Anti-Matter Magazine (May 1996)

Interview with No Doubt

Playing out for eight years has paid off for No Doubt, the band that has "Just a Girl" for a lead singer and a hit record called Tragic Kingdom. Founded in 1987 in sunny southern California, No Doubt was strongly influenced by Madness, and the ska roots are still in the band’s music.

"It mainly came from our singer, Gwen’s obsession about Madness," explains guitarist Tom Dumont. "Her and her brother (former keyboardist Eric) bought every record. They found out about other bands, like Selector and The Specials. At first we were really a two-tone ska band." 
The different musical tastes of the other members including bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young forged the band’s diverse sound. 

"We started to get influenced by other LA bands like early Chili Peppers and Fishbone. In came more rock and soul. It’s great to be a band and to get to do different things. It’s fun to experiment. We like to mix it up a lot." 

Tom would agree that the ska influence is deep in the core of the bands soul. "I’d say we’re much more of a rock band with ska in our roots. And it’s always bubbling up in our music." 
And it’s been building and boiling under for eight years and two albums. And only now is the band beginning to make headway. Tom admits that the band has grown and gained popularity just like two chart toppers, Hootie and Dave Matthews. "God we haven’t sold anywhere near that number of records, but I like them we did play out all the time and had that underground following for years before breaking out." 

Part of the breakout was from playing all the time and that’s was no doubt to many that this band would make it big. "We’ve always been a live band. We have that kind of following. It’s really our strongest point. We’re continuing to build our following." 

The band has been touring non-stop for, well, ever. And there is no sign of letting up soon. "We start a headlining tour this summer. We know our following in California and we’re curious to see how it builds in the rest of the country." No Doubt’s already been helped along the way with mainstream radio play and MTV. But Tom agrees that it was being the right music at the right time for big city big radio. "It’s true. Certain stations will play us. The new rock, modern rock stations. Other stations are strange. They are trying to play alternative, but then stick to the classic rock and throw in Nirvana and Silverchair but more and more stations are playing us and it’s great. Three years ago when the first record came out, no one wanted to play us. Poppish girl singer were the thing. Who know what will happen next year." 

For now, Tom and crew are happy with the heavy rotation and the singles climbing the charts. "It’s a blast to have a single. It gives us a chance to play around the country and to get interviewed in magazines and now on the Web. It’s great." 

And the Web has helped spread the word on this band. "We’re into it a little bit. We got together with some friends who did the official Web site. I hear there are some other fan sites too. We’re on AOL and I need to get Netscape to go the next level." 

The Web and AOL have allowed the band a greater level of interaction with their fans, something that wasn’t ever really possible. "It’s been great. I go online the most. We have notebook for the road and I check e-mail all the time. I get about 10-20 e-mails a day that people send me. A lot of fans saying hello and guys asking Gwen out to dinner. It’s awesome to get that level of interaction." Tom hasn’t seen any dark side to having such contact with the band’s fans either. "It hasn’t been that bad. We haven’t had any stalkers or anything. And we are trying to get more involved. We have a digital camera and we’re adding new images. Of course not everyone is online and maybe only half our fans are online." 

That number might even being higher considering the age of many of the fans. And Tom agrees that those ages seem to be staying the same even as the band ages. "Some shows are really young, like mostly high school. Others are all college but it’s a mix of the two mostly. I guess they’re less worried about jumping around and dancing and sweating. Don’t mind looking dumb in front of their dates." 

Tom admits that it’s been strange watching the age of the crowd remain late teens and early twenties as he approaches 30. "I love the style of music that we play and I think I’d still go to shows to see bands. But I am 28 and I do feel older. We’ve played older crowds and they’re more into listening to the music. I guess they also do what 28 year olds do. Get married and all that. Or staying home and playing on the computer," Tom laughs. 

For now, they tour but Tom hopes the next 8 years are as fun as the last 8. "It would be wonderful to get to do another 8 years. I’d love to keep growing and keep expanding as song writers. This is really our first attempt since our keyboardist (who wrote most of the songs) left the band. After being musicians for so many years and playing, it should be interesting. We’ll see what happens. I know the success of Tragic Kingdom will let us record another album and that’s cool."