Early life

Jenkins was born in San Bernardino, California and raised in Palo Alto, California. He attended Henry M. Gunn Senior High School. Jenkins got interested in music early in life. He recalls banging out original works at the age of five, pulling out pots and pans on the floor of his kitchen at home in northern California. When he was 13, his family relocated to Madison, Wisconsin to support his father's career, but the Jenkins family returned to the Bay Area two years later. In 1987 he graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in English Literature.

Music career

Earliest projects

Jenkins began musical work as a drummer. During high school, he performed with Fast Forward, consisting of Jenkins on drums with Nick Dement (guitar), Ben Austin (bass), and Greg Magel (guitar). Though the precocious Jenkins was still in high school, the other three were students at neighboring Stanford University. With the breakup of Fast Forward, Austin and Magel departed; Jenkins and Dement added a new bassist and formed the trio Splash.

Puck and Natty

Jenkins then formed Puck and Natty (the name originating from the Shakespeare characters), a 'funky rap masta' group, with Detroit rapper Herman Chunn in 1992. Puck and Natty was short lived; however, their track, "Just Wanna Be Your Friend" landed on a soundtrack album of the hit TV show Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1992.

Third Eye Blind

Jenkins formed Third Eye Blind in 1993 with Kevin Cadogan. They played small gigs around the bay for years and were, for the most part, unknown until they were signed in 1996 by Elektra Records which was later reported as the largest publishing deal ever for an unsigned artist. Jenkins has written or co-written every song on the band's five studio albums and one extended play album. Jenkins won two California Music Awards for best songwriter along with bandmate Cadogan, was nominated three years in a row as best vocalist, and won artist of the year.

As a producer

Jenkins produced Vanessa Carlton's second album Harmonium (2004) and co-wrote four tracks, including the lead single "White Houses". He co-produced Heroes & Thieves, Carlton's third album, with Irv Gotti, 7 Aurelius, and Rick Rubin. In 2015 Jenkins produced Spencer Barnett's EP "13 Summers In."

Acting career

Jenkins made his acting debut with a cameo in the film Rock Star (2001) playing Bradley, the lead singer of the fictional band Black Babylon. He has also appeared in the former Nickelodeon series All That, and he appeared on the MTV candid camera show Punk'd when Vanessa Carlton was the subject of one of Ashton Kutcher's practical jokes. In perhaps his biggest acting stint, he starred in Art of Revenge (2003), in which he played the lead role Matthew Kane.

Personal life

Jenkins ended a three-year relationship with actress Charlize Theron in October 2001. Some of Third Eye Blind's third album, Out of the Vein, appears to explore the emotions he experienced as a result of that breakup. From 2002 to 2007, Jenkins dated Vanessa Carlton.

Jenkins currently lives in San Francisco, California. When asked about living as a high-profile musician, he stated "Am I a rock star? Yeah, I guess. I also get to live in North Beach and go to a pub and drink my pint and go to a café and drink my coffee. I carry groceries home on the tank of my motorcycle. I find pleasure in things that are simple. Is that a rock star's life? It is for me."

Charities

Stephan Jenkins supports the following charitable cause: Diabetes.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]