Last updated: 08/05/05 11:45
Last updated: 08/05/05 11:45
Click to vote for 3eb's video, "Never Let You Go" |
1 - STEPHAN SIGHTING! New tour for 3eb called "Dragons and Astronauts" kicks off in Santa Barbara, CA. Please refer to the LIVE section of this site for details on tour dates.
Also, from Arizona Daily Wildcat By Ty Young U.
Arizona
(U-WIRE) TUCSON, Ariz. -- As the band
members of Third Eye Blind know all too well, a new hit album, a sold-out tour and
continuous radio play only provides fuel to the ever-burning fire lit by popular music
critics.
Still, Third Eye Blind bass player Arian Salazar said the negative vibe has not dimmed the
band's expectations for their sophomore album or their current tour.
"I don't care about the detractors anymore - in fact I don't give a shit about
critics in general," he said. "My expectations are that we are going to rock the
asses off a lot of people."
Salazar added that the tour, which includes a March 11 stop in Phoenix at Union Hall, 600
E. Van Buren St., will showcase some new songs and new sounds.
"We've got a fresh, dynamic vibe," he said. "It'll take a lot of time. Some
of the songs we're playing we're still learning".
Salazar, who co-produced the band's second album, Blue, said the radio-friendly melody and
catchy lyrics that define their music often invites criticism.
"It's got something to do with the amount of radio play. The air waves get saturated
with Third Eye Blind songs," he said. "It seems that some people feel that they
have to rebel against the idea."
"I think it's human instinct to dog something that is popular," he added.
Some critics have said the band is a commercialized rock entity created for nothing more
than industry profit.
Salazar disagreed with the characterization, adding that the band plays music for the sake
of music, not for money.
"That's not why we do music," he said. "We're looking to move beyond the
stereotypical rock-sound band."
While Third Eye Blind has plenty of critics, they also have a lot of fans. This has caused
a discrepancy between the band's profits and their musical drive.
Their self-titled first album has sold over four million copies - yet never broke into the
Billboard top 20.
Salazar said this is indicative of both the band's hard touring as well as their decision
not to play profit-directed music.
"It shows that our appeal is not as instantly accessible to the masses," he
said. "It took us over two years of touring to sell those albums."
"I have no idea what it means about our place in the recording industry. It tells me
that we have a grassroots foundation," he added.
Still, the band has stirred up controversy in the past with other performers like Billy
Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) and Edward Kowalczyk (Live).
Last month, the band invited even more criticism when it sacked guitarist Kevin Cadogan,
who wrote 10 of the 14 songs on their multi-platinum first release.
Salazar said he could not elaborate on the departure, only that it is part of the music
business and nothing more.
"Let's just say that we have parted ways," he said of Cadogan. "It's
something that happens. We all wish him well. He's a great guy and a great player."
In the end, Salazar said the band is prepared for its detractors as it continues on the
tour - beginning on March 1 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
2 - From San Jose Mercury News:
THIRD EYE BLIND GEARS UP Group due in SF next week on
first leg of tour
by Brad Kava bkava@sjmercury.com
His latest record is selling in dribs and drabs compared to the Niagara his last one
unleashed. His guitarist, who co-wrote much of it, flew the coop, stranded by the band in
Utah, after an unceremonious firing.
But Palo Alto native Stephan Jenkins, the frontman for Third Eye Blind, has no reason to
be blue.
The group is on the first leg of a national tour that hits San Francisco's 2,000 seat
Warfield next Tuesday and Wednesday.
"By choice we are doing smaller venues," says Jenkins, whose marketing skill
rivals his ability to write a catchy hook. "In the smaller places you can grab hold
of people and look them right in the eye."
In a marketing move that contrasts most big-name follow-ups (their debut sold more than 4
million copies), "Blue" (Elektra) was released at the end of 1999 to little
fanfare. The album has sold half a million copies and has bounced from No. 40 to 52 on the
Billboard chart. It's first single, the punkish "Never Let You Go," is getting
bits of airplay-- and this short, sweet number is hardly the album's most
radio-friendly.
"I think it's No. 3 right now on the modern rock charts," says Jenkins.
"The album has gone up on the charts, and our first tour is sold out."
The band took time off but is gearing up now. And you can expect the marketing machine to
start churning. By summer you may hear this album, which is more somber than the debut but
no less catchy, all over the radio.
So what about all the news and gossip?
No comment: about dating actress Charlize Theron. Not much more about the loss of
guitarist Kevin Cadogan.
"It's not something I can talk about. I wish I could. A band has to have organic
energy. It gets taken from that and suddenly you've got someone's lawyer calling you in
the middle of the night.
"We've parted ways. I've wished him well. I think a band is like a world, and you
have to be living in the same world. You have to have the same gravity to them. When you
don't have that it's not healthy."
Jenkins replaced Cadogan with the band's first guitarist, Tony Fredianelli. He had
been replaced in 1995 (before the band hit it big) because he couldn't afford to commute
from his Las Vegas home to the San Francisco gigs.
Fredianelli played guitar on the band's first hit, "Semi-Charmed Life."
People Come First
The most surprising thing about Jenkins?
He considers the Clash a main inspiration. He wants his current "Dragaons and
Astronauts" tour, which has an elaborate stage set, to be modeled after the English
punk progenitors.
"I want it to be like punk rock opera. Punk meaning that people come first, not
spectacle."
Jenkins, who recently wrote an article about the San Francisco scene for Details magazine,
lives in the city and still drinks in his local pub, although he is growing tired of the
dot-com hubbub.
"Charles Bukowski said the most important thing for creativity is cheap rent,"
says Jenkins. "In San Francisco 10 years ago, an artist could have taken a vow of
poverty and live in diginity. Now rents have tripled and my friends who play in bands
can't afford to live in San Francisco.
"This city is is becoming a tasteful mauve. It used to be much more wild. As long as
there's all this money there, it won't be wild."
3 - From Q101.com: Love Is
Blind 28-Feb-00
Third Eye Blind will kick off their much-anticipated Dragons and Astronauts, U.S.
tour at Arlington Theaters in Santa Barbara, California Wednesday night. And while
most straight men wouldn't seriously relish leaving behind a girlfriend as
babe-a-licious as Charlize Theron, 3 E-B
singer Stephan Jenkins tell us he can't wait to get back on the road. "I'm very
comfortable (living) on the road," he says, "We're like carnies, you know,
we're like circus folk." Jenkins says the 3-E-B family consists of "people
who I trust, who really love us and would gladly kick me in the face if I get outta
line." Chances are ex-guitarist Kevin Cadogan would now want to be at the front
of that line... The tour moves to Spreckels Theater in San Diego on Saturday and Fox
Theater in Stockton California on Sunday.
Also, from the Daily Aztec:
Third Eye Blind guitarist Salazar leading a semi-charmed
kind of life
The Daily Aztec, March 3, 2000
Ever wonder what rock stars do during their free time? Take Third Eye Blind, for
example.
It's difficult to conceive any of its members out of the recording studio or away from the
concert stage. After all, the group said hello to the music world with the catchy
"doot doot do ..." (you know the rest), followed it up with a handful of equally
memorable ditties and became the band to see live.
But a recent chat with 3EB's Arion Salazar proves even he can trade a bass guitar for a
hot stove and still have a good morning in his Northern California home. He has just
gotten back from a late morning workout and decides to have an even later breakfast.
I remind him it's already 10 after noon as he prepares an omelet.
"Did you hear that?" he said. "Onions on the grill."
Casually ignoring my comment means Salazar is simply used to a more hectic schedule. Time
surely takes on a new meaning for someone who has spent a majority of his time on the
road in support of a multi- platinum album.
At this moment, the man can do whatever he wants.
It took awhile, however, for the Oakland native to get a firm grip on some of the simpler
things in life. As a youngster, Salazar thought his name proved problematic, a
universal feeling for any kid at one point or another. But as chance would have it, the
name Arion (pronounced "O-ryan") actually comes from a Greek myth about a
great musician.
"I used to hate my name because it's so weird," he said. "Now the whole
origin of it just blows me away because the story is my life."
If anything came out of Salazar's younger days in Oakland, it is largely from the variety
of music he grew up around. Even as a spike-haired, chain-toting 10-year-old, he was
heavily influenced by everyone from the Sugarhill Gang to a gospel choir
who performed in a church not far from home.
"I liked a lot of music but rebelled against all the metal and rock my friends
listened to," Salazar said. "I hated hair bands but eventually grew to
respect them for their comic value. I mean, the gaudiness of it all is quite charming
now."
Semi-charmed, to be exact. Before his whirlwind rise to fame with 3EB, Salazar was part of
a popular Bay Area band called Fungo Mungo. Their funk rock sound landed a deal with
Island Records when he was only 21. However, the Chili Peppers garnered a
wider audience with a similar sound.
"At first, I thought we were hot shit," Salazar said. "But we really were
so inexperienced and naive, it was embarassing. Luckily, as Fungo Mungo was fizzling
out, 3EB was starting to take off."
There are two distinct traits about frontman Stephan Jenkins that Salazar remembers from
their first meeting: an acid wit combined with a fascinating skill for writing. For
him, Jenkins' music was refreshing and contrasted with his previous band's sound.
With Jenkins on the mic and Tony Fredianelli on guitar, 3EB was born.
"Songwriting didn't win you over immediately back then," he said.
"Stephan's thing was about lyrics and melody. I liked the idea of disregarding
the trend and doing what comes from the heart."
According to Salazar, the cliche in the music industry is: You have your whole life to
prepare for your first record and about five months for the next one. Many believe
this is true for the band's smash debut. Work on the album started around 1995 with
drummer Brad Hargreaves and new guitarist Kevin Cadogan.
For Salazar, the success was simply a dream being realized.
"We demoed the songs extensively and had them sounding exactly how we wanted,"
he said. "But I never expected the songs to do so well."
While it may seem the band members lost a year or so waiting for the record to take hold
of the masses, they used up their time playing to crowds as a buzz group. Soon
enough, inescapable singles such as "Semi-Charmed Life" and "Jumper"
earned 3EB its pot of gold and landed once-in-a-lifetime gigs opening for the Rolling
Stones and U2. Salazar describes the experience with Bono and company as a valuable
lesson.
"They were just the coolest, humblest people," he said. "Here are a couple
of giants in the business and they're teaching us, 'Don't let it go to your head; you
don't need to live the myth of the unnecessary asshole rock star.'"
If the debut album made stars out of 3EB, it is its new release that will legitimize its
place in the rock arena. "Blue" picks up what the self-titled record left
out, a foray out of guitar rock, into instrument experimentation and what Jenkins dubbed
as the dawn of Arion.
"The high point of my whole year," Salazar said.
The single and video "Never Let You Go," a poppy tune laced with obsession and
irony, is already soaring to the top (sans "doot doot do," mind you) while
"10 Days Late," "Deep Inside of You" and "An Ode to Maybe"
show equal promise.
An unexpected turn of events, however, left many 3EB fans speculating the band's
longevity. Guitarist Cadogan, a major contributor to both albums and an electrifying
live performer, was fired from the band almost immediately after the release of
"Blue." According to Salazar, it was in the best interest of everyone
concerned, including Cadogan. The event, however, reunited 3EB with its
original guitarist.
I tell Salazar how I spotted Tony Friedianelli on a recent late-night show where 3EB
played along with DMX and the rest of the Ruff Ryders.
"I have a deeply rooted bond with Tony both personally and musically, " he said.
"By the way, I didn't know who we're going to play with at the TV gig. It's
definitely great to have that kind of variety at shows. It's an open-mindedness towards
music which people don't have anymore."
He pauses. In the background, the cluttering of used pans and a sniff from Salazar reminds
me it's probably time for him to have his late meal.
I somehow forget to ask him how the omelet turned out. Instead, I point out how we share
the same August birthday. Leos somehow like to brag about their birthdays, I tell
him.
"Hey, it's not easy being king of the jungle," he said.
Marc Cuenco
(C) 2000 The Daily Aztec via U-WIRE
Also, from LiveDaily.com:
LiveDaily Interview: Third Eye Blind's Arion Salazar The
band's bassist discusses the making of ''Blue.''
by Christina Fuoco Music Editor, detroit.citysearch.com
Third Eye Blind bassist Arion Salazar said that although the songs on his group's
self-titled debut were mainly the babies of lead singer Stephan Jenkins, the songwriting
process on the band's sophomore effort "Blue" was
more collaborative than most people realize. He also gives key insights into the new album
and the inner workings of the band after the ouster of guitarist Kevin Cadogan.
Calling from 3EB's pre-tour rehearsal space, Salazar talked about the controversial lyrics
on the song ''Slow Motion,'' which were too graphic for the band's label Elektra
Entertainment. Executives frowned on the graphic
lyrics in the anti-violence song that Jenkins had penned years before the series of school
shootings that have plagued the U.S: ''Miss Jones taught me English, but I think I just
shot her son/ 'Cause he owed me money, with a
bullet in the chest/ With a bullet in the chest he cannot run/ Now he's bleeding in a
vacant lot.'' Jenkins agreed to rewrite a portion of the song, and as a result, a tamer
''Slow Motion'' appears on the record.
Fans may have the opportunity to judge for themselves later this year, because the band is
planning a self-produced EP that will include the original version of the song, along with
new instrumental and vocal songs.
Christina Fuoco: ''Blue'' is a style change from your debut. It's grounded in rock,
similar to your live shows. Was this planned?
Arion Salazar: Absolutely not, not from what I've seen and not from my perspective. It was
just something that happens with us. We don't try to make anything sound a certain way, a
certain genre or style. We work from
the heart and from the moment for the moment.
Vocalist Stephan Jenkins has called this record ''The Dawn of Arion'' because of the
amount of work you put into ''Blue.''
Yeah. I was just telling somebody else that doing this record, as far as fun, has been the
high point of my musical life so far. It was just a blast.
It's incredibly fulfilling. It's a self-gratification thing that happens when you're
constantly being artistic. You get to work, you work really, really hard, and you use your
brain and your heart, and you see the fruits of your labor afterward. You can step back
and be proud.
Did you chose not to work on the first record?
We had kind of a different band dynamic on the first record and a different political, you
know, structure, for lack of a better phrase. It just kind of naturally happened that way.
There's a certain amount that we were involved
[on ''Third Eye Blind''], more than some people know. It's definitely totally different on
this record. The environment had changed a lot. I think that comes with being on tour and
living together for two years.
I'm assuming that Stephan wrote most of the first record?
... I think that's true to a certain extent. A lot of those songs were his babies that he
had had, maybe, before he met me. They were his creations. He felt very controlling about
them. I think that's an accurate description. With this record, these songs were more our
babies.
Did you do a lot of writing on the road?
I did a lot of writing on the road. A lot of stuff that's not on the record. I can't speak
for the other guys. One of the songs that Stephan and I co-wrote on this record was
written on the road. I think that Stephan wrote a few songs on the road. I can't speak for
Kevin. I think the rest of the stuff, one or two were written on the road, the rest of it
was written in a rehearsal space shortly before we recorded. The whole thing was
conceived, rehearsed, recorded and finished in five months or a little more. We were
really jammin', working hard.
Did you record any differently than the first one?
We were a little more interested in not limiting ourselves as far as instrumental
textures--dabbling with keyboards and strings, a theremin, which is a really bizarre
instrument, sitars. We just went crazy. We wanted to make the scope of what we could use
as big as possible. That was different than the last record. We were more experimental
this time.
''Slow Motion'' underwent a bit of a change. Tell me about the controversy.
That was a little bit of a weird situation that turned into this incredible positive for
us. We didn't want to change anything. It's a song that Stephan wrote many years ago, and
it's got incredibly brutal lyrics--not brutal in
terms of profanity, but brutal in terms of imagery. They're not that brutal, really. Some
people, some higher-ups, were very concerned that it was going to cause a big ruckus with
right-wingers and conservatives. So they were
trying to pressure us to take it off the record. Intially, we said, ''No, no, no, no.'' We
put our foot down we were going to keep it on. [But] because of the fuss that was being
made, it seemed like if we did keep it on
the record, it was gonna cause a big ruckus, and it was going to take the focus off the
rest of the record.
Without telling them that we were totally had come around and realized that maybe we
should do something else with it, we said, ''We'll take it off if you give us a bunch of
money and allow us to make our own independent record
on our own label. We'll put the song out on that. We can use a different distributor. You
can distance yourself from the project.'' They said, ''Yeah sure. Whatever it takes.'' It
was really cool. It was like a little bit of a, you know, bluff. Now what we're going to
do is use that song, a couple vocal songs and a bunch of instrumentals and put it out on
an EP at the end of the year. We want to make it really, really cheap and just a little
taste of Third Eye Blind for people that want to hear more. It's really exciting. The EP's
going to be called ''Black.''
Now that Kevin is no longer in the band, how will that affect the future of Third Eye
Blind?
I don't know. I think that the songwriting process for the last two records was a lot more
communal than people might think. It'll definitely change, but I don't know if it's going
to be a drastic thing. It's too early to say.
I do know that the vibe and the feeling is really healthy, not that it wasn't before. But
it continues to be amazing. I can't see anything kind of detrimental happening.
4 - The April issue of Teen People magazine with Blink 182 on the cover has an article on 3eb.
Semi-Charmed Band Marc Weingarten
"This is my hood," says Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins as he and his
bandmates-drummer Brad Hargreaves, bassist Arion Salazar and guitarist Kevin Cadogan (at
press time, Kevin had left the group)- dive into a mid-afternoon brunch at Zazie, a homey
eatery and a favorite haunt in their hometown, San Francisco. Stephan's stomping ground is
a quiet, quaint pocket that's just a short walk from the city's fabulously funky Haight
Ashbury district, current home of vintage-clothing stores, piercing parlors and
alternative-rock clubs as well as the capital of 1967's hippie happening, the Summer of
Love. It is a low-key area where Stephan can conduct his business anonymously and
efficiently.
This is, in fact, one of the few places where the 35-year-old singer-songwriter has been
able to roam relatively incognito since his band's 1997 debut album, Third Eye Blind,
sold more than 4 million copies and spawned a trio of top 10 singles: "Semi-Charmed
Life," "How's It Going To Be" and "Jumper." Now the hit machine
in pumping again with the group's second album, Blue, which has already produced
the revved-up rock radio hits "Anything" and "Never Let You Go."
At a time when pop thrives and rock and roll gradually builds back its old
multiplatinum-caliber following, Third Eye Blind combines the best of each world. The
band's debut was rife with hooks sharp enough to permanently lodge in your cranial hard
drive and melodies sweet enough to give you a sugar rush. Blue is even more
adventurous musically, thanks to the creative bond the guys formed while playing more than
400 shows in less than two years after the release of the first album.
"When you're touring, you feel like you're in this bubble together," says Brad,
who embarked on Third Eye Blind's 12-month world tour on March 2. "You have to go up
there every night in front of people who have paid a lot of money to see you, and you have
to come together and deliver. In a lot of ways, the harsh touring schedule that we endured
together made us stronger."
But in some ways, not strong enough. Kevin recently left the group because of musical
differences and has been replaced by Tony Fredianelli, 30, a long-time friend of the
band's who played on "Semi-Charmed Life." Stephan is optimistic about the
switch. "I think all these things sort of work themselves out in the [end]," he
says. "Ten years from now when we do our Legends thing on VH1, this will be a
footnote in it."
Tony, for his part, is glad to be on board. "The night it happened, I just kind of
curled up and went to sleep," he says of Stephan's invitation to join. "But I
have definitely awoken now, and I intend to rock this thing up to the next level."
Group Effort
Although at brunch today Stephan is suffering from a little bleary-eyed exhaustion
after a late-night photo shoot, the handsome frontman's quicksilver intelligence hasn't
abandoned him. He is one of the few rock stars who can slip words like
"ineffable" and "ecosystem" into casual conversation or discuss the
changing economic face of San Francisco with a fair degree of insight. Ask him about
music, though, and he's likely to defer to his bandmates.
"The emergence of Brad and Arion on this record is really a significant thing,"
say Stephan, who wrote most of Third Eye Blind with Kevin. "Brad set the
framework for the whole record. He'd just play something and you could hear songs come
together. And Arion cowrote two songs."
The increased creative interaction might explain the renewed sense of purpose and depth in
the songwriting. Consider songs like "Wounded," a lament for a date-rape victim,
or "10 Days Late," in which Stephan probes the mind of a teenager whose
girlfriend has discovered she's pregnant.
"In '10 Days Late,' I was just trying to amplify a situation of being faced with a
radical change, and how do you keep your bearing in life when faced with radical
change," says Stephan. "It's based on a universal sensation, as opposed to
somebody specific." That's his way of saying the songs on Blue aren't
necessarily autobiographical. "They're stories that come from real impulse," he
says. But, he adds, "'10 Days Late' is not about someone's specific pregnancy,
although people are probably going to think that Charlize [Theron, his girlfriend] is
pregnant now or something."
Road Scholar
Reared in an academic household, Third Eye Blind’s lead singer hasn’t always
planned on pursuing rock stardom. His father, George, is a retired political science and
African studies professor, and at one point, Stephan seemed destined to follow him into
academia. “I actually started in marine biology because I wanted to be an
environmental lawyer,” says Stephan, who studied English at the University of
California at Berkeley. “I just wasn’t that good. I always wanted to rock but
was discouraged by my parents, who didn’t really see it as a vocation.”
Meanwhile, the rest of Third Eye Blind were biding their time, Brad played drums in
various bands on the Bay Area’s bar circuit; Arion explored San Francisco’s punk
scene; and Kevin wrote songs and searched for a kindred spirit. The group coalesced in
1995 when Stephan, who has been toiling in a hip-hop outfit called Puck and Zen, recruited
the others to breathe life into his songs.
At the time, Stephan recalls, “We lived with a bunch of people in the Lower Haight,
and we were all working in coffee shops and restaurants. That was a time when you could
take a vow of poverty in order to go after what you wanted.”
The following year, their demo tape piqued the interest of several labels. Elektra Records
eventually emerged victorious after promising the band complete creative control. Released
in early 1997, Third Eye Blind finally took off that summer, fueled by massive radio and
MTV hit “Semi-Charmed Life” as well as the group’s relentless touring. The
latter paid off in another big way. “We’re very aware of who our audience is
because we spent two years on the road,” says Stephan. “We’re lucky to have
a direct conduit to our fans.” Staying connected is a high priority. Stephan even
occasionally checks out the numerous Web sites devoted to Third Eye Blind and sometimes
chats with fans. “We try to make some community for ninety minutes at our concerts,
and it’s pleasing to see people talking about their experiences at shows, and what it
meant to them.”
Brad, who designed Third Eye Blind’s official Web site, 3eb.com, also occasionally
logs on to find out what’s on fans’ minds. “It’s amazing to see how a
song like ‘Jumper’ [a plea to a friend not to consider suicide] really affected
someone’s life,” he says. “I’m always shocked at how profound an
effect our songs can have, even to the point of saving someone’s life. It’s just
a humbling experience for us.”
Long-Distance Love
Starstruck female fans might hang on to Stephan’s every word during the
band’s live shows, but for the past two years, his heart has belonged to actress
Charlize Theron (The Cider House Rules), 24. The pair met backstage after a December 1997
Third Eye Blind concert in Hawaii, where Charlize was celebrating Christmas with her
family. Tabloid coverage immediately spun out of control with the couple becoming
paparazzi favorites and Stephan struggling to keep his very public life private.
“I’m very aware that what is said is not [what end up being] written, and that
the stories usually aren’t concerned with the truth,” he says. “It
concerted me for a while, but it doesn’t matter to me now.” Lately, though,
there hasn’t been much to write about. The couple have been working on their
respective projects and connect mostly by phone. “It’s difficult,” says
Stephan of his long-distance relationship with Charlize, who lives in L.A. and often
spends months on location in far-away cities, while he has set up house in San Francisco.
“I’m working all the time, and she works hard.”
Asked to describe Charlize, Stephan quickly clears up some popular misconceptions. She may
be a budding movie queen, but she’s no glamour-puss. “She’s really a
wholesome, down-to-earth person,” he says. “Big Britpop fan too. You should see
her car. It’s all the Verve, Pulp, Radiohead and Supergrass.”
Clearly, Stephan’s life has transformed from semi- to mostly-charmed these days. As
for the group’s good fortune, the guys are still wondering, “Why us?”
“It’s tough to put your finger on why we clicked,” says Brad.
“I’m just glad that we did.”
Also, During the Top 25 Most Played Video Appearances on MTV Saturday they had artists discuss a tidbit about the video before and during them. During Gun's and Roses' "Sweet Child of Mine" (#5 I think) Stephan and Arion came up and Stephan talked about how he used to practice Axel's dance (that little rock and roll side to side hip thing that Axel thing he does).
Also, the March issue of Request Magazine (at Sam Goody stores) includes an article on 3eb.
5 - Stephan calls in to Open House Party to say "what's up".
Also, CDnow.com adds an nice article:
Third Eye Blind Lets Loose
by Noah TarnowDespite lots of
comparisons to more white-bread artists (Matchbox
20, most famously), Third Eye Blind was better than most of the rock bands from the
lean crop of '97-'98. Tight, incendiary, and creative, 3EB was well within the classic
rock tradition, particularly when it came to the rock attitude.
Stephan Jenkins, the band's impossibly handsome frontman-songwriter-producer, became known
for having one of the loosest mouths in the business, and it didn't take long for the band
to develop feuds with Eddie Vedder, Matchbox 20, and others. And while Jenkins blamed it
all on the media's insatiable desire for dish, you could tell that deep down he loved
playing the rogue. Third Eye Blind knew that fans don't just want you to rock, they want
you to be rock stars, with all of the piss and vinegar that the role demands.
But after two and a half solid years of touring and a whirlwind few months recording 3EB's
new album, Blue, Jenkins seems considerably more mellow. He professes more
exasperation than anger at his perceived misinterpretation at the hands of print
journalism, and he's disarmingly bashful when asked about his girlfriend ("Her name's
Charlize Theron. She's an actress.")
 |
Still, he's retained that rock star bite, and he shares with us some particularly pointed thoughts about the new record, fame, and how his band just might be the missing link between the rap, metal, and Latin invasions.
CDNOW: You guys recorded Blue pretty quickly. Why the rush?
Stephan
Jenkins: In the end, the record label gets what it wants, and they needed a record
this year. So we said OK. And then you realize, wow. That whole time elapsed was six
months, start to finish.
Fucking Santa Claus. When I was a kid, my parents were divorced, and it was Santa making
me decide between my two loving parents. Every year Santa just gets in there and fucks
with me.
How much time off did you get?
None, kid.
You went straight from the road into the studio?
Supposedly we had a couple months off, but we played shows. I had stuff to do the whole
time. So it's really been one arc since the release of the first album in April '97;
there's not really been any significant time when I stopped.
"I'm so not interested in things being Latin or 'Women in Rock,' or being any of those things. Like all the distinctions just bore the shit out of me." |
How's the new
record different from your first album?
It's a wilder record, I think. My sort of intent was to get at the glory about playing
live. I wasn't trying to make a live-sounding record; I was trying to just capture the
feeling. We got that on songs like "Wounded," which just gets up and goes. And
after being out of the studio for two years, there was a real desire to get in and
experiment.
And you had fun?
A lot of it, yeah. The other thing is, we were good when we started touring, but we were
great when we finished, as far as playing together. I don't want to come off sounding
cocky about it -- there's a lot of growth in store for us. But you get better from playing
live, and you not only have more facility, you have more courage. So I think it's not
quite as safe a record. But I've been hearing totally different things from other people.
A friend called up, she's super-critical, and she just said this album is moody as fuck.
"The good songs make me feel really good and the bummer songs make me feel really
bummed out in a sort of bluesy way." And I'm like, "Right on."
Did you make any mistakes with the first record that you tried to avoid this time?
 |
You know
sometimes when you think back on the eighth grade, you think how you said the worst
possible thing you could've said in math class. And even now you're like "fuck,"
and you get red with embarrassment about something that happened 15 years ago?
Yeah.
Well, I don't have any feelings like that about the first record.
None at all? Really?
I mean, it would be great if we could play "Narcolepsy" now, because we could
really play the shit out of it. But I like the first record very much; I'm very proud of
it.
A lot has happened in music since the first record came out in the spring of '97. How do
you think music has changed?
There's been this little kid pop. I think that's totally insignificant. There's always
been a desire and a need for total disposability; there's a lot of five-year-olds out
there.
And the whole rap metal thing -- I mean, 10 years ago, Arion [bassist Arion Salazar] was
in Fungo Mungo, which was a thrash metal band.
Yeah, but 10 years ago, bands like that weren't debuting at No. 1 on the charts.
No, but Korn's
been out working and doing this for a long time. They've built this up into public
consciousness, and they brought other bands along with them. And I think it's great. I
don't think we're that similar. I mean, I see people with Korn T-shirts at Third Eye Blind
shows, and the music is totally different.
Fred Durst [of Limp
Bizkit] has repeatedly publicly praised our band, but we don't sound alike, although I
think both groups have roots in hip-hop. Both of our bands got somehow tweaked by groups
like Public
Enemy and De
La Soul, sort of early '90s hip-hop, and fused that in with you know, Jane's
Addiction. But it's very different musically. We're not part of a scene. We have
always been about making a world of our own.
What about the Latin explosion?
There's no such thing. I mean fuck, they didn't call Ricky Ricardo a Latin explosion. And
when you have a Latin explosion, then you have a Latin backlash. It's all fucked up. I'm
so not interested in things being Latin or "Women in Rock," or being any of
those things. Like all the distinctions just bore the shit out of me. I mean, do you like
the song? Does it get you going?
"I think as soon as you go around being famous, you become a chump." |
And the other
thing is Third Eye Blind is part of the Latin invasion because Arion's father's
grandmother is from Mexico, which would therefore make him Latin and make us part of the
Latin invasion.
So what's the best part about fame?
The answer would be so smarmy you wouldn't be able to stand it. Well … the best thing
is that you actually get to reach people with music and have this positive effect on their
lives. When you're on tour that happens on a daily basis. You meet people afterwards, and
you see sort of like this little piece of community that you make with people, and there's
purity to it.
But the fame part … [long pause] I don't know. You really try to keep your head down
and stay at your business. I think as soon as you go around being famous, you become a
chump.
9 - Article from San Francisco Chronicle:
Third Eye Blind's Defiant Return Hitmakers come home with an attitude James Sullivan, Chronicle Staff Critic
Watching Stephan Jenkins is like watching a mobster move
into your neighborhood: You don't want anything to do with the guy, but there's a certain
ruthlessness there that's perversely appealing.
On Tuesday at the Warfield, Jenkins and his band, Third Eye Blind, played in their
hometown for the first time since the release of their second album, ``Blue.'' It was a
ragged show, marked by the singer's unchecked bluster, weird props (a pair of
stony-looking dragon heads) and flashes of the shrewd pop-rock sheen that has made the
band an undeniable radio presence.
Just before sending the crowd -- half excited kids, half indifferent adults -- home for
the night, Jenkins said the band had been ``a little freaked out'' about playing here for
the first time since its recent personnel change. In late January the band fired guitarist
Kevin Cadogan, replacing him with early 3EB member Tony Fredianelli.
The new guy seemed like a natural Tuesday. His rubbery black outfit, blond spikes of hair
and rose-colored glasses made him look like a junior Brad Pitt on guitar, and his stagey
flourishes -- each time he struck a fat chord he exaggerated it, raising his pick high
above his head -- bordered on parody.
Jenkins' own stage presence has always done that. On Tuesday his camouflage pants, those
bizarre dragon heads and a smokey, swirling light display added up to the sort of show
that future generations will think of as the kitschy excesses of pop music circa 2000. The
band played another sold-out Warfield show last night.
If Jenkins was freaked out early on, it was impossible to tell. He has a ferocious
intensity in his eyes that's instantly apparent, even from the back of a 2,200-seat
theater. On Tuesday he defied anyone to spoil his homecoming: ``Do you have any, like,
doubt how important this is to us?'' he asked.
After forgettable opening sets by the generic alternative band Tonic and the flowery
dance-pop performer Zen (Jenkins' former partner in the duo Puck and Zen), the headliners'
show began in true rock-star fashion.
The band members emerged from the fog one by one -- bassist Arion Salazar, Fredianelli,
drummer Brad Hargreaves. Then Jenkins materialized from beneath a riser, tossing a
tambourine high overhead. At the end of ``Graduate,'' one of several radio staples from
the band's self-titled 1997 debut, he brandished his microphone stand like a rifle, aiming
four shots at the balcony on the song's closing beats.
The next song, the fast-and-furious ``Anything,'' was the unlikely first single from the
new album. Jenkins, ever the canny careerist, saved the slam-dunk pop hit ``Never Let You
Go'' for the second single, out now. The move gave ``Blue'' an initial appearance of punk
integrity and commercial indifference, with sales and Casey Kasem rankings coming later.
FROM THE HIT MACHINE
At the Warfield the two singles came back-to-back. On the latter, when Jenkins sang ``You
say that I've changed/ Well maybe I did,'' he toyed with the lyric: ``Goddamn f-- right I
changed! What's wrong with it?''
At that point, the sound mix was still a little off: Salazar's bass notes hovered over the
other instruments like blimps. By the time the band got to the new song ``Darkness,''
however, things were falling into place.
``I want someone to know me/ Maybe tell me who I am,'' Jenkins sang with atypical
tenderness. He and Fredianelli sat on the edge of the riser, in an intimate moment they
might have learned from watching old variety shows.
RESEMBLING RUSH
The band's classic-progressive-rock tendency reared its head a few songs later. The
instrumental interlude of ``Camouflage'' sounded a little like Rush and a falsetto segment
of ``Wounded'' echoed early Genesis.
``This is a song I wrote four years ago, and I don't know what it's about anymore,''
Jenkins said, introducing the finale of the regular set, the band's smash ``Semi-Charmed
Life.'' The rhythm section closed the song with a stomping teaser from Led Zeppelin's
``The Ocean,'' and the band was gone.
A long four-song encore found the group at its peak, beginning with Jenkins' ``Slow
Motion.'' He delivered the pretty ballad with the controversial lyrics (``the song the
record company didn't want you to hear'') solo, accompanying himself ably on guitar.
On ``How's It Going to Be,'' he sneaked in a snippet of ``Bohemian Rhapsody'' and saluted
the rafters, an acoustic guitar slung on his hip.
On ``Darwin,'' he emphasized a line -- ``and the strong survive'' -- that speaks volumes
about his band.
``Rock on,'' the singer said. As the band members took a bow, Fredianelli made a flying
leap, bowling them all over in a heap. One thing is certain: This band will knock down
anything in its path.
Also, from LA TIMES:
Blind Wants a Better Blend Third Eye Blind's Jenkins likes number, enthusiasm of the band's fans; he'd just like to diversify a little.
 Third Eye Blind: lead singer Stephan Jenkins, foreground, and, rear from left, Arion Salazar, Tony Fredianellis and Brad Hargraves. Spencer Weiner / L.A. Times |
There are things that Stephan Jenkins doesn't want to
talk about. The leader of
Third Eye Blind is vague about his age. (He's 34.) And he does not elaborate on the
recent departure of longtime band guitarist Kevin Cadogan. ("He's a really good
guitarist.")
But Jenkins also has other things on his mind, issues that
concern him, like the makeup of his audience. While fans have already turned such Third
Eye Blind pop songs as "Semi-Charmed Life" and the new "Anything" into
big radio hits, the singer-guitarist is worried about the people his band isn't yet
reaching.
"I think the gamut of people who embrace Third Eye
Blind is pretty wide," says Jenkins, whose band performs tonight and Friday at the
Wiltern Theatre. "It's pretty white, too, which is kind of a drag to me. You don't
see it that much in Europe. Here the radio is so separated."
It's an artificial separation, which he says was never
clearer than at a recent show that featured both Third Eye Blind and the rapper Eve. It
seems that both were well aware of one another's successes and had plenty to chat about.
Common Threads Among the Bands
"We didn't have any color lines between us,"
Jenkins remembers. "These are imposed by some marketing thing on the radio. That's
where it happens. It's kind of depressing. The common thread that runs through all these
rock bands that are really vital right now-- Limp Bizkit, Beck, Korn, us--is
hip-hop."
Not that Jenkins is unhappy with the fans he's got now. He
speaks proudly of what he describes as an intense following that cheers as loudly for
obscure songs as for the hits.
| "The band that we probably take our cues from the most is the
Clash. They never second guessed what they were doing, what they were playing. If the urge
was genuine to do it then you do it." — STEPHAN JENKINS Lead singer of Third Eye Blind |
"It's something of a double life,
because we
have these songs that are very catchy and immediate, which is not my fault," he says.
"And then there is this other side that is equally valid and equally vital with Third
Eye Blind."
One of the more surprising moments on the new
"Blue" album is a track called "The Red Summer Sun," which begins in a
quiet, almost lilting fashion before exploding into something closer to a punk-rock AC/DC.
Jenkins' normally rich tenor rises to a raw scream reminiscent of such metal shouters as
Bon Scott or KISS' Paul Stanley.
"We have a desire to destroy things, I think, and you
hear that on the first record as well. There's a sort of punk-rock inclination running
through there. The band that we probably take our cues from the most is the Clash. They
never second-guessed what they were doing, what they were playing. If the urge was genuine
to do it then you do it. That's what we're about as well."
Jenkins was born in Southern California, and spent his
toddler years in Santa Monica before his family moved to the Bay Area. It was there that
he discovered pop music and formed his first band in the ninth grade. By adolescence his
obsessions included the Police, Led Zeppelin, the Jungle Brothers, Sly Stone and the
Clash.
Now that Third Eye Blind has found its own success, selling
more than 4 million copies of its self-titled 1997 debut album, Jenkins finds himself a
busy man, with unexpected opportunities. When the band's current tour ends in about 10
weeks, Jenkins will spend a few days in Los Angeles to shoot a bit part in a Mark Wahlberg
film. He'll play a thug who gets beaten up by the hero.
But he says he's more surprised by how much his life remains
just like it was when he was a struggling musician playing in clubs and garages. If he
happens to run into the likes of Kirk Hammett of Metallica at a party (as he did
recently), they still end up talking about feedback.
"What's really interesting is how things don't
change," he says. "If you're a person that's grounded, you still have to deal
with the realities of yourself."
BE THERE
Third Eye Blind,
March 9 and 10 at the Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., 8 p.m. $26.
(213) 380-5005.
 Third Eye Blind guitarist Tony Fredianelli and bassist Arion Salazar sign autographs before a recent performance in Santa Barbara. Spencer Weiner / L.A. Times |
10 - From CSU Fullerton:
Third Eye Blind & Tonic @ the Wiltern March 10, 2000
FROM THE WAY HE APPROACHED THE STAGE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 10, at the Wiltern, Third Eye Blind frontman Stepahn Jenkins apparently assumes he is bigger than life. After all of the members had arrived onstage and positioned themselves in their places , Jenkins, on a circular platform above the rest , threw his arms in the air with force and gave a quick snide glance and a look of arrogance at the concertgoers. he sought their approval and, of course, they played the role of devout disciples and screamed in respond.
Jenkins awkwardly pranced around the stage, maintaining his look-at-me stance through out the band's approximately two-hour show. Which, sadly, distracted the audience form the music and from any other member in the band.
The crowd , in a zombie-like trance, hardly seemed to care. It hung onto every word the singer spoke between songs, which, for the most part, was nothing more than immature ramblings about sex (explicitly phrased) and the band rebelling against it's record label's suggestion not to play a certain song.
Was Jenkins nervous and didn't know what to say? We may never know. But it surely ruined the band's potentially powerful second show (one of two sold-out nights at the Wiltern).
Third Eye Blind gained recognition for it's upbeat ditties that propelled the band onto radio waves everywhere, one song after another. The group went through a few of these radio hits through the show (most well received being the upbeat "Semi-Charmed Life," the emotional "How's It Gonna Be" and the somewhat silly, but fun, "Graduate"). but even these songs came of somewhat half-hearted because of jenkins' childish attitude.
When the band played tracks from it's latest release, Blue, the loss was even greater, since the number were nothing like Third Eye Blind songs of past. "10 Days Late," 1000 July's," and "Never Let You Go" (not even songs sugar-coated, clever opening can save what's to come, especially due to the lyrics near the end of the song: "I remember the stupid things, the mood rings, the bracelets and the beads, nickels and dimes, yours and mine, did you cash in all your dreams?") demonstrated jenkins' newfound folly.
But the sold-out show's crowd went along for the ride, reacting positively to everything, whether good or bad.
As much as the show sagged because of Jenkins, the overall sound created by the remaining members was amazing. Drummer Brad Hargreaves and bassist Arion Salazar played with sheer force and energy that shook the crowd. Once one avoided Jenkins' hokum, the band's gusto made for a not-to-shabby and fairly pleasurable performance (which maybe why most of the crowd carelessly bounced, bumped, and jumped up and down through out the entire show).
However, the most tragic aspect of the sold-out shows was not that Third Eye Blind lacked what was needed to fully prove itself worthy of it's listeners time, but that the band headlined over the far-more-talented Tonic.
Tonic played to a fairly mellow crowd that didn't quite fill all of the seats and remained seated for the most of the part of the show (unlike during Third Eye Blind, when everyone in sight stood up). The band made it's way through current radio hit "You Wanted More," the somber "Mean to me," and the fast-paced "Drag Me Down," all from the band's release Sugar.
Lead singer Emerson Hart announced his recent engagement to his girlfriend of five years just before jumping into a fan favorite "If You Could Only See," from Lemon Parade.
The band put Third Eye Blind to shame before it had even hit the stage.
--Heather Fuller (CSU, Fullerton)
12 - From LAUNCH.com:
Third Eye Blind Energized By New Guitarist
(3/12/00, 7 a.m. ET) - Mum's still the word on why Kevin Cadogan is no longer
playing guitar in Third Eye Blind. Speaking to LAUNCH, guitarist Arion Salazar would only
say, "I think everything's gonna be all right for him and for us. The worst is
over." But the band is plenty enthusiastic about his replacement, original Third Eye
Blind member Tony Fredianelli.
Fredianelli returned after Cadogan's abrupt departure from the group in January, just in
time for the band to ramp up for their American tour, which started just two weeks ago in
Santa Barbara, Calif. Salazar says Fredianelli's return has given the band a new spark on
when the band is
playing live. "There's this energy onstage. Energy -- you can see it, running around,
we're, like, singing into the same mic Beatles style and n one of it's rehearsed. It's
just spontaneous, real sincere... enthusiasm for playing with each other."
Frontman Stephan Jenkins adds, "He's got a lot of energy -- we call him the monkey.
He's definitely given up a good ass whooping."
Fredianelli's guitar work can be heard on the band's album Semi-Charmed Life. He
originally left the band before they hit it big because of the logistical difficulties of
being a Las Vegas resident
while the band was based in San Francisco.
-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles
13 - A review of the 3/10 LA show from the UCLA Daily Bruin:
3EB concert revives old persona with energy MUSIC: Added flair at performance outweighs critical review of album By Michelle Zubiate Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In the beginning years of Third Eye Blind,
frontman Stephan Jenkins would have begun a show by descending from the clouds.
But the new band, refreshed and somehow humbled, began Friday night's show at the Wiltern
Theatre in Hollywood with Jenkins rising from below, flanked by dragons, to honor the new
year and new beginnings.
One sign of change was in the warm brotherly welcome given to Tony Fredianelli, the
original guitarist for 3EB who returned after the group parted ways with Kevin Cadogan.
But changes in band faces and set list (introducing their second album "Blue")
doesn't automatically mean a great performance. 3EB faced the difficult task of rising
above the sophomore slump of less than stellar critical reviews of their newly recorded
sound. Fortunately, they passed.
Jenkins, Fredianelli, drummer Brad Hargreaves and bassist Arion Salazar banded together to
bring new energy to songs that had either already lost their luster or never had any to
begin with. Their absolute best song, the underplayed "Narcolepsy," was cranked
with a thrilling amount of uncontrollable rhythm and speed. Even the world's most
overplayed tune, "Semi-Charmed Life," felt comfortably reflective of a time,
four years ago, that not even Jenkins himself can quite remember well.
But the crowd's real rewards for selling out both nights of the Los Angeles stop came from
those small additions that made each live number a little different - and a little better
- than its stale recorded partner. "Jumper" had some added lyrics to the bridge.
"How's it Going to Be" delved into the heart of Queen's "Bohemian
Rhapsody." The crowd was even allowed to hear the lyrics of "Slow Motion"
that were asked by the band's record label, Elektra, to be left off the album because of
supposed violent content.
And Jenkins still has the charm. Beginning the second set from the ledge of the Wiltern's
balcony, he punched out "Losing a Whole Year" complete with top hat and
glitter-shooting pistol. But Jenkins has learned how to use this charm in combination with
humility to make the new show an act for the fans rather than his former displays of
arrogance.
He also demonstrated an improvement in vocals. Though all the softness was taken from
their ballad "Motorcycle Drive By," it was replaced by a new sense of forceful
strength. And when he could stop alterna-whining, growling or howling at the crowd, songs
such as encore-closing "God of Wine" expressed an honest sentiment missing from
years of yore.
The band's newer material, though not very exciting on the album, held a little more
ground. The band's enthusiasm on "1000 July" and "10 Days" compelled
the crowd more so than with the mediocre melodies.
Slower songs such as "Deep Inside of You" and "Wounded" didn't move
the venue as much as the band probably would have liked, but they served as a nice segue
into the more rockin' portions of the evening.
Ending the set in a group hug, 3EB had much to be proud of. It had created a new persona
to complement the pledges to keep the crowds on their toes.
Opening band, Tonic, also added to the night's overall success by igniting with power
ballads "Mean to Me" and "You Wanted More." Dressed in leather, they
matched the headliners and most audience members who came to the Wiltern expecting style
and receiving much more.
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14 - Congratulations, 3eb. "Blue" has now gone GOLD.
Also, the LA Star reports:
The Cider house rules star Charlize (right) is
tired of having a long distance relationship with her rock star boyfriend Stephan Jenkins
.Stephan the singer from Third Eye Blind lives in the San Francisco Bay area near his
father and
Charlize lives with her mother in L.A. area. Stephan wants to buy a house in the San
Francisco suburb Sausalito, but every he shows one he likes to his girlfriend, Charlize
nixes it and the deal is off! Pals says Charlize is hoping Stephan will eventually
give in and buy in L.A.
Also, an article from The Daily Californian:
Blind, But Not Deaf by Tommy Tung Tuesday March 14, 2000 Page 8
 |
| THE GRADUATES: Third Eye Blind |
There's no one-hit wondering how Third Eye Blind
continues to sweep away audiences, because this San Francisco quartet rocks any venue they
visit. I've seen other 3EB shows at San Jose State, the Greek Theatre and Spreckel's
Theatre (San Diego); and last Tuesday and Wednesday, they made the Warfield Theatre a home
for screaming fans.
After two years of solid travel they returned home for a stop on their Dragons and
Astronauts tour. Frontman Stephan Jenkins says, "We picked the [tour] name because it
so appropriately defines our time. Even with all the technology, all the endless
fascination with being wired and plugged in, people still go through life with their
fingers crossed. Everyone still looks for dragons in the stars. We are still drawn to
stories we tell each other to quiet the demons."
As a nice surprise, the band started off with "The Red Summer Sun" and segued
perfectly into the oldie, but goodie, "Graduate." They probably couldn't have
done a better transition since both songs require an open-D chord guitar tuning. Draconic
architecture and a Jolly Rancher assortment of light dazzled the Warfield's stage as
Jenkins skipped around his band members for two hours.
I was hesitant but at the same time curious to see their new guitarist Tony Fredianelli.
Having re-joined the band only a month ago, he did a remarkable job of playing favorites
from their self-titled album and new ones from this past November's release, Blue. His
interpretation of their songs, however, differs noticeably from Kevin Cadogan's cleaner
style. Gone are the echo effects and drawn out syllables of guitar notes that Cadogan did
so well — Fredianelli's method intensifies 3EB music with more overdriven distortion
and syncopated solos. From Blue, they covered everything but two tracks:
"Farther" and "An Ode to Maybe" (which aren't the best anyway). Of
course 3EB couldn't do every song from their first album, but they wisely chose the most
celebrated ones — "Semi-Charmed Life," "Graduate," and
"How's It Going to Be" were included, along with several others.
During the previous tour, Jenkins originally performed "I Want You" with only
his acoustic guitar, but now all of 3EB contributes to this catchy melody about necessity
and sexual desire. Other variations included new lyrics during the "Jumper" bass
and drum interlude and a few words at the coda of "How's It Going to Be."
Jenkins continued to uphold his audience-friendly character by talking intimately with the
audience and occasionally shooting them with the imaginary machine-gun/microphone stand.
His concert persona was very animated to fuel enthusiasm among band members and the
dancing crowd. With playful glee, Jenkins teleported to the balcony section and wore a
dapper top hat during "Losing a Whole Year."
Bassist Arion Salazar grooved even stronger during this tour with grounded but adventurous
bass lines. Brad Hargreaves revealed his percussion skill on "Wounded" — he
traded off using brushes and drumsticks, distinguishing him from other pounding rock
drummers. The best treat of the show was when Jenkins threw the controversy surrounding
"Slow Motion" completely out the door as he unabashedly sang about shooting
people, "ruby red" blood, plenty of drugs, and unapologetic sex —
everything a good song needs.
15 - STEPHAN SIGHTING! If your city TV selection includes MuchMusic then watch for the 3eb spotlight today!
16 - STEPHAN SIGHTING! Did you miss 3eb at the Sundance Film Festival last month? If so, then check out this 44 minute clip with a special interview with Jenkins!
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17 - STEPHAN SIGHTING! 3eb makes an appearance on Friday Night on NBC 1:35 am - 2:35 am ET.
Also, excerpt from S.F. Chronicle on Charlize Theron that talks about Stephan.
Star Power
Actress overcomes violent background to emerge as one of Hollywood's brightest lights
By: Ron Dicker Special to the Examiner
Her boyfriend is Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of the San Francisco rock band Third Eye
Blind. Theron credits Jenkins' versatility -- writing, producing and performing -- as a
catalyst for changes in her career.
"He has really opened my eyes and really made me focus on the other things I want to
do in this business besides acting," says Theron, who formed a production company a
year and a half ago.
The two do talk family, Theron says, "in a joking manner."
"I tell him I'll never have his kids because if they're half as mischievous as he is,
I'll go mad. But I think if you're going to be in a relationship, you're in it because you
see the possibilities or the potential of that."
The room may be chilly, but Theron's looking at warmer days ahead.
Also, from LALIVE: Not sure how old this is but...
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18 - From Apple.com: I think they wrote this for Stephan because he has often confessed to how he knows nothing about computers and so for him to know all these specifics is amazing.
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| By Stephanie Jorgl It all started in Stephan Jenkins’ bedroom. “I was sitting on my bed and I decided to play this riff for my best friend, Eric Godtland, from a song I was working on.” Godtland immediately recognized pop potential and signed on as the band’s manager. Before long, several of the band’s songs were at the top of the airwaves. Jenkins’ band, Third Eye Blind, hit triple-platinum status that same year with its debut album, “Semi-Charmed Life.” Third Eye Blind has just released a second CD, “Blue,” on Elektra Records, and has launched a new US tour, Dragons and Astronauts. Macs in the Matrix Although the members of Third Eye Blind have tour managers and tons of sound people working with them, they are still very involved in everything from designing the tour T-shirts to sketching out the set designs for the live end of the show. The stage design for the current tour was rendered back and forth between the set architect and the band via email. “Every member of our band and crew has a PowerBook and we all do our interfacing with the world on those — for email, Internet, scheduling, etc. — it’s the way we keep in touch with each other,” says Jenkins.  |
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19 - Oldies but goodies: http://www.performancephotography.com/3eb/3eb.html
20 - From MovieLine Magazine:
Months ago, Smashmouth agreed to cover the Steely Dan classic, "Do it Again" for the Farrelly brothers' next sidesplitter, "Me, Myself and Irene" which stars Jim Carrey and Renee Zelweger. Now THIRD EYE BLIND, The Offspring and Goo Goo Dolls have also committed to recording versions of Steely Dan songs for the soundtrack. The soundtrack is due out on June 13.
Also, from Seventeen.com
After sacking their former guitarist (and songwriter) Kevin Cadogan in a most public
fashion, the guys of Third Eye Blind are making the rounds to show us that all is well in
Stephan Jenkins' semi-charmed world.
Stephan -- who's sporting some frighteningly large biceps in the band's new vid --and
company, including new guitarist Tony Fredianelli, are getting started on their home turf
of Cali and branching out for a handful of select dates 'cross this green and pleasant
land. Give them a warm welcome, won't you? (LiST OF TOUR DATES)
21 - From the Chicago Tribune (show review):
THIRD EYE BLIND KEEPS FANS IN VIEW
By Kevin McKeough
Combining the sensibilities of Nirvana with the Backstreet Boys is wrong, just
wrong, but there's no denying that the unholy union that Third Eye Blind has produced
connects with the muddled emotions of teens uncomfortable with the extreme ends of the pop
spectrum. Their fan's emphatic reaction was about the only thing that wasn't a
mishmash during the first of Third Eye Blind's two sold-out weekend concerts at the
Riviera, as the San Francisco band performed an arena-scaled show in a theater, and turned
themselves into a Saturday morning cartoon on Friday night.
"Can I graduate," went the evening's first rallying cry, and Third Eye Blind
clearly taps into the yearnings and anxieties of fans who, at their oldest, aren't far
past their high school graduation (and who have purchased more than 4 million copies of
the band's first record). Singer Stephan Jenkins filled his songs with brooding melodies,
some sung over chiming guitars and easy-going rhythms, others overcorrosive power chords
and explosive drumming.
The combination of a buzzing riff with falsetto chirping on the band's
hit "Semi-Charmed Life" was the catchiest moment, and the squawky guitar riff
and bouncy groove of "Never Let You Go" was worthy of the Cars. Listless ballads
like "Deep Inside of You" weren't improved by the rock bombast, though, and the
grinding guitars of such
songs as "10 Days Late" didn't become more distinctive for their bouncy beats.
Scampering around the stage in their gaudy rock-star outfits, guitarist Tony
Fredianelli (who replaced Kevin Cadogan) and bass player Arion Salazar came dangerously
close to resembling the Banana
Splits.
Jenkins had the boy next door looks--if not the singing voice--to back up his teen-idol
stage antics. There was no charm to go with the cheekbones, though, as Jenkins goaded the
crowd, quoted violent lyrics from Queen and Guns n' Roses, and sang a decidedly creepy
tale of drug use as his first encore. Trying to seem rough and sensitive, caring and
aloof, Jenkins embodies the split personality that has made Third Eye Blind's music
disposable for anyone who doesn't see their own confusion reflected in it.
Every generation deserves to have its own version of Bad Company, and Tonic's opening set
showed the band is fully capable of assuming the role with their barrel-chested singing,
churning guitar riffs and walloping rhythm section.
22 -Rolling Stone has a few quotes about how Stephan thinks that the music off of Blue was meant to be played live. It's on page 44 titled "On the Road". The cover has DMX on it.
23 - From SF WEEKLY:
How much do I love stories about Third Eye Blind bad-boy
Stephen Jenkins? Oh, whoops. That's Stephan. An anonymous reader took TEB's return to the
Warfield last week as an opportunity to reminisce about a special nude group romp inside
The Exploratorium's Tactile Dome with the beleaguered pop star -- back in his Bottom of
the Hill BBQ days.... And while we're on the subject, Jenkins' long-term girlfriend
Charlize Theron is in town filming a flick
called "Sweet November" with Keanu Reeves, so maybe Stephan'll show them how to
have a good time while learning about science.
24 - From Guitar.com:
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25 - STEPHAN SIGHTING! Stephan and The Boo made an appearance on Access Hollywood tonight with clips from the Dragons and Astronauts tour.
27 - STEPHAN SIGHTING! Stephan's in LA until the 31st filming his short part in the Marky Mark movie "Metal Gods" due out this fall. Read more on this movie HERE.
28 - From VH1:
USER PICKS - THE TOP ALBUMS AS CHOSEN BY YOU!
1) Third Eye Blind Blue (Elektra)
2) Kittie Spit (Artemis Records)
3) Melissa Etheridge Breakdown (Island)
4) David Bowie hours... (Virgin)
5) Foo Fighters There is Nothing Left to Lose (RCA)
6) Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Live On (Giant/Reprise)
7) Counting Crows This Desert Life (DGC)
8) Bush The Science of Things (Trauma Records)
9) Santana Supernatural (Arista)
10) Eurythmics Peace (Arista)
Guitar.com: What does he bring to the table?
