Life is good for 31-year-old Third Eye Blind drummer Brad Hargreaves. Together with lead singer Stephan Jenkins, bassist Arion Salazar and guitarist Tony Fredianelli, Hargreaves will take the stage tonight as the headlining act of the USG Spring Concert.
Hargreaves said the old days of staying in Motel Six and sharing rooms are finished. Yesterday he lay in bed in a "really, really big hotel room" which he had all to himself in the historic Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island.
"We have it pretty good now," Hargreaves said, yawning. "We're pretty spoiled at this point."
Growing up without much money and struggling through college, Hargreaves appreciates his success. He said he enjoys being able to go out to dinner and see a movie whenever he wants and not have to eat frozen dinners. "It's definitely more money, less problems," Hargreaves said. "'Mo' money mo' problems," I haven't seen that part yet."
Last night, the band played Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, as part of the Within Arms Reach tour.
During the tour, the band has mostly been playing music off their forthcoming album, "Out of the Vein." Fans so far have responded well to the new material in the set list, he said.
"We'll be playing some old stuff as well," Hargreaves said, including most of the band's big hits.
Third Eye Blind enjoys touring, Hargreaves said. "We take playing live pretty seriously. You get to the gig about four hours before it starts, you play for an hour and like really try to tune stuff up or add some new material to the set and then have some dinner and get ready to play some rock."
Though his background is in jazz and improvisation, Hargreaves said, "As I've gotten older and more into this band, I've come to understand the beauty of songs." He said his influences for the kind of music he plays in Third Eye Blind are British rock groups like Led Zeppelin, the Who and the Police. As far as contemporary groups go, Hargreaves said he is interested in a band called Ui and Uncle, one of DJ Shadow's side projects.
Hargreaves said he travels on the road with an Apple iPod digital music player with 300 records on it. Unlike the legions of college students across the country who download MP3s for free from file sharing services, Hargreaves said he bought and paid for the records.
"I'm not allowed to steal," he said. "I'm in the music business."
Hargreaves, however, was once a college student himself. A history major at UC Berkeley, Hargreaves said going to college was definitely a worthwhile experience for him —Berkeley was where he met the rest of the band.
Hargreaves and his bandmates were in and out of the studio for two years putting together "Out of the Vein," which comes out May 13.
"We're friends but it always gets stressful," Hargreaves said of the recording process for the new album. "There's four cooks in the kitchen. Everyone has their ideas."
The band is known for its catchy song lyrics and rhythms, most of which come from the mind of lead singer Jenkins. "Stephan writes all the lyrics and the melodies so his imprint is definitely large," Hargreaves said. "But all of the songs are at least arranged by the band."
The Third Eye Blind writing process is very collaborative, Hargreaves said. Each band member brings his personality out. Hargreaves said he makes his own unique contribution to the effort by trying "to approach the music in a fresh way."
"I feel like I definitely provide like a different take on rock 'n' roll music," he said.
Hargreaves has some instructions for concert-going students tonight. "Dress up nice, look good for each other and get ready to mix it up," he advised. "[But] not too nice because we can get rough."
"We don't like people to mosh just because people get hurt and kicked in the face and that sucks," Hargreaves said. "But it's definitely about loosening up and rubbing up against people and having fun."
The general admission, standing room only nature of tonight's show should promote extensive rubbing. Hargreaves implied seated concerts don't work as well in that regard.
For students interested in bumping and grinding Third Eye Blind-style, there are still some tickets available to tonight's show, according to USG Social Chair Tim Skerpon '03.
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