Rejoining Third Eye Blind Is Like Jumping On A Rocket Ship

What if Pete Best had chosen to leave the Beatles, and then got a second chance, an opportunity to rejoin the band? To jump back on the train to fame -- only to find it's now speeding along at 90 miles an hour?

Tony Fredianelli, original guitarist for Third Eye Blind who recently rejoined the band, is just beginning to understand what that's all about.

"It's been amazing to watch them from a distance these last few years, having been with them during the days when we were sleeping on each other's couches," says the soft-spoken 29-year-old, who played guitar on the band's first hit, "Semi-Charmed Life."

"Stephan (Jenkins) always had this in his plan, that I would someday play again in Third Eye Blind. But rejoining them now is like stepping into a Fellini movie! Like someone said "action' and then I fly in a private jet and someone else says "meet JAY LENO!' "

He smiles enigmatically behind his omnipresent mirrored shades. "It's like the director is God, and I'm just trying to play my role."

Fredianelli knew, when the band started issuing demos and creating a heavy industry buzz back in 1995, that he had a tough choice to make. Having moved to Las Vegas for love, he wasn't prepared for the sacrifice of moving back to The City full-time -- nor the rigors of touring, should the band succeed.

"I didn't have the money to go back and forth, and I had my own band in Las Vegas. So it made sense for me to drop out. But we've stayed good friends."

Fredianelli didn't get much advance warning that his lottery numbers were about to be called. Having been invited by front man Stephan Jenkins to play keyboards and additional guitar at a concert at the Sundance Film Festival, Fredianelli was on hand when the band parted ways with guitarist Kevin Cadogan just one day before they were scheduled to play "The Tonight Show." Fredianelli had to learn the lead guitar part to the band's new hit, "Never Let You Go," in just hours.

But they pulled it off. And soon after, the band took off to New York for live MTV appearances and shows, during which Fredianelli got his first taste of how the Bay Area band's life has changed: including limos, cameras, shrieking girls and mob scenes.

Semi-charmed life, indeed. But even though Fredianelli is a bit awed by it all, "I'm not worried about losing my grounding. I think it really depends on the harmony you create around yourself, whether you create joy or chaos. I think that the danger of this life is when you start buying into your own hype."

Jenkins, an old friend of Fredianelli from the days when the band lived and played in the Haight, is overjoyed to be reunited.

"He has a real muscular style of playing -- a big-string, strong-fingered style -- that really gives us a kick," enthuses Jenkins, as they eat breakfast at a Cole Valley cafe. "He's all about making a big sound. I predict that guitar magazines will be all over him and kids will be wanting to know how he does these things."

Not content with mere flattery, Jenkins goes in for a bit of hazing with the freshman.

"Tony's one of those stage extroverts but in person he has the quiet of a Zen master. We call him The Monk and The Monkey. Plus, he's got that Jimmy Page black magic thing going on, that dark side to him. In fact, I think he's trying to kill me. He's always going, "Here! drink this!' "

Fredianelli, up until now sitting quietly, finally lets loose with some chuckles. "I don't think I'm bringing any dark energy, I think I'm only bringing light."

Later, after Jenkins' departure, the mutual admiration is evident.

"Stephan is amazing. People think he's got this energy now because he's become a rock star, but he was always like this, even when he had nothing. He's always had that flair. And people underestimate what a great musician he is."

Even though Fredianelli is not a household name like Jenkins is becoming, his musical pedigree is enviable. The son of '50s pop singer Ron Fredianelli of the group The Gaylords, he was raised around musicians in Southern California, picked up a guitar at an early age and was playing professionally by the time he was 15, recording guitar instrumentals for Shrapnel Records, and playing as a studio hired gun all over the country, including Nashville.

Fredianelli's busied himself in recent years with his band in Las Vegas, Magic Alex, but says Third Eye Blind's brand of classic rock is "what I've been working toward. It's been my goal."

The hardest thing about taking on the gig is leaving his young wife (yes, the one he moved to Vegas for) and son Joseph behind when he goes on the Dragons and Astronauts tour that starts a week from now and comes to the Warfield for two sold-out dates March 7 and 8.

"It will be hard but this is a great opportunity. And I've been in such a whirlwind that I haven't had a chance to process what it will be like being away from them."

Eagerly showing off a photo of a darling, tow-headed toddler, Fredianelli shrugs. "Anyway, how much would he respect ME if I didn't grab the chance to go and do it?"

"I think someone must be looking out for me," he ponders. "If these things had happened to me 10 years ago I could not have handled them. But now I think I'm ready."