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With
a charismatic lead singer that you can't keep your eyes off of and a sound
all their own,
No Doubt is without a doubt one of the biggest and most popular bands
in the world. Here's
what their guitarist Tom Dumont had to tell Songlounge about songwriting,
collaborating
and working with producers in the studio.
SL - How
do you guys approach songwriting? Do you write as a group or do you write
individually
and then present the songs or ideas to the rest of the band?
TD - In No Doubt songwriting is usually collaboration. On “Tragic
Kingdom” and “Return of Saturn”
Gwen would sit down with Tony or me (or both of us) and we’d flesh
out the chords, rhythms and
melodies of a song together with just an acoustic guitar. Gwen always
did the lyrics though. We’d use
a little handheld tape recorder to catch any cool improvisational moments.
Recording everything as we
wrote was indispensable and saved us a hundred times from forgetting something
really good we’d come
up with. After coming up with the basic elements of the song this way
we’d then get together with
Adrian on drums and feel the song out as a band, and when we sorted that
out we’d make a demo.
On "Rock
Steady" we took a very different approach. Tony and I would sit with
keyboards and drum machines and come up with the music for the songs while
Gwen would hang around writing lyrics and humming melodies to herself.
Then using Protools we’d record a demo on the spot, which ended up
being a very spontaneous and fun way to move a song along from idea to
finished demo in the course
of a day or two. In many cases those actual demo recordings ended up being
on the final album mix.
SL - Usually
bands work with one producer on an entire album. How hard was it keeping
the
new album ("Rock Steady") cohesive while working with several
different producers?
TD - "Rock Steady" was a big collaborative process where we
worked with many producers. We
wanted to cram as much musical learning and growth into a one year period
as possible. The thing
that kept everything cohesive was us. It was still Gwen’s voice and
words, still our playing, just
filtered through the taste and sensibility of those we worked with. Also
we spent 6 weeks mixing
with one guy, Spike Stent, which gave the album a kind of sonic glue.
SL - We’ve
heard that you’re an extremely democratic band. What would you say
is the key
element to successful collaboration?
TD - We’ve worked hard to stay as democratic as possible but in the
end Gwen leads us
creatively and Tony is the leader when it comes to business stuff. We
do discuss everything
and everyone’s opinions are respected and listened to though. I think
it's very natural to have
one or two leaders in a band and most bands probably work best that way.
SL - What
advice would you give to a band going into the studio with a producer
for the first time?
TD - Be assertive and at the same time try to learn something. A producer
is there to get
something great out of your band, and when you respect each other that’s
usually what will
happen. If you don’t see eye to eye with a producer or think that
your goals are different then
by all means find someone else. A good producer will listen objectively
to your songs and drive
you to improve things. Also a producer can mediate between the egos and
personalities in a band.
A producer is like a coach trying to make you win in the studio, to achieve
what you want out of
a song and a recording.
SL - Can
you give us a tip about recording guitar for us to put in our Songlounge
Tip Box?
TD - Sure, in a rock band a guitar often occupies the same sonic frequencies
as the vocals,
so I try with my guitar parts to make space, not compete with the vocal.
Thanks
Tom!
Make sure you catch No Doubt this Summer in a city near you!
WWW.NODOUBT.COM
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