Bandsplain - 24 Question Party People: Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

Stephan Jenkins joins us this week to be on the receiving end of some emergency journalism before discussing Vivaldi, why someone else being 6-foot-3 caught him off guard, and the Pitchfork critic in your mind. Listen closely and you’ll find out who the Moon Professor is. All of this and more on '24 Question Party People' this week. Host: Yasi Salek Guest: Stephan Jenkins Producer: Jesse Miller-Gordon Associate Producer: Chris Sutton Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Hether Fortune Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An Instagram post gets an unexpected boost. A TikTok catches in the algorithm. Sometimes that's all it takes to launch someone into internet fame. But then what? This Blue Up is a new podcast documentary that reveals how social media stardom is made. It's a different kind of fame. That's not always as glamorous as it looks. From Spotify and the Ringer Podcast Network, I'm Melissa Bereznak.

You can listen to This Blue Up on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome to 24 question party people. I am your host, Yossi Salek. This is a show where I invite an interesting person on for a little conversation. I ask the same 23 questions every time, more or less, plus one wildcard. The guest is allowed to skip one question. Sometimes the questions change a little. According to Nietzsche, everything is influxed, and there is no such thing as fixed being.

Okay? Deal with it. I don't have a lot to report, you guys, about my current life that isn't. fucking private, okay? So today I'm going to go full Harvilla mode. Full Bobby Harvilles, Rob Harvilla, 60 songs that explain the 90s of my life and talk about the past, my past specifically. Okay, I want you to imagine the soft music that lets you know that we're in a flashback fame, okay? Like the Wayne's World. So when I was 14 years old, my favorite band on Earth was Blink 182. That's right, babe. I listen to

Cheshire Cat like five times a day per day, back to front, no skips. Later, Eminem's would be my song with my first high school boyfriend. Shout out Patrick Dugan if you're out there listening, babe. Hi. School life was a woken dream would be my senior yearbook quote. That's right from the song Carousel, obviously real ones know. But I'm getting ahead of myself. What we're going to talk about now is March of 1997. I am still a frizzy-haired 14-year-old girl living in Torrance, California. Shout out Torrance, California. And my older cousin, Seema, takes me up to Big Bear to go snowboarding. But more importantly, we go snowboarding this weekend because there was a thing called board aid. It was a two-day snowboarding and skateboarding festival that raised money for AIDS education and

prevention in teens. It was very 90s. thing. And we went to this because that's right. Blink 182 was scheduled to perform my fucking favorite band. It's 1997, babe, okay? I have my Roxy snowboarding pants, my cute floral, printed thermal, some like probably striped t-shirt from Miller's outpost. It's all packed in my bag. We pile into Sima's Volkswagen Rabbit. It was a convertible. that had a busted radio. Okay. So all we could listen to,

inexplicably, I had only brought one tape. And this tape, further inexplicably, only had three songs on it that I had clearly taped off of K-Rock. One was Santoria by Sublime. Number two,

Fly by Sugar Ray. You know, all around the world, statue scramble for me, et cetera, et cetera. And the third was semi-charmed life by third-ed. blind. I know that I taped these off of K-Rock because the third eye blind self-titled album

that semi-charbed life was off of wouldn't even be out for another month. Okay, we're listening to the tape on repeat babe three songs. It's about a two-hour drive. The sun is shining. I have a giant bag of sour candy in my lap. I'm holding a huge big gulp of Diet Coke. I'm wearing my white, sparkly, Arnette wrap around sunglasses, okay? I feel cool as hell. Life was fucking good, my friends. Now we go, we snowboard. I wasn't very good at snowboarding. That's neither here nor there. We attend the honestly, rather sparsely, sparsely attended Blinkwony to set in the snowboarders lounge.

I get my whole fucking life. We take some pictures at the end on a disposal of camera that I lost before I could develop the photos. It was amazing. All I really remember besides that it was a transcendent experience for my first. 14 or 15 year old self or whatever is that the drummer Scott, you know, this is, Travis was off aquabating baby, he was in some sort of costume on stage, Baron von Titoing at this time. Scott was watching snowboarding videos because they had these TVs up in the corner of the snowboarders lounge that just played nonstop snowboarding videos and he simply transfixed the whole

time, but still keeping the beat. Amazing. Anyways, I'll probably never be cooler than I was. at this weekend. This was my peak. About a year later, my dad got a new job and my family moved to Singapore. And yeah, I fucking cried my heart out. I had to leave my little friends behind, my little surf punk lifestyle. So I spent a lot of time in my new room just weeping, you know, barely bobbing on the surface of an ocean of teen angst, of the, it's not fair variety. You know, You already know. Okay. There was three albums this year, my year of crying and weeping, that really, I feel like, kind of saved my life.

Secret albums, by the way, that I would never have told my cool Torrens friends about, because I was punk after all, but we did not listen to this kind of stuff. One was Across a Wire, the Counting Crows double live album, gorgeous. One was, of course, my fucking man, David Matthews crash. And the last one was that third-eye blind self-titled. I lived and died for that album. I listened to it all the time. I shoehorned my own life into those lyrics, okay? I was losing a whole year, man.

Okay? How is it going to be when my old friends don't know me anymore? How is it going to be? Can I graduate? That one was easy. I actually did graduate with honors, actually, but that's not really the point of the story. The point is that one day you could be stomach down on your bed.

just salty-faced, tears, choking, life is the fucking worst, the most pain you've ever felt, it's never going to get better, you're going to die alone, sobbing your heart out to motorcycle drive-by. And several decades later, you could be having an amusing and entertaining chat with a man who provided that something else that got me through this life. For real, though. Life is a crazy mystery. So today's guest, of course, is the one and only Stephen Jenkins. Listen, we laughed.

I cried again. And importantly, really importantly, I got to do some real life fucking journalism, you guys, on this episode at the top, and setting the record straight about some vicious lies that have been told about Mr. Jenkins by the failing media. And I was happy to be able to set the record straight. Here's our chat. Welcome to the party, Stephen. Hey, everybody.

Before we even get started, okay? I need to talk to you about something. It's come to my attention that you have been wronged. And I need to do some live journalism right here to set the record straight. I know you probably don't care about this because you're rich, but I care. Okay. So we're going to do this. Okay.

So this is about you. Well, everything is really about me. I think people that listen to my podcast know that and that's just how it is. But let me tell you. Okay. Last year, this man who frankly seems a little bit obsessed with you, if I'm being honest, over at Gawker, the now defunct Gawker, wrote a piece claiming the, that you lied about being valedictorian at UC Berkeley.

Could you imagine Gawker doing such a thing? Can you imagine that paper of record? Now, but I'm ashamed. I have to talk about my part in this to admit that I reported my facts based on that piece in the episode of my other podcast, Bansplay. Hold on. We have to stop. Let me just jump in here.

Yossi, you're telling me that you reported a story based on something Gawker said? Well, listen, I try to report equally on all the facts. I mean, on all the, all the, this, you're right. You're absolutely right. You know what, Stephen Jenkins? You're absolutely right. Okay. Now, you being classy, unbothered, and as I mentioned before, Rich, you did not make a big deal out of this. You did not issue a statement. Nothing. You just let it slide off your back because you, again, classy man. However, I want everyone to know that I have come into possession of documents that clearly state that you, Stephen Jenkins, gave the validatory address at the English Department graduation. at UC Berkeley on May 22nd, 1988 at 4 p.m. Now, I'm not a genius, but I am pretty sure they do not let non-valedictorians give the valedictory address. The guy who got me to do this show promised me that you were a genius. Listen, sometimes you have to fake it until you make it, as I like to say, lie a little in showbiz.

You know what I mean. I mean, you didn't lie about this particular thing, but you know how it is. You got a hustle. You said before this whole thing, we started on this bit, you said that because I'm rich and not bothered. Yeah, classy. Okay. I grant you on the rich part, but I assure you, honey, I'm bothered. You're very bothered.

Actually, I was extremely annoyed, if you must. No, I'm not bothered. I just wanted to do like a bothered, you know, I'm like, I'll. Like a hot and bothered. Like bewildered and bewildered and bothered. And bothered. That was a good jam. Okay, you got to do your bit.

Yes, please. I just wanted to clear it up for, I know you don't care, but I want everyone to know. I want to apologize. You are right. I don't care. And I do accept your apology. Thank you. I would just like before we start here, that 24-question party people is my kind of title for a podcast.

Thank you. The truth is, I don't really know anything about your podcast. I just like the title. Great. I mean, it's doing half the job. I like catchy, kind of, you know, smart-allicky, plan words, things like. One of my favorite bands of all time was Camper Van Beethoven.

I do know that about you, which I thought was so cool. I love the Brian Jones Town Massacre. I thought that was really good. And when I was trying to think up a name for my band, I wanted kind of like a smart ass play on words as well. And all I came up was third-eyed blind. And shortly after that, I've been wanting to change the name ever since. We get this story a lot, honestly, when I do my other podcast about bands.

Almost always people are like, oh, we just came up with that name like one day. And then ever since then we regretted it. But it stuck. If only Doja Cat wasn't taken, I just love that. name. You could have been Doja Cat. Well, Stephen... I could have been Doja Cat. I mean, it's never too late. You guys could call out. 24 question party people is where we ask the same 23 questions every time. One is a wild card and you're allowed to skip one.

Okay. So just for brevity, I'm really only do 22 questions here. Is that right? Well, if you skip. Not everyone skips one. Some people are brave and they answer every single one. Okay. We'll see how it goes. Okay. Okay, number one, what's your sign? Libra. Okay, follow up question. Do you feel that you associate with the known traits of Libra being expert communicator, fair and just, stylish with great taste, creative and social, charming and flirtation and romantic, but also prone to being bossy, prone to gossip, and prone to being indecisive and inclined toward revenge? I would say yes to every single one of those except for, what was it, indecisive? Yeah, and non-committal. I'm totally indecisive until I'm totally decisive.

Right. Well, that makes sense. Libra's the scales. So until your scales tip, you know, maybe you're always, you're we have the options for a long time. I'm 50-50 until I'm 100%. Kim Kardashian is also a Libra, also Nietzsche. That's why she and I are totally alike. Yeah.

Do you feel kinship with either of those people, both? Equally. Yeah. I feel like if you took Kim and Friedrich and you put them together, hell yeah, you'd get me. I'm not going to say that the Kardashians isn't sort of like a Nietzschean, you know what I mean? Like, play on society. Like, I think it kind of works. An Nichean play on society?

Just like a Nietzschean, like, take on like what, like, it's a very. very God is dead, you know? It's giving God is dead the Kardashians. Honestly, I met Kim Kardashian one time. I've never seen her show. I've never seen her on TV. I see pictures sometimes. I met her at a baseball game. She was lovely. That was it. It's all I know. I just know that she's been a thing and that we're both Libras and we high-fived each other over it. You were like, yes, Libra. Okay, number two, what have you eaten today? Currently, I'm sipping on an athletic greens.

Well, because of sleep hygiene, I like to stop drinking coffee by about 11.30 a.m. And I had probably four cups at that point, because I think you can have as much as you want. And I like to get absolutely jacked on coffee in the morning. usually I you know as is the boozy way fast but I had this avocado that was it was about time

for it so I had a bit of avocado toast with some smoked salmon on top and that's what we've had to eat today you sound like you're a fellow biohacker like me you're talking about sleep hygiene you are not having coffee you know the half life of coffee being six hours that you stop

before noon athletic greens I mean, you're my kind of people. Happy to be in the club. Do you have any other eating restrictions that you abide by? Eating restrictions. You know, I did this whole thing where I cut everything out of my diet, and I didn't really notice that much of a difference.

So I kind of eat more fat than carbs and a lot of fish. You weight train, bro? No, not really, bro. I surf a lot, though, bro. Good workout. And I started doing jiu-jitsu because everyone else is doing jiu-jitsu. So it's an arms race, so I have to do it. Wow, I have heard that's the hip new trend.

I haven't started it myself. You just get in there and squeeze. It's great. But, yeah, as far as food goes, you know, a lot of greens, a lot of salmon. Just like what would a bear eat? Blueberries and salmon. Yeah, well, would a bear me. That's a good way. That's quite a good way to live your life. Number three, Stephen, have you listened to music today? And if so, what was it?

I have. I listened to Big Thief. Nice. Yeah, Annie Lindkirk kind of just owns me right now. Has for a while. It's good morning music. Sure. Yeah, it's gentle in a way. Yeah, but then she like, she keeps the ragged ed. is in the vocal, no auto tuning. You know, while we're on what you listen to,

there's a couple things that just, I think we should just stop, like singing in cursive, that's done, right? You know, I'm talking about that? Singing in cursive? You do, so, yeah, like the breathy kind of. Especially when it's by a guy, because he's like, he's being nice,

he's being your friend, but you know it's just smarmy. It doesn't mean it at all. We know those kind of. guys. That sound. Yeah, but I was enjoying some big thief this morning. You keep up with new music pretty regularly from what I've read, and I think that's really

cool. Are there like other newer sort of contemporary artists that you're really into right now? Yeah, there are. The problem is whenever I'm asked questions like this, I feel like I'm being put on the spot and it makes me nervous. So it's probably just ruined this whole podcast. because what's going to happen is they're going to start popping up throughout the course of this whole podcast.

And then I will, I'll just start blurting them out. And it'll be your fault, really. Damn, that's pretty cool. I usually don't fail until like question 10, but like question three failure, sick. Did I, did I already, was that a failure? No, I'm kidding. You were just saying that I ruined everything. I'm doing it.

Yeah, you ruined the podcast. That's all I was saying. I really love Hobo Dave. and we're actually talking about a 24 third-eye blind tour and I was talking about who I wanted to have go on tour with us

and I brought him up and I just, I love him. I think he's, I just think he's great and I think he has like 700 followers something like that and I think he's such a good songwriter. So,

you're asking me about music I like right I like that South London drill vibe oh yeah so like Dave you know him 22 with the 2.2 just got back from a long hiatus yeah yeah kind of stuff I really like that like I love you like drill that's cool

I would like to get those I'd like to get those rhythms kind of ingrained in me not very much rap has kind of permeated my consciousness just hasn't gotten very much purchase on my brain

until kind of hearing that stuff. I like a lot of like shoegaze-y stuff that's not really shoegaze but like Alien Boy or Nation of Language.

Totally. Alien Boy's really good. I really love Kid Cutty for pop stuff. Okay. And we took Hockey Dad on tour with us. Yeah.

I saw that. I was there. Did you go to that show? I did in Irvine. It was crazy. Okay, well, yeah, I'm a huge fan of theirs. Actually, at the Irvine show, we were in the, we put on like mild disguises and we're in the audience. And I was trying to get a pit started and people were just not having it. I was just like, what's wrong with you guys? Yeah, it was an orange county crowd.

They were a little more. Yeah, they were being stayed at that time. Another times we get pits going, there's no, there's no explaining it. I still really love Bon Iver. Sure. Amazing. And yeah, it just works really well for me. I tried to match with him on Raya recently so that I could figure out when Taylor Swift would do the duet with him off of folklore and the tour so I could go. But he did not match with me.

I can tell you when that'll be. Gorgeous will offline about that. Beautiful. I don't even have to prostitute myself on Raya. Is he on Raya? I'm neither going to confirm or deny that because I'm realizing that's probably not cool of me. Minneapolis. Minneapolis.

Yes, it's probably Minneapolis. I probably wouldn't have to even go down that rabbit hole. Okay, you have broad taste and I love that you keep up. I think it's really cool. Okay, number four. What is the first song that made a meaningful impact on you as a child? ABC by the Jackson Five. Okay.

really good A, B, C It's easy as one, two, three So simple as Doe Ramee A, B, C, one, two, three Baby, you in, yeah, that and then Cat Stevens Did it make me want?

Did it make me want to have a life in music? Yes, it did. What Cat Stevens song? I listen to the wind, to the wind, I'm a soul. I think it's called The Wind. Yeah. Did your parents put you on to that music?

I think T for the Tellerman was in the house, yeah. But mostly it was like Beethoven and Puccini. Damn. And that didn't really immediately take. But I actually like to listen to Vivaldi in the morning and get into that. It's good. Classical music is a jam for. People really need to get back into listening to classical music.

It's really been slept on for several centuries. Especially, yeah. Especially like chamber music. Chamber music was made to be played in chambers. And it's gotten all like stuffy and fru-fruit. Those were some dirty, dirty bastards. And you're all in the chamber. The music's live and everyone's feeling live.

And it gets heated up in there. It's a good feeling. Yeah, dare I say it bangs. It bangs. And that's what they would actually say at the time. They would say, but sire. The chamber's lit. Yes, it slaps. The chamber's slapping, bitch.

God, we're only on question four. This is going to take forever. You're like, can I leave? This is a four-part series. Well, number five is coming up, Stephen. Number five is, what is the first album you bought with your own money or shoplifted with your own two hands? Never Stolen album. It was really not a stealer. What was the first album I ever bought? I think I got a used thing of Earth went and fire.

You went over to respute in music. Was that around then? It was just, I think it was used. I think, but I don't actually totally remember, because I didn't really buy records. I listened to a lot of records. And I really wanted Led Zeppelin 4. It was pretty stoked on that.

Yeah. Didn't get it, though. It was a cover of that album. Okay, number six. This is a bit of a, how do I say, a weighted question? Because I kind of know one of the answers, but maybe you'll answer a different answer. Number six, did anyone in your childhood ever tell you you're never going to make it or something like that like they do in the movies? And if so, what did you say back?

And my example would be that the teacher that told you that you would end up in juvie, but then you got to go back and tell them that actually I ended up the valedictorian at Berkeley. Well, then I think we can move on to question number, what are we on, number six? Okay, but then I'm another follow-up question. In my research, don't forget, I'm sorry, I'm not a psycho who's obsessed with you. I just did an entire episode about your band from my other podcast. I'm obsessed with Bon Iver, who I'm trying to find on Ryan. Is it Iver or Iver because I know it's like Iver like, you know, the French thing,

but he's not spelling it that way. And so is it Iver or Iver? I actually honestly don't know. Exactly. I'm probably mispronouncing it because I mispronounce things all the time. and I don't bother to look into it and more reason that we're not going to end up together me and Boniever, Boniver, Boniver, whatever you say it.

It's a shit name. He's got to be one of the most, like, that name is just as bad as third-eye blind. It was working against him for sure. Like Justin Vernon, that's a good name, perfectly good. Solid, worked out, yeah. I mean, I just wish good people like Justin Vernon would find their Doja Cat.

only had called his project something snappy but I did read that when you guys opened for Oasis in 1996 which is a really long story that I'm really obsessed with but we won't get into it here you can listen to the Bandsblane episode for that but I did read that Liam Gallagher afterwards said

let's see and I quote you guys are shite you'll never make it correct did that fuel you to really go and show him My thought was that was after the show and that I had already shown him. Oh, hell yeah. You were like, I just showed you, bitch. I don't know what you're talking about.

I said, dude, we blew you out. You just got blown out tonight. That's what I said. Incredible. He laughed and I laughed. And it felt like we were kind of mates after that. It's that kind of, what is that? There's this like British kind of testing of each other.

And that's what it seemed like to me. Guys, you shut, mate. You never make it. And yeah, dude, you just got blown out. We blew you out. And we really thought that we did. So I felt good about it. And we all got along great afterwards.

The story is extra crazy. people if you understand that this is like pre you guys having it like your big album out or any album out and like you truly like we're just opening for this on a I wouldn't say a dare right but you sort of a dare is correct you challenged the a and r whoever to get you that opening gig because they wanted to sign you and they did um it was David Massey and he said when can I see you play live and I knew that he was the A&R guy for Oasis, and I said, you can have us open for Oasis next Thursday. And he looked at me, and then he called their, whoever their person was, spoken to his kind of, I don't know, they all sound affected, posh British accent. Marcus, darling, it's David, and said, I have this band, could they open?

And I guess Oasis just didn't have openers, and they put us on to open in San Francisco. And third-eyed blind had played for rousing audiences of, I'd say, 60 to under 100 people. And here it's 8,000 people sold out at the Civic Center in San Francisco. And we strutted out there like we owned the place. I was in British parlance, mental. That's mental. but my hat is off to you for that for that balzy.

I didn't believe it. I was just acting that way and then figured eventually it would the feeling would kind of catch up with the action. That's what I'm trying to do here on this podcast but it's not working. We all are darling. We'll get there.

Pretty soon will be mental. Okay, number seven, Stephen Jenkins. When was the last time you lied? I don't know, but I felt guilty when you asked me. Oh, so there is a lie looming in the past. I feel like there's just a lie out there and, you know, kind of got the pit, like I got a little, like, heavy on the inside of my ribs. It could be these athletic greens. I don't know. Well, you know, when it wasn't, it wasn't about being the valetorian at UC Berkeley.

Correct. But I don't know the last time I lied, but I assure you I feel bad about it. It feels like a bad dream or something. Okay, it's good enough answer. Number eight, what character in a book or film do you relate to the most and why? You're English major, so I feel this should be in your wheelhouse. What character in a book or film? Okay, now you have the Gatsby reference in losing a whole year, and you named a whole album after Samuel Johnson quote,

so literary stuff with your bag. identify with Samuel Johnson. I think probably I would be more like this side of paradise for going with Fitzgerald references. But, yeah, rather than Gatsby. Does anybody identify with Gatsby? I mean, there's the idea of like... I think a lot of people probably. I mean, Gatsby, there's an eroticism, eroticism too.

He believed in that green light, that orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. Like that you're going to create the world to your own terms. Yeah. And I certainly identify with that. But, you know, that could be Ralph Loren, too. He's probably more Gatsby than anybody else. Yeah. I mean, I guess I think I would say people more identify with Nick than would you

Gatsby, right? You know, that's something that's the point of the book, I guess. Yeah. And Nick is a bit of a little bitch, right? He represents the little bitch on us all, Stephen. Yeah. I always thought he was kind of a... We don't want to be part of something.

We don't want to be accepted. I know. standing there while these other people did things. But you know the other thing is, who's the other guy? In the Great Gatsby. Yeah, you know. What's his name? The husband.

Not Nick. Yeah. There's Nick and Jay. And then who's the guy? Tom. Tom. Okay. So Tom is a borish, racist, piece of shit.

Yeah, totally. But. But. But, hear me out. She loved him. She loved him. Yeah. I mean, the worst character in The Great Gaspie is Daisy.

She's the worst. Yeah, but she's quippy. She's got a lot of good one-liners. I just feel like if I was Zelda and my man wrote a book like this and the female character was that, and I'd be like, bitch, who is this supposed to be? Because I know, I know that's not me. The big loser in this book is Zelda. We've lost pretty much everyone who hasn't read the Great Gatsby recently.

Who hasn't read it. Or who didn't go to high school. Right. And I kind of dodged that question. He did a little bit. But we had a nice conversation around it. Maybe Duke Orsino in 12th night. Oh, okay, a little Shakespeare moment.

Yeah, maybe. be. Isn't Duke Orsino the thief? He kind of popped up. Didn't you say you never still want anything? Count Rosino, no. If music be the food of love, then play on, give me excessive it,

and yet surfeiting. Okay, all right. That's a little on the nose, Stephen Jenkins, but I'll let you have it. I don't know, just thought of it. Okay, number nine. What was your biggest sliding door?

Question number 14. Nine, babe. Don't get a... You're dreaming. if you think we're at 14. We're only at 9. What was your biggest sliding doors moment? As in if you had made another choice, you wouldn't be here right now.

Oh, wow. That's a good question. Oh, thank you. We finally got to a good question. Hmm. This chit-chats heating up. What was my biggest sliding doors moment? So does that mean it's like the moment where things brought me to where they are?

Yeah, like maybe like you made the choice that played out until, like where you ended up now. And if you had like said no or said yes, whatever, like maybe it was a different deal. Maybe it was staying in an older band. Like the, what was the first band that you were in with the Stanford students? Honestly kind of good.

I would say it's that. When I started in the seventh grade, I saw a school band playing, they were in high school. Fast forward. They were like ninth graders or something like that. and it was just loud and it was inside and it sounded so good. And the guitar player had an echolplex.

So it was a tape delay and he would stamp on this pedal. And he would play the notes and then the notes would repeat through this tape delay. And this was live. and I thought it was magic. I really, really did. And in that moment, I went, I'm going to be in a band with them. And there was nothing to suggest that I would be.

But I, instead of being the watcher, I was committed in that moment to being the participant. And I think that that made a huge, a huge difference. And then, can I just give you one more? Please. I think I was in a junior, I was a junior in high school, and we had a camping trip to Death Valley.

And I was, it was for my geology class, and I wasn't doing that great in geology. But once we got out there, the teacher sort of noticed me because I think I was just used to camping or something. I don't know what it was, but had I not gone on that trip, I think there would have been a lack of switching on

to academics that stayed with me. Things kind of came on late, and that's kind of when they came on. So maybe going on that camping trip. So the camping trip I've had you Because it was learning geology out in in Death Valley

So there's your Alluvial floodplain And here's your igneous Intrusive Sure And you were bad at it Right so until I got out there And then suddenly I was good at it

Because it made me go You actually are somebody Who is good at this you, but you need, you're going to do it on your terms. Oh, okay. I see. I see. So it was kind of like, it made me go, it made me go, you don't have to feel bad about yourself academically because this isn't really, you're not really meshing in the environments that are giving, you can make your own environments and find your own environments, and then you can just

get out there and slay. Now this actually makes perfect sense, and it's actually, actually very inspiring what you're saying. And I want to say, I don't know if you know, do you know about this sort of TikTok trend about being delusional? No. I'm really into it. I think TikTok is just, it should be floated out into a boat and then,

and that boat should sing. I'm all too old to actively participate in it, which is, I guess, a blessing and a curse. But I do know about this trend. and it's the celebration of being delusional as a way to achieve your dreams. And I don't know, it sounds like you were a forerunner in this field. Like wanting. Be delusional to achieve your dreams.

Kind of like looking at that band and being like, I'm going to be in that band. Do you know what I mean? Whereas like another person would have been like, well, surely I will not be in that band. I think that band's so cool, but surely I won't be in it. But you looked at that and you were like, I'm going to be in that band. And you love that guy. Yeah.

I want to open for a ways this. You know? Yeah, somebody, somebody's got to do it. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm saying. I have been a big firm believer in that from the beginning. And for some reason, I have been asked to talk about kind of making it and some, like panels. Things like that, you know, at conferences.

Because you really did do it your own way. And that's usually thing number one for me that one needs to have, if there's something that you want to do. Do you know Scott Galloway? Do you know, they have this podcast called Pivot. Okay. It's Scott Galloway and Kira Swisher and they talk about tech. and he's a business he's a business

professor but I guess he's made a lot of money in finance or banking or some shit and so he talks to companies about marketing and startups and things like this and he's giving some speech and he said follow your dream is the biggest bunch of bullshit than anybody ever said don't follow your dream find something that you're good at and do that.

And then the rewards that will come with it financially, et cetera, will allow you a sense of happiness and well-being. I'm paraphrasing him. Sure. I may not be doing a fair enough job, Scott. Anyway, I actually do like your show. But what he was calling bullshit is bullshit. I don't know anybody who's ever done anything that was.

really, really extraordinary. Look, if you don't want to do something extraordinary, that is great news. Sure. Because it's terribly painful. And I have plenty of friends who, they're just not trying to be super overachievers. They're kind of chill. And I think it's great. However, if you do have that, if you do have that itch, that dream,

then being, I think that's the thing to hone, the dream. And I tell people in music, we don't, at least the ones that I know, we don't look the same, we don't act the same, talk the same, dress the same. it's outside and it's um it's about following not following but developing your dream into um a vision and the vision becomes a plan and um because you have that real that real dream that becomes a vision, there's all these different layers of foundation that make you very clear about what you're about and what you're not about. I think having a dream and a vision is very important and not bullshit, as long as it's followed up by the willingness to work harder

than other people for it without feeling sorry for yourself. Yeah. Because you chose it. Real fortune favors the bold hours. You know what I mean? Like, you also have to act. Like, you can have all the dreams you want all the live long day, but if you don't act, you don't put yourself out there and take risks. Like one of our mutual inspirations,

that's right. I'm putting myself in this category, people who want to be extraordinary. I'm an extraordinary podcaster. Perry Farrell. You know what Perry Farrell had? A million dreams and visions. And you know what he did?

He acted. It's so inspiring. I'm learning the Jane's Addiction story now and I'm just like, damn, this man just believed in himself and believed in his ideas and his vision and he went for it. Very cool. One of my biggest influences.

Yeah, you love Jane's Addiction, right? Before starting. I love Jane's Addiction and, you know, everybody has this kind of before, there are songs that are before and after moments. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. in your, like, there's your life before and there's your life after. Totally.

You know, I remember where I was when I heard Jane says for the first time. And I know how much that changed me as a writer. And I never changed back. I never changed back after that. So once in a lifetime, once in a lifetime song. Yeah, and a real, a nuanced communication of, human experience in a time. Like grabbing a hold of a time.

And I was poor and really, like, really struggling to try and make it in music when I heard that song. And I was so energized. It was just like, there's something beautiful in this struggle. And that's, even though he's not, it's not a smar-mey over-romanticized thing at all. It's about a drug addict, but man, man, did I get it. But Perry is an example of somebody who has that craziness of a totality of vision that comes from the dream. And then you can just see the effort happening all the time, a willingness to work. And when you put those things together,

and also doesn't feel sorry for himself. The guy's, he's never a victim. I think that's a powerful thing. And then also just the villain in that story out there is critics. And I don't mean like people who are in the punditry class. I mean the critic in your own head. Yeah. Your own, you have to really not listen to criticism.

You have to kill that pitch for a critic in your mind. Yeah. Give it a little pet name if you want. That's me and Beth, our mutual friend, Bethany Costantino's joke that we have a pitch for a critic in our mind and constantly telling him to shut the fuck off. Why all they ever do is praise her. What is she talking about? I don't know.

I mean, listen. She's their darling. That's what I always we always talk about though. It doesn't matter. Like you can have all the success in the world. The critic in your mind doesn't care. The critic in your mind hates you and thinks you're the worst. But the critic in Bethany Constitza's mind does not work at Pitchfork. Where should they work? I don't know. More of a Washington Post. Maybe an M. or something. Yeah. Okay. Number 10. What characteristic are you most drawn to in other people? What characteristic am I drawn to most in other people? I think I used to be kind of captivated by really charismatic, kind of narcissistic,

you know, like sending it out there. And over time, I kind of like, what's the word? I'm looking for, quieter. People who, okay. What characteristic? People who are more interested in deepening the mystery, widening the question than telling the answer. And the more I go, the more people who just are there to tell you what they know, the less time I have for that. Yeah.

No, that's an excellent answer. It's funny. I think about charisma a lot. I think charisma is, it's like a trait, like an inborn trait that's so overvalued in our society. You know what I mean? And it's great. I understand why people value it, right? It's captivating. But without any depth, it doesn't offer you anything except for like it's like a shiny thing that people are drawn to. But there's no, there has to be something else behind it. If Keanu Reeves didn't get caught, getting up out of his subway seat and giving it away to that kind pregnant lady with the groceries, we wouldn't care.

What do you mean? We wouldn't, like, we wouldn't know about it. We just wouldn't think he was chrismatic. Right, yeah. He has a different kind of allure, which is that he is mysterious and then revealed to be like a very kind of person. But just great and action films. And incredible action films about the meditations on grief. Incredible.

Okay, number 11. Who is the last person you met that you were star-struck by? I'm kind of embarrassed to say. That's right. This is where it gets good. You'll be out there hobnobbing. Let's hear it. You're rubbing elbows.

Taylor Swift. Duh, of course. That's an amazing answer. I just wasn't ready. Just, yeah. And she was smiling at me and she was kind of sparkly and looked sparkly. And I just wasn't quite prepared. So instead of being like able to just absorb that and say hello and kind of sparkle back,

I just sort of said hello. And I was kind of nonchalant. Shuffled off. I was just. It just wasn't, yeah, I was a little starstruck. Did you go to the Ares tour? Can I go to the Ares tour? Well, only if you answer the question that you went to the Ares tour or not.

I did not. That's the tour that's happening right now. You're not a Swifty. I'm not a Swifty. I don't, I'm not a Swifty, no. Number two, you can tell you can do you. It doesn't mean that there aren't songs that I like and that I, she seems lovely.

Yeah. I like it that, I'll tell you what I really like about her. I like it that she gave up trying to write hits. Yeah. And that's when she became like multiple nights at stadiums. I find that really inspiring. Yeah, like folklore and ever more. Just trying to write hits, you know, and going to Z-100,

and doing duets with, I don't know, hit makers, and then she could keep doing that, but instead went, I'm going to just make my little pandemic record here and put on a sweater and... A cardigan, if you will. Make a car, yeah, exactly. And have that some songwriting with the dude from a national.

And that's what, like, ignited and I admire it in artists who go, I don't have to keep the wheel turning. I can just get off the wheel if you want to get all Game of Thrones about it. I think that's great. And, you know, sticking up for some gay people in Tennessee was good too.

Huge. Do you feel you're off the wheel? Oh, yeah. Yeah. You jumped off that bitch a while ago? That we all got abandoned long ago. And now I started sort of just working off happiness quotient. And same thing.

You know, my little band sells more concert tickets than ever. And we just do our thing, which is kind of a miracle. Are you grateful for semi-charmed life? Or do you sometimes wish that that hadn't a been on the first album and that you could have gone a different way with stuff. I really did not want it to be the first single, and it bothers me to have to deal with, that it's kind of a quick take with journalists and such. Right, totally.

that there's not yes is the answer to your question and the other answer to question is Edris Elba Oh, good one. He's so gorgeous. Because I really thought I was saying that I thought that he should be

James Bond after Daniel Craig and I'm at a I don't know I'm at some club in New York, not really a club. A night club? Like a bar thing. It wasn't like, it wasn't like, oops, oops.

It was just kind of like a, and there he is in the hallway, and we get introduced. And I'm tall and I wasn't expecting him to be that tall. What are you like, 6-1? 6-3. Damn, did not know. And so is Edraselba. And he's just, and I just, I don't know, I wasn't, again, I just, I was a little surprised. Yeah.

Yeah. Again, you know, frown, grimace, leave, and then go. He literally laid over here, he was like, that bloke who wrote Semitarm Life, it's a bit weird. Yeah, Fron, why was he so mad? Is he mad at me? Is he mad at chatty? He's still mad at me? But can I give you just the all-time? Yes, please. Oh, my God.

Embarrassment of riches here. What is the all-time-most starstruck? This is like, this isn't all-time-most starstruck. I am on, I'm walking to the stage in L.A. And it's the K-Rock. It's like the K-rock Christmas. The almost acoustic Christmas. I grew up here in a lot of you talking about.

Okay, it's that. And I am feeling just full of myself. I have got both feet fully, fully on the ground. I'm just rooted, feeling terrific, and I'm on stage. And, you know, there are a bunch of bands there, and I know we're going to kill it. That's how I'm feeling. And I look over to the side of the stage,

and David Bowie is watching me. Huge. That's what I said. And I just, I just melted. And I was like, I just was kind of look at it. I looked at him and I'm like,

I'm like, kind of by your leave, sir. Like, I was just kind of like, you know, I'll continue if it's okay with you. I was just completely. Like with your permission, Duke. Totally.

Yeah. I was quite, Starstruck. That's a really good one. That's my movie the best one. Okay. I will let that question go now. No, it's a good.

I mean, we got some good stuff out of that. Mostly that you do not handle yourself amazingly when you are Starstruck. But I just, I'm not usually starch struck. Sure. I mean, that's why it's special. I met, you know, I don't know, get to meet fancy people all the time. Barack Obama. You're a denizen.

You're a denizen of pencil. All good. Robert De Niro, totally cool, but not starstruck. Usually I'm not starstruck. I'm not kind of worked up over people. I guess if you get to do it for a minute, you realize that, you know, it's silly. We're all just menstruals out there. I acted really normal when I met Taylor Swift, though.

Really? Yeah. I'm being that serious. I fucking didn't. People will think I'm lying, but I'm not. She was wearing a flower crown. She was very nice. Okay, number 12.

When was the last time you slid into anyone's DMs? Sexually, non-sexual, religiously, whatever. Doesn't have to be any sort of way. You'd be doing DM sliding. How do you sexually slide into a DM? You already know. I think you know the answer to that one. Huh.

Okay, I know the answer to this question. It was, there are these guys in Namibia who they rescue seals that get fishing wires stuck on them. And during the lockdown and the pandemic, I found myself just kind of, I don't know, looking for comfort or something. and I really just enjoyed you chase down a seal all the seals go running into the ocean these guys run after it and they grab the seal

and the seal's got just some hideous amount of fishing water that's stuck and it's cutting into their flesh and it's just terrible and it's just this miserable thing and it's going to kill the seal and they catch the seal and they expertly grab it by the back of the neck because

a seal is basically like being bit by a pit bull. It's, it would be unpleasant if it bit you, but they grab it and they hold it down and then they talk to it in a high voice to comfort it. Oh, it's okay. It's okay. And then they get out there special scissors and they cut it off very carefully and then they let it go and it runs into the ocean and you have yourself a two-minute action film with a happy ending. It's great. And I sent him a note and said, I think this is good. Unexpected, but incredible. It's not what I was expecting.

And they wrote, they wrote me back. And they said, thanks with an exclamation point. And then I sent him $100. Yeah, I was going to be like, would you send him any money? I don't think they. Payed up. Yes. Did you open your wallet, Stephen Jenkins, for these poor baby seals?

I did. I sheld out. Okay. Number 13. What's the horniest song ever, in your opinion? the horniest song Get your mind off those seals and into the gutter and that's where the answer of this question is I mean to you it's subjective

It's not you know there's not a ranked list somewhere So many songs are coming into my head right now If you listen to Charday Your Love is King people are going to fuck It's so true It's a really good one It's gonna happen But in like a good way

It's a hornet song But she's like, yeah, that she's, you know. Yeah. The lipstick's not going to get smudged. I mean, it's just. Yeah. It's quite a thing. Yeah, it's a good one.

Horny's song ever. I mean, I never get like, what's your favorite? I know, that's why I was saying. It's not like it. I never get that. Things just pop into my head. What's a really good horny song that you're like, I'll amend the question going forward. We don't like superlatives on this show.

So watermelon sugar. Oh, Harry Styles. Watermelon sugar. So that's a family sing-along about Cunalingas. And that's kind of an achievement. Because, you know, mom and dad and the kids can be in the car. Forget dad. Mom can be in the car with the kids, right?

It's the strawberries. And she's singing along to it and everyone's leaning into it. They're all singing it. And mom knows what's up. I don't know if it's the horniest song ever, but it's like, it is kind of a... It's a magic trick. Well, I write dirty, filthy songs.

That's what I was going to say. It's known. Like, it's definitely... I don't know, babe, though. I have to say, there's a lot of people around here who'd be doing, like, at the grocery store and not knowing that song be about meth. Do you know what I mean?

Like, you did a bit of a magic trick, too. It's not horny, but a lot... You made this, like, sing-along karaoke classic that is, like, family-friendly that it's about doing meth. So that's a good trick, too. Nope, not a magic trick. The rabbit is right there on the table.

There's a hat next to it. It's nowhere near the hat. That's what I'm saying. They just use their ears and listen. They just went for the catchy tune and just didn't listen to a word I said. I told them, I told them they're not going to play my songs in the radio. Yeah, I write filthy, dirty songs. But they did.

I will say I want you. top 10 hornyos songs for me personally. Great song. Good work on that one. Nice. That makes me feel really good to hear. I love that song. I mean, I'm a huge third-eyeblins, Dan. This is known, but that song in particular I find a very sexy song.

I wrote most of that album about this one girl, and I actually, well before I ever had a record deal, she came over, which was just a rarity that she had. ever would come over. But she did, and I played her that song on my guitar. She was too busy with the pierced queer teens in cyberspace. She actually was. And I don't really, she was inscrutable, I don't know what she thought of it. Do you guys still talk? No. No. It would be interesting if you did. Years, years later, we, I talked to her again. And she said something very, nice, but that was it.

She should be so proud, honestly. I've had two songs written about me. One is pretty good. One is not. Really? And to have an entire... What song there was written about you? I'm not going to docks them on this podcast.

Ooh, yes, you are. No, I'm not. I'll tell you offline. Yeah, Stephen Jenkins. I know you think I'm a nobody over here, but I'm also extraordinary. I'm an extraordinary muse and podcaster. But it's really, it's a feather in your cap as a muse. is to have an incredible album, an album, a whole album that's that good.

I mean, that's top tier amusement. It really, well. She should be proud. Yeah, she definitely, uh. It doesn't matter if the songs are mean. I don't care if someone writes a, like a takedown song. I mean, as long as it's good. She fulfilled her musing duties quite well.

Yes, she did. Hell yeah. There's a, there's a band called Weekend. Sean is my friend and I meant to tell you, he said, I. is your friend. Sean Dorkin is my pal. He actually helped me with the artwork from my other show.

Okay. Buds. Yeah. All right. So I think he's just, he's just like so talented. He's a genius. And I started listening to one of his EPs in Weekend.

And it just resonated with me so heavily. The song, Hazel, and also the song Coma Summer. Oh, Coma Summer, so good. If you guys out there want to get, like, just, if you want to just drown in the sunlit haze of shoegaze, and you want to know what that is, listen to Coma Summer. So good.

Yeah. And anyway, I was writing songs. at the time. And I was writing about this girl and I really loved this record. I was writing this song about this girl. And it turned out that we were writing songs about the same girl. I did know this story. You know this story? I did. Again, iconic. I would tell them. I'm like, babe, iconic. Incredible. Like, Eskimo brothers with Stephen Jenkins, huge accomplishment. Slap that on your LinkedIn, bitch. Do you know what I'm saying? I don't know what you're saying. Askema brothers.

Okay, yeah, that's right. Now I'm moving on after. I'm glad we got to mention Sean Durk. And his new project is called Crushed. And it's amazing also. And you guys should check it out. Okay. We are on number 14.

What is the biggest money you've ever turned down? $275,000 for a Toyota commercial for the song, graduate. And I regret all $275,000. something. Every day you can't get your indie cred. We had too much cred to do. You could have bought a house with that.

Totally. We had too much cred to accept this advertisement. And then like a few months afterwards, the chili peppers did some shitty commercial or something. I was like, wait a second. What do we just do? Yeah. Hear that, kids.

Take the money. Take the Toyota commercial money when you can. Number 15, what is the best live show you've ever seen? It was World Entertainment War at Slims. They were eating dirt. I thought it was great. They were just some kind of hippie punk thing from Santa Cruz kind of band. I don't know what they were about or any of their songs.

I just thought it was fantastic. Yeah, you were a little into that strain of music, right? There was a pretty active strain of like rock punk funk back in the, oh my God, Rob Bresny was in World Entertainment War? Did you know this astrologer Rob Bresne? Yeah, Rob Bresne. It was his band. That's, I did not know. Rob Bresne. My trusted astrologer, whose horoscopes I check every week, was in a funk punk band.

Yeah, World War I can't. Absolutely rocked my world. It's giving fungo-mungo, babe. It's giving primus. But you know what makes a really great show? You've got to let go of your expectations. So I've seen Prince a couple of times,

and he was a virtuoso and super amazing. I guess Bowie was. pretty mind-blowing. But the thing is you have expectations of what it's going to be. Right. Let that go. When you're just

sort of open willing to be just a willingness to be moved. It's in that mindset where you can actually really let go of your whatever it is you're holding on to and and let yourself elevate.

That's what I'm always trying to cultivate in shows and not go, this is going to be the greatest thing ever, because that sets this wall of expectation up that's pretty hard for anyone to punch through. Yeah, and that could be pretty broadly applied to most things in life. Indeed. Okay, number 16.

When in your life were you the most, fucked up, wasted, hammered, trashed. I went down to visit my girlfriend at UC Santa Barbara, and I felt fairly, I think I was feeling kind of insecure about some things because we were just constantly just dicking each other over in every possible way. And so, yeah, it was coming my direction, and I drank. I think quervo tequila in copious amounts and went down on to, is it La Playa that street on Halloween?

Del Playa. I lived on there. I went to you to see Santa Barbara. Okay. Well, I was the one who was blind, was blind, drunk, and vomiting. And, yeah, I woke up the next day in a room full of, I don't know, there must have been eight people in that room.

I was on the floor. There was a girl sleeping next to me. I had no idea who she was in this group of people in the house and I got up and vomited again. That was it. Okay. That's my story.

Gorgeous. I wasn't there because I was probably in middle school, but I'm glad to know that it happened on my turf that I'm familiar with. Yeah, since then, I've just really, I don't really get drunk. No, you're not a drinker. I just don't really get drunk. You know, I mean, I don't go till, I get convivial.

Sure. I get, I get bubbly. We love to get convivial around here. But, yeah. Bro, you even get convivial? Yeah, that's it, though. You smoke weed? Not really.

Mushrooms? LSD? I think that mushrooms and LSD and microdoses are interesting. I think if you do a full dose, you've kind of ODed. Really? Do you think that? I briefly dated a man who I called the moon professor. Don't ask, it's a long story. He taught creativity based on the phases of the moon.

and he was like 15 years older than me, but he was really into mushrooms. He didn't have a permanent resident. It's not a big deal. But he was really into doing mushroom ceremonies, which was like a full dose on like an empty stomach or whatever. And so I did one with him and honestly it was incredible. Like I had a life-changing experience.

I had nothing to do with him. I mean, honestly, he could, you know, might as well have not been there. But I was like, everything is one thing. nothing can hurt me because I am part of everything. I'm a goddess actually. It was like really beautiful. I know this is what everyone says when they do a bunch of drugs,

but maybe everyone says it because it's true. Yeah. I guess maybe I think I have a lot of darkness and I think it would be very easy for me to go dark. But I think that's okay. I think the whole thing of mushrooms, why it's amazing is that it brings the darkness to the light. And so if you have dark,

because there's a thing as a bad trip, it's just trying to get you to pay attention to it so that it can be given the attention it needs to sort of be worked through. Do you want to do a mushroom trip, Stephen Jenkins? Should I arrange one for us? I will keep that under advisement. Okay. Gassie says there's no such thing as a bad trip.

Well, on mushrooms. I can't speak for other drugs, but I believe with my whole heart, there's no other thing as a bad trip on mushrooms. A, I think that you're on to something for merch here. So 24 question party people, there's no such thing as a bad trip. I'll take that under advisement. I can just see it on a T-shirt.

Okay, let's shift gears. Number 17. It's a two-part question, 17 and 18, but they're related. What do you love the most about being famous and what do you hate the most about being famous? Now, what do I love about being famous? I like being famous on stage. It's very concise. What do you mean by that?

Concise? When you play music and you are not famous, people don't know, your only hope is to try to get there. attention. Right. And I've seen that happen with so many totally amazing bands who were opening for us. And they could not get a hold of the audience's attention. Yeah.

It's got to be demoralizing. Yeah, unless you're just, you know, unless you're just, you're in it. So, you know, for example, hockey dad, they're much bigger in. in Australia, but the United States not that big yet, although they should be. That's like this podcast really big in Slovakia, but not in America quite yet. And some of the other Baltics. Exactly. Big of the Baltics.

You know, so I get that kind of, I already have your attention. And now you're going to actually like hear what I'm doing. There's that. And then just getting a table at a restaurant is great. Amazing. You're the second person to say that on this podcast. Damn. Pretty cool.

Pretty cool. I can't wait to be famous enough to get a table at a restaurant. Me personally, it seems so great. What do I hate? There is a moment where you just cannot like people back enough as much as they like you. Yeah. And they have this, they already have a personal relationship with you. Would you call it a parasycial relationship?

A parasycial relationship, yes. Yeah. So, and you don't. And you're trying to be, you're trying, man, like to give it back. And you're not going to be able to. And so that's going to be met with, potentially with, with disappointment and maybe even anger. And there's a, there's, sometimes you're off duty and just, you know, I don't go around

in my mind being famous. someone will come up to me and well some people do I mean some people some famous people really need that and have that kind of narcissistic need to have their

self-worth being reflected back at them and that's not me and so sometimes I'm just kind of in my own head and then it gets popped. And I'm like, whoa, like I feel almost kind of exposed or something. So when you go to Starbucks, you're not like, do you know who I am?

At Starbucks? No, they know it at Starbucks. Well, you know what, Stephen Jenkins. They know me at my Starbucks, too, okay? So it's not unique to you. Okay, it's time for the wild card question number 19. Sometimes I try to do like an unexpected gotcha question here, but because I'm actually going to take advantage of this from my own needs,

I'm going to ask you a question that I really do want to know the answer to, which is, what is God of Wine about? I love God of Wine so much. I made a sign at the last Irvine show. I'll tell you what, they didn't let me bring it in, but I did make one. I made a sign. You wouldn't have been able to see it because I wasn't close enough, but I... What do you mean they didn't let you bring it in?

Can you believe these people? No, I cannot. No placards bigger than whatever. And it wasn't even that big. Okay, I wasn't hauling around some sort of like, you know, 12 foot sign. It was simply a, you know, poster board size. And I spent some time on it with some markers. I'm 41 years old.

It's fine. Anyways, that's neither here nor there. Well, that's incredibly flattered. Also a huge fan. First of all. I love God of Wine. But couldn't you like, I don't know why, why were you to, why didn't you just folded it up and I did.

Put it in your clothing. I did do that, Stephen Jenkins. However, again, you wouldn't have seen it because A, it was dark and B, I was like, I was in a good seat, but not close enough for you to see it. And also, you were on these insane contraptions that I was like, how is this man even playing guitar? He's leaning forward. It's like an incline that he's playing guitar on.

Regardless, you wouldn't have seen it. And you didn't play it anyways. And that's, I respect the set list. Okay, I'm going to let you know that. That's fine. That's the artist's choice. But I am going to take my time here now to ask you to tell me what God of Wine is about. Particularly the fraudulent zodiac line.

So it's about a mindset. that I keep finding myself being drawn into. And so this kind of existential grief that some people have. and people like me are compelled to try to mend that to save them. Oh, say no more, fam. As a woman who's dated multiple addicts. There you go. Guitar playing addicts.

So what's it about? It's about the girl I wrote, I want you to, but it's also about, and by the way, I don't know what my songs are about when I write them. So I just write them. And I sat down on a... Like you're channeling God? There's an... I mean, Billy Corgan said it's...

There's an element of sort of being a mystic. Sure. You are writing down something that's coming to you. And I just sat down on the floor and wrote those lyrics. as when I heard that, it was at a rehearsal that we started jamming on the, on the kind of the groove and the chord changes to it.

And I just sat down and wrote the lyrics probably in 40 minutes for that song. But it's one that I had been kind of gathering for years. And it's about my, my mother as well. She takes a drink and then she waits and the alcohol it permeates like this kind of detaching. And so

a fraudulent zodiac that the idea that the world is expanding and coming apart and all the things that we think are reliable markers. So the movement of the planets are supposed to give us insights into who we are and how things are going to be affected. But each movement of the planets, they're actually changing.

They're moving. So how can you say that this is that somehow like there's some reliable marker when the markers are getting knocked out of kilter? Nothing to rely on. Nothing to rely on. Can't keep it together. Not even the planets.

So that's it. I'll tell you what, that really did it for me. it's an existential grief song it's incredibly beautiful I've cried to it many times and I must say I'm actually very I must commend you on

being able to speak about it with such clarity and thoughtfulness so many years later and that's really impressive I think I'm a compliment you're welcome

Okay, we're almost done. 20. When was the last time you cried? And it wasn't listening to God of Wine like me. That's the one I'm going to pass on. Oh, that's your pass. Oh, okay. Gorge.

Okay. The man's a cryer, but he doesn't want to talk about it. I respect that. Number 21. What is your greatest regret? Things like sunsets, though, will actually make me cry. Not things like sunsets. But they will.

Like, sometimes I'll just. see the beauty of all of it or like that like kind of caught up in the in the moment and like um brevity uh the brevity uh of of of beautiful things you know uh yeah that that can really that that that impermanence yeah yeah um don't worry i cried the other day when um redemption song came on the radio so right there with you oh wait i'm not going to pass okay it was vavaldi uh you uh you uh you Yeah, in spring. And I started to kind of conduct along with it. Just weeping and conducting.

I was just, I was. It's just so beautiful. And I don't think Vivaldi is the most, you know, like, I don't think Vivaldi has the most cred. It's no Justakovich, but Sure. But yeah, it just, as I was kind of moving to this and then just thought of, I was just overwhelmed with the beauty of it in time.

He's a sunset of a man. It's a sunset of a musician, for sure. Okay, number 21. What is your greatest regret? What is my greatest regret? Nothing's coming to mind right here in the moment. moment. We already talked about naming third-eyed blind Doja Cat.

You're like the name third-eyeblast. Next question. How did you? Ah! My greatest regrets. It really worked in the 90s, I think, third-eye blind. I think it's always just always moments where you could be kind of lacking in kindness

for people. Yeah. Those kind of moments come up and you just go, you know, there's a moment where you know that somebody saw in you that you could look out for them

and protect them or something and you didn't in that moment. You know, you chose your own agenda. and pretty much I think all of us would redo that moment. Yeah, that's kind of a better answer than like one singular. I don't think many people have one singular greatest regret

and if we do, we've made peace with it. So it doesn't take that weight. I wish, yeah, I wish I bought more Apple stock. You're like, I wish I had not said yes to coming on this podcast. It was three days ago when I said that's a cool name for a podcast. I'll go on. 24. 20.

Yeah. Yeah. All right. Too late now, bitch. Okay, number 22. What song would you like to hear just before you die? Can you run? I don't know.

I don't have to think about that. It's a do-do-do-do-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-. Yeah. It's just probably fucking fucking well. And what were your last word space, Stephen? Just kill me already. Get it out of the way. I don't know.

I don't know. I'm going to be buried at sea in the Fairlawn Islands and eaten by great white sharks. Like put out on a flow, like a put out on a little, is that what they call it? Like a Viking deaf? Yeah, that kind of thing. Cool. Yeah. So maybe like yo-ho-ho in a bottle of rum.

I don't know. Some sort of Nordic chant. Okay, number 23, what do you think about me? About you? That's right. You heard me. Well, I've quite enjoyed talking to you. Thank you.

I think you have a pleasant voice. Part of what I like about it is that it is lacking in affectation. I like it that you don't speak in other people's words. Your words are your own. That's very important to me. And you check that box. I really like it that you made a sign because it's just so immature. Like, who the fuck does that?

Who's over the age of 15? I'm a real fan, and I am 15 in my heart. It's spirited to me, that you were like, I'm going to make a sign, but I'm perplexed. I'm talking about what I think about you, that somebody said, you can't have that sign. and you just there's a question mark that I have which is you went through the work to make the sign and the sign sounds like it was fairly thick paper stock

like I think this one would hold up in the wind and you didn't go I refuse to be deterred by the guy in the yellow jacket telling me I can't do this No, I told you, I did bring it up. I brought it in. I folded it up and I brought it in. You didn't bring it to the front.

You didn't bring it to the front. It wasn't really that kind of venue that you could just go up to the front. You know how to sign seats. Yeah, but it's also just not the kind of thing where you make a sign and you did. So these two things, I'm trying to put them together. You'll never figure me out, Stephen Jenkins. Don't even try. I think that's really what I've come to here.

Yeah. So what do I think of Yasi? She is a well-spoken enigma. That's right. Slap that on my LinkedIn. Thank you, Stephen Jenkins. Okay. Last question.

Number 24. What do you want to plug? What do I want to plug? Yeah. I'm making a new album. I can't finish the lyrics. As soon as I do, I hope that people will flock to their streaming site and listen to it. It's going to be called, I'm not going to tell you what it's going to be called.

Why not? Breaking news. It's going to be called Yossi and Enigma. There you go. If you're having trouble with the lyrics, you can make it a concept album about me. Yasi get the poster. Yasi don't give up. Anyway, I'm making a new album.

and it's going to be out sometime, hopefully, sooner than later. It should have already been out, but I can't finish the lyrics. And when I do, there's my plug. Awesome. When I put out a new album, please listen to it. For plugging the future third-eyeline album that will come out one day, and you'll know when it does. Watch this space.

All right. Well, Mr. Stephen Jenkins, thank you for coming on 24-question party people. It's been my pleasure. Thanks for having me. 24. Thanks for listening to 24-question party people, and thanks to my guest Stephen Jenkins of Third Eyeblind. Stephen is working on the new record. When it comes out, you will listen to it. This episode was produced by Chris Sutton and Jesse Miller-Gordon, with help from Justin Sales.

Our gorgeous theme song was composed by Heather Fortune. Special thanks to Missy Colazo, Sean Fennessey, and Moon Professor, wherever you are. Come back every Tuesday for a new episode of 24-question party people on Spotify or or wherever you listen to podcasts. Question party people.