Kevin Cadogan began learning the guitar at the young age of twelve. In 1993 he graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA. The same year he met Stephan Jenkins, and Third Eye Blind formed shortly after. In 1997 they released their self-titled debut album, on which Cadogan cowrote ten of the fourteen tracks. He also cowrote six of the songs on their second album, Blue. After disagreement and a dispute over an EP deal, Cadogan was fired from the band.