SF Gate (March 24th 2002)
Party record, party time for No Doubt bassist
No Doubt always makes excellent music for parties where the furniture ends up in the pool at the end of the night. Until now, however, the group just consisted of four earnest kids from Orange County, including front-blonde Gwen Stefani, trying to sell enough records so they wouldn't get dropped by their label. With their latest album, "Rock Steady," however, the band really lets go. Recording in Jamaica, the musicians traded in their guitars and antiquated notions of indie credibility for keyboards and a devil-may-care attitude, as evidenced on the first single, "Hey Baby." No Doubt plays tomorrow at the Compaq Center in San Jose. We spoke with Stefani's band mate (and ex- boyfriend) bassist Tony Kanal.
Q: What's with everyone saying this is your party record?
A: It is. After getting "Return of Saturn" off our shoulders, it was more about having fun this time around. We're having a good time. It's awesome to be together for this long as a band -- it's been 15 years -- and still have so much fun.
Q: What happened, did you wake up one day and realize you can drink nonstop?
A: Well, "Tragic Kingdom" was a hard record to make, and we did 27 months of touring for that record. We got off the road and, as much as we didn't want to admit it at the time, we were feeling a lot of pressure. Especially from ourselves. We took making "Return of Saturn" very seriously, and what should have been a one-year process ended up taking two years. It was very labor- intensive. But once we got that record done, we proved to ourselves that we had improved artistically, musically and as songwriters. And I think we accomplished that. Once we got that out of the way it was like, now it's back to basics, let's have fun again. We got to a point where nothing mattered anymore.
Q: Has No Doubt totally turned into Led Zeppelin?
A: You know what? I don't think any of us are going to stop working hard. I've been home for two weeks, and I spent every day on the phone trying to sort things out. There is so much stuff going on. We just did this amazing tribute show to Bono last week. It was spectacular. We've been hitting so many milestones: the U2 tour last September was a huge milestone for us. We got to open with them and travel with them and spend time with them to see how they operate, how they work and how they are such a family. We're making a video next week. We just played the MTV Mardi Gras thing with OutKast. So much cool s--. So any time that we have is being taken up at this point.
Q: So you made this party record but aren't having any fun?
A: I am having fun. This is my life. I love the work I do. It's my passion, so I spend every day taking care of stuff.
Q: I thought "Hey Baby" was about all the groupies you're bringing on the bus.
A: Totally. It's just about finding a balance. You want to be on top of your s-- as far as the music goes, but you also want to have fun. We get to f--
do rock 'n' roll for our jobs, so we're going to have fun. We love going out and dancing and partying and stuff. I think we came into our partying selves in the last few years.
Q: It's funny how you had to leave Southern California to get in a partying mood.
A: I think the Jamaica thing would have eventually happened. It was an experiment. Everything we did on this record, there was no pressure. It was like, let's go to Jamaica and see what happens. We'll just feel the vibes. And because there was no pressure, everything worked. You have to let go of things to come into your own.
Q: Since you're playing the keyboards now are you worried about getting carpal tunnel syndrome?
A: No. I'm just a keyboard hack. I just play it on a couple of songs. But it's challenging, and it's fun. So why not? It was just a cool, exciting, fresh way to write and record. I'm glad we did it.
Q: Do you enjoy being single?
A: I do.
Q: But now that half the band is practically married, don't you feel a little left out?
A: Yeah. I've been thinking about that a lot more than than I have in the past.
Q: How would you even begin to find a relationship at this point?
A: I don't think it will happen in L.A. But it will happen. This year, based on our schedule, I'm probably only going to be home a month out of the year.
Q: That sucks.
A: It's all good. I was really inspired hanging out with Bono on that U2 tour. Here's a guy who's been doing it for 20 years. They're pretty much the biggest band in the world. He's been able to balance being a rock 'n' roll star, doing good for humanity and partying every night. It was so cool to see this guy doing it every night. There were no rules.