Frontman Gavin Rossdale, arguably the most aesthetically pleasing member of Bush (and of rock 'n' roll in general), recently sat down with LAUNCH executive editor Dave DiMartino to discuss such potentially controversial topics as record company battles, unrelenting critical disdain, and Rossdale's relationship with No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani.

Video excerpts of the interview can be viewed in Issue No. 34 of LAUNCH on CD-ROM. And if you can't get to a Bush concert in person, enjoy our live LAUNCH exclusive of Bush performing the R.E.M. classic "The One I Love."

LAUNCH: What's the difference between the last record and the new one, The Science Of Things?

GAVIN: I think on the last record that we did, it was a reflection of having been on tour for two or three years. It was a case of using the strengths of the band, which was live and making a pretty organic record. This one was specifically more textured, and more questions were asked of it in terms of overdubbing. We tried different approaches. We wanted to confront ourselves and make the best record possible as you can imagine.

LAUNCH: You worked with producer Steve Albini on Razorblade Suitcase. Looking back, do you think that was a good idea?

GAVIN: It was a great move in retrospect. I was really proud of it and the reason to work with him was his history with all the best bands that have come out of America. The Pixies, the Breeders, and what have you. He's brilliant. I don't think anyone records people as well as he does. He's become a really good friend of ours. We just saw [Albini's new band] Shellac play a few weeks ago in London. Hung out with him. It was really fun, good. It was a pleasure to work with him.

LAUNCH: The title of the new record: The Science Of Things. What does that mean?

GAVIN: The basis of it is really about how formulaic we are for the most part. How we operate around people, how we have levels of getting ourselves in situations that we may not wish to be, or we don't understand why we're there, but we can look through it and understand. It's to do with the millennium coming forward. Outside of love and instinct, most things are explainable. Logic can be applied to most things. And I liked it, that sort of breakdown. The specific "science" and general "things." And it's just about how things work and sometimes don't work.

LAUNCH: The album was delayed, problems with your record label, Trauma. Did the delay impact the music at all?

GAVIN: That delay didn't really change the fabric of the record. The lack of communication with our label and the hassles we had that led to the delay of the album didn't really have an effect on the record. All that's happened is that the record will be out six months later than it should have been. It [was] ready in July and [didn't] come out until November. But it's just like everything. There are reasons and often things work in a strange way. And they will work out for the better. I don't think it makes much difference. The bottom line is, is the record good? If it's good, it makes no difference when it comes out. No favorite record of mine comes with a date. It's just a bit frustrating for us and for our fans. At least it's resolved now. If we'd continued to be obstinate, it could have gone on a lot longer, which would have been terrible. Again, it's all about communication.

LAUNCH: Between promoting the last record and the making of the new record, what did you do in the down time?

GAVIN: I continued working for the cause of Bush. I didn't get much chance to do anything. Even though we haven't been in the public eye for two years now, I was always writing, working, thinking about the record. Then dealing head-on with the problems. Ringing up every day and trying to find out why things haven't been resolved yet. It hasn't felt very restful. It just added to all my angst and sustained the career of Bush in a different way. It fed the bad side. It lent drama to the area.

LAUNCH: The lack of respect the band's accorded--how do you deal with that?

GAVIN: I think we outlasted it. We got rid of it on the last record. I've never minded being a band of extremes. I'd much rather have someone really hate me than think I was "well...all right." Wouldn't have any effect. I think a lot of people really like us and probably there are a lot of people who don't. I wouldn't want to occupy that middle ground. I think that's a really dilute place to be. So we just continue on doing what we're doing and try to change within our own potential. I think we're getting there, you know? This record is probably further down the road for us. It still sounds like us, but inevitably, there are some differences, but not enough to make you think it isn't Bush.

LAUNCH: I read somewhere that there is a song on the last Hole album, Celebrity Skin, that refers to you in a good way. Are you friends with Courtney?

GAVIN: Yes, that is good. One of the great things is, one thing I most enjoy is that you become friends with certain bands and certain people. You do these festivals and play these big lineups, it's just real fun if you know a few people. We'd just done a bunch of shows with Massive Attack, Hole, and those guys. It was really fun. We did some shows with [Marilyn] Manson. That was really fun. Then you hang out with friends and that's good.

LAUNCH: What's the smartest thing you've done career-wise?

GAVIN: Sign to a tiny label in the [San Fernando] Valley where people thought we were signing our lives away, and some would argue we did. That was a real leap of faith. These guys were just starting a label, and we had no guarantee of success. That leap of faith and I think the smartest move we ever did was just be really confrontational in our approach to everything. Our work ethic--just tour and play. Play where we weren't liked, and play where we were liked. I've yet to find out, but I think we have a really good, loyal fanbase who are eagerly awaiting our record coming out. That's come from not just having a couple of cute videos here and there, but it's come from being out there and playing and being accessible o people can really see you and listen to you. And making a record with Steve Albini--people were really scared and it had commercial suicide written all over it. But we survived it. You know when you go to record with Steve, you know it's not going to be like Bob Rock or Mutt Lange. They make records how they want to make them. But I love Steve and I love the way he makes records.

LAUNCH: Looking back, what's the dumbest thing?

GAVIN: The dumbest thing we ever did? Well, we've done some--I don't know. For me, a couple of videos were a little overblown and not the smartest things to do. But then you meet people and they're so aware of the videos and they think they're really cool. I'm thinking, "Wow, they're so bloated." So some of the not so smart moves would be making some over-expensive videos, but we haven't done too many of those. Our personal lives have been pretty dumb--how we've treated people who are close to us, but everyone f--ks up at that. We try to do all right. I haven't done any really dumb things career-wise. We haven't done any commercials yet. There's no car with our name on it. We haven't advertised AT&T or anything.

LAUNCH: It is common knowledge that you and Gwen Stefani are an item. How does that effect your career?

GAVIN: I think for without going into it too much, it's helpful to be involved with someone who's in the same job as you. The drawback is they're equally busy so it's hard to find the time. But you understand the highs and lows that you go through. That's the unifying factor in it. That means you can understand each other to a degree. If people don't do that, they can never quite understand exactly what you're going through. And that's a good connection to have.

LAUNCH: Writing songs--does it get easier or more difficult with time?

GAVIN: It's not such a battle. Music is just still crazy to me, I don't know enough of it, I don't know enough things. Writing songs is just--I never had guitar lessons. It's a voyage. And it frustrates me when I want to do more than 12 songs every year-and-a-half. I love so many styles of music from reggae to hardcore through every skin color, skin tone. I like the idea of music being separate from color and background. It should be future-thinking. The thing that pisses me off is just the nature of it, like you can't bring out more records. Two records per year would be fine. These songs I wrote 18 months ago. I've already written basically another record, you know?

LAUNCH: Who in the band has been changed the most by success?

GAVIN: I don't think success has changed anyone too much. We all have nice places to live, but everyone's pretty appreciative of that. We've always been pretty quick at shooting anyone around us who thinks they're special. Nobody can get away with it too long. Sometimes you get so worn down by your schedule that your tolerance level can fall, but that's like if anyone works a 20-hour day, after two years you get a little short on patience. Generally, I think we're pretty approachable and pretty easy, and probably could do with a bit more enigmatic qualities and pissy qualities, really. In fact, I believe it.

LAUNCH: How's the band doing with this new material live?

GAVIN: Good. It's fitting in really good. It would be way preferable to come out with everybody knowing it. Especially like playing Woodstock. Most bands in this day and age don't get a shot. But when you get a shot, you should play material people know. But we're kind of a throwback to maybe the musical spirit of the '60s festival, because everybody was discovering those bands. I like the fact that we're not out there on a chat show with a book. We're there because we have a reputation for putting on a good show and people know enough songs that we can sustain a show for an hour-and-a-half, so it's gonna be good and it will only get better. The songs fit good and yet they feel different. I just play them, so I'm not sure.

LAUNCH: Have you ever read an apt description of your band?

GAVIN: This treatment I received for one of our videos said, "The song is full of passion, sex, and disillusionment and anger." I was like, "That's good, that's good, I can work with that." I don't mind anything as long as it has a powerful effect. I think we're a powerful band. You can be powerful in any number of ways, from intimate to loud guitars. I don't see us in the new heavy metal wave of things going on. I think we're still song-oriented. But I like that power, whether it's quiet power or loud power, as long as it has emotional resonance. There's nothing worse than if it just goes by, "Well...whatever..."

LAUNCH: In doing research on you guys, I came across a ton of political websites. It's good timing for you right now, because the Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's name is everywhere. It's like free advertising. How do you feel about that?

GAVIN: I just like it when I see "Vote Bush" everywhere--that I can live with. I don't know much about his politics and I have to be careful about politics in America, because essentially we're guests here. It's a tricky area. We're like any good band. We're permissive, decent, and liberal. You know, "Don't kill anyone and have some respect for each another." That's as far as it goes.