Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (June 10th 2009)

No Doubt tours in search of creative certainties

When No Doubt went on hiatus in 2004, nobody in the band faced a bigger adjustment than Tony Kanal, the band's bassist and, along with singer Gwen Stefani, a key songwriting contributor for the band.

For Stefani, the break was an opportunity to launch her solo career, which she did with great success. She made two CDs -- "Love.Angel.Music.Baby" and "The Sweet Escape" -- each of which went platinum and allowed her to stretch out musically into a sound that liberally mixed hip-hop and dance styles with pop. She also married former Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, with whom she has had two sons.

Guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young, who also are married and parents, got in some family time, pursued some outside music projects and had time for their favorite hobbies, surfing and golf, respectively.

Kanal, though, faced a different set of circumstances. By his own admission, he didn't have any real outside interests or hobbies. Since No Doubt formed in 1986, he had immersed himself in the group 24-7.

"I think the first couple of years, to be honest, were kind of a challenge, the vacuum that's kind of created by something that you had been doing at that point, what, 16 or 17 years," Kanal says. "It's just like wow, now what? But I did a lot of soul searching and I worked on music for the first couple of years, doing soundtrack stuff and working with some other people. And then I kind of took a break from music for a couple of years. I had bought a new house, and my girlfriend and I put our whole lives into this house and just really dove in deep. And you know, I think looking back on it now, that was a good thing, because it gave me some perspective on my life and music and stuff."

After working on his house, and realizing that the No Doubt hiatus was going to stretch on a bit longer, Kanal decided to really explore a musical life outside of No Doubt.

"I started writing with a lot of other artists and songwriters, and working with other artists and pushing myself out of my comfort zone," he says. "I think all those are great learning experiences, and they're really important in this creative journey that you're on. Also, I think you bring all of this stuff back to the band then."

This brings us to this summer's No Doubt tour, which stops Saturday at the Post-Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown. Kanal says the tour is part of the quest to find a musical direction for the next CD.

"The reason for this tour is because, while we were in the writing process last year, there was something missing," Kanal says. "We haven't found that thing that's the unifying guiding light, for lack of a better way to describe it. So Gwen said, 'Hey, why don't we go play some shows?'

"I think it's going to be incredibly productive and a great way to inspire some creativity for making the new record," he says.

The band has returned to the road on a grand scale, headlining amphitheaters and bringing out a full visual production, some of which is based around the movie, "A Clockwork Orange."

"It is one of, I'd say, half a dozen or so points of reference that we are using for the tour design and for wardrobe and for stage design," Kanal says.

As for the music, fans that come out might get a few surprises from the song selection for this summer's shows, Kanal says.

"In addition to playing all of the singles, we dug a little deeper into a couple of the records and we pulled out some songs that we haven't played in a long time that still really get us excited, (make us) feel something emotionally and are still fun to play," Kanal says.

That means the live show could include songs that span a career that began in 1987, and includes four studio CDs, including the multiplatinum "Tragic Kingdom" (1995), "Return of Saturn" (2000) and "Rock Steady (2002).

In writing for the new CD, Kanal says the band is looking for the same inspiration it found for making the "Rock Steady" album -- a song or theme that drives the rest of the album.

"Not to use a pun, but I have no doubt we're going to find that, and it's just right in front of us," he says. "And as soon as it makes itself clear, we'll be going full steam ahead."