Arista Records showcase

Through past connections of Slater and Gotland, Third Eye Blind started recording a third demo with producer and sound engineer Eric Valentine , with some additional funding from a partially interested RCA Records , from late 1995 to February 1996. Valentine noted that he had heard the demos the band had recorded prior to his arrival, but felt they were “not ready” and needed to be reworked or discarded. He later expressed more satisfaction with material he had worked on. RCA passed on the band after hearing the material, but the demos instead attracted the attention of Arista Records . Label founder Clive Davis invited the band to perform at a band showcase in New York City in March 1996. During Third Eye Blind concerts at the time, it was customary for the band to have a piñata release candy above their mosh pits , yet at the showcase for the record executives, lead singer Jenkins released live crickets from the piñata instead. Cadogan noted that the performance was ultimately unsuccessful, and Davis passed on signing the band; but the event built hype and attention for the band, and Salazar noted that the well-developed fourteen-song demo they had recorded with Valentine still had helped the band feel more prepared to deal with record labels. In April 1996, after Jenkins had challenged Epic Records executive Dave Massey in a meeting, the band landed an opening gig for Oasis at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium . In an unlikely scenario for an opening act, the band was invited back for an encore after playing their initial set and was paid double by the concert promoter. In addition, Jenkins’ production of hip hop duo The Braids’ cover of Queen ‘s ” Bohemian Rhapsody ” gained major-label attention. Afterwards, the band found themselves in a bidding war among record labels, and after another showcase in June 1996 in Los Angeles, the band signed a contract with Sylvia Rhone of Elektra Records because they believed that contract offered the most artistic freedom. The contract was later reported as the largest publishing deal ever for an unsigned artist at the time.