Sublime's Bud Gaugh Overcomes Doubts About Reunion

Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh understands those fans who dismiss Sublime With Rome, the revamped lineup of the trio featuring original members Gaugh and Eric Wilson with new singer Rome Ramirez. Surprisingly, Gaugh was initially opposed to the idea as well. "When Eric first came out I was pretty much against the whole thing because my take is once you change a member of the band, the band is changed," Gaugh tells Spinner.

In addition to the obvious dilemma of replacing a member, there were also several logistical questions. "From the go, [it was] deciding, 'Am I going to do this? Working with Eric again, yeah, that's cool, but what about the name? It should reflect our position as major contributors to that entity, but then again it should also have respect for the legacy and not just taking over on another person's work as well,'" Gaugh says.

So, what changed his mind? "The turning point for me was to see the smile on Eric's face at SmokeOut, that was the ultimate thing," he says, referring to the band's first big gig last year. They had to still convince the fans that this was a legit band, a task they were willing to do face to face. "We had contact with a really strong fan of ours and he was basically really vocal against this happening. [But] he was always a great supporter of the band and very strong online presence," Gaugh says. "So we invited him to SmokeOut. He came out to the show and afterward he was like, 'Dude, you got my blessing. This is something awesome. Rome isn't trying to be Brad: he sounds a lot like him, but he's got how own sound. I think you guys are handling this respectfully.'"

Gaugh also believes that a lot of good can come from the new Sublime With Rome, including some healing after Bradley Nowell's death 14 years ago. "Jakob [Nowell, Bradley's son] was never able to experience what great works his father had accomplished -- he never even really knew his father. At the SmokeOut, Eric brought his son Billy up onstage and he didn't know what his dad had done," he says. "We played 'Santeria' and he's like, 'I know that song. That's a song on 'Guitar Hero.'' He didn't even know his dad like wrote that song cause Eric wrote that bass line and the melody to that song. He didn't even know his dad was famous -- he brought him out there on stage, and his relationship with his son is so strong now. So I think this is something that's going to help the whole Sublime family deal with their issues."