Third Eye Blind
Fighting The Odds

Stephan Jenkins, 29-year-old [owner's note=he's actually 34] primary visionary and focal point behind Third Eye Blind, is a classic rock 'n' roll front man. He's got a Johnny Rotten's classic sneer and whine, Paul Simon's songwriting grace and David Lee Roth's knack for a manipulating conversation.

In the introspective and conservative '90s, his confident demeanor can easily be misunderstood for cockiness. Even before TEB was a household name, Jenkins was catching grief from his own San Francisco Bay area music community. "I wasn't the easiest person to deal with sometimes and I'm still not that [easy to deal with]. But whoever is? Who's perfect all of the time? Who doesn't piss off somebody somewhere?"

When pushed a little further, Jenkins explains that some of his hometown's resentments may have stemmed from the knock down drag out bidding war that netted them an iron clad record deal with Elektra Records. A deal so sweet that it includes a full creative control among its many perks. It's even rumored that the usually reserved Elektra Records president Sylvia Rhone was among those at the front of the stage during the showcase set that sealed the band's fate. How does a relatively unknown act draw up this kind of fever? "Well, we just stuck to our guns. I mean, we know what we want this band to sound like. We did not mold [ourselves to sound like any [of the] other groups that are out there or anything like that.

The former University of California at Berkeley literature student waxed introspective with Circus Magazine, when descrubing the record's mind set. "I basically would have to say that [the songs] are about loss in a lot of ways. I think that's one thing right there. It's funny because I didn't eve realize it in a lot of way until we were done with the record and people started giving us their take on things."

He goes on, "We don't really care if we fit in. We were not willing to fit in just to get a record deal. I think that attitude and a great manager did that for us. We have a sound that we believe in. We honestly just attracted people because we worked our asses off for it. That's it, end of story."

The story is just beginning for the quartet that cites Perry Farrell, The Specials, Camper Van Beethoven (which later morphed into Cracker) surfing and U2's The Edge as big influences on their approach to making music. Rounded out by Kevin Cadogan (guitar/co-songwriter), Arion Salazar,(bass) and drummer Brad Hargreaves (the last to join), TEB has spent the better part of two years criss-crossing the globe as road dogs. Tours with Reef, British brats Oasis, hometown boys Smash mouth and even a couple of dates opening for The Rolling Stones prepared them for this summer's impressive headlining outing with teenage garage punks Eve 6 and Canadian power pop heavies Our Lady Peace. During an appearance on the syndicated radio broadcast Rockline, Jenkins was hinting that the stage show for the tour contains a lot of surprises revolving around a production that was three stories tall. They'll be on the road until November and probably be back home as early as January 1999 working on their long-awaited follow-up.

It's something that comes with the spoils of success. Formed in 1994 by Jenkins, Third Eye Blind has melted into mainstream so much that they even got their own string section when they appeared on Rosie O'Donnell's late morning talk show. It's a far stretch to when Jenkins was first looking for like-minded musician to play with. "There were several false starts," Jenkins said recently.

"We played some shows with another drummer and another guitar player before Kevin walked in." Jenkins met Cadogan at a San Francisco club and shortly after, they began working on some demos. "Everything clicked. We've never looked for anyone else to come and change what we've got."

When it's time to board the fam train, intrusive media types always follow. If the subject strays from professional life to pesonal life, Jenkins often clams up. "It's like this, I write and perform songs. Anything else is pretty secondary. You know, sometimes it doesn't feel exactily natural to have people poking and prodding around intimate parts of your life. I understand that people want to know that sutff, but that doesn't mean that you always want to give it up."

Jenkins was also quick to point ouf that the band hardly lives a Babylon style existence of decadence and vice. "We all live pretty much clean lifestyles. We don't really abuse ourselves or anthing like that. None of us really do drugs or anything. I don't even eat dairy because it messes with my throat. I mean it could happen you never know. [We have a good] support system. We have been with our manager since the beginning and we have a lot of people with us that have been around us for awhile."

That system has been tested quite a bit. They cam straight out of the gate with a huge hit. Their pre debut struggle has nothing to do with those who will always sling the mud of the overnight success tag. It's not surprising that the subject doesn't sit well.

"It's bullshit that we are this overnight sensation. No one created us. Nobody wrote these songs for us. We got lucky in some ways but we earned it. We earned every single bit of it. We've been together longer than some bands who do well on their second or third album."

Jenkins hisses the answer more than he speaks it. It's a question he has to deal with day after day. interview after interview. Consisitently defending one's art, integrity and purpose isn't a pleasant task. In fact, keeping the band's integrity without resembling many of their peers is still a priority for them. As Jenkins told USA Today last October, TEB's strength lies in maintaining their own sound, rather than trying to keep up with favor-of-the-week tastes. "There's a whole collage movement in the noise-pop post grunge world." Jenkins told the national newspaper. "It's intresting but very safe, full of vapid melodrama but no emotional commitment. One reason we formed this band was not to fit into that."

Time has a way of separating the sincere from the insincere. Judging from Third Eye Blind's twist hf halo laced punk ("Loosing a Whole Year"), melancholy pop ("How's it going to be") and get up and bop rock ("Graduate," "Semi-Charmed Life") Jenkins and his cohorts will live long and prosper.

~Adrian Gregory Glover