Daily Herald (May 21st 2009)
No Doubt returns to touring after lengthy hiatus
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 gave her the 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 in with pop. She also married former Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, with whom she has 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 also 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 -- appearing Monday at the E Center in West Valley City -- formed in 1986, he had basically 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 said in a mid-April phone interview. "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 said. "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."
Unfortunately, the outside musical projects of Kanal and his three bandmates have yet to produce the payoff the band wants most -- an inspired and focused musical direction for the next No Doubt CD.
"The reason for this tour is because while we were in the writing process last year, there was something missing," Kanal said. "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 said.
As for the music, fans that come out may get a few surprises from the song selection for this summer's shows, Kanal said.
"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 said.
In writing for the new CD, Kanal said 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.
"That's what happened with 'Rock Steady,' with writing [the song] 'Hey Baby,' " Kanal said. "That was kind of our take on Jamaican dancehall music. All of a sudden, this very happy and fun party record kind of unfolded in front of us.
"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 said. "And as soon as it makes itself clear, we'll be going full steam ahead."