LA’s AMP Radio 97.1 has posted their interview with No Doubt-listen here: http://amp.cbslocal.com/2012/09/06/no-doubt-push-and-shove-is-a-hodgepodge-of-styles-thats-just-the-way-they-like-it/
When a band takes a 11-year hiatus, it’s not likely they’ll be getting back together until they start playing on cruise ships, but leave it to No Doubt to defy the odds.
As soon as they stepped back on the scene with their single “Settle Down,” they shot back up to the top of the charts proving that they’ve still got it.
Sure, they’re a little older, a little wiser, and parents to a brood of children, but that hasn’t slowed them down one bit.
“I can’t speak for everybody, but I never felt that we weren’t going to be playing music again,” Adrian Young explained to Booker this morning. “That was always the plan.”
You can’t blame them for taking a little break. Personally and professionally, a lot went down during their years apart.
“There were so many things that happened in between that time,” Gwen Stefani said. “We finished the Rock Steady tour. We did a greatest hits tour. Then I decided to do a dance record. I did that and then I decided to go on tour. I got pregnant the month I got home from the tour, right when we were going to start the record. No, it wasn’t a whoops because I really wanted to get pregnant, so I was really happy about it, but I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll just get pregnant and write the record. It’ll be perfect.’ Uh-uh. So, I think there was too much creation already happening.”
Now that No Doubt is back in the swing of things, their little “creations” will be joining them on the road. During their 2009 greatest hits tour, they each got their own family tour bus and brought the kids along with them.
“I think we got to see so much of the cities now like once you have them, it forces you to go out,” said Gwen. Before, I would just sleep the whole time! I’d sleep, sleep, sleep, work out, and play the shows and now it’s, ‘Okay, who wants to go to the science museum? Let’s go!’”
It’s a completely different world since the 2001 release of Rock Steady. These days, more people buy singles instead of albums, but No Doubt hopes you’ll give Push and Shove a chance. “I feel like it’s definitely sad to think that people might not hear the whole record, you know, for us because we work so hard on it and we love it so much and we want to share it,” Gwen explained. “I’m just saying right now, ‘Please! Just put your headphones on in a dark room. Put your, you know, computer up, look at the lyrics.’”
The band describes Push and Shove as a “hodgepodge” of styles, musically-speaking, and that’s “just the way they like it.”
“I feel like it’s really balanced of everything we’ve ever been,” Gwen said. “I’m writing about being overwhelmed by too much going on, too many great things going on and trying to balance everything. It feels like that’s kind of a repeated theme, but you know, it’s always about love. It’s always about all the same old stuff.”
No Doubt may be all grown up now, but they’ve never forgotten their humble beginnings. Just ask Gwen, who reminisced about a serious case of nerves during her first date with her future husband, Gavin Rossdale.
“I got hives on my first date with Gavin. Isn’t that crazy? What a sign. I woke up and literally you couldn’t even recognize my face. And I had to play the show that night and they gave me a shot and they all went away. It’s amazing.”