No Doubt Australia

From Dumont’s Guitars:

“This is a short Bio I’ve been working on. I think this sums it up nicely and without errors such as on wikipedia.
I was born Jan 11, 1968 in Los Angeles, California and mostly grew up in the city of Irvine, about 40 miles just south of L.A. in Orange County. I remember having an early fondness for music, my first musical memories coming from my Disney 45’s and my Dad playing classical and pop standards on the piano at home.

Around age eight I got my first hi-fi system and quickly became an avid rock aficionado, listening endlessly to my Kiss, Rush, Pink Floyd, UFO, Black Sabbath, and Barry Manilow records. Around age twelve my Dad hooked up some private guitar lessons at the local music store, and I quickly started learning songs of the Beatles, James Taylor and Neil Young on the acoustic guitar. An electric guitar ( a black Les Paul copy) followed as a Christmas gift, and from then on I spent hours locked in my bedroom jamming along to my growing record collection. My older sister Gina was already a skilled rock guitarist, and she taught me scales and chords which helped me advance quickly.

I started a band called “Northeast” in 7th grade (age 13 I think) with a couple of friends and we ambitiously covered songs by Rush, Judas Priest, and Scorpions. After that around age 15 I joined my older sister’s original Heavy Metal band “Rising”, forming a rather unique brother and sister dual lead guitar team.
I was a distracted student in High School- preferring music, fiction, boogie-boarding and D&D over my homework. After High School I studied music theory and composition at Orange Coast College and at Cal State University Fullerton for 4+ years.

During my college years my musical tastes began to broaden to new wave and reggae music, and in 1988 I answered a flyer to play guitar for local OC band called “No Doubt”. I helped to add a rock edge to No Doubt’s ska sound, and after a number of excellent years playing club shows all around California, the band signed with Interscope Records in 1991. We released our “self-titled” debut CD in 1992, and toured clubs in the United States in vans that summer. After which founding member and primary songwriter Eric Stefani began the process of splitting from the band. This left more of the songwriting efforts to myself, bassist Tony Kanal and singer Gwen Stefani, and in the following years we all co-wrote, recorded and finally released our 1995 commercial breakthrough album entitled “Tragic Kingdom”. The album gave birth to a number of international hit singles and went on to sell over 15 million copies worldwide. We toured the North America, Europe and Asia repeatedly for a whirlwind two years before taking a break in late 1997 to write and record the follow up.

“Return of Saturn” was released in 2000 followed by more world touring. The next album was “Rock Steady”, released in 2001, and produced more hit songs, two Grammy awards and more world touring. In 2003 we performed alongside Sting at the 2003 Superbowl halftime show and released a greatest hits CD entitled “The Singles Collection”. About that time we began a well deserved multi-year break from No Doubt’s primary activities of recording and touring.

During the break, I produced two albums by singer-songwriter Matt Costa and also toured the United States in 2005 as his bass player, enjoying the opening slot on Jack Johnson’s sold-out summer amphitheater tour. I also worked with Ted Matson to score a feature documentary film; “The Providence Effect” released in 2009 . When not doing music I also spent my free time traveling and surfing, hanging in Australia, Indonesia, Mexico and New England with my girlfriend Mieke. We were married in 2004 and started a family right away becoming parents to two incredible boys; Ace born in 2006 and Rio born in 2008.

In 2009 No Doubt returned from hiatus for our biggest concert tour ever in the United States. Presently in 2010, Tony, Gwen, Adrian and I are working together to write and record songs for a forthcoming No Doubt album.

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates! I’ve been very busy, but in my spare time I’ve been working on a new layout for No Doubt Australia.

There’s been alot of baby news lately, Tony posted on the band twitter yesterday:

“Congratulations to our longtime friend and musical collaborator Gabrial Mcnair and his wife Lene on the birth of their new baby girl!!”  -Tony

Also when looking at some recent candids of Gwen, it appears that she’s pregnant with her third child, how exciting! Stay tuned.

Dangerfield are currently selling these pretty cool grey tanks with a print of Gwen from her Rolling Stone photo shoot in 2005. Price is AU$28 and available in Australia only.

It’s sad to announce that Born To Blossom run by Ali from Perth is shutting down. She has huge reductions on all Harajuku Lovers items, with prices starting at US$7.00.

Check out what’s left for sale, be quick before it’s all gone for good  :(

The band have been in the studio all week and have been posting updates on their Twitter

Writing in the rain - Tony
January 21, 2010

Tony and Gwen are rocking the synth. Our little studio is warm and candlelit, above the glowing city - Tom
January 27, 2010

We’re back at the writing studio this afternoon. Its sunny and clear, we can see all the way to the ocean! Hoping to catch one today - Tom
Writing songs in hollywood please send me vibes - Gwen
Stop procrastinating, write a song now - Gwen
January 28th, 2010

From Home Town Life.com:

West Bloomfield’s own Samantha Bankle Schefman recently made history in the world of costume jewelry, becoming the youngest designer at the legendary Miriam Haskell company. Her first assignment? Creating singer Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers line, set to hit Macy’s in March.

Now corporate-owned, Miriam Haskell has ventured into creating jewelry for celebrities, designers and department stores including Betsey Johnson, J. Lo, Calvin Klein, Vera Wang and Old Navy. The company recently signed an exclusive license agreement with Gwen Stefani, who already has successful clothing, handbag and fragrance lines.

MUSIC INSPIRED
Schefman said she grew up listening to Stefani’s band No Doubt, and now analyzes the singer’s solo work.
“I study it for the line I’m working on,” Schefman said. “It’s definitely a reference and everything she sings about is translating into our designs. I’ve taken myself away from being a fan and more of working for her.”

The jewelry, like Stefani’s other fashion ventures, is inspired by the Tokyo street culture embodied by her Harajuku Girls back-up dancers.
“The line has ended up being pieces for the fans that are kind of based around the girls and Gwen,” she said. “A lot of it’s based on what’s trendy and what’s selling, but we’re experimenting with all different materials. The first set is very rock chic.”
“They’ll be very different looks. They’ll be cohesive but they’ll definitely transition for the seasons and our own inspirations,” Schefman said.

According to Schefman, Stefani caused a stir when she visited the Miriam Haskell offices in Manhattan to plan her line. “People wanted to meet her and be there because she’s gorgeous and perfectly put together, so we weren’t even allowed in the meeting,” Schefman said. “I haven’t met her yet, but I have a whole lot of respect for Gwen. She’s definitely driven and talented.”

ARTISTIC FAMILY
Schefman said she was excited to be assigned to the Harajuku Lovers collection and coincidentally, it wasn’t her first brush with Stefani. While at CCS, she interned at Stefani and Company in Keego Harbor, owned by Cary and Jesse Stefani, who are relatives of Gwen and designed the wedding ring for her marriage to musician Gavin Rossdale.

Dangerfield are currently selling a womens No Doubt shirt! It’s plain white with a black Singles era print on the front, was $38 has now been reduced to $20. If you want one I’d suggest hurrying because there was only one left in the store I went too. Pretty cool!

The band have been posting updates on their twitter about how the recording process has been going lately, here’s some recent posts:

Nightime writing session with Gwen & Tony. This song is feeling really good… Wish i could tell u more. Patience! -Tom
sunsets, skyscrapers, silhouets and new songs. -Tom http://twitpic.com/pxl9k
Writing: writing? writing! sometimes such a challenge, sometimes too easy! -Tom
sometimes i listen to prince and i think - it is not possible ?? how can he be this good??? i worship him - gwen x
songwriting can be fun!! what a great day with tony and tom - writing new no doubt! one day down - back at it tomorrow gwen x
Sunset at the secret spot! http://twitpic.com/o6wj2
Our secret songwriting pad has the most amazing views of LA and Hollywood, all the way to the ocean. Plus a pink drumset! -Tom

No Doubt Australia is now on facebook and twitter! Add us now  :)

Twitter
Facebook

Hi guys - sorry it’s been such a long time between updates! For those who don’t know, for one of No Doubt’s shows that I attended in the US (Mountain View, July 25th), I managed to get a photo pass for the show (very exciting!).
I’ve finally had a chance to upload my photos to the gallery, you can view them here. I haven’t had a chance to upload my shots of Paramore and The Sounds but will at a later stage, in the meantime the full set can be viewed on my Flickr page.

And in other exciting news, No Doubt’s management asked for a copy of one of my photos, which has now been added to No Doubt.com! Check it out here.

Here’s one of my favourite photos that I took:

I will also be uploading my other fan photos to the gallery at a later stage  :)

Thanks to Rachel for letting us know, the Harajuku Lovers fragrance collection ‘Snow Bunnies’ is now available in Australia, just in time for Christmas. The Perfume Connection are advertising the gift pack for AU$140.00. It doesn’t look as though we’ll be getting the individual ones.
Note: the fragrances are the same scents, they’re just being sold in different bottles.

From MTV.com.au:

Tune in to MTV this Sunday October 4 @ 9:30pm to check out all the killer live performances from F1 Rocks in Singapore - Including Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, N.E.R.D & No Doubt.

Check out the promo video here.

From Mercury News.com:
Two of pop music’s brightest stars - Gwen Stefani and Chris Martin - will take the stage during the 2009 Bridge School Benefit concerts at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. Stefani will perform with her platinum-selling band No Doubt, which recently came through the Bay Area on a highly successful reunion tour, while Martin will leave his mates in Coldplay behind to play rare solo sets.

The concerts are set for 5 p.m. Oct. 24 and 2 p.m. Oct. 25. Tickets are $39.50-$150 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday through 877-598-6659 and www.livenation.com.

Other top names scheduled to perform at both concerts include pop-rocker Sheryl Crow, indie-folk act Fleet Foxes, Australian hard-rockers Wolfmother, alt-rock icon Gavin Rossdale (Stefani’s husband) and, of course, the event’s organizer, Neil Young. The Monsters of Folk, the indie-pop dream team of Conor Oberst, Yim Yames, M Ward and Mike Mogis, will also appear on both days.

In all, the lineup should be taken as a breath of fresh air by Bridge regulars, who have long complained that Young relies too heavily on the same cast of performers, such as Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews. Of all the acts on the bill, only Crow, Young and Oberst (as Bright Eyes in 2005) have performed at past Bridge benefits. That number could change, however, since Young commonly adds more acts to the lineup as the dates draw closer.

These concerts are fundraisers for Hillsborough’s Bridge School, which aids students with severe learning disabilities.

Gwen recently told Popsugar.com that the band will also be playing a show in Russia this month:

Gwen Stefani left her Spring 2010 L.A.M.B presentation and headed to Bloomingdale’s yesterday to host an autograph signing for Fashion’s Night Out. The woman who conceived the event, Anna Wintour, stopped by as well, and the two fashion icons laughed and posed as Anna told Gwen about the international praise she’s already received for The September Issue. We had the chance to speak to Gwen for an exclusive interview, where she hinted at a new fragrance line and told us No Doubt is hard at work in the studio.

• On her tour experience: “The tour was incredible. We played for almost a million people. It was the time of our lives, and every show was just really mind blowing, very emotional. It’s kind of hard to believe and take it all in, but it’s very inspiring. We were never planning to go on tour, it was just like on the fly — let’s go! It was really spontaneous. So now we are trying to go back into the studio and write some music. We have a few more things: we are going to Russia and we are going to Singapore this month. They are just kind of one-off [performances] and then we are going to get serious about doing some songwriting. We were in the studio last week and tried some stuff.”
• On new No Doubt singles: “Well it’s not a finished song, but we got it started and it was fun. Before we left I was in a little bit of a rut, but I don’t feel like that anymore. I gained energy [from the tour].
• On the best lesson she’s learned from being a mother of two: “How much easier my life was before? No I’m kidding, they are the best thing ever and we have so much fun together . . . It was fun [having them on tour]. It was really fun, but hard.”

Stay tuned on more from Gwen about choosing her outfits for her tour and a possible new perfume!

Zuma’s nanny Emily also updated her twitter today with the following: “My visa was denied cuz I smiled in my application picture. A valuable lesson: Don’t pretend to be happy when going to Russia.”

The L.A.M.B fashion show for Spring 2010 collection took place at Milk Studios in New York on thursday september 10th.

From Style.com:
Don’t give Gwen Stefani any guff about the validity of celebrity clothing lines: Not only has she been successfully plying her trade for seven years now, but she pointedly didn’t name the label after herself, because she wanted people to buy the clothes for their own merits and not “because of me.” (But, really, who wouldn’t want to look as good as Gwen does in clothes?)

Spring found Stefani mixing African and eighties-pop references (think Bow Wow Wow and Bananarama) with some rock-chick edge, natch. Besides the requisite biker jacket (in white leather), there were lots of zippers and tarty (in a good way) off-the-shoulder dresses and tunics, and one very mini pleated kilt (can you say Harajuku girl?). Harem pants, washed-silk cargo pants, and diaper dresses added a softness and ease to the line and demonstrated that it does indeed have relevance beyond smoky, poorly lit music venues that smell of stale beer—and can stand on its own outside in the bright, daylight world.

View photos from the entire show on Style.com now.

Videos from E! Online:

Article from USA today:
Twenty-four hours before the launch of her revamped L.A.M.B. fashion line, Gwen Stefani, 39, surveys two long racks bearing the fruits of her summer’s efforts. “I never thought it would turn out this good,” she says, smiling as she traces the lines of an intricately tailored white jacket and opens it to reveal tie-dye silk lining.

The lead singer of the recently reunited No Doubt reveals the self-described “rebirth” of her L.A.M.B. line today after working in recent months alongside new partner Manhattan International Trade Inc. Most items will range from $48 to $345, and the line mixes draped separates, sturdy jackets, skinny jeans and leopard accents in neutral colors with pops of electric purple, red and yellow.

The line is a departure for Stefani, who wanted to inject more style and serious craftsmanship into L.A.M.B collections. “I’m really spoiled,” says the red-carpet maven, who is often photographed running errands with her children in sky-high stilettos and her signature bright-red lips. Now, “these jeans are as good as anything I have,” she says, showing off a pair of dark-wash tie-dye skinny jeans on her slender frame.

Pregnancy, or the absence of it, is the hidden theme in Stefani’s fashion rebirth. Sons Kingston, 3, and Zuma, 1, put Stefani on a yo-yo of weight gain and loss, and until recently, her closet was jammed with maternity clothes. (Her current super-trim figure is “no miracle,” she says, noting it took eight months to lose the weight after Zuma’s birth.)

When Stefani launched L.A.M.B seven years ago, she envisioned staying home and planning a family. Today, she’s still going 100 mph with husband Gavin Rossdale and sons cheering her on.
“I don’t get any sleep,” she admits.

Multiplatinum solo albums, a reunion tour and a hot new line aside, Stefani’s priorities are her children. She carries flip-flops in her purse for a quick stiletto change so she can manage carrying 25-pound Kingston. And time goes all too fast with baby Zuma, who quit breast-feeding this summer.
“I didn’t want him to (quit), it felt like a total rejection,” she says. “It was really hormonal, and trying to stop in the middle of the tour was insane.”

With her three guys attending the L.A.M.B. show Thursday (if naptime permits), her next task is writing for the upcoming No Doubt album. Then, there’s her 40th birthday on Oct. 3. “I want a really big cake!”

View photos of the new LAMB bags at Purse Blog.com.
Also, Nordstroms have some new Fall 2009 items available on their website now.