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article12 A Semi Charmed Life Sonic Wav July 1998 Third Eye Blind's guitarist Kevin Cadogan ponders life before it became semi-charmed. "It wasn't always as good as it is now." Pause. He tends to pause a lot. "We did a showcase before we got signed and it was for a bunch of labels and I was sweating." Pause. "Not nervous sweat, you know, blue collar sweat. I was working really hard," he deadpans. "And some of the sweat dripped into the guitar somehow and it shorted out." "Everyone in the room walked out. I was like, 'where you going? It'll be working soon.' At the time, I thought that was it. Our prime shot at getting signed was gone." No doubt any band working these days has those kind of stories about almost and shoulda beens and we coulda been a contender if only...The difference is that a lot of bands never get past the "If only" part of the equation. But San Francisco's Third Eye Blind has broken from the pack thanks to their huge hit, this spring's ubiquitous "Semi-Charmed Life" and its follow up "How's It Gonna Be." The music is pure ear candy with some rough edges. Hooks galore buried in the rock leanings reminiscent of U2 circa "Joshua Tree." The melodic clatter underlines the quartet sardonic world view. Just take "Semi-Charmed Life," which belies its "doot, doot, doot do". Alvin and the Chipmunk's friendly, fluffy hook with lyrics that talk about drugs, debauchery and deadly decadence. Bet you never listened to the lyrics. Check it out. It's not a pretty picture. Sales from the song has spurred on their debut, which has been at the top of the charts for well over a year and has already gone double platinum. And now they are out headlining the smaller sheds, like Harborlights, where they'll be on July 17. The quartet is fronted by the charismatic lead singer Stephan Jenkins, who has the swagger of early Bono. Live, he's a confidant and alluring front-man, and the group's appeal seems to be gathering some lather from ladies in thrall with him. Along with Cadogan, the group is filled out with bassist Arion Salazar and drummer Brad Hargreaves. So besides the girls, girls, girls and the better drugs, what has changed for the band. "Oh, the girls and the drugs were always there, that's nothing new," Cadogan says with a slight laugh that can be heard through the phone. "You know a lot of people wonder about how life changes and they expect me to say that this and that gets in the way or there are problems that come with success. This is the truth, there's nothing but good things happening. Life is..." No Kevin, don't go where I think you're going to. "No, no, no I won't say that. There's nothing semi about how good life feels. Don't let anyone who finds some kind of success in this business tell you that there are bad things that come with it." He searches his muse for specifics. "You're treated better, you travel better and the money is great. I can buy what I want. Actually, I'm getting guitars sent to me and they're not even asking for endorsements." A guitarist's dream. If Cadogan is getting all these guitars, imagine what fellow San Francisco guitar god Joe Satriani gets. "Joe was my first guitar teacher," Cadogan says with surprise at harmonic convergence of the free association. "When I was 13, Joe was out living in Berkeley and I took some lessons. All I remember is that the first thing I did was play it backwards. He sorta looked at me and said, 'I bet you play it right handed.'" Pause. "He was right. Not right handed. Right. As in correct right." Cadogan says that he's not worried about the second record letdown that has plagued so many bands. "We are isolated from that. How can you worry about something that hasn't happened and will not happen if we make good music that I think we are capable of." Ah, but it is not something to take lightly though. Almost every act that says there's no anxiety about following up fabulous selling debuts. It's become almost a mantra. Should they be concerned? Sure. The curse of the Gin Blossoms, Seven Mary Three and Hootie & the Blowfish hovers. It's the problem of the modern music industry right now as groups simply do not develop audiences. For every Jewel, whose fans will follow her across the Dead Sea, there are acts whose audience dries up once the one hit drops off the charts. Ask yourself how long Smash Mouth, Fastball and Harvey Danger are going to be around. For the first time in the conversation, Cadogan drops a bit of the irony that has dotted his previous conversation. "You know, to tell you the truth, I think that's more something that people who write or read about music rather listen to it for the pleasure of it get up in arms about." "I don't think people who are coming to our shows, and the crowds get larger and larger, which is great, are thinking, 'can they follow "Semi-Charmed Life" with another big single?'" In other words, drop the science because the equation doesn't always work. "We're about music. We let others figure out the rest." Back to articles