TWEC.com (April 10th 2000)

No Doubt Chat

Moderator: TWEC.COM would like to welcome No Doubt to the chat tonight.
No Doubt: Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us! We're very excited to be here!

Q: Tom, Adrian, Tony and Gwen...what are your favorite songs on ROS?
No Doubt: This is Gwen. I have evolving songs that become my favorite ones. At the moment, my favorite to play is Magic's in the Makeup. Lyrically, it sums the album for me. That and Simple Kind of Life.
No Doubt: Marry Me is another one of my favorites.
No Doubt: There's also a song called Artificial Sweetener, which is where the title came from.
No Doubt: I like the song Too Late Now a lot. This is Adrian. I like the Beatle-esque feel of it. It's a nice change for the band.

Q: No Doubt, what does the song "Simple Kind of Life" mean? By the way, it's so beautiful
No Doubt: This is Gwen. Well, I think with my lyrics, I feel that they're self-explanatory. I think that that song - one word to sum it up would be confusion. I wrote it during a confusing time when I was trying to figure out - I don't know how I got to this point and how my passions have changed.
No Doubt: And how my priorities have changed.

Q: What are your plans after Return of Saturn? Do you plan on settling down?
No Doubt: This is Tom. I don't think we have plans at all. It's unknown at this point. At this point our plans are to tour through the year and play everywhere we can. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
No Doubt: This is Adrian. As far as settling down goes, I've kind of settled down already because I'm no longer on the market. I got married about three months ago.

Q: Adrian - Has married life changed how you see things in life?
No Doubt: Married life is awesome! It's really cool.
No Doubt: Not that big of a change because we were already living together.

Q: Which bands have influenced you during the earlier years, before Trapped in  a Box was released?
No Doubt: This is Tony. I want to say that the bands that influenced me were the Cure and Men At Work.
No Doubt: That song Down Under is amazing.
No Doubt: This is Gwen. In the early days, I was really into ska-music. Before that, I guess, it was a lot of showtune stuff. I was really into the Annie soundtrack. Then I discovered ska and I felt like I discovered my life. I was into Madness, The English Beat.
No Doubt: Then I got into a local band called Fishbone and I used to see them play every night that I could. I was a complete groupie.
No Doubt: And we're all friends now and I got to sing on their record.
No Doubt: Tom came from totally different circumstances.
No Doubt: This is Tom. At that point in my life I had abandoned heavy metal a lot. The band that got me into the music I was playing with No Doubt were Steel Pulse and Oingo Boingo, and that was what I listened to.
No Doubt: This is Gwen. Steel Pulse is amazing.

Q: I just saw the VH1 Behind the Music of No Doubt and I thought that it was pretty well done. If you guys have seen it, what did you think? Was there anything inaccurate or left out? You know you're doing well when you've made it on Behind the Music! Congrats, you guys rock!
No Doubt: This is Tony. Behind the Music did a really good job. It's hard to fit 13 years of history into a one hour show but we feel it was pretty accurate. They skipped over the Beacon Street collections, though.

Q: How was it working with Prince? Is he awesome or what?
No Doubt: This is Gwen. First of all, my manager called and said that The Artist Formerly Know as Prince want to talk to me.
No Doubt: So he called me! Can you imagine?! He's really soft spoken and he wanted me to sing on his album as an artistic trade - if I sang for him he'd do something for us.
No Doubt: So he flew me out and I recorded with him. He was at the soundboard recording me and producing me and shooting me notes. It was amazing. I walked away going "Wow - that is Prince! He wrote Purple Rain! He wrote Under the Sherry Moon!" He's amazingly talented.
No Doubt: Tom and I wrote Ex-Girlfriend after working with him. We wanted to write Raspberry Beret all over again.
No Doubt: That was our goal.

Q:  Who are  other artists you would like to work with in future collaborations?
No Doubt: We worked with Elvis Costello, which was amazing. I got asked to work with someone crazy today - I haven't told the band yet. I can't say yet - I have to tell my friends before I tell the chats.
No Doubt: Hi Cacahead!

Q: When are you going to die your hair back to blonde?
No Doubt: Well I think - what happened was I wasn't planning off making any huge changes with my hair. We finished the record a while back and decided to go back and make some more songs.
No Doubt: At that point I decided to do my hair cotton candy pink, and I walked out with neon pink! It was pretty exciting. It just lasted. Think pink - it's just the way to go.
No Doubt: It's making people happy.
No Doubt: There was this one old woman when I was walking the streets of New York - it made her very unhappy.
No Doubt: She was the only person who was bugged out by it.

Q: This is for Adrian... who are your favorite drummers? I started playing drums 'cause of you, and I just wanted to thank you!
No Doubt: My favorite drummers are Stewart Copeland from the Police and Fish from Fishbone.

Q: This question is for the ND guys: Since you helped co-write the songs on the album, are any of them about your lives other the Gwen's. And Tony, I want your body, you're hot!
No Doubt: This is Tony. Thank you! You may get my body.
No Doubt: Most of the lyrics are written by Gwen, and although they're about her specific life situations they're usually general enough for everyone to relate too. This is Tom. Our contribution is primarily musical.
No Doubt: This is Gwen. The thing about this album is that it is very reflective. Whatever the band played reflected the mood of what I was saying. The chemistry kind of surprised us all. We realized that even if you don't have lyrics, you can say something in the music with the mood. The guys did a good job of supporting that and bringing out the mood.
No Doubt: These guys have gotten really good!
No Doubt: I mean, I think we've all grown so much.
No Doubt: We've gotten to be pros.

Q: Do you think that life is harder as a band before you get a record deal? Or would you guys say that the work really begins when you're in the studio pressured to write songs under a record company's contract?
No Doubt: It is very difficult to get a record deal. I'd suggest that people record their music at home and put it on the Internet and avoid record deals.
No Doubt: This is Gwen. I think that's the wave of the future, and someday there won't be record companies. It's complicated. Can't live with them, can't live without them.
No Doubt: Right now, our record company is giving us huge support. They let us do what we wanted. We spent two years making this album. We've had room to grow. Before we were held back.

Q: Adrian, why do you play naked?
No Doubt: Well, one reason is that I like to provoke the parents who come to the show, and remind them that they are coming to a rock show and not Bozo the Clown circus.
No Doubt: Also I like my band mates to laugh. When it stops working I'll probably stop playing naked. Plus I can make the guys feel good about themselves because I have such a small penis.

Q: We all know that Gwen wrote songs on ROS using an acoustic guitar, why didn't you do any playing on the CD?
No Doubt: This is Gwen. Ha-ha, that's funny. My skills as a guitar player are limited. I'll be taking guitar on tour and Tom is going to give me lessons. I can't really perform, I can only strum down. I do know quite a few chords, though.
No Doubt: I'm lucky to know enough on the guitar to be able to write. It's one thing to collaborate with the band, but its another to do it completely by yourself. Music is strange. We'll never be able to figure it out completely, but I'm well on my way to figuring a few things out.
No Doubt: Tom has played guitar for 20 years. I've been playing for 3.

Q: Tom, Tony, Adrian and Gwen...what are your favorite alcoholic beverages?
No Doubt: Hi, this is Tony. Go to www.nodoubt.com and look for tour dates later this week.
No Doubt: As for beverages, I'd suggest that people over 21 drink beverages when they are not driving. Jack and Coke, Vodka and Cranberry is good. Vodka and Grapefruit are excellent! Beer and wine too.
No Doubt: Not that we drink.

Q: Is No Doubt planning to make any appearances in movies or on soundtracks soon?
No Doubt: This is Gwen. We don't have plans for it, right now we're just excited about our new album coming out tomorrow. We recorded a lot of b-sides and songs that we set aside in case we do get asked to be in a film.

Q: Gwen, do you still want to pursue acting, if so do you have any plans?
No Doubt: When I wasn't on tour I had an urge to do that and tried out for films. It was fun but to be actress...I was up against Angelina Jolie and Helena Bonham Carter. Their hart is in it, while my heart was really into making the record. I'd love to do that but my passion is still here with the band.
No Doubt: I have no time for it.

Q: Tony, how long have you been a bass player?
No Doubt: This is Tony. I've played for bass for 15 years now. I've been playing in this band for 13 years.

Q: How do you think fans of your old records will react to the fact that Return of Saturn is full of ballads and love songs?
No Doubt:  It's not!
No Doubt: Listen carefully! Go buy it at midnight and listen to it. It's a very well-balanced album. We were trying to make a balanced album that would be an experience from start to finish. The album has everything.

Q: Tom...if you weren't part of the band, what type of career can you see yourself being in today?
No Doubt: I'd be teaching high school girls math and I'd be surfing everyday. I'd be teaching college girls volleyball, actually.

Q: If you had to take one CD each to the moon which one would you take?
No Doubt: I would say Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon. That's Tom. I'd say Beatles' White Album because it's actually two albums.
No Doubt: This is Gwen. I won't answer such a silly question because I'll never get to the moon.

Q: Question for Tom. Why do you use Hammer Guitars, are they any good?
No Doubt: Well, they're really good guitars and they are made in CT by 12 guys in a shop. They're really high quality, beautifully crafted and beautiful. I can play any guitar that I want and I play those.

Q: Is there a change you guys record an unplugged CD?
No Doubt: Yes, we want to. We would love to. I would love to.
No Doubt: This is Gwen. I think our songs work well acoustically because that's really how they're written. A tough part about this record is taking the songs, from the acoustic phase and making it into a No Doubt song. Stripped down songs with just their melodies are special.

Q: Do you think that the 5 year absence was a wise career choice or was it more of an artistic "deep breath"?
No Doubt: There was not a five year absence. We were on tour for 2 years, and actually, between record releases is four years, five months. But actually, there was a two year absence, and that's how long it took us to make the album.

Q: Hey guys...I heard a rumor that Gwen was going to be singing a few songs with Alanis Morissette on her next album. Any truth to this? Thanks and love you all!
No Doubt: No, that's not true, that's not true.
No Doubt: I think Alanis writes some really amazing lyrics.

Q: Coming from North London, and being brought up on Madness, I think it's great, but also funny that you liked them as well, as I can't think of anyone more opposite in lifestyles than Californians and Londoners. What was it about that attracted you to their music?
No Doubt: This is Gwen. For me I was barely a teenager when I heard them. My brother Eric brought it home and got obsessed. Something about the energy and the excitement and the upbeatness and fun about it
No Doubt: I copied everything my older brother did so I got into it because of him.
No Doubt: I was wondering which part of North London are you from?

Q: Why didn't Eric write (or co-write) more songs?
No Doubt: Eric left in the middle of making Tragic Kingdom. I've been writing a lot after he left. I'm pretty used to it now. We wrote together on this album. I has to get used to being home and being around my brother again. We wrote a beautiful song called Everything in Time that isn't on the record because we're saving it for something else. Eventually I'd like to do a collaboration with him where I'm just a puppet and he writes all the songs and I sing them.
No Doubt: He's so talented. All five of us sat down in a room and wrote the song Staring Problem

Q: Tony...if you could go anywhere in the world for vacation, where would you go and why?
No Doubt: I really want to go to Iceland. I've heard it's incredible. I've heard it's not only ice. I want to find out myself because I don't usually believe history or geography books.

No Doubt: I started playing drums when I was 18, not formally trained. I took two lessons in my whole life except for one semester in junior college drumming - and that's it.
No Doubt: This is Tom. I've had too much training and I'm trying to unlearn my training.
No Doubt: It's confining. For me, anyway.

Q: Hey Gwen...do you have a seamstress make your onstage clothes, or do you all of the modifications yourself? By the way, I have been listening to you guys since the old school days! I love the new CD. Bathwater is my favorite song on it (it's so "No Doubt" of you!)
No Doubt: Thank you so much! I've worked with a girl called Deborah for the whole last record on Tragic Kingdom. But I just met this woman who is an amazing seamstress and she made my outfit for the current tour. But all the designs are mine. I just don't have time to sew anymore.

Q: I've heard that the Portland, Oregon show at the Rose Garden was special in some way from a few sources...it was mentioned on the website and there's a small reference to it in Live in the Tragic Kingdom, from Gwen. What do you guys remember from it?  Thanks so much!
No Doubt: It was an incredible show. That was the best North American show we've ever played.
No Doubt: There was something special about it. We knew we were going to film at the Anaheim show. It's just a big mystery - you never know how the show is going to turn out. We played a show at the Roseland that was just amazing. The Portland show was like that.
No Doubt: We filmed the next day in Anaheim. It was a good show, but it didn't have that special show that the Portland show had.

Q: What's the craziest thing you guys have ever done?
No Doubt: This is Gwen. The craziest thing I've ever done was change Adrian's diaper on stage, or be part of that all.
No Doubt: I didn't CHANGE it. I suggested that he change it.
No Doubt: This is Adrian. The craziest thing I've ever done was stage dive naked into the audience and slap my balls against some teenager's forehead.

Q: Tony, are there any girls in your life? We always hear about the other band members...but rarely from you!
No Doubt: I am single, and I have yet to meet the girl of my dreams. But I'm out there exploring.

Q: What bit of advice would you offer new artists such as myself, entering the music industry?
No Doubt: This is Tom. Make sure that you enjoy the process, and don't think too much about the goals.
No Doubt: This is Tony. As long as you enjoy what you're doing, keep doing it. That's all that matters.

No Doubt: Tony's farting right now.
No Doubt: Booger says hello.

Q: Does No Doubt have any plans for a show in Russia?
No Doubt: That would be awesome!
No Doubt: Hopefully someday we will. We'd like to get to a lot of exotic places that most bands don't usually get to.

Q: What's your most memorable fan experience?
No Doubt: I had a recent fan experience that was magical. At the Roseland in NY, there was a girl front and center looking cute, with my exact hair. She was fabulous. on the very last song, on Spiderwebs, I had her come up on stage and sing with me. She was fabulous. She knew exactly what she was doing.
No Doubt: Tom said if I died, she'd replace me.

Q: How do you all come up with the antics you do on stage...like during JAG, Different People, Marry Me, etc...
No Doubt: This is Gwen. It's all stuff that kind of evolves while we're playing. If it works out good, we use it the next night. It's all sort of evolution.

Q: What does the title Return of Saturn mean?
No Doubt: That was one of the lyrics in a song called Artificial Sweetener, and it was referring to an anthology term called Saturn Returns, which means that Saturn takes 29 years to circle the sun. It's a period of assessment when you can clear out your life and get rid of things that are holding you back. For me, that was a good description of my life.
No Doubt: And the band has grown so much and eliminated a lot that hasn't worked for us musically, so I think it works on both levels.

Q: No Doubt, do you guys contribute to any charities? Which ones?
No Doubt: This is Tony. The tour that we're on right now go to four different charities. They are the Surf Rider Foundation, The Raincoast Foundation, The Pediatric Cancer Foundation and the Orange County Child Abuse Foundation.
No Doubt: There are links to all of these charities on our website.

Q: How do you prepare every night before a concert?
No Doubt: This is Gwen. Everything about the day goes into the preparation of the show. What you eat, how much you work out, how much you talk on the phone. And we all get together in a circle and hype each other up right before we go on.
No Doubt: This is Tony. Adrian and I always have a nervous stomach right before we go on stage I mean we have to go to the bathroom many times before we go on stage. We have something called Turtle Tail - leftover poop that doesn't want to come out.
No Doubt: Often we will go to the number two eight times within 15 minutes before we go on stage.
No Doubt: This is Gwen. They aren't kidding at all. And usually the bathroom is on my dressing room! It's one of the downsides to being in a band with all boys.

Q: When is the behind the scenes video footage coming out?
No Doubt: Behind the Music came out yesterday
No Doubt: Oh, the video that's coming on the website...it's up right now. The footage on the website.

Q: If you guys were trapped on a deserted island...who would you eat first?
No Doubt: I'd eat Tom last because he has the smelliest farts.

Q: If the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do with your last night on this planet?
No Doubt: I'd give it to my wife.

No Doubt: We would like to thank everyone for coming on tonight! Thanks for all the support. Watch us on Jay Leno on Wednesday!

Moderator: TWEC.COM would like to thank No Doubt for taking the time to speak with us this evening. Is there anything that you would like to say to your fans before you leave?
No Doubt: It's Gwen - we hope everyone enjoys the album. It's the best we could have done and we're excited to share it with everyone. You'd better know all the lyrics when we come to your town.