September 2000 Old News U Can Use

Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind is what you might call a committed Pro Tools user.

"I haven’t gone so far as to get a Pro Tools tattoo, but Pro Tools is an integral part of all the productions that I do," says the lead singer, songwriter and producer of the band. Jason Carmer, engineer on the Jenkins production team (dubbed The Mud Sisters) puts it simply enough: "Stephan and I are both way into Pro Tools."

Carmer describes their setup as "a 48 I/O system of 888|24 converters with Pro Tools|24 MIXplus and plug-ins for days." Jenkins says: "On the first record (the self-titled Third Eye Blind) I used Pro Tools more sparingly, mostly for comping guitar parts. Then on the second record (Blue), I said, let’s do everything in Pro Tools. That’s what Blue is — a Pro Tools record."

Straight In

"What I used to do a lot is record to analog and then transfer the tracks to Pro Tools," Carmer says. "But more and more these days I just record straight to Pro Tools because it sounds really good, especially at 24-bit, 48 kHz.

"On this last Third Eye Blind record, I tracked vocals direct to Pro Tools because I didn’t want to change the way anything sounded," he continues. "Everything sounded perfect through the compressor and the microphone and I didn’t want to color the sound by, say, going to analog tape. With Pro Tools, the input audio sounds exactly the same after it’s recorded and comes back at you — pretty cool."

Jenkins agrees that the flexibility and purity of sound you find with Pro Tools is important. "When you record to digital or analog tape, that’s the sound you get," he says. "You can never move away from that sound. Pro Tools isn’t like that. Recording to Pro Tools lets you take your tracks in any direction you want. You can mold the sound using plug-ins or even run tracks to 2-inch tape."

Plug-in Pleasures

"The plug-ins that I get the most mileage out of are the AudioSuite plug-ins," says Carmer. "You can come up with some of the coolest, whacked out stuff, and many of these plug-ins come standard with Pro Tools." One plug-in, which isn't a stock AudioSuite effect that Carmer particularly likes, is "the old Opcode fusion:VINYL. We used that plug-in for days on the last Third Eye Blind record."

But what Carmer is really into right now is Native Instruments' Reaktor. "I’m using that with DirectConnect and it works really well," he says. "With Reaktor routed through DirectConnect, the possibilities are endless. Here is the ability to do what I’ve always imagined — it’s that powerful."

At the Speed of Creativity

A crucial factor in choosing Pro Tools, for both Jenkins and Carmer, is the speed at which the platform lets ideas be executed.

"We like to work fast," Carmer says. "I don’t like sitting in a studio for 14 hours — I want to go outside, have a life. Stephan feels the same way." Jenkins continues: "Getting things done on Pro Tools is so fast, it allows ideas to be chased around and fleshed out much quicker. Songs come together with terrific speed. It’s a speed much closer to the speed at which ideas spring to mind, closer to the speed of creativity, so to speak."

As a result, Jenkins notes: "We’ve developed a much more cavalier attitude towards tracking. You can really throw yourself out there — lean back into a guitar solo and just go after the feeling. If there’s a note that’s out of place, you can fix it later."

Carmer puts it this way: "In traditional studios you spend so much time waiting while some assistant — or yourself — tries to figure out why track 23 doesn’t work. Track 23 has always worked on Pro Tools."

"I think Pro Tools is the future of recording," says Jenkins. "The studio I’m building, called The Mud Room, is based around Pro Tools, not ADATs or an SSL or a Neve like some studios. Pro Tools will be the core.

"I’ve recorded on analog and digital tape and I’ve recorded on Pro Tools. I made a better sounding record on Pro Tools. In the end, it’s not about convenience, it’s not about editing precision, it’s about what comes through the speakers and does it move you? That’s the only thing that really matters. Working with Pro Tools has helped us make something better come through the speakers."

2 - Jen interviews Stephan in Las Vegas! Make sure you help me ask some cool questions and possibly win a prize for doing so!

3 - Stephan Jenkins and Third Eye Blind officially become one of Jerry's kids on
Labor Day weekend, when they will perform on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day
Telethon on 9/4. 3eb will play "Never Let You Go" and "Deep Inside Of You."

The good people of MN now know more than they want to about Charlize Theron and Stephan Jenkins's tempestuous relationship. The Cider House Rules actress had apparently split up with the Third Eye Blind singer in July, only to reconcile in time for the band's video shoot for their song "Deep Inside
of You" in Minneapolis later that month. But the couple's breaking up and making up continued, often in front of hundreds of onlookers. So many delays were caused by Theron and Jenkins's explosive arguments- and steamy public rapprochements- that at times the stressed-out production crew was reduced to tears, according to insiders on the set. One bad blowup occurred when Jenkins apparently wanted model Leilani Bishop to lick his face from his chin to his nostrils in the video. When the $20,000-a-day cover girl initially said no, Jenkins spent time in her trailer, convincing her to change her mind- and ticking off Theron, who abruptly left the set, saying "I don't want to watch a sinking ship," according to sources. We hear that she returned, though, in time to slap Jenkins on the face during a spat about the way the stylist had parted his hair. The rocker responded by smacking her on the rear, say witnesses. Jenkins didn't return our calls. Theron's rep denies the claims and said the only slapping took place in a scene in the video with Jenkins and another actress.

8 - From Listen.com: (Jen note: I don't know how this one snuck by me, but this article rocks!)

An Interview with Third Eye Blind
by Nick Tangborn, Editor In Chief, Listen.com
July 20, 2000

Nick Tangborn: What's music going to be like in five years?

Stephan Jenkins: Within five years it'll be watermarked (Ed. Note: watermarking is a method of invisibly encoding information on a digital music file that allows artists and labels to track its use), in my opinion. And what's going on right now will not be possible in the same way, but it's my guess that the majority of (music) will be downloadable. In some ways that'll make things better, and in some ways it'll make things worse. It'll definitely have a much wider possibility. It'll be easier to make music, it'll be easier to get your music out there, at least somewhere. It'll probably end rock stars as we know them. I think celebrity culture is probably on its way out, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

NT: What do you mean by celebrity culture?

SJ: Well, celebrity culture is a new thing. They didn't have this for most of human history. This whole idea is new.

NT: Do you think that with digital distribution the music market will become singles-oriented again?

SJ: Definitely. I think that you're going to end up having, like, the AOL Record Company, and, like, one other Internet (music company). They're merging right now so much, and Time-Warner just purchased AOL, I think you're going to find that the Internet is where you're going to get your music (Ed. Note: actually, AOL purchased Time-Warner). In five years, you'll have a presence on the Internet, there will be a lot more bands trying to get exposure through the Internet, and selling their own music I think.

Tony Fredianelli: It's too bad...people's time is so valuable these days, by grabbing singles, grabbing songs off the Internet, it's so immediate to you at the time -- as opposed to getting it in record or CD form - and I think that's bad.

SJ: Does Napster's product cost money?

NT: No, Napster's free.

SJ: So how does Napster get the capitalization?

NT: The only money Napster's gotten so far is from venture firms.

SJ: So what are they getting it for?

NT: As far as I know, the idea that Napster is trying to sell is that it's going to move toward a subscription model, where someone would pay $20 a month for access to it.

SJ: There's a buck in it for Napster down the line. That's what makes me think Napster is full of sh*t. The guys at Napster, first of all, are corporate heads, and if they've got lip rings or not, it doesn't make them cool to me, it makes them corporate fat cats. I think they've got $25 million in capitalization, so to me they're just a bunch of other multinational corporate leaders who are pulling a scam. I'm all for pulling a scam, but I'm not for people pulling a scam when they're guys throwing up a peace sign saying, "Hey man, music should be free. I happen to have $25 million in capitalization, but music should be free." Because I think milk should be free. I also think the water you're drinking should be free, and so should your shirt. But it's not. I also don't want Napster, I don't want Chevron, I don't want AOL, I don't want Elektra, or any other multinational corporation with lots of money to decide for me what I'm going to do with my music. Our music company is designed to f*ck us. That's how they are set up, that's what they're built to do. They get 90%, we get 10%. We do most of the work, and they spread that out. That's how it's set up, but at least they ask us, at least they ask our permission. Napster has never asked our permission. Those guys have got plenty of bank. We have one of the biggest records of the year. It's sold about 1.5 million copies, but it's got about 3 million downloads. And critics will go, "Well, it's not doing as well as the last record." It's doing far better than the last record, it's just that we're a huge Napster band. The other thing I hate about Napster is that (it claims to be) for the people and it's a free speech thing. Well, it's for the people, as long as they're white people, as long as they're male people, and as long as they're college people. Because that's who's downloading the music: white, male college students. That's who's doing it. That's who's got the speed of equipment and the access to equipment to do it.

TF: I think the problem is going to be that if a hacker can break into the Pentagon, I think he can certainly find a way to get around a watermark. I don't know how they're going to figure out how to put such a tight lid on it that somebody's not going to figure out how to break it.

SJ: I think it's all going to go toward a subscription basis, and that's cool. Yeah, I think people will do that, pay $25 a month to get as much music as they want.

NT: How do you function as an artist if it's a singles-oriented market and you're trying to create an album that says something as a whole? In my opinion, CDs, LPs or whatever will still be a subset, maybe as small as vinyl is now, but it seems like there will always be an audience, a niche audience.

Brad Hargreaves: Well there's people who want to look at the pictures or lyrics and stuff on the physical CD. They'll still be around.

SJ: The biggest plus Third Eye Blind's got, that we've got as a band, is that we make albums that make you want to listen to the whole thing. That's always been our goal; to never have a song or two, with a bunch of filler to go along with it. However, a lot of bands have a song and just build up some other stuff to round out the space. Those bands I'd rather just have the one song, but there's a lot of bands where I love the records, and the songs that get played on the radio are the ones that the fans try to avoid. That's the case with us. The core Third Eye Blind fans really like songs like "Narcolepsy" and "Motorcycle Drive By," and "Wounded" and "Darwin." And part of that is because they're not played on the radio. So these singles, when you're all singles-ed out, there's a sense of like losing your precious territory.

NT: One of the things that's curious about Third Eye Blind is that you guys are one of the few rock bands that's still popular with young audiences right now, in a market of mostly hip-hop and teen pop and metal. What do you attribute that to, the band specifically or the market in general?

Arion Salazar: I think there's always gonna be an audience for good tunes, good songs, good lyrics, melody, well-made. I think that's why we're doing all right.

SJ: I think our reason is...I think it's what we staked out for ourselves. When we came in, there was a whole scene in San Francisco that we weren't interested in participating in particularly. We weren't against it, it was more against us. We just didn't belong to it. We felt like what was going on in the music scene at the time was very conservative, even though it was indie. Indie to me is just always such a bunch of sh*t, because it's always so conservative, and always checking to see if you're wearing the right polyester pants. We felt confined and we wanted to spread out and go anywhere we wanted to. And that's what our music is, it's an amalgam of everything we grew up with. So when we came on to the radio and sort of in the public consciousness there was really something else going on. We came in and, like, "I am the Firestarter" was the absolute rage and that's what everyone wanted. We didn't go in with that, we didn't go in with any other bands. And then 3 years later we put out another album and the radio landscape is entirely different again, and we're not part of any of those scenes either. And the whole idea was that we're interested in standing alone. Not against anybody, because we're obviously friends with people, bands like Limp Bizkit, and we go and watch the sets of the Deftones, all kinds of people. But, Third Eye Blind does what it does. I think people follow us for that reason. Because there is kind of a precious territory, and I think also that we have a really devout following in spite of radio play.

NT: How do you think the web has helped Third Eye Blind?

SJ: Oh, it's helped us enormously. And even downloading, even Napster's helped us. My problem with Napster is just that they didn't ask our permission. That's just total bullsh*t. It's not bullsh*t if you really are punk rock, but they're not punk rock. They're totally corporate, they're the status quo. The Internet is the status quo. The Internet is the man. They're dressed up with nipple rings or something, but f*ck that. That's the problem. What happens on the Internet that's real, is the connection we have with our fans. We have a very large group of people who run websites, Third Eye Blind websites, and they make a community with each other where Third Eye Blind is the soundtrack. They do their own thing, they've got their own discussion going on, and I think that has helped us radically.

BH: It's just a good way to open up to your fans. We've got diaries on our website, so people know what we're thinking. We've got 12 million hits on our website in 45 days, and obviously that's just invaluable.

NT: Where do you see Third Eye Blind in five years?

SJ: This place is going to be sold out...I think the music we're going to do is going to grow radically. I think we're going to do stuff that's totally unexpected. I would say that the arrangem ents that we do are going to be way the f*ck out there, you just won't be able to track it. We're all into ideas that are, songs that are through-composed, and we've given hints on that on things like "Wounded," "Narcolepsy," "Red Summer Sun," and working with an arrangement that isn't A-B-A-C-C-B-A-A-A kind of thing. That's one thing that we're all very much interested in, in rhythm and melody. S o melodically, I know on the next record we're going to do something where melodies will run through longer passages, almost operatic. And then we're always sort of pushing for extremes...stripping th ings way down and building things way up, so you'll hear different kinds of instrumentation, including different kinds of drums. I think that's where we're really going to try and reassess what the rh ythm track is. It's a lot of work, there's a lot to be done. Five years is a long period of time to achieve it. I really think with Tony in the band we have a shot at becoming one of the great rock 'n ' roll bands, and that's what we really want to do, that's what we really want to be. It's completely unheard of to last totally. It's utterly unheard of, and that's what we want to do, take this band way out there.

9 - From Launch.com:

13 - From MTV.com:

Destiny's Child, Third Eye Blind To Play "GQ" Awards

Fashion and music will collide in New York City for the presentation of the 2000 "GQ" Men Of The Year Awards, being held at the Beacon Theater on October 26.

Comedian and "Monday Night Football" analyst Dennis Miller has been tapped to host the show, which will feature performances from Destiny's Child, Third Eye Blind, and Enrique Iglesias.

The "GQ" awards show is again being held in conjunction with the magazine's annual "Man Of The Year" issue, which is also slated to hit newsstands in October.

The cameras will be rolling on this year's show, which FOX will broadcast on December 9 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

Lenny Kravitz and the Goo Goo Dolls were among the artists who graced the stage for the magazine's 1999 awards presentation (see "Lenny Kravitz, Goo Goo Dolls, Garth Brooks Suit Up For "GQ" Awards").

16 - 3eb will be appearing on the Fox Family Channel Hi-Fi Room show at noon eastern time.

17 - 3eb is in the October issue of Circus Magazine. There is an article and 2 pics of Stephan page 62 and 63.

STEPHAN'S WALKING WITH A LIMP

Rumor has hit that Stephan Jenkins and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst hit the studio on 9/12 to record a track together. We kid you not folks! Some say the collaboration will land on Bizkit's new disc, while others say that song will be downloaded to Mir space station for exclusive listening party. Stay tuned. Stephan was in town for MTV awards, trying to grab much needed R&R after extensive touring with 3eb.

Also, ArionSalazar.com announces plans to become Arion's official site, putting Arion in closer contact with the 3eb internet fan base. As of mid-October, the refurbished site will include exclusive news and downloads.

Third Eye Blind Video Cybercast from Las Vegas House of Blues at 9:00 pm eastern time. Don't miss it!

23 -In the new Rolling Stone, with Kate Hudson on the cover, there is an advertisement for the Beck's Beer contest with 3eb pictured. It's a great black & white picture on page 84.

24 - 3eb will be appearing on the Fox Family Channel Hi-Fi Room show at noon eastern time. It's a rerun.

25 - Stephan appears in the October issue of In Style Magazine with Demi Moore on the cover. There's a small pic of him playing the drums at a charity event.

Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins at the Rock 'N' Road Rally at Pier 59 Studios.

Also, from the NY DAILY NEWS 9/26/00:

Rock 'em, Sock 'em

Third Eye Blind singer Stephen Jenkins is saying nada about reports that he and his girlfriend, Charlize Theron, have been fussing and fighting. (Her rep vouches that the couple couldn't be happier.) But Jenkins doesn't mind talking about how he traded punches with Mark Wahlberg.

Jenkins and Wahlberg had some of Hollywood's top stunt experts from "The Matrix" prepping them for a slug scene in their forthcoming rock movie "You Want to Be a Star?" (formerly titled "Metal God"). But just when the cameras were ready to roll, Jenkins remembered how sloppy real scrapping can be.

"Every fight that I'd been in in high school was just terrible," he tells us. "One guy punches another guy, that guy punches back, and then they go into this death grip, and it ends up on the ground. It's awful and embarrassing. We said, 'Let's have that fight!'"

As for violence on CDs, Jenkins thinks music execs cut more slack for rappers than rockers. Rappers "can get up and say, 'I shot the m-----f------ in the face,' and that's totally acceptable," asserts Jenkins. "Once you get a white kid saying it, the powers that be get very upset."

Still, Jenkins doesn't think Eminem's "comic violence" is as bad as Britney Spears' come-on. The pop tart tantalizes girls with "a stripper's" allure, says Jenkins. "They can't wait to get fake [breasts]. They're trying to skip childhood. ... You don't have to watch out for your kid playing with a toy gun. You have to watch out for your daughter playing with lipstick."

Jenkins will bring his own brand of music to GQ Magazine's Men of the Year awards at the Beacon on Oct. 26. The show, to be broadcast on Fox, will also feature entertainment from Dennis Miller, Enrique Iglesias, Destiny's Child and 98 Degrees.

Wahlberg Fights Charlize's Man

Actor Mark Wahlberg and Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins traded knuckle jabs while filming the upcoming heavy metal flick So You Wanna Be a Rock Star, but don't look for any grandiose, John Woo-style choreography.

Though the pair had some of The Matrix's fight scene experts coaching them, Jenkins told the New York Daily News that things got pretty pathetic. "Every fight that I'd been in in high school was just terrible," he explained. "One guy punches another guy, that guy punches back, and then they go into this
death grip, and it ends up on the ground. It's awful and embarrassing. [Wahlberg and I] said, 'Let's have that fight!'"

So You Wanna Be a Rock Star was originally titled Metal God, but apparently former Judas Priest singer Rob Halford (who actually inspired the film's twisted tale) owns legal rights to the phrase "metal god." What a great pick-up line that must be.

In other behind-the-scenes relations, things aren't quite so lighthearted. Jenkins would not comment to the Daily News regarding rumors that he and his actress girlfriend, Charlize Theron, are on the skids. Theron's camp says they're fine, but burblings from beyond are pinning her to a sizzling elder in the acting community - one who also happens to be working on So You Wanna Be a Rock Star. Ziiiiip it!

Jenkins and Theron met in Hawaii in late 1997, when a vacationing Theron apparently went to check out a 3eb show. Jenkins was previously linked to heartbreaker Winona Ryder.

Theron will appear in the upcoming Will Smith-Matt Damon fable, The Legend of Bagger Vance.

27 - Stephan's 36th birthday! Check out how you can be a part by clicking here.

Also, working on his BIRTHDAY, you can catch Stephan on Politically Incorrect on ABC tonight at 12:05AM eastern/pacific time, 11:05pm central time. Click here for more information on this program. Click here to read the transcript.

30 - Talk Live with Third Eye Blind!

Third Eye Blind fans, here's your chance to converse with the band!
Please join us for an exclusive backstage voicecast with 3EB. You'll get a chance to ask questions and listen to them respond live.

Space is limited for this event, so plan to arrive early to reserve your space. The cyber doors will open at 12:30 PM ET/9:30 AM PT.

How to Get to the Voicecast:

To join in the Third Eye Blind Voicecast you need to download and install Cahoots. Then, start using Cahoots to talk to other 3EB fans so you'll be ready for the Voicecast.

1. Launch the Cahoots application and your Internet browser.
2. Open www.3eb.com in your browser (For the voicecast itself, click here instead:
http://cahoots.com/3eb/voicecast.html )
3. In the Cahoots window, click on the Visiting Tab. Then click on "3EB.com" under "Currently Visiting." (for the Voicecast, you'll click on "3EB Voicecast")
4. When the menu appears, click on "Go to site voice conversation."

Test your computer audio by talking to other users or listening to the ongoing conversations.
And be sure to try sending an Instant Message to someone (click on a name under "Users at 3eb.com" and choose "Send Instant Message" from the menu.)
You'll need to know how to do this to send a question to the band members during the Voicecast.

To download the Cahoots software (free!) click this link:

Free Cahoots SoftWare Download