Tony Kanal

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Tony Kanal
Background information
Birth name Tony Ashwin Kanal
Born August 27, 1970
English flag London, England
Origin U.S. flag Anaheim, California, United States
Genre(s) Ska punk
Instrument(s) Bass guitar
Years active 1987–present
Website TonyKanal.com

Tony Ashwin Kanal (born August 27, 1970 in Kingsbury, London, England) is the bassist for the US band No Doubt. He was born to Gulab and Leena Kanal, who are of East Indian descent. He lived in England until his parents moved to Yorba Linda, California in 1981. Kanal is one of three Indian-Americans in the major rock, Grammy considered, music industry (the other two being Anand Bhatt and Kim Thayil) and one of the five major diasporic Indians in rock music (the other four being Freddie Mercury, Kim Thayil, Anand Bhatt, and Dave Baksh).

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[edit] Musical career

At age 15 he met a fellow saxophone player Eric Carpenter at band camp. Despite not being into going to the field early in the morning, it was requirement to play in the Anaheim Loara High School jazz band. After band camp, Eric had the opportunity to play bass guitar in the jazz band but instead, lent Tony his bass as Eric's brother Dave taught Tony the instrument.

Tony stayed in the jazz band for the next few years. He changed his mind in 1987 when he saw No Doubt, a ska punk band from Anaheim, perform. Learning that the original bass player, Chris Leal, was about to be replaced, he took his chances and auditioned for the position. After hearing him play through the songs, Tony was the new bass player for No Doubt.

In May of 1988 Tony helped his friend Eric Carpenter join the band. Alan Meade was contemplating leaving the band and after Eric and Chris Webb helped get Tony into the band Tony returned the favor. Eric was No Doubt's second and last saxophone player. Tony helped the band with manager duties and they opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the summer of 1988. Michael Balzary, otherwise known as Flea, helped the struggling but still growing band. He produced two demos for No Doubt that helped land them a record deal with Interscope Records.

In October of 1991 No Doubt hit the studio with help of producer Dito Goodwin. Even though unhappy with the result, the band toured in support of the album but No Doubt did not gain any popularity outside the West Coast.

When Interscope Records began turning songs down, No Doubt did it on their own. With their record label not showing interest, they took matters into their owns hands. Over two years they recorded ten songs and released it independently. After hearing some of their independent work, Interscope gave No Doubt the go-ahead to start work on another album.

[edit] Personal life

Tony Kanal was the long-time boyfriend of Gwen Stefani, lead singer of their band No Doubt. While being in the band, they fell for each other.

In an interview Gwen Stefani stated that Tony told her that they couldn't date because they were in the band together. Tony eventually fell in love with her, but they had to keep it a secret. Tony told VH-1's Behind The Music, "It was pretty much an unspoken rule that nobody dates Gwen. You know, you had her older brother in the band and he was real protective. It was almost like a bunch of brothers and our sister." Gwen and Tony held their love from the band.

Kanal broke up with Stefani prior to the recording of No Doubt's breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom. Many of the songs on that album were written by Stefani about the breakup, most notably the hit "Don't Speak." Many years later, Stefani also wrote the song "Cool" about their relationship as friends.

Kanal is dating the American actress Erin Lokitz.

[edit] Filmography

Year Film/Programme Role Other notes
1997 Live in the Tragic Kingdom "Himself" Live On Stage'
1997 The 39th Annual Grammy Awards "Himself" As No Doubt
1998 Sublime: Stories, Tales, Lies & Exaggerations "Himself" '
1999 Behind The Music with The Red Hot Chili Peppers "Himself" VH1S Behind The Music - Tv Episode
2000 Making the Video - No Doubt: Ex-Girlfriend "Himself" Tv Episode

[edit] Producer Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
2006(Filming) The 1 Second Film Executive Producer

[edit] External links

No Doubt
Stephen Bradley - Tom Dumont - Tony Kanal - Gabrial McNair - Gwen Stefani - Adrian Young
Former members: John Spence - Eric Stefani
Discography
Studio albums: No Doubt - The Beacon Street Collection - Tragic Kingdom - Return of Saturn - Rock Steady
Compilations: The Singles 1992-2003 - Everything in Time - Boom Box
DVDs: Live in the Tragic Kingdom - Rock Steady Live - The Videos: 1992-2003
In other languages