Gwen Stefani: "A mini No Doubt? I just want my kids to be happy and stay out of jail!"
No Doubt are one of the biggest bands in the world but for the last eleven years they've hung up their checked clothing for a musical hiatus. Now they are back with a stunning fourth studio album, Push And Shove, out now, and Gwen's abs are just as impressive as the new tunes.This time around it was no easy slog as Gwen Stefani has openly admitted the writing process was a grueling one now she has her brood, six-year-old Kingston and four-year-old Zuma.But the blood, sweat and tears were definitely worth it as it's the band's best album with tracks like Settle Down, Looking Hot and the title track.I caught up with Gwen Stefani in an exclusive chat at a posh London hotel and to my surprise she starts to well up when I tell her what a huge fan of the album I am!Relaxing on a coach wearing her trademark red lipstick, Gwen reveals how her kid's musical opinions keep her grounded, why she thought the album would never be released and how every day feels like her wedding day....
Welcome back - its been an awful long time!
Gwen: It has been long. When you are living it its actually really speeding by because we have been doing so much but it does feel really good to get to this point though and to have finished the album. It was a really challenging record to make!
Tony: It was really challenging but the last few years have been so jam-packed with work that we never stopped.
Gwen: And work is not a good way to explain it because although it is hard and it is work - its our passion! We are writing songs and we are making an album and we dont take it for granted for one second. We had a really fun time making it.
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And its been 11 years since you released Rock Steady - how did it feel when ! it came to working on Push And Shove because after all having babies and getting married music wasnolonger the priorities in your lives?
T: It couldnt have been more different!
G: There was nothing the same.
T: When we made Rock Steady we didnt have kids, we could be in the studio as long as we wanted to, stay up all night, go to clubs all night and go to Jamaican dancehall clubs and get inspired and come in the studio the next day whenever we felt like it and then wed do it all over again. Now we have to be responsible, be up early at 5-6am and sometimes we start in the studio at 9am and go on to 2pm, 3pm or 8pm at night. It was a different way of doing it but it was awesome.
G: It was so fun. I think that you have to look at your whole life of career of making records and music and different ways you get inspired. The thing that really made this record great was that struggle of having to do it different and having these time restraints - like you will have to come in after being up all night with the baby, exhausted all day long with kids and then sat on a couch with your best friends and try and write a song in the next five hours. You have to do it then. In some ways it was like an art project and saying You are going to make a record but you have to do it like this... and by having doing it like that its going to come out sounding like this... Its true - if we didnt have all the struggles that we had we wouldnt have made the record that we have. I feel like... you always feel like this....Actually I dont think you always feel like that...but I feel like this is one of our best records, for sure. Its so fun to share it because its so innocent when you go in to make it because you really dont have a lot of control over it and I think that song writing is the hardest things that we do. Add that in with the lifestyle we have now and the responsibilities it was just really hard. I hate when it comes out in a way because I love right before it comes out. When its done a! nd Im dri! ving in the car. Or before its been mixed and Im like This is sounding exactly what I want it to sound like. Its the best feeling.
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Gwen, you admitted to having writers block. Were you worried that this latest album was never going to get made?
Yeah, I think there were lots of times we felt that way! Tony now admits he was worried it wasnt going to happen...
T: ...I could never let her know that I was worried.
G: I was worried the whole time because I was like How am I going to do this? I cant do this! But Tony would be like, Dont worry! Its happening and you are doing it. It doesnt matter. Him and Tom were both so supportive and were like if you cant come in today then you cant come in today, who cares - come in tomorrow! And if you need to leave now to get back to the kids, then go. I needed that at this time in my life. I couldnt work with people that had all these expectations of me. I needed love and support and thats what they really gave me.
Were you surprised at how much the charts had changed in the last 11 years because now there is the rise of shows like the X Factor and The Voice?
G: It is weird and way different. The platform to be heard is all over the place and you dont really know who is hearing the record anymore. Everyone is on different pages and websites. Its wild but its super exciting too.
T: The rad thing about our journey because we have been doing this for so long is that we get to see so many different ways of putting out records and so many different ways of making music. We are still doing it and having fun doing it. I think its really, really exciting the instant feedback you can get when you Tweet somebody.
G: Even the other! night wh! en we were in New York and Sophie Muller - who is an English video director and is one of my best friends - said Lets make a video tonight! We literally did a TV show, got in the van and we took a light on a stick, a camera and a boombox and tequila! Then we went on the streets of New York and made a video. We were literally on a private jet going to a show and we were dancing on the middle of a plane in the sky! Then the rest of it was shot at my house. In my kitchen and in my pool. One night after the kids went down we did it within an hour of shooting! It was guerrilla-style and thats what is so exciting because that would have never happened before. Sophie then took two days to edit it, we upload it and then its out! Thats what it is amazing and thats what is exciting. I could Tweet you right now and then you could be out there. I need to get more followers though....I am a lazy Tweeter. I like doing the photos and they are my favourite. I dont like writing.
What do you think of shows like the X Factor and The Voice and the platform for fame and success which they provide?
T: I think its awesome that there are all these new things. In the States we did the mentoring on American Idol and that was cool because we get to be on stage with all these really talented finalists and all these really talented singers and try and impart a little bit of advice which is always weird because we are not those kinds of people.
G: Were not but it is fun. You know those things about those things is that when you watch it on TV its so different to real life with the people singing right there. They are actually really talented and youre like Woooh, this is intense! I like those shows actually. I lot of people I know dont because they are like oh its a talent show but they make it really engaging. Id never watched any of those shows and then I was here last year in England and my nannies were all living in the house and we started watching X Factor. Little Mix had a cool rap and it w! as just e! ngaging and fun. I just started watching X Factor USA butnoIm gone so Ill have to catch-up when Im back. There are some amazing people who come out. There was a white rapper who came out who was totally nerdy and he comes out and freestyles and makes-up his rap right there. He asks the judges what they want in to put his rap and Britney is like something about doughnuts or whatever and he incorporated everything that they said in to it. It was so cool. And he was totally nerdy.
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What do your kids think of your music?
G: Tonys daughter Coco calls me Sissy and then goes get get get because she is just starting to talk. I think she is like fascinated with me. Why is she fascinated with me? Because of my lipstick I think.
T: She just recognises you. So every time she sees my computer she will go Sissy and then Ill put onNoDoubtmusic and she will go Dadda.
G: Do you remember at first every time I looked at her she would cry? I was like Nooooo, this cant be happening! Then my ones...I came home with a CD the other day and gave it to Kingston and he was like Oh my gosh and was looking at it. Then on the way to school he wanted to listen to it but then he was really mad that he didnt watch TV on the way to school. When he got to school he was like I made a mistake, I should of watched TV! I made the wrong choice. That definitely keeps me grounded. I think its really weird, especially for my kids to see me, because when we went on the tour three years ago then were too little to really take it in. Now I think its just weird. Zuma watched us the night we played in Vegas and I was like I dont know if I want to watch. He did soundcheck with us on Ellen DeGeneres and he had his guitar. He wants t! o be in t! he band - thats the problem!
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Do you ever think one day there is going to be a miniNoDoubtformed of your kids?
T: We hope not. We are telling them to all be doctors and scientists!
G: I just want them to be happy and stay out of jail. That would be my dream.
How rock n roll is your lifestyle now you are in your 40s?
T: We have been out partying the last few nights because we have been celebrating the record coming out.
G: And none of them have their wives or kids with them. I just have Zuma with me so its been a little bit free. Zuma actually came out with us because he was totally jetlagged. He went to dinner with us to till 2am in Paris. He was in a Spiderman outfit like Whatsup its two in the morning! Everyone must be thinking Shes a bad mother bringing her kid out but he was totally jetlagged and is up! When we were writing we would have those special nights where we would get all the families together. You would have to go there a little bit and luckily we have amazing support with our wives and husbands and nannies that you can still go there once in a while.
With the album track Looking Hot is feel pressure to look good in the limelight?
G: I think there is a pressure to look good in life generally. I think we all have those pressures. For me its not that hard and even before I was in the band - I have been in the band since I was 17 so for most of my life - I have always liked getting made-up and make-up and dressed-up. Even if I didnt have someone waiting to look and judge me I would still do it. Its part of who I am and I love that part of life. I love clothes and I love Barbies and I love playing dolls and I was always that girl. Its not that different but I just get to do it more. I was thinkin! g about i! t and people get married and thats their one big night with the dress and the make-up and I get to do that everyday. Its a dream and so much fun. I think we all take care of ourselves and we try and eat good and we work out and we have to do that stuff to do our live shows. Its just part of who we are and its not that hard. Its fun! Yes I do take bad pictures. I have had bad pictures taken.
And finally - how do you keep your amazing abs in shape?
Oh well they are a little squidgy. They are not what you think they are! Im going to go and work out after this. I keep them in shape by working out and I like to work out. I like to work on my fitness. On stage our show is so physical. Its interesting to watch footage of the live shows and see how much energy we put out and how much you have to be in shape to be able to do that. We played six songs in Vegas the other day and I was dying because I havent been on a big stage in ages! We had been rehearsing on a small stage and all of a sudden youre on a big stage and are like Aaah, I cant breathe!
Push and Shove is out now
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