Legendary Rock Drummer Turns 55

Brad Hargreaves is the drummer from Third Eye Blind, a legendary rock band that released their first album in 1997. The band is known for their radio hits “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper,” and “Never Let You Go.” They won a Billboard Music Award for Best Modern Rock Track in 1997 and were nominated for several American Music Awards and California Music Awards. Today, Hargreaves turns 55.

In addition to drumming, Hargreaves also enjoys spending time as a DJ. “I have always liked vinyl since I was a kid listening to my Dad’s records,” he told Highlight Magazine. “I have always loved beat making since I first heard Public Enemy and Dr Dre. I love getting a physical reaction from people by presenting them with music. The first mash-up I ever heard was of ‘Back in Black’ and ‘Get Ur Freak On’ and it really showed the creativity you can have mixing music. Mostly, I want people to hear the music I think is good. All of that supports my DJ hobby.”

In an interview with Diffuser, Hargreaves spoke about whether the band’s old material being so beloved by fans makes it difficult to create new music. “You know, I don’t think about any of the old material. I mean, I think about the old material in terms of I want to make sure that we’re evolving musically and sonically, and I don’t want to tread over what we’ve done. You can get a little comfortable in terms of the sounds you use and where you go with songs.”

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When it comes to performing a blend of new and old songs at concerts, he added, “Sometimes we play too many old songs, and sometimes we play too many new songs. The set list is secondary to the whole idea of the way we play concerts in that each song, regardless of what record it’s on, serves a purpose at that moment, whether it’s building the energy, releasing the energy or kind of plateauing the energy. The way we structure our set list is to control the emotion of the room, so over the course of the concert, you’ve experienced a real ebb and flow emotionally, and hopefully it builds up to a pretty good crescendo at the end.”

Third Eye Blind is currently working on their eighth studio album. Their last album, Our Bande Apart, was released in 2021.