Jason Slater Dead: Third Eye Blind Bassist Dies

Youtube Jason Slater plays with Third Eye Blind.

Jason Slater, who was the original bassist for Third Eye Blind, has died at age 49, according to TMZ.

Slater’s daughter, Alyssa Carlson told TMZ that the rock musician died from liver failure at a hospital in Maui, Hawaii. Carlson added that her father had kept his illness a secret for some time– she only learned of it last month when he wound up in the hospital.

A rep from Third Eye Blind told TMZ that the band had not spoken to Slater since 1996, but said, “When a spirited member of the music scene is taken too soon it is always a sad time.”

Slater was part of Third Eye Blind when they recorded their first demo. He left the band after their first year, according to TMZ.

As TMZ highlighted, Third Eye Blind enjoyed a bulk of its success after Slater left the band.

The bassist, however, continued his career in music, working as a songwriter and producer over the past two decades.

Snake River Conspiracy

A 2000 article in the San Francisco Gate (that was later updated in 2012) reported that after leaving Third Eye Blind, Slater went on to play with a band called Snake River Conspiracy. He also co-owned a recording studio with producer Eric Valentine. The outlet added that at the time the article was written, Slater had “recently turned down an offer to produce Stevie Nicks.”

During the interview, Slater shared, “Songwriting is and will be the Beatles . . . Joe Jackson,” Slater said. “Those people wrote songs with real changes and real parts and real melodies. You can play them on any instrument and know what they are. Try playing a f– Korn song on a piano. You won’t know what the hell it is. Bands and people that have made it through every genre, like U2, they’ve taken the best of what was happening and applied that to good songs.”

Slater also revealed that the relationship had soured between him and Stephan Jenkins, the Third Eye Blind frontman, over the years. “I was hip to Stephan’s bull– a long time ago,” he told the SF Gate. “I wanted to have a career in music for the rest of my life and I knew if I was associated with that guy, I would not be allowed to do so. He was the inspiration for a lot of the songs on this record. The song ‘Somebody Hates You’ is entirely about him.”

An addition to the piece shared that after the article was released, the two “tried to make nice again.”

In a separate New York Times piece, Jenkins’ sentiments towards his former bandmate were echoed, and he told the Times that Jenkins had “declined to record a good song of Mr. Cadogan’s because it meant giving him credit.”

He said, “Stephan’s been doing that same thing to everybody forever… He doesn’t want to lose the façade of him being the musical genius, so he surrounds himself with people who are talented to pump himself up.”