Sublime was a ska-punk and reggae band that never got to properly experience their success. By the time their third album came out, the band ceased to exist and most of their new fans had no clue the group was done.
Behind Bradley Nowell’s Younger Days
As a teenager, Nowell played in punk rock bands in the early 80’s with bassist Eric Wilson. Wilson recalled how those early jam sessions weren’t very successful, telling the LA Times, “He was making me play reggae. I didn’t want to play it.” Nowell added, “I was trying to get them to do ‘Cherry Oh Baby,’ and it didn’t work. They tried, but it just sounded like such garbage. We were horrible.”
Nowell and Wilson’s musical project was put on the back burner while Bradley went off to college. Nowell returned to Long Beach in 1988 and reconnected with Wilson, who had a neighbour he grew up with across the alley named Bud Gough. Gough was taught drums by Wilson’s father.
Sublime is Created
Sublime’s lineup was finally born. The band established a big following, playing backyard parties and dive bars in Southern California, sometimes in front of hundreds of kids, earning upwards of $250 a night.
Gough told Spin Magazine, “We were like the band that everybody in the scene would show up for. If you were having a party that night and you had us play, there would be two other parties that night in the same neighbourhood, everybody was going to be at the Sublime party.”
It wasn’t an easy gig, however. Wilson revealed to the LA Times, ” We played some pretty rough neighbourhoods. You’d have to be afraid of your own safety. Gangster kids would show up at the parties, and there would be trouble. Somebody got stabbed one time.”
The gigs were so rough that Spin Magazine reported that samoan guards would sometimes provide security at the gigs and that the police would be a frequent presence, hovering over the gigs in their helicopters if the band played past the noise curfew.
Bradley Nowell Rescues Lou Dog
By 1990, Nowell rescued a dog – a Dalmatian named Louie, who was referred to as Lou Dog, after his grandfather. Lou Dog became the group’s de facto mascot. He was also sometimes referred to as Nowell’s alter-ego. He joined the band on the road and sometimes onstage.
In the spring of 1990, Michael “Miguel” Happold, a music student, offered to manage the band, enticing them with an offer of free studio time at the school he attended. He became the de facto fourth member of the band.
The band had already written songs. They snuck into Happold’s school studio late at night and recorded their demo called Jah Won’t Pay the Bills, which was released in 1991.
The band’s songs dealt with a dark and seedy side of California that they, themselves, witnessed growing up. According to VH1’s Behind the Music, Bradley Nowell swore off certain hard drugs but his curiosity got the better of him. Nowell felt pressured to be more creative and saw musicians he looked up to indulging in hedonistic behavior. It was only a matter of time before he went down the same road.
According to Nowell’s peers, he thought that he could control his habit, but like so many stories in rock n’ roll, he couldn’t. It was a decision that would have dire consequences for the future of the band.
Sublime Records Debut Album
Using a $1,000 loan from Nowell’s father in 1991, the band financed and recorded their debut record 40oz. to Freedom on their own label, Skunk Records. The band sold the album out of the back of their van and was able to sell around 30,000 copies. By this point, they were already headlining clubs.
Despite the band’s promising future, in the two years between their first album and their sophomore effort, the band members found themselves broke. Two years of intense and hedonistic behavior left them with little to no money. Unable to pay for studio time, the band had to play additional live shows to raise some cash to record their sophomore effort, Robbin the Hood, which came out in 1994.
The album was recorded in an earthquake-damaged house with pirated electricity, according to Spin Magazine. Combining folksy acoustic music with rock-rap and spoken word parts, their sophomore album was much more diverse than their first effort. The album also included a duet with Gwen Stefani.
Bradley Nowell Dives Deeper Into Drug Addiction
From 1993 onwards, Nowell’s drug addiction only worsened. He was pretty open about his struggle, most notably on the song “Pool Shark” from their second record.
The strain soon crossed over to their live shows with Spin Magazine writing in the band’s 1997 profile, “It was impossible to ignore on those tours when Nowell parked himself on the edge of the stage, the others noodling gamely while he was unable to make it through a song, let alone a set.”
Bradley Nowell’s habit got so bad, that sometimes he would pawn off the band’s equipment while on tour, only for the group’s manager to repeatedly get back their equipment in time for the band’s shows.
By early 1995, despite all their turmoil, Sublime had built a good local following, but they weren’t getting a lot of national attention. That changed when local LA radio station Kroq added Sublime’s 3 year old song “Date R–” and it blew up on the station, becoming one of the most requested songs from listeners.
Despite the band’s newfound success, they lacked distribution to get their albums out. The band initially was offered a deal by Gasoline Alley, which was affiliated with major label, MCA. The band set up a meeting with an executive from Gasoline Alley who made them wait hours in the label’s office. The band showed up intoxicated to the meeting with Lou Dog and since they were made to wait for hours, they sent Lou Dog into the executive’s office and left him a surprise.
“If we wanted to keep going and do what we’re doing, the improved distribution and resulting infusion of cash was a necessity.” – Sublime’s Manager
The deal ended up falling through, but almost half a year later, Gasoline Alley reconsidered and signed the band. The group’s manager admitted to the LA Times that he wanted to stay true to Sublime’s punk roots, acknowledged how difficult the industry is, “I’m not proud of what we’ve done but if we wanted to keep going and do what we’re doing, the improved distribution and resulting infusion of cash was a necessity.”
Bradley Nowell and his girlfriend Troy welcomed their first child together, Jakob. Nowell appeared to have finally straightened out his life, for the time being.
Sublime Reconvenes to Record Major Label Debut
The group reassembled in early 1996 to record their major label debut. Nowell was under an enormous amount of pressure to deliver. The band didn’t have many songs written at this point and initial sessions were done with Grammy-winning producer David Kahne. These sessions resulted in the songs “What I Got”, “April 29, 1992”, “Caress Me Down”, and “Doin’ Time”. Friction within the studio led the sessions to be scrapped.
Butthole Surfers’ guitarist and producer Paul Leary was asked to help with the project but the band’s A&R guy suggested that the band relocate to Austin, Texas at Willie Nelson’s studio to get away from any distractions.
Leary jumped at the chance to work with Sublime, telling the Austin Chronicle, “…When I got the call from my agent, asking if I wanted to produce Sublime’s record, it freaked me out.”
“…It didn’t matter what time you started, they were gonna be drunk.” – Paul Leary
Leary recalled to The Chronicle how the band’s hard partying showed up in the studio, “One day, they came to me looking all concerned and I thought there was a problem. They said, ‘We start recording at noon and we’re already drunk. We need to start earlier in the day.’ So I get there early the next morning and they show up with pitchers of margaritas in hand – already drunk. It didn’t matter what time you started, they were gonna be drunk.”
The destructive behavior didn’t end there. Lou Dog scratched up all the floors of the studio and had to be sent back home in a crate. The band almost burnt down WIllie Nelson’s studio when they placed a towel over a light bulb in the studio sauna, setting the room on fire.
The group crashed the studio car they got around Austin in and things didn’t end there. The condos they were staying at during the recording of the album were trashed and the group had to be relocated at least 3 times during the making of the album. This was just the tip of the iceberg as Nowell relapsed during the recording sessions and they continued to drag on with him going into the bathroom for prolonged periods of time.
Recording Sessions Are Halted by Record Label
Leary complained to the label about Nowell’s behavior and he was immediately flown back home and the sessions were stopped. Bradley Nowell’s girlfriend, Troy left him temporarily while he worked on getting clean, which he did for several months. The band was finally able to finish the album.
Brad and Troy got married on May 18, 1996 in Las Vegas. Those around Nowell were hopeful that he was going to stay clean for good.
Several days after the wedding, the band embarked on a short tour of the West Coast. The first few shows went really well and the band previewed their new material to sold out audiences.
Bradley Nowell Relapses
By the group’s show on May 24, 1996 at the Phoenix Theater, Nowell had relapsed. Following the show, the band was partying and by the early hours of May 25, 1996, the 28-year-old frontman and guitarist called his wife.. She could tell that he had been partying, but she was unaware it would be the last time she would speak to her husband.
The same morning, Nowell went back into the motel room the band was staying in and tried to wake up his bandmates, who were resting after a long night of partying.
At some point later in the morning, Nowell returned to the motel room and went into his stash, the same one Gough used hours earlier. Gough woke up to see Nowell lying on the floor unresponsive with Lou Dog whining on the bed.
Bradley Nowell Found Dead
By the time the paramedics arrived, it was too late. His death would come around the time his son Jakob was supposed to turn 1 and the group’s major label debut was to be released.
Gough had some regret that he was spared the same day, telling the LA Times, “I thought I was in hell. I thought, ‘That was probably supposed to be me.’ The Grim Reaper saw him lying on his side, saw the tattoos and thought, that must be Bud.’ It was Brad’s turn, though.”
Troy described her reaction at hearing the news of her husband’s death to the LA Times, “At first, I was so angry. I wanted him here so I could yell at him.”
Nowell spent the last 5 years of his life struggling with addiction. He had been in and out of rehab at least 10 times and struggled immensely. Sublime’s record label, MCA had shelled out 6-figures for him to get clean.
In the runup to his death and despite all the turmoil in the band, there was a sense that the group’s third album was going to be a monster hit but MCA almost never released the album due to the band’s existence being cut short.
“They wanted us to set up interviews and tryouts for the new Sublime singer.” – Bud Gough
Sublime’s third album would be posthumously released in late July of 1996 but the label really had little sympathy for the band. Gough recalled, “They wanted us to set up interviews and tryouts for the new Sublime singer. ‘The show must go on. You guys are getting back out on the bus. I swear to God, two weeks from now you guys are gonna be out there playing stadiums. Find somebody good.'” Gough and Wilson said no to the label, feeling that they couldn’t replace Nowell.
The first single from their third album, “What I Got” was picked up by KROQ and it blew up across America. The album was a monster hit, selling over 6 million copies and launching 4 singles including “Santera” and “Wrong Way”, which are still staples of rock radio to this day.
“They’re in the business of making music and making records.” – Troy Dendekker
Nowell’s wife, Troy would criticize the band’s label following her husband’s death, telling the Chicago Tribune, “As soon as he’d get out of rehab or get clean, the record label would put him out on the road. They’d never give him enough time to stay clean or start working on a program. But that’s not their business. They’re in the business of making music and making records.”
Michael Greene who is the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, or NARAS, rankled label heads by declaring that executives should be “publicly humiliated” if they turned a blind eye to artists’ addictions while also profiting from their work.
In the aftermath of Nowell’s death, several posthumous releases featuring leftover songs would be put out with the surviving members moving onto other musical projects including Long Beach Dub Allstars.
Lou Dog was cared for by the band’s manager until he passed away on September 17, 2001. When Lou Dog passed away, his family wanted to make sure he was resting with Nowell so his ashes were scattered in the same spot as the former Sublime frontman.
In 2009, the surviving members of Sublime reunited under the band’s name with Rome Ramirez fronting the group. It would result in a legal battle from Troy and Nowell’s estate and they changed their name to Sublime with Rome.
Troy has since remarried and Jakob, now in his early 20s, has picked up the family trade as a frontman of his own Long Beach band, LAW.
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Brad is my idol his death was so tragic hopefully he is now at peace