Sunday News (Sept. 22nd 1996)

No Doubt they’re on top of the world

No Doubt bass player Tony Kanal is hesitant to describe the off- stage persona of frontwoman Gwen Stefani.

It's Stefani's outgoing on-stage performances which have earned her most of the spotlight since the Californian four-piece band broke on to the international music scene.

Stefani was laid low with laryngitis when Sunday News called, so it was up to Kanal to talk about the band which plays at the Powerstation in Auckland tomorrow night.

Kanal's not surprised when talk turns to Stefani, his former flame. The pair dated for seven of the nine and a half years No Doubt has been together.

But he's not keen to talk about what Stefani's like off-stage. "I know her so well I don't think I'd be objective," he said from Orange County, California, where the band was home on a one-week break while Stefani recovered.

Nor will Kanal discuss his and Stefani's seven-year relationship. "It's something we don't like to talk about too much, a lot of people tend to gravitate towards that. It's something that's just part of our band, part of our friendship and we deal with it every day."

But he will say something about Stefani's energetic onstage performances and that "infamous" karate kick.

"She's a self-taught black belt I suppose," he laughs. "She's incredible. She gets the whole audience into it, all the females and males. She gives everybody the chance to get into the pit."

No Doubt's third album Tragic Kingdom - a mixed bag of reggae, blues, rock, ska and pop - has stormed the charts in the United States and is at number 14 in New Zealand.

The album's first single Just a Girl, a tongue-in-cheek anthem about being all "pretty and petite", reached number nine in the charts here.

Kanal promised No Doubt would produce a lot of energy at the Powerstation.

"It's a very energetic show. Even though we're not a true punk or a true ska band we come out of the whole punk-ska scene of Orange Country."

No Doubt has been "criss-crossing" the United States for a year on their Tragic Kingdom tour.

The band has always had a "strong constituency, especially in the western states", but its success outside the US has been humbling, Kanal said.

"We've been able to tour around and have really great live shows for many years but the success we're experiencing now, I guess it's at a different level. But we're handling it well.

"We kind of enjoy each day as it comes and we know what goes up must come down, and that this is just a temporary thing and when we go down in the charts someone else is going to come up and take our place.

"We're just trying to enjoy the live shows and touring and maintaining our sanity."