No Doubt About It, Gwen Stefani is In The Kitchen

Lately, In the Kitchen has focused altogether too much on the happy-go-lucky star-struck Oberlin student, so we decided to change things up a bit. Sure, the section went corporate once when then Arts Editor Lauren Viera interviewed Jane Pratt, but it hardly qualifies - that woman couldn't even remember what her major was. ("At Oberlin, we just created all these worlds there. You know, like the Snack Bar! You gotta whole world going on in the Snack Bar, and whatever") And so, we chose a new heroine: No Doubt's Gwen Stefani, who could probably beat up Jane Pratt in a battle of the ditzes any day, and she sings. That pink hair! Those braces! Those abs of steel! Co-Editor in Chief Lauren Viera officially nominates Gwen Stefani as this week's Athlete of the Week. And this isn't even the Sports section.

Lauren Viera: It seems like five years between the records is a really long break. What were you mostly busy doing?

Gwen Stefani: Excuse me! You have to negate the two-and-a-half years that we were touring. That is not fair! I would say that we spent two years writing [Return of Saturn]. We came off the tour, we took two months off, and everybody had to find a place to live. All I had was my make up and my dirty clothes from the tour, and I was living at my parents' house. So it's been pretty much getting the home together and writing an album. We rented a house up in the Hollywood hills; we thought that would be kind of luxurious, a house overlooking the valley, and started writing right away, two months after being home.

LV: You've been in this band for over ten years now. Do you ever feel like you're getting too old for it?

GS: We were in the band because we were passionate; we couldn't help ourselves. We were getting to the point before that record came out trying to figure out what was going on. It was like, we felt guilty. We were still in this band, thinking, "What are we going to do when we grow up? We kind of have to get on with our lives. This is ridiculous: it's been nine years," you know? And the success [of Tragic Kingdom] just kind of validated that, and took away that guilt, and then it was like we were in this position where we were like, "OK, all you have to do is make an amazing album that shows some kind of evolution, some kind of growth, and some kind of effort and maturity."

LV: The fifth track, "Magic's in the Makeup," seems like you're almost sick of being a rock star and this lifestyle that you've been dealing with ever since the success of Tragic Kingdom. Gwen, did you sell out?

GS: I think it does [sound like that] a lot here and there, and I don't think it's just having to do with being a rock star. I think that people in general in their lives have to get lost. And I think it was my time to get lost and try to find myself, and I don't know if it had to do with the years, being 28, 29, 30; they say the whole Saturn returns thing - the astrology term. It takes Saturn 29 years to circle the sun, so from the time you're born to the time it returns, you have this time period of kind of reassessment, and you start to second guess everything about yourself and about people around you in your life. I don't know if I was going through that, but it sure sounded good. It sure was nice to kind of find the title of the disease I felt I was suffering from.

LV: It seems like you've had a rough couple of years since the hype from Tragic Kingdom has worn off, and both you and your main squeeze Gavin [Rossdale] have fallen out of the buzz bin.

GS: Those years, for me the last two, have not been my favourites. They were definitely the dip, and confusing. I've never felt that before. I've always been kind of a happy-go-lucky, easy, passive person. I never really get depressed; I usually feel great. I used to tell Tony when he was depressed, I was like, "Get over it! Have some chocolate! You'll be fine." But I definitely felt confused, and I was definitely writing about that confusion. I feel like I'm out on the other side now. I feel like I've completed this huge personal goal in making this album, and taking advantage of this amazing opportunity to grow as an artist. I never could really call myself that before, but I think after this album, after being able to write a couple songs completely on my own, I've been able to do that.

LV: What do you think started the whole confused bit and your getting-down about being 28 and 29 years old?

GS: I don't know! What do I know about this stuff? I've been trying to figure it out, you know?

LV: You're 30 now?

GS: I just turned 30 in October. It was a lot of different things. I think I say a lot about it in the album, and I feel like I've given a lot of myself in the album, and maybe if I was talking to my mom or something I would go into more detail. I think it's just one of those things where everybody goes through it. I just had to go through it in the last couple years. It was just a confusing time, and thank god I got out of it and I feel like I'm not so confused anymore. I just happen to be writing about it and sharing it with people, which is fine with me, because the more that people relate, the more comfort I get. I just realize how much more normal I am, because everyone else is feeling the same things. Obviously, if they can relate to the songs, that means that they relate to me, and that means I'm just like everyone else. I'm not writing about crazy stuff, I'm writing about normal life stuff that everyone goes through. That's why everyone keeps asking me, "Aren't you scared, giving away your inner personal life?" and this and that. But it's not like I'm writing about crazy, weird stuff, I'm writing about normal stuff...right?

LV: It is normal. In that way, this album will kind of act as a time capsule just as your last album did, so when you go back five years down the line and start playing these old songs at your shows, you're going to remember, "Oh, I remember when this and that happened..."

GS: Who knows what's going to happen after this, though. I don't like to look five years ahead. We wrote this album is if it were our last, in the sense that that's the kind of effort that we put into it. I'm not saying that we're breaking up or anything. This is all icing on the cake, so we don't really look further than the now. And the now is just getting out there and hopefully playing around the world and playing songs for people, and that's the part that we really, really get off on, that we really love to do. We're not going to assume that we're going to continue to make records and be able to make records. As long as people want us to make 'em, and we're having fun doing it, we'll do it. But we're not assuming. This record feels like we're starting over again. In a lot of ways, it's been very cuddly. Everyone's been very welcoming and supportive, and it's very surprising because I know how quick the turnaround is. Once again, we don't fit into any format - radio, MTV, and TRL...I don't even relate; I don't even know. Hopefully, we'll find our way in there somehow.