Third Eye Blind Band • Page 71

pretty sure chris hated touring with stephan so i would be shocked if we got another dashboard/3eb tour

 

Based on what?

 

You might be thinking if Jimmy Eat World. They vowed to never tour with 3EB again because of Stephan’s behavior.

 

Based on a convo with DC’s former publicist after that tour wrapped up. When it was announced he told me he told Chris about some SJ stories and afterwards he told me it went exactly how he thought it would

 

This too. Nearly every scene band that tours with 3eb ends up having a bad time

 

Go on...

 

How is SJ being one part talented and one part sleazedouche a surprise at this point?

 

I saw Third Eye Blind in 1997 and 1998 when Kevin was in the band. Stephan's ego was so insane at that point which was hilarious in that he sounded legit BAD live, to the point where the local radio station would make fun of him for it.

 

Listen to the 3EB podcast episode where he has the hosts of Guys We Fucked on. The GWF hosts are both podcast pros who banter into microphones for a living and Jenkie, who seems to fashion himself as a deeply soulful poet and witty raconteur, has no idea how to listen, ‘yes and’, or engage with anything they’re giving him. He ends up responding to most of their invitations to either joke around or dish some real personal stuff about himself with vague, conflicting non sequiturs. If you’ve ever taken an improv class, he sounds a lot like the really cool guy in every intro class who thinks he’s the funniest, has no sense of humor about himself, and immediately implodes and spirals on stage the second he isn’t in control of everything. Good ep.

 

The lack of self-awareness this guy has after being famous, going on 25 years, is just absurd. Throughout the 90's he thought his band was this hip alternative band when, in reality, they were big because they were a massive pop/rock band on the radio. Then, to his credit, they kind of DID become a strange cult phenomenon amongst college kids in the 00's which only stroked his ego more. Now they're basically one of those heritage acts that books package shed tours which constantly are on Groupon and full of people who don't want to hear anything after 2003 yet dude still thinks his band is super relevant.

 

3EB’s influence is still pretty relevant

But yeah he’s hard to listen to if it’s not music. He has a very effete, superior tone during even casual conversations

Then again listening to anyone struggle to pinpoint why they dislike him is even funnier - drummer from JEW could easily have explained why he found him creepy and never did, just kept repeating himself and sounded even more flailingly superior for it

 

I don't think he owed anyone a detailed explanation beyond "he's a creep". It may not be his place to tell.

 

A lot of people in the music/movie/entertainment industry navigate around some real awful humans in their business, in front of and behind the mic/camera, and they often protect each other internally (or avoid getting involved) over publicly outing creeps and horrible behavior. To me, it sounds like no one wants to go all the way and make 3EB/SJ their public obligation to call out beyond general venting.

Although, if you do want some great specifics, this old article about John Vanderslice’s experience with the band at his recording studio is great and detailed. JV is a goofy, seemingly nice guy who everyone nicknamed the nicest guy in indie rock circa the mid-2000s when his records were more covered by indie outlets, so he isn’t usually one to trash talk other bands.

Singer-songwriter John Vanderslice on the very personal reasons he hates Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life”

 

Haven't listened to anything new they've put out since 2003, as I'm never able to get past their origin story being SJ exploiting, deceiving, and then discarding the guy who wrote 90% of the music that made them relevant...

...and this story is somehow surprisingly bad even by the standards of a guy who'd do that.

 

That John Vanderslice story is one of the funniest pieces of music lore I can think of. I can very vividly picture that weirdo pacing around and just storming out without a word.

 

That was hilarious

 

I know this isn't the point and it's not to take away from anything, but it feels weird to hear "Jumper" being written off as a "fluff tune" considering the subject material. Feels like an uncomfortable analysis.

 

Much of the same really. Super egotistical, not necessarily friendly to the crews, lots of drugs. And doing the whole scouting the crowd and inviting them backstage thing rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

My fiancé, who was at one of these 2015 shows with DC and dating a woman at the time, got scouted by someone from the 3EB camp who invited both her and her girlfriend backstage after the show. They were 21 so naturally they said yes with ease, then after the show went back and discovered it was a lot of drugs, and people who looked just like them — skinny blondes in their early to mid 20’s.

That’s just one of those things that’s not necessarily “cancellable,” per se, but it’s super weird given his age and the age of people he was targeting. I can also confirm from a friend who was doing merch for 3EB on that JEW tour that this was something still going on.

 

That's something that, in my mind, only happened in the late 1980's with hair metal bands and really then still only in movies.

Which makes me think I really want to spin self titled and maybe some of the b-sides today.

 

The drugs thing is surprising as I didn't think Stephan was into coke but makes sense given the context of these scenarios.

 

Oh my god

 

I’d do the same thing.

It’s funny he said “name a song from out of the vein” because he knew that would be a real stumper haha.

 

Worst person you know makes a great point etc etc

 

Yeah. This is the most normal and relatable that I’ve ever seen him behave.

 

I think he actually chose OotV because he was hoping the guy could name a 3EB song without making it too obvious. Lol. He didn’t demand any titles from Dopamine.