Founded more than 30 years ago in San Francisco, Third Eye Blind was one of the biggest alternative rock bands of the 1990s, with a string of hits such as “How’s It Going To Be,” “Semi-Charmed Life,” and “Jumper,” featuring lyrics about addiction, depression, and suicide. For many members of the LGBTQ+ community, “Jumper” holds a special resonance, which is why San Francisco Pride invited frontman Stephan Jenkins to perform an acoustic version of the song at this year’s parade, on June 28.

A longtime ally to the community but no shrinking violet, Jenkins would rather play David Bowie’s “Heroes.” That song about resilience in the face of oppression anchored (opens in new tab) Third Eye Blind’s set at Southern California’s country music festival Stagecoach (opens in new tab) in April, to a crowd of 70,000, as part of a larger film project. The good news for Third Eye Blind fans is that they may get to hear both anthems at Pride. 

Days after lighting up Stagecoach, The Standard met the 36-year San Francisco resident at St. Frank’s Coffee on Polk Street — not far from the Broadway Tunnel, where part of “Jumper” was filmed — to discuss his upcoming SF Pride set, the “Semi-Charmed Life” shoot in the Mission, and his opinion of the recently demolished Vaillancourt Fountain.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How much time are you allotted at Pride? 

As far as I know, I’m playing one song, David Bowie’s “Heroes.” That song is about lovers under the crushing repression of late 1970s Berlin. It’s an act of personal rebellion: You can’t tell us who to love. You can’t tell us how to feel. They asked the band to play, and we’re kind of clunky. It costs a lot of money to put us on, and Pride doesn’t have any money. So I’m going to play for free. 

For all the pierced queer teens in cyberspace (opens in new tab), tell me about the enduring impact of “Jumper” because I think you’re playing that at Pride too.

Well, am I? 

They strongly implied that.

Oh, so I got a request! OK, I mean, in a way, it‘s more relevant than ever, right? My thing about “Jumper” is this kid jumped off [San Diego’s] Coronado Bridge because he was bullied for being gay in high school. It just infected him with hopelessness and self-hate. The [music video] is kind of a noir because it’s too late. It’s dark as fuck. But the song has this exalted feel to it that just delights me and makes me feel like it’s not mine, but I’m part of something larger. I’m flying in that day from the East Coast, and I’m going to ride my bike over [to Pride]. Maybe I’ll play two songs, I don’t know. 

From the beginning of Third Eye Blind’s career, you’ve shot video after video in San Francisco. Most recently, “Ways (opens in new tab)” at the recently dismantled Vaillancourt Fountain. 

Good riddance.

Oh no, really?

Not a fan. 

OK, but skaters loved it, and you shot the video with a trans professional skateboarder, Cher Strauberry.

It was kind of like a day in the life. The video is great. The song is great too. I didn’t have a big agenda with it, just, “This is skate culture in San Francisco.” I like making videos in San Francisco because it’s so beautiful. I am forever inspired and indebted to San Francisco as a character in my life, a character in my songs.

I think that people making their fortunes here would be happier — and they just strike me as consistently terribly unhappy people — if they said, “This is mine.” And my definition of “mine” is a sense of responsibility for my own little part of it. 

Stewardship? A feeling that this city is precious and fragile, and without a really sustained investment, it will cease to be the thing that drew you here in the first place.

Correct! And I benefit from that. I benefit from queer culture. It’s not my experience, but it is to some degree my culture because it affects my capacity for living with a broader view.

I gotta ask you about the big one, the “Semi-Charmed Life” video.

Do you have to, Astrid? This was going so well. 

I know, I know. But you shot it on Valencia Street and Illinois Street in Dogpatch, and almost 30 years later, Valencia doesn’t look like that anymore. When you walk down it, do you chuckle to yourself?

Cities are always in some state of flux, but in some ways, I’m amazed at how consistent it is. I wanted to direct that video. I was going to make this really dark video about always wanting something else, of never being satisfied, about addiction and things coming apart. The record company president said, “We’re not gonna let you direct it.” I could have put my foot down, but I didn’t really know how to use my feet at that point.

So many bands that got their start in the late ’90s have fallen to the wayside. Yet Third Eye Blind endures. There is something unique about your career trajectory and longevity.

I just don’t feel like I’m done. I don’t feel like I’ve arrived. I’m not nostalgic. I am really concerned with the music that I’m gonna make next. When I play, I never feel like I’m mailing it in. I’m like a fucking emo wanker out there.

May I offer a thought? I feel like people under 30, who’ve known nothing but dystopia, everything falling apart — when they look at the ’90s, a lot of them see a golden age where no one had to worry about anything. But when they hear some of Third Eye Blind’s bigger hits, they’re like, “Oh, these lyrics are very contemporary.”

I wrote my first records with six broke young people living on Haight Street. The song “Isn’t It Pretty?” is about going to the Latin American Club and getting like six shots in those margaritas.

Latin American Club is right off Valencia Street.

I don’t go to dive bars really anymore. I like the Makeout Room, and my favorite bar in the city is Lone Palm. I never drank very much, but now I don’t drink at all. I have like one drink a year.

This is a weird one, but I’ve read that you were recruited to run for office, possibly against former Sen. Diane Feinstein. Is there any truth to that?

Feinstein? No. But there’ve been some people talking about me running for governor. God, I should have ran. I pay a lot of attention to politics in California. I’m very interested in preserving and restoring the California coast. 

From overdevelopment? Or erosion?

From kelp depletion (opens in new tab). 

Eat uni, save California.

Eat fucking uni! Eat every one you see. And even the ones you don’t see, eat those too. 

Tell me more about the film you’ve been making since Stagecoach, if it’s something you’re able to discuss.

One thing I really like about Stagecoach, and about country music, is they just love collabs. They love everybody getting on stage together. Indie [rock], where I come from, or alternative, is so conservative in that sense. So I was like, “Great, I want to do collabs, and I want to play David Bowie’s ‘Heroes.’ This is a bigger story. I want to play that song there, I want to have an all-star collab, and I want to film it.”

“Heroes” was a flop when it came out, and its stature has only grown.

It’s kind of like this invitation, like speaking into a lover’s ear. Since last December, [Third Eye Blind has] been filming this deep dive into everything that goes into the making of a work, everything that comes together. At Stagecoach, we set an attendance record of 70,000 people. I didn’t know if anyone was going to come, right? And the ending scene is going to be at San Francisco Pride. 

Stephan, you’ve been very generous with your time. I will definitely see you at Pride.

I’ll be there on my bicycle. 

San Francisco Pride

Date and time

June 28

Address

Market Street from Embarcadero to Civic Center (opens in new tab)

Price

Free with $10 suggested donation