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A surprising thing has started happening at Third Eye Blind gigs as the band preps for the release of its first album in six years, Ursa Major (due August 18th). Hordes of young fans have been flooding the shows, singing along to every note of songs from the band’s earlier days. “That kind of freaked me about because we had our 10th anniversary show and everyone in the audience were like 15 to 25 year olds,” frontman Stephan Jenkins tells Rolling Stone, “which means that they were five and 10 when our first album came out.” Rolling Stone caught up with Jenkins as he was on the road to the Martin guitar factory, which he described as “like going to Willy Wonka” to chat about the ’90s, his high-profile relationships and the band’s return.
Why the long wait between albums?
I think rock music has to be demanded to be heard. It was kind of this combination of things — where the country is going the last two years has left me dumbfounded, so I didn’t have some connection to my lyrics. I had to get a hold of the verses inside of me. I always want to do so many different things musically; it took me a minute to go, “Let’s make a big rock record. Let’s find the glory in that.” I had been hitting it so hard with Third Eye Blind before. Then, we sort of had the demise of the record industry. It really just collapsed when we put out our last album.
So, this is an independent release?
It is. It’s on our own label called Mega Collider Records. I really feel like I have my feet under me now. So we don’t have to go out and ask permission and we don’t have to have a committee and we don’t have to have our image shaped and created for us by people who know better. So, it’s really kind of a great time.
You guys h...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily