Tag: Tom Dumont

Working Girl

She works hard for the money, and she ain’t no hollaback girl, but now that the world has embraced Gwen Stefani as the platinum bomb, will she ever find a simple kind of life?

The popular television series The OC and Laguna Beach have made Southern California’s Orange County and attitude like, totally rad. They portray the laidback lifestyle of perfectly aligned palm trees, lazy afternoons, and never-ending spring breaks. Meanwhile, the most famous OC girl of them all, Gwen Stefani, is quietly building her empire as the hardest working girl in show business. Last year, we saw her playing Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, and this year she is high off the phenomenal success of her first solo album – having already achieved worldwide domination as front woman of No Doubt – and summer anthems “Hollaback Girl” and “Cool.” She is also busy spearheading not one but two clothing lines: L.A.M.B (which shares a name with her Love. Angel. Music. Baby. album) and the newly launched Harajuku Lovers. Read the rest of this article »

Exclusive for Myspacers: Tom Dumont of NO DOUBT interviewed

One of Sublime’s oldest friends in music, Tom Dumont of No Doubt took some time to answer some questions for us EXCLUSIVELY for our MySpacers. Thanks Tom! Enjoy MySpace friends.

In your travels around the world, have there been any particular countries or cities that surprised you in their response to No Doubt, any that really stick out as experiences you could have never imagined when playing dives in Anaheim just out of high school?
We played Tel Aviv, Israel in 1997. Being in the middle east, it’s very exotic and obviously full of some serious history. We played to about 3000 people there and the audience was really energized and singing along with everything. The day after the show we took a couple of vans through the desert for a visit to the Dead Sea and and to see the Old City in Jerusalem. Halfway there in the middle of the desert was a military checkpoint. Just a couple of tents with about 10 guards armed with machine guns. We had to pull over and we were kind of nervous. Our driver explained to the guards that we were the “American pop group No Doubt” and all of a sudden the guards all lightened up and one started singing “Don’t Speak” to us in broken English. This was pretty mind-blowing to us, it was definitely something we never could have imagined years ago in the garage in Anaheim.

Do you have any favorite shows that No Doubt and Sublime played together? Can you talk about that experience.
We played a lot of shows together, so many of them memorable. One time Sublime went on right before us at a show in Santa Barbara. We soundchecked and left to get some food at a restaurant around the corner. We got back to the club in the middle of Sublime’s set, I looked up and saw Brad playing my only precious possession at that time, a ‘66 Fender Musicmaster. I kind of freaked out, knowing that Brad could put on a pretty physical show, and worried that he might ding up my prized axe. I found out Brad had broken a string on his guitar and need a quick backup and grabbed mine. I should’ve been stoked and flattered for him to play it, but instead I reacted like a dick and made our roadie go take it off of Brad and give him my other guitar which was a shitty backup itself. Looking back I wish I would’ve just let him get in some more licks on that guitar.

Do you have any favorite bands from your local circuit days that you are surprised have never made it to the next level of recognition?
I always loved the Ziggens. They were the perfect mix of funny guys and great songwriters.

Are there artists you have dreams of one day collaborating with? Any dreams-come-true collaborations already happen?
Elvis Costello wrote a song for us and we recorded it for a movie soundtrack with him producing. That pretty much fulfilled all dreams right there. He taught me that you don’t need to be in the studio killing yourself 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Good music isn’t the result of hours put in, sometimes it’s actually easy and fun. A couple of weeks after we had finished the song No Doubt was at SIR rehearsal studios in Hollywood and I walked into the bathroom as Elvis was walking out, he looked up and saw me and said “Hey Tom.” I was pretty stoked he knew my name.

Heard the Sublime Tribute Album yet? What do you think of it?
Love it, I love G. Love’s take on Greatest Hits, he really makes it his own. Jack Johnson always does Sublime right, as do Pennywise. I’m proud of our version of DJ’s, it was the first song that really got us hooked on Sublime when an early cassette version of 40oz found us so many years ago. Our live recording was from a time when I feel like we were really tight and flying as a live band.

What music is in your player right now?
Akron/Family from New York. I got the new System Of A Down and I’m having fun digesting that. I’m producing more stuff for Matt Costa so that’s a staple around my house…

What’s in store for you musically in the near future?
Two projects: Producing Matt Costa whose full length album sounds great and will be out in late June. Matt sounds like the Kinks and Big Star with some Robert Johnson thrown in. I’m playing bass in Matt’s band this summer, we’re opening for Jack Johnson, which we’re very excited about. Also I make weird instrumental music in a group called Invincible Overlord and its purely for fun, we just give away all our studio creations for free on the website, never to release real albums or play live. It’s really just a purely creative outlet. I can’t wait to do ND music again, although I don’t know when, hopefully next year.

Any other exciting adventures you are involved in outside of playing music?
Nope, just music.

Can you recall any moments listening to Sublime that stick out in your memory bank? Any memories of the first time you heard them?
I remember we were on tour when “Sublime” came out, I think we got an advanced copy. We just played it over and over and over again, so stoked on the songs and to see our friends put out something so great for the world.

What advice would you want to give a young hungry band with the desire to go huge? Any key mistakes to avoid?
Always enjoy the process; rehearsing, playing shows, loading the van. If you want to get rich there are a hundred better ways to do it than music.

Just really have fun with it.

Our MySpace community will probably yell at me if I don’t fish for something Gwen-related from you. A little-known fun fact… throw me a bone here?
Uh, this one is hard. Okay, one time on tour we were all at the gym trying to be healthy, and I got on a treadmill next to Gwen and I swear she ran top speed for 50 minutes straight. That girl is in good shape.

Do you love the Ziggens anywhere near as much as I do?
See above.

Thousands of people will read this interview on MySpace. Is there anything at all you’d like to convey to them here?
Go get the Sublime tribute album.

Dancing Queen

With Madonna lost in Kabbalah-land, Gwen Stefani, who is releasing her dance-pop solo debut, Love Angel Music Baby, looks set to take over as Top Blonde. Here, the No Doubt frontwoman and fashion icon talks marriage, movies, motherhood, and the future of her band.

She used to be just a girl. Now she’s just “Gwen.” Thanks to megahits with Eve and Moby, a hot clothing line (L.A.M.B), a fantasy wedding to longtime boyfriend Gavin Rossdale, and her film debut (as ’30s movie star Jean Harlow, opposite Leo DiCaprio, in Martin Scorsese’s Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator), the No Doubt singer has transformed into a one-name pop icon and multimedia brand – the kind you read about in supermarket tabloids, fashion bibles and rock magazines alike. With every door in the music industry open to her as she plotted her solo debut, Love Angel Music Baby, Stefani went shopping for producer (Dr. Dre, Andre 3000, and Linda Perry among them) and emerged with a truly eclectic homage to the ’80s pop disco of her adolescence. With a potential motherhood and a film career ahead, this may be the last time the 35-year-old will be able to stay in the groove for very long, and she’’s determined to dance for inspiration. Read the rest of this article »

Blown away

Thanks to a radical hip hop reinvention and a series of credible creative hook-ups, Gwen Stefani has emerged in recent times as a major music player. Now, on the eve of her solo launch, the iconic blonde talks about boys, girls, celluloid dreams and making “a little dance record of her own”. Pop goes the superstar!

Somewhere within Gwen Stefani there must be an element of sadness, dourly gestating, imprisoned, waiting to break free. Not that you’d know it from the woman herself. You won’t get so much as a breath of negativity from eight straight hours in her company. Spending time with Gwen is like mainlining a curious, buoyant cocktail of Sunny D and liquid seratonin; it’s as if helium has magically found it’s way into the air-conditioning. She oozes essence of zesty, goofball, feelgood California. She’s got a succession of quickfire, cheerful punchlines beamed straight in from The OC script office on some delirious repeat edit and raises an iconic eyebrow by way of saucy punctuation for each one. If I had a dollar bill for every time I heard the word ‘dude’ coming from her big, smiley, slasher Hollywood mouth, I’d most probably have a couple of hundred bucks by the day’s end. Read the rest of this article »

Solo Stefani

A lion in lamb’s clothing By Elysa Gardner

NEW YORK — If you want to know how Gwen Stefani maintains her youthful enthusiasm, not to mention her girlish figure, try chatting with her for half an hour. But take your vitamins first.

“I’m just going to keep talking until you ask another question,” Stefani chirps, plopping onto a sofa in MTV’s green room. No Doubt’s 35-year-old, cellulite-free lead singer has described herself as having been a chubby teenager, but her breathless energy suggests the metabolism of a hummingbird. Read the rest of this article »

The Greatest Show on Earth?

Well, No Doubt’s greatest hits, anyway – which is what they’ll be playing on their last tour before Gwen Stefani drops a solo CD. By Chris Willman.

Shooting what little breeze there is on a hot, insufferably still LA day, Gwen Stefani suddenly feels the need to cull a statistic from a bandmate. “How many times do you think you’ve thrown up in your life, Tony?” she asks. Tony Kanal looks like he’s not certain he wants to play this game. “I’m not sure it’s a lot,” the bass player answers with a nervous chuckle. Better to focus on the immediate future. “This time,” he insists, “it’s gonna be much more mellow and healthy.” Fifty points if you’ve already figured out our subject of the day: rock touring. Their little O.C.-teem-ska-band-that-could, No Doubt, is hitting the amphitheater circuit in June, pairing up with blink-182 for one of the summer’s most anticipated tours. (One of the most economical too: Ticket prices top out in the mid-two-figure range, or about $250 cheaper than it’d cost you for a similar seat to see Madonna.) It’s a nationwide victory lap in honor of their recent blockbuster hits collection, The Singles 1992-2003, whose new song, a cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” afforded them yet another top 10 smash (their tenth). This could be the optimal point in their history to catch the band: They’ve been together long enough to almost count as seasoned elder statesmen – 17 years, which is about 170 in rock years – but, being still in their 30s, they’re vigorous, scrappy, and in no danger yet of outgrowing their audience. Read the rest of this article »

Gwen interviewed by Brandon Griggs for the Tragic Kingdom fanzine

With the Super Bowl and then later with the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame was it a dream for you to get to play with Sting?

Gwen: Yes, that was a dream. Actually, the Hall of Fame was more like a nightmare because I’m not a public speaker, that’s not what I do. It’s one thing to get up in front of people and sing, it is something else to get in front of Elvis Costello, Elton John, The Clash, The Police, Ric Ocasek and all these other amazing artists and speak. I had to write a speech which is not something I do very well. I literally got a D in speech in college, I nearly failed. So it’s not my thing. I was really nervous about speaking, I didn’t want to but Sting asked me. In my heart, I wanted to do good but I didn’t understand why they choose me. I was really nervous. It turned out ok, but I haven’t watched it and I don’t think I ever will. It was really amazing to be a part of that night. Sting is a really cool person and we had a lot of fun at the Super Bowl. Walking down that catwalk towards him singing “Message In A Bottle” was such a surreal moment in my life, like a dream. The Police were a huge influence on me, they were one of my first concerts. I really respect and really love their music. Read the rest of this article »

Hella Great

With a new baby, an impending wedding and a breakthrough hit single – “Hella Good” – it’s no wonder the members of No Doubt are feeling fine in the summertime. By: Cara Lynn Shultz

The members of No Doubt are screaming for their lives. They’ve been electrocuted, blasted with fire, and now they’re plummeting off the side of a 10-story building. At the last minute they’re whisked to safety by… Spider-Man? That’s right. Singer Gwen Stefani, 32, bassist Tony Kanal, 31, and guitarist Tom Dumont, 34, are spending a rare free afternoon at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, cramming eight rides – including the virtual reality Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – into a 90-minute field trip. (Drummer Adrian Young, 32, is off playing golf.) After going on one stomach-churning roller coaster twice, Tom asks the operator, “Don’t you have any Snow White rides?” Everyone laughs, but he’s got a point – they could use a break. Read the rest of this article »

No Doubt

Geared up to Rock Steady. By Jon Weiderhorn

A touring rock band has to evolve and adapt to survive. Fans might embrace a group’s original style and image for a while, but if a look and sound remains constant for too long, a band can become stale, its music bordering on self-parody.

The members of No Doubt are keenly aware of that phenomenon, which is why the band’s live performance over the years has changed as much as its music. In 1987, No Doubt was a high-octane ska/punk band armed with simple staccato songs, delivered by musicians who pogoed as they performed. Not long after, the band added ’80s pop melodies to their music and began playing with a sharper stage focus. In 1993, they downplayed the pop elements and amped up the punk-rock anger, reflecting the alternative angst of the time. The band began turning heads with its powerful concerts and the onstage energy of its front woman, Gwen Stefani. Read the rest of this article »

Adrian Young’s Nonstop Skank

No Doubt’s Drummer dusts off his ska roots, teases the Mohawk, and proceeds to party on with the release of Rock Steady

It’s a Psycho-suburban dream come true: Adrian Young was a striving young drummer living in suburbia, playing golf, drumming at home, and playing in a local band called No Doubt. Fifteen years and seventeen million records later Young is a striving young drummer living in suburbia, drumming at home, playing golf and playing in a famous band called No Doubt. Read the rest of this article »