Stephan Jenkins

You make kingdoms and castles on your own.

My music is so often like a lullaby I write to myself to make sense of things I can't tie together, or things I've lost, or things I'll never have.

I've always identified with the misfits.

When you're just shagging girls, you can talk about it, but once it gets real, then you don't.

Books stay with me and have shaped me and made huge impacts on my life.

I've spent several years now with my head down.

I was not someone who participated in other people's castles.

I try to be the fixer of situations and I gravitate to people who are institutional misfits.

It's important to face down your demons.

But I'm not worried about seeking out the approval of others - that high school thing of joining the club.

My music is my way to rearrange the world according to my own hopes.

I have my share of insecurities, hopes and fears.

I don't think DIY is something that necessarily comes to mind when people hear Third Eye Blind, but that is completely how we've been from the beginning.

That's what drew me to rock music in the first place - that sense of remaking the world on your own terms.

I like people who have a pulse and aren't afraid to show it.

A lot of people say I wouldn't have a down day, but you look at the music and there's real melancholy.

What we value about music and literature are the moments that they create in our minds when we encounter them.

But when our first album came out, I didn't think it was going to sell a lot of records.

So I like that sound, but I am not interested in being retro.

I carry groceries home on the tank of my motorcycle.

I think if it's not monumental, there's no point.

Am I a rock star? Yeah, I guess.

I don't really believe in palm readers and crystal balls and tarot cards, but I respond to the need for them.

I find pleasure in things that are simple.

There's usually a rhythm and a melody in my head, and that creates an emotional state.

It was a hard time for me to have a pure moment, to be present, to be here.

Sex is funny and love is serious.