Third Eye Blind Has ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ Alternative Band Will Play In Spokane On Saturday

Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins doesn’t much like journalists.

That shocking revelation came just after he called the last reporter he’d talked to an “idiot” and just before he complained that the media hadn’t given his band its “props.”

“I don’t think we’re listened to very critically,” Jenkins said in a phone interview from an Edmonton, Alberta, hotel. “We are listened to by our fans, which is certainly the biggest blessing we could have. I don’t feel like we’ve gotten our props from the media. I don’t think we’ve gotten what we deserve. It’s annoying to me.”

Do you hear the violins?

Despite those annoyances, Third Eye Blind has done pretty well for itself in recent years.

Their 1997 self-titled debut has gone triple platinum and 1999’s “Blue” is certified gold.

You can hardly flip on an alt-rock station without hearing “Semi-Charmed Life,” “How’s it Going to Be” or “Never Let You Go.”

The Bay-area rockers are staples on MTV, a fact borne out during a phone interview with Jenkins.

“Hey, look, I’m on TV,” he said, staring at the tube on the other end of the line. “It’s my first video.”

Jenkins, ever the cool rock star, said seeing himself on the small screen no longer fazes him.

“It’s great, but at the end of the day, you let that bounce right off you,” Jenkins said. “You ultimately have to be yourself.”

Jenkins, 34, formed the band in the early ‘90s with guitarist Kevin Cadogan, bassist Arion Salazar and drummer Brad Hargreaves.

The band dumped Cadogan in January, replacing him with Tony Fredianelli, who played with Third Eye Blind in its infancy. Cadogan, who has since formed a new band called bully (on his aptly-titled label, Tossed Out records), co-wrote 10 of the 14 songs on Third Eye Blind’s debut album.

“I don’t have anything to say about it,” Jenkins said. “We’ve gone separate ways.”

Jenkins and his bandmates plan to take a tour break this fall to work on an EP, tentatively titled “Black” or the “Symphony of Decay.” It will be the first release on the band’s independent label.

The album will likely include the original version of “Slow Motion,” a song that appears only in instrumental form on the band’s latest CD. The lyrics tell the story of a young person who shoots a teacher’s son, and were reportedly deemed too controversial in the wake of recent school shootings.

Jenkins, one of “Blue’s” producers, wouldn’t say why the lyrics were omitted. What he will say, though, is that Third Eye Blind plans to stick around.

“We’re making music that’s going to last,” Jenkins said. “We intend to be here. We’re not part of a trend at all. We’re not part of the whole Cookie Monster rock thing going on right now. We’re not part of a pop thing. We do what we do.”

This sidebar appeared with the story:

PREVIEW

Third Eye Blind

When, where: 8 p.m. Saturday at the Spokane Opera House

Tickets: $26 at G&B