The rise of No Doubt, once a marginal band on the fringes of LA's punk movement, is one of rock's most unlikely success stories.

Forgive me for noticing, but there is more to No Doubt than cutesy frontwoman Gwen Stefani.

No Doubt drummer Adrian Young went to see Rush in concert not long ago, partly out of curiosity about a band he had loved as a kid and partly to marvel at one of rock's most fearsome rhythm sections.

"We just stuck it out." That's how No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont explains the band's sometimes frustrating, sometimes thrilling ride over the past decade.

One night back in 1987, a fresh-faced kid named Adrian Young went to a rock club in Southern California, as he did all the time, and just happened to see a young, fun band called No Doubt who blew him out of his boots.

"To be together 15 years is beyond anything we dreamed," bassist and cofounder Tony Kanal says. "We didn't have goals of super rock stardom. We were just trying to not be bored in high school."

Everybody and their mother probably knows what Gwen Stefani did between No Doubt's last concert and the new leg of her band's tour, which kicks off Wednesday in St. Paul.

Tom Dumont answers frequently asked questions on the official band website.

Here's what their guitarist Tom Dumont had to tell Songlounge about songwriting, collaborating 
and working with producers in the studio.

Tom Dumont answers frequently asked questions on the official band website.

Tom Dumont answers frequently asked questions on the official band website.

Tom Dumont answers frequently asked questions on the official band website.

Tom Dumont answers frequently asked questions on the official band website.

Following the ’95 breakthrough smash Tragic Kingdom, the band had agonized about every detail on Saturn—but for Rock Steady, released last December, No Doubt took a more carefree, experimental approach.

Following the '95 breakthrough smash Tragic Kingdom, the band had agonized about every detail on Saturn - but for Rock Steady, released last December, No Doubt took a more carefree, experimental approach.

For No Doubt, which plays Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel, Stefani's sort-of solo success last year "was cool for us in a way," because it gave new exposure to the band, Dumont says.

Among the myriad television reports and magazine articles greeting No Doubt's latest album, "Rock Steady," the overriding theme was the Orange County quartet's "comeback."

The music of No Doubt reveals that its members love to have a good time. Usually, though, the band mates are a serious bunch in the recording studio.

No Doubt plays tomorrow at the Compaq Center in San Jose. We spoke with Stefani's band mate (and ex- boyfriend) bassist Tony Kanal.