“This need for expression, and large gestures, and connection…”
– Gavin Rossdale
For a man capable of making so much noise, Gavin Rossdale is very soft-spoken, his somewhat guarded reticence being understandable given all that he’s been through.
The singer, songwriter and musician is currently enjoying his first Billboard Top 40 hit since the heady days when he fronted the post-grunge band Bush. For a while in the mid-nineties their singles (“Comedown” and “Glycerine”) ruled the airwaves, and the band toured virtually non-stop – with a quaint little Orange County band called No Doubt supporting them.
After the Bush’s demise in 2002, Rossdale struggled to keep his identity in a strange La La Land amidst the turmoil of a lost band, a new marriage (to No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani), and the tabloid attention that came with it. Rossdale’s 2004 release under the Institute moniker failed to make its mark. It was, “for all intents and purposes, a solo record, it was just a bad marketing decision to call it something else,” says Rossdale, who picked himself up and came back with what he regards as his second solo album, Wanderlust, in June of this year.
The lead song, “Love Remains The Same,” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at # 76, rising to #27 in October 2008. It remains on the chart for the twenty-fourth week at the time of writing. Rossdale describes the Bukowski-influenced track as a “drinking song — my drowning of the sorrows song.” And it would seem it has done just that, as its success allows him to sate his desire for the road with a full-scale tour scheduled for Spring 2009.
We caught up with Rossdale at his manager’s offices in Westwood, CA, and chatted about the album, the song, and the feelings of isolation that inspired the rousing ode to friends, love and libations. But first, in the spirit of friendship, it seemed only polite that we formally thank him for counting SuicideGirls amongst his MySpace Top Friends.
Read our exclusive interview with Gavin Rossdale on SuicideGirls.com/.
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