Tom Dumont

Tom Dumont (born January 11, 1968) is an American guitarist and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's Songs We Sing.
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Life and career

The Dumont family lived in Irvine, California. Tom was the only adopted child in his family and has two siblings. Dumont's father, who played the piano, gave his son a guitar at age twelve. Dumont practiced by strumming folk songs by the likes of James Taylor. Dumont was influenced by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and KISS. He joined his older sister's heavy metal band Rising, but left in 1988 for third wave ska band No Doubt. He has one sister named Gina and a brother named John.

Dumont studied music theory for five semesters at Orange Coast College. When the band moved into a house on Beacon Avenue in Anaheim, he wrote a poem about being addicted to television. He took the poem to Eric Stefani, who put the poem to music and came up with the song "Trapped in a Box". The song was recorded for the band's self-titled debut album and was the album's only single.

The band later self-released The Beacon Street Collection in March 1995. The same month, Dumont left his job as a file clerk at a mortgage company. He had "a good feeling" about having finished recording Tragic Kingdom and planned to fall back on promoting rock concerts if the album was not successful. Tragic Kingdom became a commercial success, certified diamond in the United States and selling sixteen million copies worldwide. When Eric left the band, Tom took leadership in writing and composing responsibilities.

After the Tragic Kingdom tour, Tom returned to his home in Long Beach, California and started surfing in 1997. Dumont is a member of The Surfrider Foundation, an environmental organization to preserve coastal life. Since Eric Stefani left, Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani became No Doubt's primary songwriters.

During No Doubt's current hiatus, Dumont produced Matt Costa's 2005 debut album, titled Songs We Sing, after hearing a demo tape by Costa.

Personal life

Dumont and his wife, Mieke have two children together, a son Ace Joseph Dumont, born April 6, 2006 and another son Rio Atticus Dumont, born June 18, 2008. According to the band's record label representative, the couple was married in October 2004.

According to his No Doubt band mates, when Dumont drinks enough alcohol he becomes an alter-ego doppelganger named "The Douche".