CDNow (June 7th 2000)

No Doubt's Gwen Stefani Tries to Remain 'Just a Girl'

Gwen Stefani, 30, is sitting at the wrong end of a day filled with promotional activities for No Doubt's Return of Saturn. "It's just like a syringe draining me," she sighs. Complicating matters is the fact that the new album, much like the breakthrough Tragic Kingdom, details the radiant singer's romantic life.

Last time around, she had just gotten out of a relationship with No Doubt's bassist, Tony Kanal. Now she is singing about her on-again-off-again affair with narcissistic Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. It's not the easiest thing to talk about while trying to get adjusted with the pitfalls of international stardom.

CDNOW: So how is the long-distance relationship thing with the guy from Bush working out for you?

Gwen Stefani: There's definitely been some low points. It's really hard. It's probably the hardest thing I could choose to do, but any guy I go out with, it's going to be hard. I think it's hard to do more than one thing good, and right now, I'm doing the band. Any relationship I have is going to be suffering in some way. We make it work because we want to have a future together.

Are you going to marry him?

That's my personal business.

It's no big secret. You have a song called "Marry Me" on your album.

I know. I gave a lot of myself away on this album.

Are you thinking you gave away too much now?

No, because I'm not talking about crazy stuff. It's the same stuff everyone goes through. It's personal, yet it's universal. The more people hear it and relate to it, the more comforted I feel, because I'm like everyone else. I'm just an Orange County girl from a loving family making music with my friends. It's not really that big of a deal.

Does it surprise you that people want to know all about your personal life?

It is strange, because you'll never see yourself the way anyone else makes you out to be. I know I'm just what I am. Who I kiss is really not that interesting, do you know what I mean?

People find it very interesting.

I could see how it would be interesting to everyone else, because when Bruce Willis and Demi Moore broke up, I was really depressed. I could see it as someone outside looking in, but when it's your life, it's hard to see it how other people see it. But if I can entertain somebody, I guess that's fine by me.

Do you ever wonder how you got into this position?

The last two years were all about that. I came off the tour and thought, "Fuck, I'm normal. That didn't even phase me." A lot of the stuff doesn't really penetrate.

Being on tour, you're not even connected to the rest of the world. You're in a metal bus among the same people everyday, doing the same things. It's weird. Coming home, at first I thought I was fine, but then I slipped into this weird depression.

Were you depressed about selling 15 million albums?

People say, "You have everything in the world, how could you be depressed?" The truth is, I'm human, and we all go through things. It doesn't matter. You slip into high and low points in your life. The last two years were definitely not my favorite in my life. I feel like I went through some transition or growing pains, and I've blown out through a lot clearer than I have been the last few years.

What did you learn about yourself?

Wow, I'm really good at this. Even though I had already been in this band for 10 years, it feels different when you're playing in front of 20,000 people a night and pulling it off. It suddenly becomes your life. Before, I was feeling guilty about being in the band. I felt like I needed to grow up. But now I feel validated.

Does anyone in the band have an ego problem now?

No, our chemistry as a band is shockingly amazing. It was a hard adjustment. We're homegrown. We don't have any lessons on how to do this.

Is everything cool between you and Tony now?

It was hard when we first broke up, but that was a long time ago. We're best friends. I hang out with him every single day. Sometimes he's a big jerk. Sometimes I'm a real bitch. It's a normal relationship except we're in a band together, and we used to make out. It's pretty awesome.

How did you not kill each other?

We're just so passionate about the band and the music we just made sure we were going to get through it no matter what, no matter how painful it was. Thank God we didn't stay together, because I wouldn't have written all those songs. I wouldn't have evolved creatively and as a human. I was definitely a different person when I was going out with him than I am now. We have this incredible friendship that nobody can touch.

Has he found a girlfriend since you broke up with him?

Of course not.