AOL (April 2000)

AOL Chat with No Doubt

Gwen, Tony, Tom and Adrian of No Doubt chatted LIVE about their tour in support of their new release, Return of Saturn. It features a number of hits, including the new single "Ex-Girlfriend." Their new release follows the success of one of the best-selling CDs of all time, Tragic Kingdom, and the mega-hit "Just a Girl." Check out what they had to say below!

ErinLive: Hey, everyone! We are chatting live with No Doubt about their new CD, "Return of Saturn," and their upcoming tour with Lit and Black Eyed Peas. Welcome to AOL Live, Gwen, Tony, Tom and Adrian. How are you all this evening?

Tony: We're all very tired, but very excited to be here.

ErinLive: OK. We have thousands of fans that have come to ask you questions, so we will get started!

No Doubt: OK.

ErinLive: First question from an AOL member: Out of your two new videos, "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Simple Kind of Life," which was more fun to make?

Tony: Anyone want to take that?

Tom: We all may have differing opinions amongst band members, but I enjoyed "Simple Kind of Life" the best, because there was a Mexican street fair in East LA that we filmed some of the scenes. And also because it was done in a graveyard and there were helicopters flying around, which was really cool.

No Doubt: Adrian says his favorite was "Simple Kind of Life," because he always wanted to drink in a graveyard and he was able to drink for -- what did you say, drink for what? Drink between takes. Next question?

ErinLive: OK. We have a question from AOL member BlinkFan00: How do you write your songs? How do you get your lyrics? How are you inspired?

Tony: Gwen's going to answer this one.

Gwen: This is so painful. Good morning.

ErinLive: Good morning.

Gwen: How do we write our songs? Usually, we'll sit down one-on-one, either me and Tom or me and Tony, and basically embarrass ourselves. Sit there and Tom will play a bunch of chords until something sparks something in my heart, and then we'll just keep letting the tape recorder roll. Then I take the tape away and listen to it 100 million times. And then come back and sort through it. It's kind of like putting a puzzle together from there. As far as lyrics go, I kind of kept a journal the last couple years on tour that had like little basic ideas in it of things on my mind. I also read a lot of different poetry and other lyrics and books and stuff that were inspiring. And just write from whatever. I'm taking really long on this question.

ErinLive: That's OK. Take your time.

Gwen: ...write whatever's on my mind and whatever seems off balance in my
life. I write about those things.

ErinLive: OK. Our AOL member AlleyMW asks about your touring plans.

Tony: OK. We've been on the road for a bit now. We're also over in Europe -- we're actually in Europe doing promotional stuff. This is Tony talking. Then we start our American tour on June 5. And, as you mentioned, we're taking out Lit and Black Eyed Peas. And we'll be in the States for two months. We're coming to your city.

ErinLive: On your web site, www.nodoubt.com, what are some of the features fans can check out? Can they check out tour date information?

Tom: I'm on the web. We have our own little, new chat room that you can go into and chat. There's some new photos. We're going to put up -- I do this photo of the day thing, where I put up a new photo every day. We're going to do an archive, and there's a couple hundred photos in there. There's a pretty thorough discography with the film dates. There's a cool documentary a friend of ours filmed for the last six months, and behind-the-scenes stuff which is totally exclusive to our web site.

ErinLive: How long does the documentary last?

Tom: It's about half an hour. So you can stream it, and it's pretty thorough and pretty cool.

ErinLive: That's great. You're AOL Music's artist of the month for April...

Tom: Can you hang on?

ErinLive: Sure.

Tom: OK, back. We also have password-protected names in our own chat room, so occasionally the four of us go into the chat room and chat, kind of just at random. So if our name -- if Gwen, Tony, Tom or Adrian's name is used, they're protected names. So that means it's us, because there are usually a lot of fakes trying to pass themselves off as us. It has to have an asterisk -- it has a V in front of it. Sorry, we're jet-lagged and it's 3:00 in the morning here. I haven't slept five hours in the last two days. We've put in really long workdays. OK. I'm going to pass you to Tony, and you can go for the next question.

ErinLive: You're the AOL Music artist of the month for April. We have a keyword, NO DOUBT, and all of your fans can reach your site through that keyword.

Tony: That's great.

ErinLive: AOL member AHSEG asks: How did No Doubt get its big break?

Tony: I'll answer that one. We've been together 13 years as a band, and everything in our career has come very gradually. We've always -- we feel we've paid our dues. And it wasn't until eight or nine years into playing as a band that we had, really, the commercial success with "Tragic Kingdom." So how did we get our big break? Do you want to say anything about that? I gave
it a shot. Tom's going to add something to that.

Tom: I would add to what Tony said, we didn't have one big break, we've kind of had just a long series of little breaks along the way that, you know, from a lot of hard work and many years of playing music.

Tony: OK. Next question?

ErinLive: OK. AOL member JJessica 86 asks: Who inspired you to first start your band, and how much longer will there be a No Doubt?

Gwen: Who inspired No Doubt? I think we all have different inspirations individually, but I think the whole kind of scoffing in the late 1970s of bands like Madness, The Specials, and also some local bands in LA in the 1980s like the Untouchables and Fishbone, bands we were into as teenagers, that kind of got us into music. That's where our early inspirations were. Inspirations on this album are like a lot of the 1980s bands like The Cure. Who else? Duran Duran, Thompson Twins, Blondie, Cars. We also, by the way, got to go see The Cure tonight. We're in Paris, France.

ErinLive: How was the show?

Gwen: It was unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable, [say that] like a lot of times, because it was -- what was the other half of the question?

ErinLive: How long will No Doubt be around?

Gwen: We certainly didn't think we'd be here in the year 2000, I don't think. But as long as we're having fun and people seem to want to hear from us, we'll probably keep making records. But we really are approaching this like one day at a time, and just feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to make another record and be a band for so many years. Thank you.

ErinLive: OK. An AOL member asks: What is your favorite song to perform on stage? This is a question for each of you.

Tony: I would say my favorite song is "Comforting Lie." Tom? OK, Tom says his favorite song is "Magic's in the Makeup," because he has a rad solo he gets to play. Gwen? Gwen's favorite song is "Magic in the Makeup" because Tom has a rad solo he gets to play. Adrian? Adrian says "Don't Speak," because it's the least challenging drum-wise and the least stressful. There you go.

ErinLive: All right! Our AOL member Just Past the House says that your band is very unique. What inspired you growing up?

Tony: We kind of answered that one, kind of, didn't we? Early inspirations? I think it's safe to say we're all inspired by our families. We all have really good families, fortunate enough to come from good families. What else do we like? We like -- Tom says movies like "The Godfather." Gwen says Taco Bell. And I'll say parties. I'm inspired by parties. Going to them, throwing them, you know, enjoying them. OK.

ErinLive: OK. AOL member DejectedPunk asks: What sort of music do you all listen to in your spare time?

Tom: Oh, shoot, I can't really say what I've been listening to because it's too embarrassing.

ErinLive: You're not going to reveal it?

Tom: Today in the dressing room, this was in the CD changer -- Journey's greatest hits. Was it Cars' greatest hits too? Or the first album, excuse me. Cars' first album. The best of War. The Cure, "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me." And "17 Seconds." And Fiona Apple's new album. So we're not stuck in the past, are we?

ErinLive: No, not at all. Got a good mix there.

Tom: I think that's it.

ErinLive: OK, AOL member NewXGirl asks: Why did you choose to put the song "New" on the album, even though it was already released on the "Go" soundtrack? I think it's a good song.

Tom: I thought it would be a good idea to put it on because not too many people bought the "Go" soundtrack and had a chance to get a recorded version. I also listened to our whole CD last night for the first time in a month or so, and "New" sounded great. I'm really proud of that song, so it deserves to be put in there.

ErinLive: AOL member SickGirl1945 asks if you're coming back to Southern California anytime soon, other than August. And she also heard that you're playing the Warped tour. Is that true?

Tony: We're not playing the Warped tour, and yes we're coming back to Southern California August 5 at Irvine's Amphitheater. We also have a show in San Diego. Do you know when it is? July? In July or August, sometime around there. We also have a show in San Diego. And there's a show in Santa Barbara, as well. But you can go to nodoubt.com and check the dates on that.

ErinLive: AOL member CactusShactus asks: Did you enjoy making the video "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Simple Kind of Life"? And what was it like working with Hype Williams?

Tony: We did enjoy both of those videos. For "Ex-Girlfriend," and we enjoyed working with Hype Williams. We're always trying to keep things fresh and exciting. He was interested in working with us. It seemed like a good thing to do. And we're always willing to try anything at least once. And we're happy that we worked with him. With "Simple Kind of Life," we worked with Sophie Muller, who's done a lot of videos with us. We're very familiar with her. I think because we're so familiar with her, she's able to bring out some emotions and performances that maybe other video directors can't get, only because she knows us so well and we know her so well, so we trust her.

ErinLive: OK. AOL member Dysfunctioned4 asks: I was just wondering what you mean in the song "Bathwater." Does it stand for something? Does it have a specific meaning?

Gwen: I'm having a nectarine right now. It's really delicious. "Bathwater" is basically another kind of questioning, confusing idea, but I think you kind of have to -- it kind of has to do with the idea that somebody ever had any kind of lovers before you, and the idea that they have any kind of past or history that might -- I don't know, might be a lot of baggage to handle, but you still, even though you hate the idea or loathe the idea that they ever were with anybody else, you still find yourself -- I don't know -- indulging in their love. I normally don't like to go into what the lyrics mean, because they're pretty clear, but I guess that one could be kind of confusing. "Bathwater" is maybe like somebody's dirty water, their dirty old baggage, something like that. Figure it out for yourself. Don't ask me. OK, bye.

ErinLive: OK. AOL member Paradox67 asks: Have you ever considered going on tour with Bush again? That would be so awesome.

Gwen: I think it would be really rad to go on tour with them, for me personally. It would kind of help me with a lot of the situations, being apart from my boyfriend. But we kind of did it once. I don't know if people would be bored if we did it again. I don't know. That probably won't happen. Maybe. You don't know. I doubt it, though.

Tony: We're watching a video on German Viva TV, even though we're in France.

ErinLive: Is it similar to MTV here?

Tony: Yeah. It's very similar, except the artists are all different. There's an act on called Rollergirl, which we're all fond of. OK.

ErinLive: What did you all think of your VH1 "Behind the Music" special?

Tony: We actually got quite involved in giving them some material, some old footage, because we wanted it to be special. Considering they had to put 13 years of our history into one hour, we think they did a very good job. It's quite surreal for all of us to watch it -- to actually have a "Behind the Music" on your band is quite surreal. Tom's going to tell you something.

Tom: So when " Behind the Music" came out, we -- a bunch of us in the band and our crew went to Gwen's house to watch it that Sunday night, and for some reason we couldn't get -- Gwen has a nice TV room with a TV set and cable and all that, and we couldn't get VH1 to come in. So like 20 of us had to crowd into Gwen's kitchen and watch it on the nine-inch screen in her kitchen which somehow got VH1. So it's kind of funny. It was funny at the time. All right.

ErinLive: AOL member Mandy99276 asks: What was the most memorable thing that happened on your last show in the States in San Francisco?

Tony: Good question. OK, I'll let you know, first of all, that show was the last show, obviously she knows it was the last show. But we had been up the night before because we had played Los Angeles, and we had a big party after the show. So we pretty much didn't get any sleep the night before, so we were actually very delirious when we walked onstage that night. What was the most special thing to happen? OK, Gwen says she got hit in the eye by a bracelet. That was the most special thing to happen. All of us thought that was really cool.

ErinLive: AOL member Panorama23 says: I saw your show at Avalon in Boston. It was great. I notice your spread your concert dates out. Do you leave right after each show, or do you get some time to spend in each city?

Tony: Unfortunately, we very rarely get to spend time in each city because we have to move on to the next one. The reason we spread out shows is so we can take care of Gwen's voice, because if she sings at too many shows in a row, she has a tendency to lose her voice. OK.

ErinLive: AOL member SlvrGreed asks: Did you worry that "Return of Saturn" wouldn't be as successful as "Tragic Kingdom," and did that affect the making of the album?

Tom: I think that "Return of Saturn" is more successful than "Tragic Kingdom," only in that it's a better record, and that was our objective, to try to improve as songwriters and as musicians and make a record that improved upon where we were with "Tragic Kingdom."

Tony: I think we did a pretty good job of keeping any of those external pressures away from us during the making of the record. It was a very creative time for two years, and if there was any pressure, it was just the pressure we put on ourselves to make a good record, a record that we could be proud of.

ErinLive: AOL screen member TragicKingdom asks: I know that there are specific objects on the front cover that represent certain songs. Do you mind explaining some that are least obvious?

Tony: Specific objects on the album cover that represent certain songs. Can we explain the least obvious? OK, the room is dark blue, just like the song, the last song on the album. Tom Dumont is holding a butterfly in his hand, just like the song "Too Late" mentioned the butterfly. That's the only two we'll give away. The rest they have to find for themselves.

ErinLive: OK. AOL member NorthernStar22 asks: Are any of you working on different music projects?

Tony: Let me ask. Tom? Nope. All of us are completely 100 percent focused on No Doubt right now, being on the road and playing these songs and letting people know that we have a new record out.

ErinLive: AOL member NI20 asks: Will you guys ever collaborate with any English bands like Prodigy or Massive Attack?

Tony: As of right now, there are no plans. But you never know what will happen. We already had a chance to collaborate with Elvis Costello. That was incredible to us. We're always open to ideas and suggestions, and -- but you never know. Nothing is planned right now. Nothing is in the works.

ErinLive: OK, we have time for one last question, and it's from AOL member Neur 0 262, and they're asking: After your summer tour, will you have another headline tour after that?

Tony: Tom's going to answer this one.

Tom: Yeah, after the summer tour, we're planning on -- we're hoping to do a headline tour in the fall. But we're not sure of the dates or the cities yet. But we'll definitely start working on it as soon as the summer tour gets underway.

ErinLive: OK. We'd like to thank you so much for joining us tonight on our AOL Live chat and I'd like to remind our audience to visit your web site at www.nodoubt.com. Do you have any closing comments?

Tony: We do. We'll pass the phone around so everyone can give their closing comments.

Tom: Thanks for chatting with us. And I guess that's all. Sorry, I don't -- I wish I had something better to say.

Tony: I just want to thank everybody who's been supporting us for so many years, and we really appreciate it, especially all those people who always send us really cool e-mails to our web site. We do look at them all. We can't respond to them all, but we do see them all. Very kind. Thank you. And thanks for joining us today. Here's Gwen.

Gwen: Hi. This is Gwen again. I just want to say thank you to everybody, for everyone who went out and got the record right away. It helps us to go to number two. That's like something we'll always remember. And it felt like a real warm welcome back. I just want to tell everyone how much that means to us, that everyone has been so welcoming about this album and so patient about it taking so long. And I hope you're enjoying it, because now that it's been out about two weeks, you should be pretty good about knowing the lyrics by heart by the time we get to your town. So we'll see you there. OK, bye.

Adrian: Thanks to everybody for taking the time out to come join us on this chat. And ditto on everything else Tom, Tony and Gwen just said. Thank you.

ErinLive: Thank you, No Doubt!