Barker: 'Solo album an accomplishment'

Travis Barker has claimed that recording his forthcoming solo album Give The Drummer Some allowed him to come to terms with personal tragedy.

Talking to MTV News, the Blink-182 drummer admitted that he struggled to cope with the deaths of his good friends 'Lil' Chris Baker, Charles 'Che' Still and Adam 'DJ AM' Goldstein, which left him feeling overwhelmed and led him to use the project to process his grief.

"It's a big accomplishment for me. It's something that's been in the making for a couple years now, and there's been lots of bumps in the road along the way," he said.

"I had to transfer those [tragedies] into strengths and just push through. Once I started coming in here, little by little, making my way into the studio, and I could actually make music again, and I was able to think, be in the studio environment, be productive, that was a big accomplishment."

Barker added that surviving the plane crash which killed Goldstein also served as an inspiration for the record, saying: "You know, from getting out of the hospital and learning how to walk and survive without being on 20 medications and stuff... I never envisioned it being okay again.

"So it was a big thing for me, and knocking this album out was the number one priority on my list."

Give The Drummer Some will hit US stores on March 15.