MTV News (April 29th 2009)

No Doubt ‘Giddy’ About Summer Tour, New Record

No Doubt have been off the road for nearly five years now. That’s all about to change.

On Saturday, Gwen and the guys will take the stage at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, then on Sunday, they’ll close out the Bamboozle Festival at the Meadowlands. Both dates will serve as tune-ups for a massive summer tour with Paramore, their first full-scale jaunt since 2004.

So, yes — this is a fairly huge deal. But unlike any of the innumerable reunited bands gearing up to hit the road, No Doubt aren’t looking at their tour as a way to make tons of cash. Rather, they’re using it to kick-start the creative process for a brand-new album, reportedly due in 2010.

“We’re calling it ‘the procrastination tour’ … well, I am, at least. I’m the biggest procrastinator,” Gwen Stefani laughed. “It’s not their fault, it’s my fault, because I had this whole game plan: ‘OK, I’m gonna go on tour with my last record, I’m gonna come home, I’m gonna get pregnant, I’m gonna have a baby, but while I’m pregnant, I’m gonna make the No Doubt record.’ That was, like, the plan, but it all didn’t work.

“Like, we got a lot of hang-out time and we talked and had so much fun together, but we didn’t actually make too much music,” she continued. “Maybe around 4:45 to 5 o’clock we’d actually play the instruments and then we’d all have dinner. There was a lot of eating going on.”

So, in order to break the deadlock, they all decided to hit the road. And from the minute they began lining up summer tour dates, the floodgates opened.

“You know, it all made sense. We were in the studio, trying to write [songs for the new No Doubt record]. Things weren’t coming. Gwen was feeling like she couldn’t find the place where she wanted to start the writing process. I think she always goes through this and I think we, uh, we just need to find ourselves. We just need to get out on the road,” bassist Tony Kanal said. “And the four of us looked at each other and said, ‘It’s time to play,’ and as soon as we said that, the pressure was lifted … we got really excited. It was like four adults became four little kids again. We’re giddy about it.”