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In Season 2, Episode 1 of Inside the Noise, Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto sits down with Adrian Young for a conversation that moves from his musical upbringing into the long, uneven climb of No Doubt, the making of Tragic Kingdom, and the curiosity that shaped his life behind the kit.
Young grew up around music, with a father whose record collection helped point him toward bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles. But his path to drumming did not begin early. Even though he had been fascinated by drums for years, he did not get his first kit until he was a senior in high school.
The late start makes the next turn in the story even more unlikely—not long after, he auditioned for No Doubt and got the gig. Young is candid about how underdeveloped he was as a player when he joined the band.
“I had only been playing drums for about a year and a half,” he admits.
It was clear his skill set would need to catch up to the opportunity in front of him, so he threw himself into learning all he could, as fast as he could. That work ethic helped shape the drummer audiences would later hear on No Doubt’s defining recordings.
In hindsight, Tragic Kingdom feels like a breakout record that launched at exactly the right moment. Young describes something messier. Building songs bit by bit from fragmented sessions in different studios. Tragic Kingdom was not made in one grand sweep. It was assembled over time, under conditions that were far less glamorous than its legacy might suggest.
Young also talks about expanding his creative life well beyond performance. He makes it clear he is not someone content to stop at being “the drummer from No Doubt.” Over the years, his interests moved deeper into drum design, producing, audio engineering and film scoring.
“I would spend hundreds of hours working on drum sounds, buying gear, selling gear and auditioning gear, and that hasn't stopped,” he says. “It's addictive.”
Catch the full conversation and more episodes of Inside the Noise with Gabe Dalporto on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred major podcast platform.