THIRD EYE BLIND
BRAD HARGREAVES lives in the Hollywood Hills, enjoys learning new things, and has a powerful Dachshund named Shelby. They are both secretly slipping off the world.
Shelby
The Band
Beginnings (1993–1996)
Third Eye Blind recorded their first demo in 1993. The band gained major label attention after their second demo was released in 1995, including that of Clive Davis, who invited the band to perform a showcase for Arista Records in New York City. During Third Eye Blind concerts at the time, it was customary for the band to have a piñata release candy above their mosh pits, yet at the showcase for the record executives, lead singer Stephan Jenkins released live crickets from the piñata instead.With regard to the name of the band, Jenkins indicated during a radio interview that the name came from the metaphysical idea of a mind’s eye, a topic of a book he had read. The other group members liked it and chose it as the official name. In the past, Stephan Jenkins has also joked about a Ouija board and vodka being the sources of the name. In April 1996, after Jenkins had challenged Epic Records executive Dave Massey in a meeting, the band landed an opening gig for Oasis at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. In an unlikely scenario for an opening act, the band was invited back for an encore after playing their initial set and was paid double by the concert promoter.In addition, Stephan Jenkins’ production of The Braids’ cover of Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” gained major-label attention. Afterwards, the band found themselves in a bidding war among record labels, and after a showcase in Los Angeles, signed with Sylvia Rhone of Elektra Records because they believed it offered the most artistic freedom.
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (2009)
Third Eye Blind has announced a fourth studio album titled Ursa Major. The album has been anticipated since mid-2007 and was previously expected to be named The Hideous Strength. The current scheduled date as given by Stephan Jenkins is June 2009. The album will be produced under the Sony label. Jenkins has stated that this album will be “more political” than previous Third Eye Blind works.Jenkins said the fourth album has taken so long to complete because he experienced difficulty finishing the lyrics.
Also announced recently is a possible fifth album titled Ursa Minor, that may be released following Ursa Major. Jenkins said that Ursa Minor will consist of tracks that did not make the cut for Ursa Major. Leo Kremer, who has been filling in for Arion Salazar during recent shows is going to be playing his last time with the band after they tour Japan this Summer. Ari Ingber, from band The Upwelling, co-wrote “Break Like a Fever” with Jenkins, a new track from Ursa Major. John Evans (Vanessa Carlton) and Juan Alderette (The Mars Volta) will reportedly take over bass duties for the recording of this next album, according to Tony Fredianelli.
The first single from the album, “Non-Dairy Creamer”, was released in November 2008. This song was released as an Internet exclusive track on the digital EP Red Star.
A number of previously unreleased recordings were made available on Facebook and MySpace, including “Persephone”, “Carnival Barker” (an instrumental), and numerous instrumental sessions declined by Jenkins for inclusion on the fourth album.
For the 10th anniversary of the release of Third Eye Blind’s debut album, the band performed at the Fillmore on March 13 and 14. The shows were filmed for broadcast on HDNet on December 2, as well as normal broadcast and release on DVD and as a live album tentatively to be released in early 2008, as announced by Jenkins on November 9, 2007, on DC101’s “Elliot In The Morning”. However, at a concert in Newport, Kentucky in February, Jenkins announced a live cd was being recorded that evening.
Between April and November 2007, Third Eye Blind toured extensively throughout the US, playing dozens of sold-out shows as a build-up for the release of their new album. They played 2 shows with 1990s acts Counting Crows and Collective Soul during the summer of 2007. Their Fall 2007 tour consisted of nine shows, beginning on November 9, at the University of Maryland College Park (which sold out the presale and general sale in a matter of hours), and ending on November 18 at the University of Rhode Island Ryan Center. The band also toured in the winter of 2007, and played numerous shows in 2008. Several performances on the tour were recorded for possible use on a future live album.
Towards the end of September 2008, Third Eye Blind released the song “Non-Dairy Creamer” to fans. It was released as six individual tracks (lead vocal, background vocal, drums and clap, bass, guitars, and violin) as a competition for fans to remix the song for Third Eye Blind. On October 16th, the day that the “Non-Dairy Creamer” contest ended, another song “Don’t Believe a Word”, was released in stem format, again for the purpose of remixing the song. On November 6th the stems for “Red Star” were released to Indaba users. The winner for “Don’t Believe a Word” was chosen on the 23rd of November and the voting for “Red Star” started shortly after that on the 27th of November. The voting ended sometime in December after getting pushed back a few times. Ultimately, the band Third Eye Blind will pick their favorite submissions for each song and a grand prize winner will get the opportunity to perform live on stage with Third Eye Blind. The winner of each song will have their version released on an alternate mix album, which will be included as a companion digital album to the band’s own release of Ursa Major. Contestants get to vote for their favorite submissions and the top 3 of each contest will receive an autographed copy of the album when it is released.
An EP titled Symphony of Decay has also been completed. The band reportedly has a contractual obligation to deliver the EP.
ADRIANA SASSOON 