Hoppus and Barker said, "We were all set to play this festival and record a new album and Tom kept putting it off without reason. A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio we got an email from his manager explaining that he didn't want to participate in any Blink-182 projects indefinitely, but would rather work on his other non-musical endeavors." In DeLonge's public response to Hoppus and Barker's claims about him not wanting to participate in a new Blink-182 album, he said the "60-page Blink contract" he was handed required that a new album be recorded within six months, and also included language that temporarily prohibited the release of other various projects that he was already under contract for. He stated, "All of these other projects are being worked, exist in contract form — I can't just slam the brakes and drop years of development, partnerships and commitments at the snap of a finger. I told my manager that I will do Blink-182 as long as it was fun and worked with the other commitments in my life, including my family." Two months later, DeLonge shed some light on what his other projects entailed, claiming that he was working with "best selling authors" to co-write 15 novels with accompanying soundtrack EPs. He also expected to release four albums in 2015—two Angels & Airwaves albums and two solo albums—three of which would include a companion novel. On April 21, 2015, DeLonge released his first solo album—an eight-song collection of Blink-182 demos and more, titled To the Stars... Demos, Odds and Ends. Musical style Equipment Guitars In the early years of Blink-182, DeLonge used a Squier Stratocaster on the band's demos and debut album Cheshire Cat. In late 1994, he acquired a white 40th Anniversary Edition Fender Stratocaster, which has come to be known by fans as the "Sticker Strat". It featured a DiMarzio X2N (and later a Seymour Duncan Invader) pickup in the bridge position on an angle, a Seymour Duncan JB Jr. in the middle, and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup in the neck position. He used this guitar on all of the touring in support of Cheshire Cat, as well as the recording and touring of Dude Ranch in 1997 before retiring it that fall. He still owns the guitar today. During the touring of Dude Ranch in 1998, he began to use