Third Eye Blind Biography

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Biography Third Eye Blind

Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind (sometimes abbreviated 3eb) is an American alternative rock band formed in the early 1990s in San Francisco. The band's current line-up is Stephan Jenkins (vocals, guitar), Brad Hargreaves (drums, percussion), and Tony Fredianelli (guitar, vocals). Original bassist Arion Salazar has not been playing with the band, and his future as part of the band is unclear. It is reported on the band's Facebook page that he is able to return whenever he wishes, as there is an "open door policy" for him. Abe Millet, of Inviolet Row, has been filling in for Salazar during recent concerts.

After the success of their eponymous debut album in 1997, the band released one more album, 1999's Blue, before guitarist Kevin Cadogan was released under controversial circumstances.Julian Guthrie. He can see clearly now In 2003, the band released Out of the Vein. In 2008 the band released the digital EP Red Star.

History

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.Whiting, Sam. Third Eye Blind Spots a Big Gig. San Francisco Chronicle, April 13, 1996. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 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 setGanahl, Jane. Blind Faith. San Francisco Examiner, November 9 1997. Retrieved 2008-03-28. and was paid double by the concert promoter.Condon, Nadine. (2003). Hot Hits, Cheap Demos: The Real-World Guide to Music Business Success. pp. 148-149. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0879307625. In addition, Stephan Jenkins' production of The Braids' cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" gained major-label attention.Vaziri, Aidin. Rappers The Braids Get A Big Break. San Francisco Chronicle, October 27 1996. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 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.

Success (1997–2000)

Third Eye Blind's first album, Third Eye Blind was released in 1997. The album had 5 singles, "Semi-Charmed Life", "Graduate", "Losing a Whole Year", "Jumper", and "How's It Going to Be". "Semi-Charmed Life" peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks for 8 weeks. The band also performed "How's It Going to Be" on Saturday Night Live. To date it has been the most successful Third Eye Blind CD, selling 6 million units worldwide. Smash Mouth drummer Michael Urbano played drums on 4 songs on the album. During this period they also opened a number of shows on U2's PopMart Tour.

In 1999 the band released their second album, Blue. Although not received as well as Third Eye Blind, the album sold 75,000 copies the first week of release and by 2003 had sold 1.25 million in the U.S..Hasty, Katey. "Marilyn Manson Posts 'Grotesque' At No. 1". billboard.com. May 21, 2003. Four singles were released from the album, "Anything", "Never Let You Go", "Deep Inside of You", and "10 Days Late". In early 2000, shortly after the release of the album, Kevin Cadogan was released from the band. Cadogan filed suit, alleging wrongful termination, adding that his production, recording, and songwriter royalties were withheld since being kicked out of the band.Martens, Todd. "Ex-Third Eye Blind Guitarist's Suit Heads to Trial". billboard.com. June 13, 2002. The lawsuit was settled out of court in June 2002.Martens, Todd. "Ex-Guitarist Settles with Third Eye Blind". billboard.com. June 19, 2002.

Hiatus (2001–2002)

After extensive international touring, the band took a break from performing, appearing only at charity events. They put on shows for the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Breathe Benefit Concert in Los Angeles after Jenkins' mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. During the hiatus the band also built a recording studio in anticipation of their next album.

Out of the Vein (2003)

In 2003 the band released Out of the Vein. Two singles were released from the album; "Blinded", and "Crystal Baller". Despite positive reviews, the album was a commercial disappointment, selling only 500,000 copies worldwide. The only music video created from the album was for the single "Blinded", and Elektra Records, which was being absorbed into Atlantic Records at the time, did little to promote the single or album. Stephan Jenkins commented, "I worked really hard on Out of the Vein . . . Elektra was imploding as we were making it, so we didn't make a video and didn't do a marketing campaign, but as far as critics go, it was my best-reviewed album".

In April, 2003, the band embarked on the Within Arms Reach tour, targeting clubs and other smaller venues to promote their third album in a more intimate setting than in recent years. "The 'Within Arm's Reach Tour' means the audience and the band literally get within arm's reach of each other," Jenkins said.

This album came out right after the break up of Stephan Jenkins and actress Charlize Theron. During various concerts Jenkins has stated that the songs "Forget Myself" and "Palm Reader" are written for her and the lyrics reveal some interesting aspects of their relationship.

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (2009)

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". [1] Elliot In The Morning, November 2007]

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. Third Eye Blind: Louder and 'Political' The current expected release date is June 23rd, 2009 [2]. 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. Tune Lab Music, June 2007 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.

Also announced recently is a possible fifth album titled Ursa Minor, Third Eye Blind | Facebook 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.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Third-Eye-Blind/34254940936?ref=ts#/note.php?note_id=16749162001&ref=mf

Social Networking and the Internet

The band has recently been reaching fans by means of social networking on websites such as Facebook and MySpace as well as on the recently launched a blog based website on February 10th, 2009. This new website allows fans to publish their own blogs, network with each other, and discuss tour events and the band's music.

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.

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 Indaba Music Contest. 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.http://www.indabamusic.com/contests/show/3eb_redstar

Discography

Studio albums

  • Third Eye Blind (1997)
  • Blue (1999)
  • Out of the Vein (2003)
  • Ursa Major (2009)
  • Ursa Minor (TBA)


Extended plays

  • Red Star is a digitally-released 3-Track EP that was released on November 18 2008. The 3-Tracks Include: "Non-Dairy Creamer", "Red Star", and a live version of "Why Can't You Be". The title was voted on by fans on the band's Facebook page. Also released with the EP was a music video for Non-Dairy Creamer featuring Third Eye Blind's recent Japan tour


DVDs

  • Hiding Out: Included in the special edition of Out of the Vein, Hiding Out is a look behind the scenes with the band on how the album was made.


  • Ten Years Down (2007)


Singles



Popular culture and media

Soundtracks
  • Third Eye Blind's song "Horror Show" was featured on the 1999 movie Varsity Blues, and the song was also included on the film's soundtrack album. The song was actually written with the film Scream 2 in mind, hence the song's name.
  • "New Girl" and "Semi-Charmed Life" were featured on the soundtrack for the movie American Pie.
  • "Semi-Charmed Life" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Wild Things.
  • "Eye Conqueror" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie A Knight's Tale.


Films
  • "London" and "Graduate" were featured in the film Can't Hardly Wait.
  • "Never Let You Go" was featured in the films Clockstoppers, Coyote Ugly, and Say It Isn't So.
  • "I Want You," "Losing a Whole Year (Remix - Strings Up Version)," and "The Background" were all featured in the film The Corruptor.
  • "How's It Going To Be?" was used as background music in Sarcastic Gamer's parody song 'Silence CliffyB'.
  • "Horror Show" was originally an unreleased cover of The Velvet Underground's "Heroin". The band kept the music and wrote new lyrics for Varsity Blues.
  • "Deep Inside of You" was featured in Me, Myself, and Irene.
  • "Semi-Charmed Life" was featured in A Lot Like Love and Dirty Work.
  • "Narcolepsy" was featured in Four Horsemen, Episode 3 of Season 1 of Jericho.
  • "The Background" was used in the "Faith, Hope & Trick" episode of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.
  • "Wounded" was used as the background music for an anti-drug commercial.
  • "Jumper" was used in a scene of the movie Yes Man in 2008.


Other
  • "Train in Vain", a Clash cover, was released on The Clash Tribute in 1999.


Awards

  • 1997 - "Semi-Charmed Life" won the Billboard Music Award for Modern Rock Track of the Year.
  • 1998 - Nominated for two American Music Awards for Favorite New Artist (Pop/Rock) and Favorite Artist (Alternative)


References

External links



Alternative rock groupsAmerican alternative rock music groupsPost-grunge groups1990s music groups2000s music groupsMusical groups from San Francisco, CaliforniaWarner Music Group artists

Third Eye BlindThird Eye BlindThird Eye Blind서드 아이 블라인드Third Eye Blindサード・アイ・ブラインドThird Eye BlindThird Eye Blind


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third Eye Blind
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