Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins Would Change 'One Thing' If He Had a Do-Over: 'I Would Name My Band Doja Cat' (Exclusive)

• Third Eye Blind will embark on the Summer Gods Tour starting next month
• Frontman Stephan Jenkins talks to PEOPLE about the “exchange” with his audience
• The musician says he and the band are “committed to the magic” of live music

Third Eye Blind has spent the last three decades touring the world, welcoming new listeners with each of the band’s seven studio albums and retaining the attention of fans who have stuck around since its inception.

But if you ask frontman Stephan Jenkins, the group has never experienced the level of fanfare it’s experiencing now – thanks in large part to the accessibility of streaming, and frankly, the kids who finally got Third Eye Blind off the ground in the first place.

“There are some things that the gods of the record industry tell us should be important. But for the most part, everybody’s just wandering around picking their own berries, and I think that’s great. And it’s great for us because we’re bigger than we’ve ever been.” , Jenkins, 59, tells PEOPLE.

“I have a bigger audience than I’ve ever had. I’m selling more tickets than I’ve ever sold. What excites me is that without having to participate, without having to go through the channel of the industry asking for permission, I’m in an exchange with my audience through my own work,” adds Jenkins. “I think it’s every artist’s dream.”

To give new listeners – and of course, those who’ve played with the band since their self-titled debut LP in 1997 – something to look forward to this summer, Third Eye Blind will embark on their Summer Gods Tour with Yellowcard and ARIZONA starting in June until August.

Ahead of his latest string of concerts, Jenkins detailed his ever-changing (and ever-growing) fan base, his hope for better beats in certain hip-hop feuds, wishing he could have called his band “Doja Cat” instead, and how exactly he manages to cram Third Eye Blind’s discography into one 95-minute set every night (spoiler, it’s not easy).

Stephan Jenkins performs in Tempe, Arizona on February 24, 2024.

John Medina/Getty

You wrote on Instagram that you needed a summer tour this year more than ever. Why is that?

I didn’t just say that. It wasn’t just a marketing catchphrase, although I don’t like catchphrases. It comes from, I have never seen such a sense of polarity in our world. There is no basis for collectivity. One of the ingredients of communion must be joy, I believe. Every time I go on a tour, I ask myself, “Why? Why is this necessary? Why do you need this? Why is this essential for you to see this tour?” The reason for this tour is joy.

When you think back to moments of joy, do you have a favorite summer show you’ve visited in your life?

I got to go to the first Lollapalooza and I was like, “Wow, this is the festival that’s really for me.” I remember going to one of the early Coachellas before it was more about pop and fashion and sleeping on the grass outside in a tent. I really loved that.

I remember playing Lollapalooza years later and there was a guy there who was in a wheelchair and he was very, very far in the back. There must have been 70,000 people in our audience. I think it was actually an assessment. He surfed in his wheelchair. He was crowd surfed forward and brought all the way to the barricade, and the guys at the barricade were going to take him down and send him forward. I said, “No, let him go. Let him go.” They put him on the stage, so he went all the way from all the way to the back, he surfed the crowd in a wheelchair, so the wheelchair went through the audience. In all the rifts in our society, this was the collective retort of our audience. That moved me and stayed with me.

You’ll be back in a few different tour spots this summer. When you go back to a place you’ve played more than once, do you feel a connection to it?

Yes, but a lot of times you don’t remember. You appear in the back, wake up in the back of the hall and it’s concrete. And you’re just on your tour bus and you’re stepping out into the morning light, scratching your ass in your boxers, going for coffee. They all look the same. Then you see the front, you see the place and sometimes they have an amazing feel to them. Some of these places will definitely stay with you.

One of my first introductions to the band was ‘Yes Man’ with Jim Carrey. I believe your music has been featured in at least two Jim Carrey movies. Do you have a personal favorite spot for the blind third eye in a show or movie?

I’ve never seen Third Eye Blind in Jim Carrey’s movie. I don’t tend to… I was told that Justin Timberlake sang something. I missed that.

What I was really interested in was A knight’s tale. We were asked to do a song, and I wrote this song called “Eye Conqueror” for the credits A knight’s tale. I thought it was such a good song. I was so thrilled because I’m really a fan of knight fights. I really think the stuff should be an Olympic sport. I want you to imagine Uruguay vs. Latvia for the road to the gold medal and all the pageantry that goes along with it, as these guys go head to head in the Olympics. That would be your favorite equestrian event, Brenton. I think I’ve already sold you on this.

Have you tried it yourself?

On bicycles? That. Also, they had something at Burning Man, it was the Thunderdome, so that was it Mad Max the tent where they did it. But Burning Man has turned into a tame business party. It’s basically Mykonos for Googlers. Well, they don’t have that anymore.

[For A Knight’s Tale], they didn’t pick a song and I was really mad because I wish they had. They ended up using AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long.” It’s like, it’s like cheating.

Stephan Jenkins performs with Third Eye Blind in August 2022 at FivePoint Amphitheater.

Harmony Gerber/Getty

I was digging around on Third Eye Blind Reddit and spotted a fan post asking for song recommendations. Each answer was different. How do you get your kit these days?

It’s tough. It’s hard because this is a festival-like show, where I really want all three bands to have full sets and feel like it’s their show. I want the Summer Gods Tour to be a traveling festival. That’s my wish with him. And so, we have a little over 90… We have about 95 minutes to play. That’s not that much time for our workload.

What we do on tour is act like DJs and try to find clues with each other where we can work on different songs and challenge each other to weave in different quotes, different things. That’s the way we do it. And then I look holistically at the set and say, “How do we look at this from a different angle? How do we change things? How do we take what we’ve done before and not do that, and create a different feeling, and a different energy on this than other tours?” I’ll find things that are in similar keys, similar tempos, and I’ll say, “Is there a way we could put this together into a puzzle?”

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You’ve previously talked about young fans discovering your music because of streaming services. Do you think your musical palette would have been any different if that had been available to you as a kid?

I don’t know how it would be different, but it would definitely be different. For example, there is so much music that I love. I can’t tell you who made it. On the other hand, for me, growing up, there were bands that were my main identity and there are so many bands that I listen to and their names don’t have that much depth because it’s just a song that pops up on my playlist. In some ways, it’s a disservice because you don’t get as deep into the artist, but in other ways it’s great because it allows you to be exposed to a lot more music than before. Both things are true.

And there’s a lot to be said for the way things are right now because… OK, we’re told we love Drake and Kendrick Lamar, their shitty beats with their stupid feud. We are told that we love it, we must like it. There are some things that the gods of the record industry tell us are what should matter. But for the most part, everyone’s just wandering around and picking their berries, and I think that’s great.

I know you’re a fan of Lauryn Hill, De La Soul. Are there any modern hip-hop artists you gravitate towards?

Actually, there’s a lot of Drake that I really like. There’s a lot of Kendrick Lamar that I really like. I just think doing this is easy, it’s fucking lame and the beats are lame. I like both individually. I actually like both individually. Anderson .Paak, his new stuff. I think it’s really good. I love how he plays the drums. I like Kid Cudi.

I love that drill coming from South London. It’s the purest, most exciting thing for me. Do you know Dave? It’s so fresh. I love how sober he is. The rhythmic cadence is totally… That’s inspiring to me. I was so inspired by hip-hop that I wouldn’t be… I just don’t think I would be an artist without him. There wouldn’t be a song like “Slow Motion” without growing up with hip-hop.

I wish I could change… If I had my life to do over again, I would call my band Doja Cat. That’s the best name ever. I think she’s very funny.

Eight years ago you told a fan that you hoped artists had more control over their music. Do you think that is increasingly the case in the industry?

I’m not the person to ask because even then, I think I said, “I’m not in the music industry and I don’t care about the music industry. I care about the musicians.” I was never interested in the music industry. I don’t care about the Grammys. The Grammys don’t care about me. I never won a Grammy. I’ll never win a Grammy. I might get a lifetime achievement award. I will get such an unpleasant thing, but I am not a part of it. I am not part of that culture and never have been. I have never been a member of any of those clubs.

What inspires you the most as a songwriter right now?

So the last album, Our Bande Apart, came out of the pandemic. I told people at the time that it was really Taylor Swift. We’ve all sat locked in our houses refreshing our phones, drinking too much wine and eating too much spaghetti and saying, “I wonder what’s going to happen.” And then it’s like, “Oh, yeah. Taylor Swift has an album out.” And I said, “S—. That’s some discipline. I think I’m going to go to my little zendo, get out my notebook and my guitar, and evaluate myself.”

I don’t listen to my own music, and that might be my favorite album. I love playing it because I’m very happy that all my bandmates love each other. We are like puppies. We like to play together. Part of what makes our band jam the way it does is that we don’t ask for space. We are all trying to make room for each other. We have a feeling that we want to do this together. It’s rare. The Clash had it. I can say that I try to compare myself to The Clash. Yeah, we’re like The Clash.

Do you have a message for those who want to follow your show?

I am dedicated to that magic. And by that I mean that our band is empathetic. We are a band because we empathize with each other. We have a feeling for each other and liveliness. We are not a MacBook Pro band. This is what we invent and do. We do it in exchange with the audience and that’s life. As if we are the perfume, and you are the body, and that is the smell. Do you understand what I’m saying?

Summer Gods tour information and tickets are available here.

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Source: HIS Education