The Northern California group Third Eye Blind formed out of Stephan Jenkins (vocals) dream to play live music. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in English, Jenkins set off playing local gigs. Four years passed, and Jenkins is still performing, this time with local bands, and decides to leave the revolving door and start his own group. While the first few Third Eye Blind lineups fell apart, when Jenkins got former Fungo Mungo bassist Arion Salazar, guitarist Kevin Cadogan, who studied under Joe Satriani, and former Counting Crows drummer Brad Hargreaves, the lineup was finally seeing straight.

While it took several years for Third Eye Blind to pick up the pieces of a successful group, performing in the nonexistent San Francisco post grunge scene, Jenkins saw success with his Braids' production cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" before signing a publishing deal. His band mates were right behind him, as it turned out; after Jenkins signed the largest publishing deal any unsigned artists had ever seen, his group's 14-track demo was finally getting some press of its own. Opening for Oasis' April 1996 San Francisco Civic Auditorium performance, the group's loyal fan base began attracting the attention of critics as well. Signing with Elektra/Asylum, the group's demo single was produced by Jenkins and became an instant success. Their self-titled debut album appeared in 1997 and parked on The Billboard Top 200 for almost a year. Their sophomore effort appeared in 1999, which led them to international tours and some charity work. The group's second-best man Cadogan left in 2000, leaving room for guitarist Tony Fredianelli. 2003 saw Out of My Vein and was followed by A Collection (a compilation) in 2006.