Gavin Rossdale: Going solo made me a musical monk
Wednesday, 18 Jun 2008 15:43
Gavin Rossdale's solo album Wanderlust is out now
The inthenews.co.uk interview with Gavin Rossdale continues.
So why did you pick Bob Rock to produce Wanderlust?
I wanted someone with experience. It's not like I'm a fan of every record he's made, but I saw Some Kind of Monster, the Metallica film, and I thought anyone who could sit and handle everything going on there… It was insane, two-and-a-half hours of therapy a day, restrictive recording hours, it was hilarious and tragic. I just liked Bob on that and then it worked when I met him.
There was a chemistry?
Yeah, there was. It was the same with Clive Langham, who we did the first Bush record with and then with Steve Albini, I'd loved everything he'd done and we had this lunch at a Greek place in Chicago - I never in a million years he'd want to work with me - and we really got on. It goes on these whims.
Was it worth waiting five months for Bob?
Definitely. My point about when you bring records out is that I don't believe the timing really matters. If you asked me my five favourite records, you could put a gun to my head and I wouldn't be able to tell you when they came out. So I never understand this idea that you have to rush. Bob was doing the Offspring record and then did mine, and then finished their record, so my record was just a three-month period in the middle of a two-year Odyssey with them. I thought I'd rather make the right record and come out five months later then make the wrong one.
Presumably recording it in Maui was a nice bonus too?
Yeah, that wasn't bad. (laughs). Plus, I could be so selfish. Waking up with a baby, it's all about them so when I was there I could go back to being supremely self-important and self-obsessed. I was like a musical monk only… with vices! (laughs). A non-teetotal musical monk!
After three years away, having a kid and Gwen releasing records, is there a sense of trepidation about coming back?
Maybe twice a day I'll get 'can I take your order and… Gavin? When's the record coming out?!' (laughs) The day before I went to promote the record, I went to see the Police at the Hollywood Bowl and the valet opened the door and went 'Gavin, what happened?' And I said 'It's coming out on Tuesday!' It's like the George Best story with the room service attendant finding him with Miss World coming out of the bathroom and the champagne everywhere and saying 'George! Where did it all go wrong?' (laughs)
How has being a father changed you, artistically and personally?
Artistically, I don't think that much. You hear about this 'great surge of creativity', but sometimes you feel creative, sometimes feel like a sloth! (laughs) What changes is that there's a really enjoyable, unexpected joy. It's really fun watching him grow stronger.
Kingston's two at the moment - is he a handful?
Some of the time, but that's his gig! What's weird is how fleeting it is, in terms of stages. I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks and it's going to be exciting to see how he's changed. And he's really enjoying me at the moment so I felt bad leaving. Before when I've left, it's been like 'Oh, the cook's left!' (laughs) Now he cares more, so it's a bit of a crusher.
Does he know he's got a sibling on the way?
We tried to explain it to him, we bought him this little baby. But when you see him throwing it around and dropping it on the floor to go and get an ice-cream, you think 'maybe, it's not a great idea in the first place!'
Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?
No idea. [We're] living the dream of surprises.
And just one final one - it clearly frustrates you when people compare Bush's success in Europe with that in the US - is it just an annoying question?
No, what it is, is that I felt towards the end of Bush, there was a really good parity, you know, doing four nights at Brixton Academy. When I was growing up, and a big band was coming, you went to see them in Brixton. And we did four nights. So what I felt bad about was the fans we had here, as it seemed they were forever discounted. If I was in a situation where I liked a band and was being told I didn't exist, I'd think 'what, am I f*****g transparent?' In this celebrity, picture-driven world, you get reduced to a couple of sentences which don't tell the whole story and we were starting to do well in Europe so it seemed unfair. That's life though.
Lewis Bazley
Wanderlust is out now.
To read the start of the inthenews.co.uk interview with Gavin Rossdale, click here
To watch the video for the stunning Love Remains the Same, click here