Gavin Rossdale Gets Back To Basics With Institute
Thursday November 03, 2005 @ 05:30 PM
By: Aaron Brophy

Institute

To hear Gavin Rossdale tell it, you'd think that the last four years went by in a matter of a few weeks.

Quoth the former frontman of Bush, now the frontman of Institute: "I stopped being in Bush, and I was wandering around with nothing to do for a year, and then I did some movies, and I was always working towards getting this record [Distort Yourself] out. I found myself up against a number of obstacles, then I got over those obstacles and here I am."

It even looks good on paper: Musician, actor, model, oversimplifier. But to Rossdale, it's only the first part of that career lineup that counts. It's been four years since the demise of his last band, post-grunge rockers Bush, and those four years were spent cutting his teeth as an actor, attending red carpet events with pop star wife Gwen Stefani and eventually putting together new band Institute. Unsurprisingly, Institute's debut album goes right for the hard-rock jugular, putting to rest any fears that Rossdale's musical sensibilities might have softened in his absence.

"I always try and put as much truth as I can into the music, so it's not that the lyrics are insensitive or anything like that," Rossdale muses. "I think what I'm trying to do is combine everything with this band, where you do have songs that have both depth and meaning. But that's not to say that there won't be a time when I do a whole record of mellow stuff."

The doors are wide open for Rossdale at this point, with this new band on the go as well as a side career in movies. Although he demurs that he's only done "a couple of films," he is quick to note that his main love will always be music.

"Music is my heart and soul," Rossdale says earnestly, "so the acting stuff is just a very interesting creative challenge. It's something slightly different to connect with what you do, but yet push you to different directions. It also got me racing back to the studio, because I sort of felt guilty."

Going back to where he belongs, then?

"Yeah, I do belong in a studio. I mean, if I was on a desert island and was given one facility to create art with, it wouldn't be a camera. It'd be a recording device."

Fortunately, the next stop for Institute isn't a desert island — it'll be international touring, though Rossdale is mum on details right now.

"There's a couple of really fun opportunities coming," he says with a grin. "I think we might open for a really cool band. We're just kind of waiting for that to be finalized. And then we're doing some shows before we come right to Canada."

He leans forward, his words becoming quicker and their delivery more intense. "I love doing shows, and it's so frustrating for me to come here and not be playing. We've been traveling for the last six weeks, doing promo in the day and doing shows at night, and it's the greatest. That release, that energy, that feeling before you go onstage, and then you come off and feel you've done something, and you might get hit by a bus on your way home but at least you gave a great show. It's amazing. You feel alive."

—Caitlin Hotchkiss