Third Eye Blind 'Repudiates' Republican Agenda, Draws Boos From GOP Crowd in Cleveland One of those was вЂњSemi-Charmed.вЂќ He had it with a stripped-down drum machine and electronic bass on the first non-band demo.В It was kind of one-dimensional,В acoustic guitar troubadour-y first position thing with basic guitar chords and some bohemian rapping. When I met Stephan he had a demo with two or three songs out of the six that would see the light of day on the album. IВ was playing with StephanВ in 1993 and we had a show opening for the Counting Crows in April of 1994, and Kevin showed up a couple months later. Jenkins:В From the very early вЂ™90s I was working and writing and trying to get a band together, then someone would quit and join another band, or someone was a drug addict, and IвЂ™d put up fliers to find new members, and then the night of the show theВ drummer would quit and IвЂ™d be back to zero.В Did things change when Kevin and Arion joined?В No, not really.ДЄrion Salazar: Nothing in the band happened until Kevin joined. Between StephanвЂ™s place in the East Bay in Oakland and my place is whereВ most of the songs were written.

We started writing, andВ what would come over the next two years was the bulk of the debut album - a lot of which came together in aВ little shack in the back of my parentsвЂ™ house in Oakland, where IВ was living after I graduated from college. WeВ hit it off and IВ liked some of stuff he was doing. HeВ approached me at a club and asked ifВ I wanted to jam and get to work. Kevin Cadogan: IВ was playing with a mutual acquaintance in a band and Stephan had heard me and some of my songs and guitar playing.

ThenВ I went on to try to get bands together.В There was no overnight success. Third Eye Blind started as a songwriting effort of mineВ and then В some guys who were engineers and keyboard players in studios. He thought it was rambling, and it was - it was too different. Randy Jackson heard it and really liked it, and took it to Donnie Ienner, who was then President of CBS Records. I didnвЂ™t have a band or any musicians, just these songs in my head.В When I first recorded it and played it it was pretty much done. She sang me a song called вЂњ WhatвЂ™s Going OnвЂќВ and I sang her this song called вЂњSemi-CharmedВ Life.вЂќ I rememberВ sitting in a room with this other songwriter who worked down the street -В she was a waitress - and sheВ came up and sat on the bed and we played each other some songs and I realized years later thatВ the songs we played each other had sold 17 million recordsвЂ¦ it was Linda Perry. The drum loops on the final record are the ones that I originally recorded. Stephan Jenkins:В I wrote вЂњSemi-CharmedвЂќ before I met Arion or any of theВ people in thatВ make-up. вЂњI didnвЂ™t have a band, just these songs in my head.вЂќ ( EditorвЂ™s note: The accounts of how some songs and portions of theВ album came together do not always totally agree.) Here, in their own words, is the story behind Third Eye Blind. Third Eye Blind Explains Trolling Republicans at Charity GigДЇor the albumвЂ™s 20 anniversary, Billboard spoke to Jenkins, 52,В former bandmatesВ guitarist Kevin Cadogan andВ bassist Arion Salazar, Elektra Records Chairman and CEO Sylvia Rhone, who signed the band, as well as вЂњSemi-CharmedВ LifeвЂќ video director Jamie MorganВ and album co-producer/engineer Eric Valentine.

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