Pictures of Former Members of No Doubt
Pictures of Former Members of No Doubt | |||
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| John Spence | Eric Stefani | Alan Meade | |
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| Phil Jordan | Chris Webb | Don Hammerstedt | |
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| Alex Henderson | Eric Carpenter | Paul Caseley | |
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Others with connections to No Doubt | ||
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| Eric Keyes | Gabe Gonzalez | Dave Carpenter |
| Chris Leal | Chris Huicochea | Gerald Boisse |
| Tony Meade | Jerry McMahon | Bret Palazzo |
When you think of No Doubt you may think Gwen and the gang as they are now, with an unchanged lineup since 1987. Not so. The band has had many former members as you can see above, and as you can read below.
John Spence, close friend to Eric Stefani, originally planned the beginnings of the band with Eric. He was a charismatic young man who had an amazing stage presence. He was very animated on stage and would bring the house down with his signature back flips on stage. He molded his style, in part, after HR of the punk rockers "Bad Brains." One name that John and Eric kicked around when coming up with a band name was "Apple Core" which was a catch phrase from an old Warner Bros. cartoon. But they finally decided on "No Doubt" instead because that was the catch phrase that John Spence always used. Tragically, on December 21, 1987, No Doubt's world was turned upside down when they learned John killed himself in a local park. The band almost broke because of John's death, but when some time had gone by, and the dust finally settled, they decided that No Doubt should continue ahead because that's what John would have wanted. It was then that the name "No Doubt" was cemented as the band's name as a tribute to their fallen leader.
Alan Meade was the original trumpet player and his brother Tony Meade was the original sax player. Paul Caseley was the original trombonist. He composed the trombone solo in "Total Hate". It is unclear when he left the band but I can tell you it was prior to 1990. After John's death, Alan left his trumpet at home and became the co-lead vocalist with Gwen. The open trumpet spot was taken over by Gabe Gonzalez. Less than a year later, Alan left the band to care for his pregnant girlfriend. Tony Meade would also only stay in the band for around a year. Alan was most recently in a band called freakdaddy; but unfortunatly the band broke up.
After Tony Meade left the band, the open sax spot was filled by soon to be long time member, Eric Carpenter. Eric would be a member of No Doubt for the next seven years. Eric's joining the band was very important for other reasons than just his skills on sax...he had a best friend by the name of Tony Kanal. Eric and Tony played saxophone in the Anaheim High School band together, and it was Eric's older brother Dave Carpenter who taught Tony how to play the bass.
Jerry McMahon was No Doubt's original guitarist. He was Chris Leal's cousin and probably how Chris got involved in the band. Jerry helped write the song like "Showin Off" and performed on "Everything's Wrong" and "Paradise". There are copies of these songs around the internet. Jerry also helped compose "A Little Something Refreshing", an almost cartoonish song in nature written by Eric. He left the band close to the summer of 1988. He still keeps in touch with his cousin. By the way, Chris Leal, along with his brother Stephen, almost formed a band with the Meade brothers before freakdaddy got together.
Chris Webb was No Doubt's original drummer. He was a member of the band from the first show but left because he felt the band was not going to go anywhere in the music industry since Gwen (and the band) couldn't travel outside the West Coast. He left No Doubt to join a band called, "Twisto Frumpkin" in 1989. His replacement was chosen between two drummers at an audition. Adrian Young got the job after telling the band he had been playing the drums since 1983. Even though he was lying through his teeth, the drum spot went to Adrian. Since his days in No Doubt, Chris Webb has played in many bands. Chris now hits the skins in a punk band called One Hit Wonder. The band has released four albums and was nominated for "Best Punk Band" at The Bammies. Their latest album, "Who The Hell Is One Hit Wonder?", includes a punked out cover of the Beach Boys "Sloop John B." He is the band's drummer and they opened for The Offspring when they traveled to Japan in 1998.
Gabe Gonzalez left No Doubt behind in 1990 when he moved to the East Coast. The trumpet spot was filled by Don Hammerstedt. Don answered an ad that was posted in a local record shop, Bionic Records in the city that both he and Adrian lived in, Cypress California. Don made the call, and after his audition for the band, he was made the newest member of No Doubt on the spot. He stayed in the band for the next two years until he was faced with the decision to quit his job, (and therefore lose his house), to tour with the band to promote the first album. Don was five years older than the others in the band, and the only member who wasn't living at home at the time, the sacrifice of losing his house was just too much. After recording on the 1st ND album, Don left to pursue a career as a studio musician. Don's horn can be heard on many TV commercials, but if you're curious how he sounds in a rock setting today, pick up the album "Fundamental" by the band, Puya. That album made it to #2 on the CMJ charts in 1999, and The L.A. Times named Puya one of the top ten groups to keep an eye on. Don played with Puya at the Hollywood Bowl and The House of Blues last year, but rarely gigs these days in order to devote himself to the studio.
The summer of 1991 brought trombone player Alex Henderson into the band. Alex had seen No Doubt warm up for Ziggy Marley, and shortly afterward, he recognized Don Hammerstedt at a rehearsal for a band that Don was playing in as a side project at the time. Alex asked, “Didn't you just play at Irvine Meadows with a rock/pop/ska/punk band with a hot lead singer?" When Don told him yes, Alex replied, "I noticed it's just trumpet and sax ... couldn't you guys use a bone player in your band?" After a while, Don and Alex became friends. For months, Alex kept hinting around for Don to get him in the band, and after a while, Don brought up the idea of adding a bone to the horn section with the rest of No Doubt. The response was only lukewarm, because the horn section was already really strong, but Don persuaded the others to let Alex drop by for one rehearsal. The rest is history. Alex was the next member to be welcomed into the band. Eric, Don & Alex are the horn section you hear on the first No Doubt album.
When Don left the band, the trumpet spot was filled by Phil Jordan. Phil joined the band just in time to go on the road for No Doubt's first full tour. He would stay in the band around two years, until the Tragic Kingdom recording sessions. Phil had convinced a friend of his (Gabe Mc Nair) come and watch a No Doubt show. Gabe Mc Nair saw the band perform and was an instant fan. In 1993, Alex Henderson left No Doubt to join the world-famous Latin-jazz legend, Poncho Sanchez and his band for a two year world tour. (Alex was also offered the gig to play with Oingo Boingo for their final shows, but had to decline because of a commitment to be in Japan for some gigs.)
Gabe Mc Nair became the obvious replacement choice when Alex moved on. Gabe, Phil & Eric all made contributions to The Beacon Street Collection. This was right around the time Eric Carpenter left No Doubt to return to Cal State Fullerton in the spring of 1994 to resume his studies for a Major in Journalism. Eric left after recording some of Beacon Street. He is currently a reporter with The Orange County Register.
Gerard Boisse replaced Eric Carpenter in the studio. Gerard went to school with Phil Jordan at Citrus College. He is a very talented musician and good sax player, a very funny guy as well. Gerard could have went very far with his sax playing but he only plays on the weekends now in a rock cover band. Anyway, he played just one or two shows with No Doubt and didn't really work out in the long run, but he did record "Doghouse" and also you can catch him on a couple songs on "Tragic Kingdom".
Phil left the band to go back to school after recording some tracks on Tragic Kingdom. He was replaced by Steven Bradley. So now Gabe Mc Nair, who can play drums and keyboards (as well as trombone), took on Eric Stefani's keyboard duties when Eric left to resume a full-time position with his "day job" since 1989, (a character layout artist) on the Fox TV show, "The Simpsons." Many No Doubt fans take it for granted that Steve looks like Phil. This however is not true, since Phil Jordan is white. You can see the detail from the Beacon Street Collection collage (Phil's playing the trumpet). It seems that No Doubt has found another great reason to come to their shows: to watch the horn guys do their thing.
Gabe has been collaborating with Phil Jordan lately. They played a few song with Goldfinger in the studio. Phil has rejoined his old partner in crime Gabe in the local California band Senza Motiva. Phil plays trumpet for Senza Motiva while the multi-multitalentedel McNair performs as percussionist on drums. They also did some live performances with the Long Beach Dub All-stars. Don Hammerstedt is still constantly recording professionally. Alex Henderson is no longer with Poncho Sanchez, but is still very active in the L.A. pro musician scene. Alex is currently performing on his trombone for "The Brian Setzer Orchestra". Eric Carpenter now writes for the Orange County Register and has written about his former band a few times. One Hit Wonder are reportedly working on a fifth album and Chris Webb is still a part of the band.
Eric Stefani has a few friends who I should mention. When Eric Stefani began work with "The Simpsons" in 1989, he worked with another character layout artist on the show by the name of Eric Keyes. They became good friends and Eric Keyes began attending No Doubt shows in 1990. He was handy with a camcorder and eventually followed the band with the camera to almost all of their shows. These recordings may be shows or the may be candid moments of the band just hanging out backstage. My guess is that it is probably both. Eric also helped Eric Stefani write "That's Just Me" which was recorded for the indie Beacon Street Collection record and he was never a performer in the band . After not being heard from for years, Eric Keyes recently sold a cartoon show with Joe Russo and 3DFilms (this show may have been the popular Disney cartoon, "Recess"). Adrian did make a reference to him when the band sat down with Kevin Knight and tape recorded an interview in December of 1996. The HUB interview is transcribed on my Literature page. Eric Keyes worked recently on the hit Disney cartoon "Recess". He even got a chance to insert a No Doubt shirt on the episode "Germ Warfare". Like the No Doubt shirts in the Simpsons it is the Railraod logo shirt with no lettering.
The other friends are Bret Palazzo and Chris Huicochea. Chris Huicochea went to Loara High School with Gwen. He graduated the same year and dated Gwen in High School. He and Eric became friends during that time. Chris was practically part of the family attending vacations to the mountains with them and other family type things. Chris, Eric, Bret and Gwen all attended Cypress College together. This is where they met Bret, in Art class. Bret and Chris were up on stage a lot in the old days; they would often carry Gwen out or have some other routine worked out. At college is most likely where Eric Keys came into the picture as well. Eric Keyes drew one of the very first No Doubt shirts. He and Eric Stefani both went to the Simpson’s about the same time, when the show started. Unlike Eric Stefani who left the Simpsons from time to time to tour, Eric Keyes gutted it out and stayed on the show until 1994 or 1995. Bret, who recently got married, even helped Eric with some of his early animation and is thanked in the liner notes of the first album. Bret also co-wrote the demo song "No Doubt" with Eric. Bret is still very involved with drawing and works for a clothing company that deals heavily with Disney and Eric still keeps in touch with him.
  Eric Stefani and some friends in 1994 (click to enlarge) |
