A Charmed Life

For a guy labeled in school as �unteachable� and a �criminal, �Stephan Jenkins hasn�t done too badly.As the lead singer/songwriter of Third Eye Blind (3EB), Jenkins is the face in front of and the driving force behind the biggest break-out band of 1997. 3EB�s self-titled Elektra debut is well beyond platinum sales and has been a constant on the billboard Top 200 since its entry nearly a year ago. Their debut single, �Semi-Charmed Life,� was #1 on Billboard�s Modern Alternative chart for ten weeks, #1 on Billboard�s Top 40 chart for seven weeks and earned the sobriquet �Most Played Record� of the year across all radio formats from Billboard magazine. Their follow-up single, �How It�s Going to Be,� became an instant add at MTV as well as almost 200 major market radio stations in just two weeks, making it the #1 most added single across three radio formats. All of which contributed to 3EB�s being offered opening slots with both the Rolling Stones and U2.

Lest anyone think this success is of the overnight variety, Jenkins is quick to point out that the whole project has been a long time in the making. �We�ve struggled to make this work until we got it right and we didn�t come out of nowhere,� he declares. Lean years were spent in the lower Haight district of San Francisco while Jenkins assembled the right elements -- band members and material -- to create Third Eye Blind. The band is now comprised of: Kevin Cadogan, guitar prodigy and Jenkins� main collaborator, who studied with Joe Satriani, has played in both ska and punk bands and worships U2's The Edge and early mod groups like The Smiths; Brad Hargreaves, a jazz drummer who was wooed from New York�s jazz clubs to join 3EB and the world of rock; the funk influenced Anon Salazar, ex-Fungo Mungo; and an ever-growing stockpile of songs that manage to look squarely at the dark side of life and still pull out a ray of hope.

�The music�s about reconciling yourself to things you�ve lost, things you�ve blown,� Jenkins explains. �I think music should hit you in the gut.� As �Semi-Charmed Life� certainly does. The poppy rock tune cossets the song�s caustic narrative about drug addiction and a disintegrating romance. �It sounds bright and shiny for a reason,� says Jenkins, �That�s the way crystal meth feels. It�s a sunny-disposition drug. It�s supposed to sound attractive because the song is about the allure of a decadent life-style. But it�s also a cautionary tale. There are real consequences to the choices we make. Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break.�

Thus the song is able to fill another of Jenkins� writing tenets: to communicate. �I see rock music as the best example of modern day storytelling that exists in our society. Songs are narratives that help the listeners cope with the reality of life that can�t be easily spoken about in everyday conversation. It is a hugely powerful process of helping people find themselves through music, defining their own identity and expressing their rebellion in a society that lacks real ideas or emotions.� That process Jenkins never tires of. While 3EB is touring, he writes new songs on the road �consistently, obsessively� -- and unbashedly. �I don�t apologize for the lyrics I write,� Jenkins says, �They can be raunchy and graphic, but they�re not sensationalistic. The album is about things we�ve lost and things we could never get. Maybe it�s my character flaw that I�m always pulled between those two points.�