The Vancouver Sun (Aug. 2nd 1996)

An ironic twist, and Doubt survived

Tom Dumont sits in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom, talking about Tragic Kingdom, and suddenly things take a turn toward the surreal.

Dumont says he's getting used to it, but there's no question the road thus far has been a strange voyage for Orange County's No Doubt.

Riding a roller coaster of Disney proportions since they formed in 1987, Dumont and co-writer/singer Gwen Stefani figured the band would implode before blasting off into the public eye.

But almost 10 years after that first after-school jam session, No Doubt is riding one of the riskiest waves in the business: a late breaking biggie, pumped by industry as the next big thing, but at the same time, trying to stay balanced on the alternative surfboard that brought them this far.

"I feel we're really kind of spreading ourselves a little bit thin at this stage. We're booked solid until Christmas and now they want us to tour Asia ... I don't know if we'll be able to hang on," says Dumont, who wished for all of his troubles as a kid growing up in suburban Los Angeles.

"I dreamed of this. I never thought it would actually be this difficult. But I mean, how can you complain? I'm a guitarist in a rock band that's doing well ... and I never thought it would happen."

If anything, Dumont figured he'd make it as a metal axeman. Religiously living by his vinyl collection of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, he says he was reluctant at first to join the primal incarnation of No Doubt that featured two singers, Stefani's older brother Eric, an accordion and songs about tooth extraction.

"It was a very strange band back then," says Dumont, who can't really remember why he decided to say yes.

"I think I liked the fact that they sounded so different."

But shortly after he joined, Eric, who had been the band's main songwriter, left to become a professional animator.

The spectre of the second vocalist, who killed himself 18 months before Dumont joined, was still rattling in the subconscious closet.

And Gwen, the golden-haired front-woman, was performance shy and nervous about taking the creative reins.

No Doubt? The very name of the band was taking on its own cruel, ironic twist. But they didn't blow it.

Instead the band worked through the chaos by bringing the swirling sounds in their heads together.

Now blessed with one of the most eclectic styles out there, they're able to move from slinky flamenco arpeggios to punk-pop-bop to torchy power ballads and back to wakawaka-funk in one swoop.

"I think it might have something to do with growing up in greater L.A.," says Dumont from his girlfriend's couch in Anaheim. "You hear a lot of different types of sounds here. But we don't do it on purpose, the songs just kind of find themselves."

On the band's Interscope debut, their second career long-player, they've notched hits with Just A Girl and Spiderwebs, two of the more straight-up numbers. But Dumont isn't interested in repeating the same patterns over again.

"Songwriting fell into our laps when Eric left the band. But we got into it because it felt so different. We'd sit around a tape recorder and sort of see what happened."

Hence, the odd mix on Tragic Kingdom -- a record the band thought would never get released, let alone launch a career. Now it's at No. 11 on the Billboard chart and certified gold (sales exceeding 500,000).

Signed to Interscope in 1991, the band put out their debut in '92. The LP did little outside their southern California stomping grounds, despite shows with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

But it was a start. By 1995, the band had a loyal following on college circuits and signed to Trauma records, who released two years worth of material in Tragic Kingdom, last year.

The record failed to light a fire for an entire year, but after some airplay on MTV, the label re-released the album for international distribution this year -- which is why you've probably only heard of No Doubt now.

"I have no idea why we broke so late. But I think it's for the best: we're not kids anymore. We're in our late 20s and I think we have a better handle on the pressure."

So if you ask Dumont what the next challenge is, he's all business.

"We have to write another record that works. But we have to be realistic and understand that this might be it. We'd love to be a band that continues making records for a long time.

"But the business isn't that way anymore. Bands come and go ... if the next record sucks, that'll be it. We're over. I hope we can do it and keep it going. One day, I'd like to be considered a real artist -- you know, someone like Neil Young or Bjork ... people who can reinvent their sound and just not care if it's going to sell or not."

No Doubt plays an all-ages show Monday at the Vogue Theatre. Tickets are $15 plus service charges and showtime is 8 p.m.