Right off the bat, we talked about touring, and how much he likes it. He commented on how concerts bring us together “That collective sense of feeling lets us know that we’re not alone.” You can see him and Third Eye Blind along with Yellowcard and A R I Z O N A on July 7th at Pine Knob Music Theater.
We talked about a recent unplugged performance he did at an Emo club. “It was fun, man, it was fun,” he said about the impromptu show.
There are also a couple of other things we talked about, one is their collab with Shinola. Stephan talked about how he likes that the watches are Made In America and the local craftsmen who make them. They have a limited edition watch coming out. “It’s super cool. It’s obviously American-made”. He said they’ll be visiting the store when they come through, as well as Jack White’s Third Man Records.
His life changed in a huge way in the 90s when Third Eye Blind broke. As I asked him this, he paused for about 5 seconds before answering. He went on to talk about how he lived in an apartment with 6 roommates, one bath and he slept on packing foam. He spoke to the bands he started or joined that fell apart until the band finally broke. After massive tours with U2 and The Rolling Stones, he found himself driving home after two years on the road. “Tears streamed down my face because I realized where I’d gone to, this delineation of points,” he said.
We wrapped our conversation by talking about how the thrash scene in San Francisco where he’s from had any effect on his musical tastes.