VH1.com (December 2001)

No Doubt: Between A Rock And A Steady Place

Big stars. That's what No Doubt are these days. And with the release of their new Rock Steady, it's obvious they're pop musicians who don't mind doing a little experimenting. We spoke with the band about how they've truly come into their own, and why they still just want to make smart party music.

We've previously learned it takes a while for No Doubt to complete a new CD - there was almost a half decade between Tragic Kingdom and Return of Saturn. But after spending a mere 12 months recording in England, Jamaica, and California, their wonderous Rock Steady is about to be released. And after the soul searching of Return to Saturn, it sounds like Orange County's finest is in a sunny spot. The new album glistens and bounces with optimism, setting its sights on pleasure. Credit their yen for clubs and dancing, and acknowledge their collaborations with rhythm maestros ranging from Prince to the Neptunes to raggaman Bounty Killer. No Doubt music is about movement, as the band told us in a recent conversation that also touched down on the joy of nude gymnastics and the jubiliance of backstage orgies.

VH1: Rock Steady only took a year to make. What was the recording process like?

Gwen Stefani: We had a band meeting and said, 'What are we going to do next? Are we gonna make a record?' We wanted to put it out quick, but we've never been able to do that before. We got together and started writing a couple of songs, and they were coming out so quickly. Next thing I know, we were in Jamaica, recording with the legendary Sly & Robbie and Bounty Killer. [Watch Clip] 

Tom Dumont: It was our goal, wasn't it? Didn't I say, Let's get it out in one year? We can do it. 

Tony Kanal: You said some other things too. Like, "Let's record every song naked." Nobody would agree to that. Like, "Let's get some farm animals in the studio." Nobody would agree to them. But you did say, "Let's get it out this year." For us to write a record and put it out in the course of one year is a huge accomplishment. We've always taken a really long time. 

VH1: A lot of bands would find it wearing to return to the studio so soon after a tour. 

Gwen: We were proud of Return of Saturn when we were done, but coming off the Tragic Kingdom tour and trying to be creative again was like starting over. But when we toured Rings of Saturn, every night was a party. We had these dancehall parties backstage! We were inspired and happy to still be a band and doing music. Rock Steady really reflects it. It's really spontaneous and upbeat. We were going to so many clubs and dancing so much, we wanted to write songs that we could dance to. 

Adrian Young: Dancing to songs like "Just a Girl" in a club never quite worked. That's why we never heard it much. It's like [Stands up and starts pogo-ing around.]. It didn't work. 

VH1: This is a tremendously listenable album, but you've got some weird noises going on. 

Tom: A lot of it came from listening to Jamaican dancehall. They put in weird Star Wars noises, laser beams, weird things like that. There's a lot of other sounds on the record - like really fat synth-pop sounds from the '80s. There's a sonic vibe to the record that none of our other records have had, that comes from being inundated by a lot of exciting hip-hop music in the last three years. It let us get away from the sound of the guitar strumming, which can get boring after a while. 

Tony: Even though we worked with different producers, there's a common thread. We wrote and demo'd all these songs at Tom's apartment in L.A., and kept these demos intact. Each producer would help us build on the actual basic tracks that we recorded. The initial spark, created when we first wrote the songs, remained intact. We were able to see it all the way through until the end of the finished product. 

VH1: You recorded this album in Jamaica, London and L.A. Tell me about the different places you went. 

Gwen: When we sat together we said, 'What are we going to do different this time?' We decided we wanted to break down all the rules we built up over the years. If these guys wanted to go off and work with someone - not even for the record but just for the experience - we were going to do it. So there was an opportunity to work with Dave Stewart in London. I was going to go over and do that. These guys were so excited about what we were writing, they decided to come with me. We flew all our equipment over there, got a little studio going and worked with Dave Stewart. It's strange because you're working with this guy who's like an idol to us. Then we just kept going all over. We came back to L.A. We were experimenting in the studio with these guys called the Neptunes, who probably everyone knows about now because they have a million hits going everywhere. Again, there was a cultural collision: An Orange County band going in with these guys from Virginia Beach making hip-hop records. We ended up writing this song "Hella Good," that turned out incredible. Then we had Nellee Hooper, this English producer, produce it. So you got all these different people coming together to make this track.

VH1: Sly & Robbie, Dave Stewart, The Neptunes, Nellee Hooper, Prince, and Ric Ocasek are all on the album. Tell us about what these different producers brought to the table. 

Tony: Our success afforded us the opportunity to work with all these people that we look up to. We'd written a couple of songs that were very much inspired by the Cars. Who would better to produce than Ric Ocasek? 

Gwen: That was coming home in a lot of ways. Working with some of the other people was so foreign, so different. Ric comes from that "real band" land. We had so much in common, that was really relaxing and fun working with him. He has so many stories to tell. 

Tony: That's the greatest thing about working with all those guys. He told us some amazing stories about Bad Brains and when he recorded Rock for Light. It was so awesome to get that energy and those experiences they had. 

VH1: I heard the song you did with Prince was actually recorded for the last album. What happened? 

Gwen: Some songs come together really fast. Some you labor over and they come together. Some just don't really come together. For Return of Saturn, we wrote this song called "Waiting Room." That was one of those tracks that was like, "What's wrong with it?" We couldn't figure it out. We did a demo and sent it to him. He generously flew the entire band out to Paisley Park. By the time I got off the plane, his security guard guy was like, 'The Artist wants to speak with you.' 

Tony: It was like three years ago, when he was still "The Artist." 

Gwen: So, I get him on the phone: 'Oh man, I'm so excited about the track. What do you think?' 'Well Gwen, I had to rewrite it.' 'What? Well, you're the Artist, you do what you want, I guess.' We get there. It's like 11:30 at night. We were exhausted. He played us this track and our mouths were on the floor. It was so amazing. He had recorded the whole thing. He had rewritten it using a lot of the lyrics about my boyfriend that were in the initial song. So Prince is singing about my boyfriend! It would have never fit anywhere into Return of Saturn. But it fits perfectly for this record. We ended up opening it up like three years later when we were mixing in London. We had added keyboards and stuff. I re-sang it because I felt I could do a better job. We like how it turned out. 

VH1: Dr. Dre and Timbaland both did tracks for the record, but they didn't make it. Did they not fit the vibe? 

Gwen: I had worked with Dre with Eve on "Let Me Blow Your Mind." He sent over about seven drum loops that you could write songs to. One time when we were in London, I said, 'Blow up that Dre track. I want to work on it.' We tried something. Came home a couple of weeks later and listened to it and said, 'Oh my God! There's a song here!' A song called 'Wicked Day.' I got so excited. The thing was it was a little more like a slow jam. We already had all these other tracks that fit the slot that we thought were a little more No Doubty. It will show up eventually. But it was one of those things where all the other tracks were coming together so good, and that one was feeling like it needed a little more extra help. 

VH1: What happened with Timbaland? 

Gwen: We were pretty much finished with the record at that point. So to go in and try to write more songs when you think you're done, especially for us; we're kind of lazy like that. We wrote a really cool track together. But again, we only wanted to put 12 songs on the record. It had a disco vibe to it, and it felt like we already had that. So we're saving it. 

VH1: The single with Bounty Killer, "Hey Baby," was recorded in Jamaica, right? 

Gwen: "Hey Baby" is the one song that we used almost everything from Tom's apartment. Even the vocals. We wrote most of it in Tom's apartment, then we went to Kingston. Bounty Killer came and did his thing on it. We went over and we put the touches on the end of it. 

VH1: What is that song about? 

Gwen: It's inspired by my point of view backstage at a No Doubt concert. It's interesting being the only girl in the group and having this rock 'n' roll stuff go on. We've got these girls that basically go to concerts to see if they can get with the guys. These guys have dancehall parties every night. So we have these people coming backstage, dancing, hanging out and picking up on each other. 

Tony: It's kind of a PG version of the actual debauchery that goes on backstage 

Gwen: A very PG version. 

VH1: You shot the "Hey Baby" video with Dave Myers, who directed Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On." 

Tony: It's a very lighthearted video. It captures us on the tour bus. All the guys hanging out in the back, drinking, gambling, the usual stuff. Gwen trying to rest her voice. We wake her up, stop at a dancehall club, go inside, and the hi-jinks begin. 

Adrian: We were at an Interscope party and these gymnasts' rings were hanging down in the middle of this club. Some people put some money down and said, "Would you get up there and hang upside down nude for ten seconds?" I did it. It was a funny story, so we recreated that for the video. And it's still funny. [Watch Clip] 

VH1: Rock Steady is the album title. The title track's lyric goes "Rock steady/ Our love is rock steady." 

Gwen: Yeah, "Real love survives/ Rock steady vibe." It sums up where we're at. We're really having fun with each other. To be into it this far and have such a commitment to each other is really rewarding. I'm in a good mood about my personal life, too. I think the track reflects having something a little more solid, a little more real.