Gavin Rossdale has a new CD, Distort Yourself, with guitarist Page Hamilton. (Michael Peake, SUN)

You might think Gavin Rossdale's boots would be a bit uncomfortable these days. The English rocker is handsome, rich, and married to Gwen Stefani, with several multi-platinum albums under his belt.

But he's been out of the spotlight since 2001, when his band Bush went on hiatus -- apart from red-carpet appearances on the arm of his wife, whose own career has skyrocketed in that time.

Now Rossdale has chosen an unexpected way to stage his comeback -- via a new band called Institute, and a new album called Distort Yourself, a collaboration with low-profile heavy rock guitarist Page Hamilton of Helmet fame. But if Rossdale is worried about Institute's prospects for Stefani-esque superstardom, it's not wrinkling his perfect brow.

"It has a toughness to it, but not in the context of what Gwen's doing," he said in a recent interview at a downtown hotel.

"I always knew that my way out of every hole I'm in is to be a good musician and write a good record. So instead of worrying about anything or anyone else, I just try to make songs that resonate and matter to me, and hopefully other people. I'm happy the record is out, and I just accept that it's embryonic right now, and people are just finding out about it."

A lot has changed in the music world since Rossdale's mid-'90s run at the top of the charts with the grunge-influenced Bush. And he acknowledges that coming back won't be easy, especially the way he chose to do it.

"To have made a rock record at a time when people care less about rock music, to make videos at a time when people play fewer videos -- it's all dancing through the wrong door," he admitted. "But sometimes going through the wrong door can lead you to the right one.

"When I began Bush, I'd almost given up on commercial aspirations, 'cause I was in London and everything was Britpop there. It was a very similar feeling to the way I feel about Institute -- that it's flying in the face of everything commercial. It's daunting sometimes to think about the climb, but all great journeys are one step at a time, and I'm excited about it."

Certainly Rossdale knows that he and Hamilton don't seem like a match made in heaven.

"If you come from a history of selling records with guitar music and you meet one of the kings of underground guitar music -- well, I thought he might want to stab me," he joked.

"But Page was really gracious, and we got on well. Whereas I might have wanted to move the album in a different direction, maybe send it round to the distorters a bit more, Page pulled it back, and kept it more straight-ahead and primal. When I heard his demo of When Animals Attack, I thought, 'Wow, I'm in a heavy band, check this out!' It was incredibly exciting and liberating. I think he worked out perfectly."

Institute did a U.S. club tour this summer, and Rossdale is anxious to tour more extensively, presumably in the next few months.

"Touring is everything," he said. "It's all about getting out there and playing, and I love to do that. I'm a musician. I didn't do this so I could stand on red carpets. I did it so I could live a creative life and be a wandering minstrel. I love that -- I think in this ultra-modern world there's something so pleasing about doing such an ancient job."