Matt Skiba – Alkaline Trio
Matt Skiba is the co-lead vocalist and guitarist of American punk rock band Alkaline Trio, and served as the co-lead vocalist and guitarist of Blink-182 from 2015 to 2022.
Alkaline Trio formed in 1996 and have released 10 studio albums and a number of live albums and EPs. Their biggest hits include the songs Stupid Kid and Mercy Me. Skiba has been involved in a handful of solo side projects including Heavens, The Hell, and Matt Skiba and the Sekrets.
Skiba has been meat-free since 1996. Apparently, his sister was a big influence on his decision. She never liked meat and eggs as a child, thinking it was gross and cruel, and the sentiment rubbed off on Matt. One day he looked at his cat and realised he’d been eating animals and decided to stop there and then. He later became a dedicated vegan and a supporter of animal rights. He’s likely to be found eating in Crossroads, a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles co-owned by his friend and fellow vegan, Travis Barker of Blink-182.
“I wrote that song [5-3-10-4 from Maybe I’ll Catch Fire] when I was still doing the bike messenger grind and you know being down by the stockyards where they would take all the animals and slaughter them; there were a bunch of slaughterhouses down there and there were cows and pigs being frozen and chunks of meat were hanging in trucks, it was such a pinnacle time in my life. … I haven’t eaten meat for something like 17 years [as of 2012]. I remember I was eating meat one day and my cat was looking up at me and I thought, ‘Man I wouldn’t eat my cat. What difference would it make if it was a little cat or a cow?’ and it occurred to me that we are all connected and I didn’t want to contribute to that.”
