Third Eye Blind can't get no respect.  And that drives frontman Stephan Jenkins crazy.  After all, since 1997, when the bouncy "Semi-Charmed Life" became a smash hit, the group, which has produced two albums, has been one of San Francisco's most popular exports.   Tiger Woods, for one, calls Third Eye Blind his favorite band.  And in April, Third Eye Blind played at Woods' charity benefit at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Jenkins' problem is that the bigger his celebrity grows-- he's dated actress Charlize Theron and is about to appear in a new film, Rock Star, with Mark Wahlberg-- the more his street credibility vanishes.   And without "cred," goes the standard wisdom in the rock world, you, well, suck.  In person at his new recording studio in the city, Jenkins is tall and self-possessed; his eyes, courtesy of either the genetic jackpot or Bausch & Lomb, are impossibly green.  The singer has the ego of a real rock star.  And what's wrong with that?

On Third Eye Blind:
We always wanted to be the biggest band in the world right from the beginning.   And I think that was something that was anathema to San Francisco.  But we are San Francisco to the bone.

On Selling Out:
The whole concept of selling out is such utter and complete shit.  I'm not doing anything I don't want to do.  You know, I'm not in any commercial.  Record companies are my bank.  I want my music to reach people.  I like my music become part of the culture.

On the Local Scene:
My experience of scenes is like my experience of high school, where people were insecure about what they had to offer and banded together to bully others.  It's become a bunch of cliques.