Hearing the intense, loud music coming from rock band Third Eye Blind's Brad Hargreaves' drum set during sound check, you wouldn't think that he would be so shy in person.
Walking into the production studio in a leather jacket, jeans and a T-shirt, he showed a personality that didn't quite match that of the rocker status -- it was more like that of the typical nice guy who you could find next door to ask to borrow a cup of sugar. The only catch is that this nice guy really knows his stuff on a set of drums.
The CT had the opportunity to take some time to meet up with Hargreaves and ask some questions before Third Eye Blind's concert in Burruss Hall last night.
Q: What made you interested in music, the drums in particular?
A: I had older brothers and sisters and they listened to not-kids-music and so I was introduced to it through that, but my dad played a little bit of drums, too, so he was my initial inspiration.
Q: Did you have any other career dreams growing up?
A: I wanted to play in the NBA. I was really into basketball in grade school. (But) from fifth grade on, music was all I wanted to do and I never thought about anything else.
Q: How did you meet the other members of the band?
A: Steven was putting the band together in the Bay Area around 1995, '96 ... and he got recommendations from bands that he liked, people he trusted and I'm glad to be one of those people.
Q: Originally, how did the fame affect you with your life -- family, girlfriends?
A: (I) immediately broke up with that girlfriend; it didn't affect me. I think I'm one of the few people that never really thought about fame or fortune. That just wasn't why I got into music in the first place.
Q: What's been the best part of all your success?
A: I think there's definitely perks, getting into restaurants and people acknowledging you for what you've done and what you love to do. You introduced yourself and said you were a huge fan and that feels good. It's like, wow, people listened to the music and it means we've touched peoples' lives in a positive way and it feels good. Making a really good living off music and doing what you love to do is fantastic. I'm kind of a shy person so I don't necessarily gravitate toward the 'oh, you can show up to this party' kind of attitude. I remember reading something about L.L. Cool J. He said that if you are not someone who is a womanizer or doing drugs and partying a lot, just because you become famous don't change who you are, because that's what got you to where you are, and that's what is going to continue to make you successful.
Q: What's the most memorable moment for you with the band?
A: Stevie Wonder sitting in with Third Eye Blind around 2000. At the end of "Jumper," he came in and played a harmonica solo, so that was career highlight number one. It was pretty awesome.
Q: What's your favorite Third Eye Blind song?
A: I like "Wounded" off our Blue Record. I feel like its kind of quintessential 3EB in that it's like when every member kind of shined in his own way really brightly, and consequently it's an aggregate that becomes greater than its whole.
Q: I heard you like movie scores and writing them. What's up with that?
A: I've done some short films, I just haven't had time in the past three or four years to do anything else.
Q: When there was that gap between your albums, was that because you loved to perform so much, or was it because of no new songs coming out?
A: We just didn't have any songs yet. We wrote a lot of music during that time but Steven takes a long time to write music and make lyrics that he's comfortable introducing to the world so...
Q: So, he's a perfectionist I take it?
A: Very much so, when it comes to lyrics it all has to count, every word has to count. If he doesn't believe in every word then the song will not be released.
Q: What do you think the band as a whole (is able) to claim as their best accomplishment?
A: I think the fact that we are still around. I mean, it's hard to survive in the music industry. People sort of bail out or go away because of disagreements and it's just incredibly hard to keep the train rolling. So many outside and internal factors that get blown out of proportion ... it really is a struggle to keep it going year after year.
Q: When you come together as a band you form a type of family and chemistry, so when someone leaves, and you bring someone new in, how does that affect you guys?
A: Yeah, I mean the chemistry is something that you can't just snap your fingers and have appear -- if you could then everyone would do it.
The initial lineup for Third Eye Blind had great chemistry and the fact of the matter is as people have left it's a struggle to find people that fit in and spark the creativity. Good bands are always a situation where the whole is greater than some of the parts and that is what chemistry is -- you can't create that.
Q: Anything you'd like to add?
A: Yeah, we are making a record right now, it's called "Ursa Major." So we are in the studio recording that and we'll be playing a bunch of songs from that tonight and it's really exciting actually putting out a record for the first time in five years.