The Atlanta Journal (June 9th 2000)
3 Questions With Gwen Stefani of No Doubt
It seems that pop stars No Doubt found more than a clever title among the planets.
After selling more than 15 million copies of its third album, "Tragic Kingdom," the Southern California rock band consisting of power warbler Gwen Stefani, Tom Dumont on guitars, Tony Kanal on bass and Adrian Young on drums is back five years later with "Return of Saturn," a critical and commercial success. The album title is a reference to that planet's taking 29 years to orbit the sun and to Stefani's completing 29 years on earth.
At the start of the now 30-year-old's second "orbit" --- and before her group's second appearance in Atlanta since March --- we had three questions for Stefani.
Q: Back when you guys first started out, before critics tagged it "ska," how did you describe your music?
A: I'm glad you asked that, because we have been pigeonholed as ska people, and in the 13 years we have been together, I think we only really were a ska band the first year. We were imitating the music then. I admit it. And the ska people have very strict rules, and I don't think they were happy.
After that, in 1988, we started to let all of our influences (which range from Broadway's Julie Andrews to somber rocker Elvis Costello) come through. Now I think we've really got to something original. Doesn't matter what the tempo is, what the influence is, it's just something honest. Not a quick fix to target some pre- adolescent audience.
Q: Complete this sentence: "The Hype Williams video I wish I was in, besides my own (for the single "Ex-Girlfriend"), was . . .
A: TLC's "No Scrubs." Hype (a part-time Atlanta director) turned me on to the makeup artist that worked with them on that video. And Hype gave me some hip-hop CDs when we were writing this album, to inspire me. So we have this serious connection.
Q: Finally: "If I have some spare time in Atlanta, I'd like to…"
A: Go see Hype and his little baby. I have a girlfriend there (in Atlanta), and I would like to hang out with her and her little sister. Honestly, other than that, I can't say I know enough about the city to do the tourist thing. Last time I was there, I do remember that we ate a huge steak dinner… I'm still waddling!