26 MusicWeek 07.09.12 INTERVIEWMARKSTENT
Respected producer Mark ‘Spike’ Stent is back with a new No Doubt album, having worked with a plethora of top artists in his career, from Oasis to Massive Attack, Madonna, Pink and Depeche Mode His adopted moniker may paint a picture of a
PRODUCTION BY RHIAN JONES
prickly individual, but Spike’s persona couldn’t be sunnier. He’s even optimistic about the future of the music industry, you know…
lot of great bands coming through, we’ve just been through an urban-y pop stage. That being true, Muse are about to come out with an amazing record soon.
ark ‘Spike’ Stent’s three Grammy Awards perfectly encapsulate the variety that defines the British
producer’s hugely successful recording career: one each for working with Muse, Madonna and Beyoncé Knowles. Stent, who grew up in Hampshire, has
ABOVE Push And Shove: The new Mark Stent- produced album by No Doubt is out on September 24
collaborated with everyone from The Cult to Depeche Mode, Ellie Goulding, Muse, Pink, Bjork, Oasis and The Pussycat Dolls in the past three decades. His work is now set to return to radio via No
Doubt’s highly anticipated new LP, Push And Shove, due for release later this month. The coming together of Stent with
Gwen‘n’co marks a meeting of old acquaintances – Stent also worked behind the desk of No Doubt’s 2001 hit LP Rocksteady, as well as Ms Stefani’s own
Love.Angel.Music. Baby (2004) and Sweet Escape (2006).
What was it like getting back in the studio with No Doubt? Great. Lots has happened to them since we finished off Rocksteady – including Gwen with her solo albums which I’ve been heavily involved in. It’s been a gradual sort of songwriting this time. I think it would be fair to say – not quoting them here – that in the past there’s always been something particular to inspire them; a movement or something they’ve definitely got behind. This time with everything that’s happened in their lives – kids and family and everything – that took a little while to come to the fore. The most overriding thing was they wanted to make a brilliant record that they were completely proud of. There are quite a lot of Eighties influences going on in the album – there’s reggae and ska, of course, that’s a big part of No Doubt’s sound. It’s in their DNA.
You seem to be making a lot of pop/R&B albums these days, whilst 10 years ago you were involved with indie-type records quite regularly (Oasis, Keane, Dave Matthews, Kaiser Chiefs, The Feeling). Why isn’t that kind of music thriving so much now? That was just a stage in England. There are still a
A SPIKE IN INTEREST M
You worked with Oasis on a particularly fraught record (Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, 2000). Didn’t band members Bonehead and Guigsy both quit mid-recording? It was slightly interesting, yeah. Noel wanted to get out of England ‘cause of a lot of press made the last record [Be Here Now] very difficult – there was just media and cameras everywhere. We camped out in the south of France for a couple of months and built a studio in a chateau. It was tricky in that we lost two members of the band for that record but that’s just past tensions now. I think looking back on it they would agree. I remember feeling a bit of a relief when the
record was finished – it seemed like a really difficult period for them as a band with me trying to sort of help them through it. It was hard songwriting-wise for Noel – maybe
because he was at a stage in his life [when you ask] what are you going to write about, you know what I mean? I think that record represented a change in his writing style. Time’s short and I haven’t come round to listening to it for a while. Maybe I’ll put it on this afternoon.
What do you think of Noel Gallagher’s solo stuff?
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