswatter and Demo No.2—using a four track recorder. Most of the tracks from Buddha were re-recorded for the band's subsequent releases; seven were re-recorded for their debut album Cheshire Cat and one was re-recorded for their second album Dude Ranch. The demo was originally released on the label Filter Records. In the early days of the band, Hoppus worked at the record store The Wherehouse, and became friends with his supervisor, Pat Secor. Hoping to start his own record label, Secor pulled money from his savings and helped finance and produce Buddha. The demo was recorded live at local Santee studio Doubletime, comprising nearly all of the songs the trio had written up to that point. Hoppus and friends Cam Jones and Kerry Key photographed the cassette inserts, and the original packaging was compiled by the band and Hoppus' family. Upon completion, the demo was locally distributed to several San Diego record stores, and was 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 several years later. The group 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 remixed and remastered the demo, giving it a wider commercial reissue in October 1998. This edition deletes two original tracks for other recordings from the original session. Kung Fu has since reportedly sold 300,000 copies of Buddha. It is currently their only commercially available demo. In announcing the band's 2019 album Nine, Hoppus stated that he counted their studio albums beginning with Buddha. 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.