At the age of 15, Mark got his first bass guitar as a gift from his father and earned money for a set of amplifiers by helping him paint his garage.[2] Mark never took bass lessons, instead he taught himself by playing to bands such as the Descendents, The Cure, and Bad Religion. Mark played by himself and sang in the band Pier 69, primarily covering songs by The Cure. He also played in a band called The Attic Children in 1988, during this time he lived in Washington D.C. He later moved to San Diego, where his sister Anne (now Anne Wright) introduced him to Tom Delonge. Delonge was a friend of Anne's at the time, and constantly complained about wanting to join a band. She finally introduced Hoppus and Tom Delonge in August 1992. When Hoppus first went over to Delonge's house, he was told Delonge would be at the local skate park. Hoppus went over and found Delonge skateboarding with his friends. Hoppus wanted to impress Delonge, so he climbed on a lampost, jumped off and cracked both ankles and heels and was on crutches for three weeks.He then started playing with Tom in his garage and they recruited original drummer, Scott Raynor.