This interview is owned by 3ebpriestess. Do NOT reproduce, borrow, or steal any section of this interview. It is not yours to use! If you have any questions or would like me to make an exception email me directly: 3ebpriestess@cybergal.com
First of all, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to sit down and do this interview. The online fans have submitted an email to both Nada and I and we chose questions from that. The first question is ---What impresses you the most about Third Eye Blind fans that have been dedicated and have been with you throughout the years?
Well, just that—they’ve been dedicated throughout the years. If you go to a Third Eye Blind show, chances are that they’re not somebody’s first. They’ve made a real sort of attachment to the lyrics and that has gone beyond to us. Also, I think that the relationships and community that they make with each other.
How do you feel about the music business?
I think that it has been a business that has been set up to exploit musicians as much a possible.
Going along with that, do you think that the music business and perhaps the media portray you accurately or---
Well, I don’t think that the music business really portrays me at all.
And what about the media?
The music business sees me as a means of making money.
Do you think that is the way it is for all artists? Or do you think that---
Some artists are seen as a way of losing money. But, I think that the music business sees you if you don’t have a producer and a songwriter. I take people’s money and budgets and make music with it. I think that the media, for the most part, portrays us --- they don’t get Third Eye Blind at all. Not at all. Media tend to be a bunch of sheep. They also tend to be two things—One: They’re intrigued by music rather than loving it. Music is really about—They look at it as a way for them to say something. It’s very egotistic way of embracing music. People who actually really love music a lot of them tend to be musicians. They tend to be fans. The second thing about media they are--- sheep. Did I say sheep already?
Yeah.
People get anointed. There’s very little free thinking in it. Even in alternative press. There’s a real sense of wanting to belong. I know one writer. She’s so obsessed with belonging and appearing hip. It’s really sad. She wrote a book and its the worst book I’ve ever read.
Really?
Yeah. Terrible. Oh well--- yeah, so I’m not very enthusiastic about it. The good news is that I really don’t think that they matter. It really doesn’t make a difference.
On the flip side, what’s the most rewarding of being a songwriter and musician?
The best thing is the media exchange that we have with the audience. That’s the thing that I really like. There’s this whole commradery when we’re on the road. You know, we’re not touring right now. We do these little one off shows because we have a very large crew and in order to keep them together it’s very expensive. We’ll do a show like this and it keeps everyone employed. It keeps everyone there.
How have your influences changed now that you’ve met other performers?
I don’t really think that they’ve changed that much. First time that I saw Gwen Stefani was a RockFest and she’s such a good performer. It completely changed how I started performing. I was completely blown away by how in charge she was. She was the only woman who was performing the whole day and she was so much more in charge than anyone else. I was totally like- ah, good idea. I don’t think that we look to--- Third Eye Blind is very much its own beast. We really don’t look to trends and other bands to see what they’re doing. I don’t think that any of us are ever thinking about that. You know? I’m a little jealous of the adulation that Radiohead is getting now. You know?
Really!! Why?
Yeah—a little bit. Well, because I don’t think that we get that in the media. They talk about them being virtuousos. Come on—I think that they’re really good but I don’t see anyone calling us virtuosos. That’s kind of rejected. The fact is that we can play our asses off. Musically, we’re really good. You don’t have the media say that. So I look at them and--- all the media does is go “oooooh! Ahhhhh!” [ imitates swooning noises].
Maybe it’s because they’re British.
It’s a lot of things. But, you have this concept that the media is supposed to be the intelligencia and it’s really not. What happens is that it exists. There’s sort of this fear that they have. It’s trippy.
So what’s in your cd player right now?
I’m moving. I don’t have a cd player right now.
You’re not listening to the radio? Or there isn’t anything that you like?
I’m trying to think of new music that I really like right now. [Pauses] I was listening to Outkast for a minute a while ago. That was fun but you know all this shooting people. Do you have to listen to hip-hop and constantly have to listen to people call me “b****, n*****, or fa****? It’s just so sickening. It’s like ---ughhhh [groans]. Can’t I just get the beats?
That’s true. But you know hip-hop. That’s what has been selling right now. So that’s what’s getting all the attention.
I love hip-hop. But there’s this constant dialogue going on about hip-hop about it being true to the street and all that. I just think that that’s bullsh*t. I think that that’s total crap. It’s sad that no one is calling the hip-hop artistic community on that. It’s not true at all.
I’ve never been from the streets so I don’t now how it is.
Well, I haven’t either but I’ve certainly lived near them. I’ve spent five years living across the street from the projects in San Francisco. It wasn’t my experiences. I don’t know. A lot of it has been this sort of frat boy mentality whores sort of cheating on them.
Ok. What are your thoughts about working with other groups? I mean, I know that you’ve done collaborations before but do you want to continue doing that?
Yeah. I like it. I like working with other artists. Sure.
Is there any particular group that you’d like to work with?
Well, yeah. None really pops to mind since I just woke up. [Pauses]
Or-- if you could work with anyone dead or alive- hypothetical or real? Who would it be?
Dead or alive. Dead- it would be Jimi Hendrix. Alive- maybe David Bowie. I’m trying to put on this benefit and I’ve invited a lot of bands to come and play. That’s sort of one big collaboration. I’ve contacted a lot of people on that. I’m hoping. I could see a lot of people doing that sort of thing.
What’s the benefit for?
It’s a breast Cancer benefit. It’s October [13?? skips at number] at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It’s called “Breathe.” It’s for a group called “Step Up.” Until I became a board member, it’s a women’s group that raises money for Breast Cancer Treatment and Research.
Is there any particular reason that you chose that group? Or is it something that---
They chose me. They had their act together. My mom is a breast cancer survivor so it’s a way that I can sort of enter philanthropy.
Not to change the subject, but, what are your current inspirations?
I don’t know. I kind of just move along through my life and a melody comes to me. I think that I think and I read and it turns into sometimes some kind of inspiration. I’m moving and so I look at furniture and design and I’ve been thinking a lot about design now. About how you can sort of stick out your space and say “this is my space.” I would call this my own. This light from a junkshop will light my way. I’ve thought about a sense of theater and drama we make in our spaces. That just comes from moving. You could see me talking about home.
Where are you moving? Are you moving out of state—a different part of the city?
A different part of San Francisco.
What’s the process involved in writing a song?
It’s always different. Sometimes, I’ll take my guitar. I have this really beautiful Martin. I don’t take it on tour with me. It was a gift. It’s one of the nicest things that I own. That thing has got new strings on it. It’s all tuned up, I’ll play the simplist chord and it just somehow can catch me in a different way. I’ll have different ideas for a song. I’ll call myself up on the phone and leave messages to myself on my answering machine. Yeah.
So there’s no set way- like the music coming first or the lyrics coming first?
There’s usually some sort of rhythm. I think I’m very rhythmically oriented. I’ll have a rhythm for an idea. I’ll have some rhythm come into my mind. I think a lot of emotions come through rhythms. It usually starts there. I don’t mean some type of drum beat or something like that. It’s some type of flowing waltz of some type. Before that, sometimes I’ll write lyrics first.
This is a question that we got from a lot of people so we’re just going to ask it- will you ever release some of the demos that aren’t already released or recorded?
Will we release the demos?
Yeah. Will you re-record any of them?
We might re-record them but I don’t think that we’ll release any demos.
Is there any particular reason?
Which demos are we talking about?
A lot of songs that we were getting asked about was “Wake for Young Souls?”
We might record Wake for Young Souls. I’m suddenly getting a real déja-vu right now. I don’t know why. This stuff hardly happens and I’m having a déja-vu.
So are you going to release “Wake for Young Souls?”
We might!
Are you producing the new record or is someone else?
I’m producing it.
Where is the recording going to be taking place?
We just got our own studio in San Francisco. It’s our own private studio. We own it. Its ours! It’s ours! It’s ours! It’s near a park in San Francisco. It’s a beautiful park in the bay area and that’s where the studio is. It’s really great.
Now did you build it or did Elektra give you the money to make the studio?
Elektra gave us advances. We used the advances how we see fit. This is really our own private world. We’re trying to name it. You guys can actually have a contest to name our studio.
We just might have a contest!
Do you have any ideas of what you’re thinking about naming it?
A lot of studio names have come up but I don’t know that we’re going to use them. Arion had one called “Strangelove studios.” I thought that was a good one. Another one was “San Francisco Studios,” “Blue Studio,” “Hybrid…” We’re using a lot of old and new technology. It’s a combination. But, I don’t know yet! Our road manager wants to call it “Three B******.” We’ve got two pittbulls and they’re both female and she and the two of them were sitting on the couch. She said, “Look at us, the three b******.” I don’t think that we’re going to name it that though.
With the videos, do you guys collaborate at all or do you take what the director suggests?
The videos are a big sore spot for Third Eye Blind. I don’t think that our videos really have anything to do with Third Eye Blind. When people go to the shows, I don’t think that they recognize the band’s video. The live show is very much what Third Eye Blind is. The video is very much somebody else’s.
Do you want to keep it like that? Or do you want to change that?
[Slyly] OOOOOh- I love it like that. [smirks] No really, I want to change it. The next album I really want to start directing videos.
Would you ever consider using fans as extras instead of models?
I’d love to. The “Deep Inside of You” video they were chosen. They’re all so skinny it’s bizarre to me. Why? It’s not my thing.
You’d rather use real people then with experiences? Or, you really have no preference.
It depends. It depends.
How do you think that Tony’s influences will affect the upcoming album?
He’s going to be all over it. He’s writing songs and he’s contributing. He just walked by. He’s great. He’s got a lot to offer and he’s very much involved. It’s a very joyous thing going on in the studio.
How would you describe his style?
Stephan: He’s got a very muscular approach to playing. How would you describe your style Tony?
Tony: My style? It’s sort of ultra technical super realm. Probably not those exact words but I’ll make a comparison. I’m like Luke Skywalker and Jimi Hendrix is like Obi-Wan Kenobi.
What can you tell fans that are anxiously waiting the new album?
It’s going to be the best album we’ve ever made. It’s going to be the album that people hoped we made. The last album was made under terrible duress. It was made in six months. The band was breaking up while it was being made. I was really trying to hold it together and get it done. It wasn’t all that we could do. There are things on it that I think are really good and there are songs on the album that didn’t get the time to really emerge. “Ode To Maybe, Farther, Darkness, Darwin…” All those songs really could have been better than what we did on the album. “Anything” really sounds good but when we play it live it’s more filled out. It’s a better tune now. The arrangements on this album are going to be more stretched out.
Now that you’ve become a celebrity, how do you feel about having your personal life invaded?
I really resent it. I’ve been in a celebrity relationship and you never heard me talk about it. You never will. I don’t mind people asking as long as they don’t mind me not answering. I think that celebrities bring that on themselves to a large extent. I think that there’s a lot of celebrities out there that don’t have anything in the lives that’s private. They have no sense of that. They sort of prostitute themselves. Then they complain that the “media is doing this and the media is doing that…” People know that I won’t talk about certain things. So they tend to not ask. I don’t have relationships to sell records or get my picture taken to get a buck or something like that. It’s family and family is not for sale. I think that you need to have things that are real and are precious to you. From that you can draw. Maybe it’s different because I actually write things and make things. I need to maintain some type of maternal landscape. It kind of freaks me out and I need to be a little more protected. It might be now. In some ways, I’ve handled being an emerging celebrity well. I’m a lot more comfortable with myself now than I ever have.
How do you feel that the dynamics of the band have changed since forming in the early nineties?
Well, we’re at the origional formation so they haven’t changed at all. This is the original band and we’re rocking on.
Since you guys became popular how have they changed?
I think that we’ve grown a lot and in a lot of ways we’re much easier on each other. We were just in a practice room today. We were with each other and we played some stuff and we had a really good time with it. When we play something some way, Arion will smile. The band has a lot of good feelings kind of thing. I think that we’re much more sure of ourselves. When we were doing our first demos, I’d freak out about hearing the sound of my voice. Now I just sing it. I think that we’re more confident and confortable as musicians and what we’re doing. There’s a lot of things that are really good things. We’re very vigilant about that and finding the sound that’s really in your head. Those kind of things are still there.