Blink-182 have been taking meetings.

Some of them have been of the traditional variety, where the band and their management sit down with reps from various record labels — the first time they've done so since parting ways with Interscope last year — and others, well, those haven't exactly been taking place inside boardrooms.

"These shows we've been playing are business meetings," Tom DeLonge laughed. "We're thinking of being great, so we called some business meetings. This is the easiest way to do it."

"When we're off tour, or when we're not working directly together, because we live so far apart, we usually talk through text messages or emails; the work starts when the three of us get into the room, and this tour is about that," Mark Hoppus added. "Just getting back into the routine of playing music, and seeing one another, meeting with labels when we're here in New York. Right now, we're just planning the next 18 months of Blink-182."

Those 18 months will almost certainly see new music from Blink — Hoppus said the tentative plan is "demoing late this year, being in the studio early next year" — though, after self-releasing their Dogs Eating Dogs EP in late 2012, they're thinking of once again teaming with a label for the follow-up ... on their terms, of course.

"We know we need a group [working with us], to have some accountability, because God knows we're not very good at managing large projects," DeLonge said. "But when it comes down to writing a kick-ass song and acting like we're 14, we can do that really well. So I think our options are wide open; being on a label may be the best thing for us.

"I remember, when we were making the EP, there were many times where Mark was saying 'This is awesome; we make a decision and it can happen tomorrow!' We didn't have to get approval to write a damn record," he continued. "That's how it works on a label. You say you want to make music and then they have to go to the board meeting and see if they have the funds to allocate, and determine if it will fit into their release schedule ... that's one thing we don't want. We're not going to lock ourselves into any kind of box."

And that includes stepping outside the confines of the traditional full-length album; Blink still aren't sure if their new music will be a stand-alone single, an EP, or a long-playing album ... but that's something else they're figuring out in these "meetings." And once they've settled on a solution, well, the new stuff will start coming fast and furious. Oh, and with a continued focus on the kind of material that has carried Blink for more than two decades now.

"Once we start, it moves," DeLonge said. "It's like painting; you've got to start with the first brush stroke, then get your clothes off, then get the other person's clothes off, get a little feces, start smearing it around ... or, at least, that's how I paint."