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 released 10 studio albums between 1998 and 2024, in addition to a number of live albums and EPs. Their biggest hits include the songs ‘Stupid Kid’ and ‘Mercy Me’ from the albums From Here to Infirmary and Crimson, respectively. Skiba has also been involved in a handful of solo side projects including Heavens, The Hell, Matt Skiba and the Sekrets, and Lektron.

Why Matt Skiba is vegan

Matt Skiba is vegan for the animals.

Skiba has been meat-free since 1996. Apparently, his sister was a big influence on his decision.¹Matt Skiba Facts. Available: https://alkaline182.tumblr.com/matt%20skiba%20facts [Accessed 2 June 2026]. 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.²Wikiquotes. 2012. Matt Skiba. Available: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matt_Skiba [Accessed 2 June 2026]. Like many people, he was vegetarian first but later became a dedicated vegan and a supporter of animal rights. Matt told VegNews that not eating dairy has helped him as a performer as “dairy is especially bad for your voice and your energy.”³Ritchie, R. 2018. How Do You Remember 100 Songs in 4 Days? For Pop-Punk Band Alkaline Trio, the Answer is Veganism. VegNews. Available: https://vegnews.com/how-do-you-remember-100-songs-in-4-days-for-pop-punk-band-alkaline-trio-the-answer-is-veganism [Accessed 2 June 2026].

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-182.⁴Ewens, H. 2016. The VICE Interview: Matt Skiba. Available: https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-vice-interview-matt-skiba-alkaline-trio-blink-182/ [Accessed 2 June 2026].

“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.”⁵Wikiquotes. 2012. Matt Skiba. Available: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matt_Skiba [Accessed 2 June 2026].