What’s On? Music & Ents Guide UK (January 2006)
Shadow of a Doubt
Unlikely ska-chick turned international fashion icon and starlet Gwen Stefani is pushing for world domination with her Harajuku hip-pop.
[via nxdscrapbook]
Her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby, released last year, has gone six-times platinum worldwide and, with pop anthems like ‘Hollaback Girl’ becoming the sound of 2005, Gwen Stefani has spent the year becoming a solo star of truly international status.
Hardly surprising – she has all the makings of a sex icon – bleached blonde barnet? Check. Scarlet smackers? Check. Tight belly constantly on display? Check. Gwen Stefani really is an all round siren, ticking all the boxes. An individual, quirky trend bender with a feisty attitude. Gwen was already an accomplished star, as the enigmatic front woman of No Doubt before she launched herself as a modern day style icon. An important addition to a long line of contemporary feisty females fronters of rock and alternative bands, she is the Debbie Harry of our generation.
Never far from the public eye, Gwen always has a busy schedule. Currently in the midst of an epic US tour which has seen the Black Eyed Peas as support, her second album is imminent and likely to create the same impact as the 2004 debut. Beyond music, her projects have stretched out into many expressive and artistic areas – from clothing lines (L.A.M.B) to film (a cameo in Zoolander and playing Jean Harlow in The Aviator). The No Doubt Greatest Hits compilation came out in 2003 and after being caught up in the hurricane this was by no means the end of the yellow brick road for Dorothy, she was going to the Emerald City and beyond.
Going it alone defined Gwen’s career; it all began with the dynamic single. ‘What You Waiting For?’, and the famous fairy tale video, with the cute Harajuku look becoming instantly fashionable. Then came the debut album that left Britney relieved she was taking some time out and reached the Top Five in world charts. The single ‘Hollaback Girl’ reached the number one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 parachuting her into the hip hop market with street smarts and urban attitude.
This solo debut revolved around some massive team ups, with Dr Dre and Andre 3000 of Outkast adding flava to the mix. “The whole idea was to collaborate,” says Stefani, “to do a solo record means trying to pour my heart out, which I feel like I already do in No Doubt. This is more of an art project. I wanted to play different roles and work with a ton of people.”
No problems there then. When it came to people to work with or styles to spin, she had the biggest talents queueing round the block with enough names for several solo albums to span several genres. Looking like a guest list for an exclusive shindig Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, OutKast, Linda Perry. Tim Armstrong, Dallas Austin and Damon Elliot are all among her collaborators, Present too were hip-hop beats from Dr. Dre, the Neptunes and Andre 3000. Dallas Austin and Nellee Hooper (Massive Attack, Soul II Soul) give the tracks a dance feel, and the album’s new wave sound comes by way of Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and New Order. “I knew exactly what my influences were; Club Nouveau, Lisa Lisa, Prince, New Order, The Cure, Early Madonna,” says Stefani. “Everybody was under strict instructions haha!” An almighty 80s mixtape mash-up was on the cards.
Despite being such a phenomenal star, working with OutKast’s Andre 3000 on the track ‘Bubble Pop Electric’ proved to be particuarly nerve-racking for our fearless heroine. They are clearly star-crossed collaborators, as both admire each other’s sound, “I’m such a fan of Andre’s. I was sent hundreds of tracks, and his were actually the first that I liked. It was interesting to work with him while his star was really shining bright. At first, it was kind of intimidating, like, I didn’t feel I could shine. But by the end, it felt like we were in a band together.” Shining star Andre was equally keen to please and requested that the samples they submitted for Gwen’s consideration recieved special effort and attention.
With such a selection of talents desperate to perform and work with her it would be easy to assume she would be feeling confident, actually she is a little self conscious – and we thought she was No Doubt, not self doubt!
“I have my job in the band. I write the words and I write the melody, that’s what I do. But when you go and you’re writing with some of these people who are so talented, like they’re songwriters, they do it everyday. For some reason, it just looks so easy for them. I’ve had a hard time with my ego, because it gets bruised. Like, ‘Oh my god, maybe they’re writing some of the melody and they came up with something really good, and I didn’t come up with it.’ So it’s a whole kind of learning process for me.”
It is clear Gwen has no plans to cut herself off from the band and even had their input for her first solo venture. During the writing process, she went back to Los Angeles to join her husband, Gavin Rossdale. She started to feel overwhelmed by the task at hand, so she sought solace in former bandmate and boyfriend Tony Kanal, thinking that visiting him would give her a much-needed break.
“I just had a breakdown,” she explained, “I was like, ‘I gotta stop now, I have nothing to write about, I can’t do it anymore.’ So I left the studio and went over to Tony’s house, because he was like ‘Come over, we’re going to all go out!’ ” There was no therapeutic night out though, instead Stefani found that Kanal had a surprise waiting for her at his home studio.”
“He starts, ‘Hey, lemme play you some tracks’ and he plays me this track he’s doing for another singer and I was blown away. And the he goes, ‘Lemme play you some tracks I’ve been doing for you!’ So he played me this track and I was like, woah!”
With the blues and writers block behind her Gwen knuckled down with Kanal and worked out the as-yet-untitled song with him that very night, claiming it is, “probably my favourite track that I’ve written so far.” But unfortunately the inspiration only struck once. They did try to write together for two weeks straight after that, and couldn’t find a place where they clicked in quite the same way. “Tony and I kinda came from different schools,” she says. “There’s a certain kind of record I’m trying to make; it comes from something that I used to listen to growing up, so it’s more of a dance kind of thing.”
Inevitably the signature No Doubt sounds remained, but it became clear Gwen took the opportunity to develop her own space where she could be herself, and that self seems pretty kooky. The music video for the first single ‘What You Waiting For?’ really pushed the bazaar. The scene took a contemporary adaptation of Alice In Wonderland, naturally with Gwen as the over imaginative Alice. A pure slice of the Mad Hatter’s crazy cake, it was a real visual spectacular, highlighting both Gwen’s dark and juvenile dimensions. This eccentricity has never had an adverse effect on her career; in fact she is admired all the more for it. Unique and inimitable she remains the pop icon with edge, offering more than Madge, Missy or J-Lo put together.
You would think all that popularity would filter through her bleach blonde bonce and have some sort of an effect, but her eccentricity is nothing to do with her fame, it is who she is. Being unique is definitely one of her skills, but she remains modest. “I think everyone has gifts and everyone has talents. If you are successful at it, it feels really good but it never penetrates completely. There are moments where I think that we made an amazing record and I’m so proud of it, but I don’t wake up and go, ‘Wow, I’m amazing’.”
But Gwen, and therefore No Doubt, really are amazing as are their achievements to date. Introduced to the band through her brother and riding on the new wave of ska-punk No Doubt first bowled us over with ‘Don’t Speak’ and have kept us rocking for years beyond with anthems such as ‘I’m Just a Girl’, ‘Hey Baby’ and the salacious Talk Talk cover ‘It’s My Life’. Although she was born and raised in sunny California this goodtime girl is not just an average all-round American. An Italian father and Irish mother have obviousl influenced her style and helped her bridge many a cultural gap as well as giving her that flexibility between genres like punk, ska, hip-hop and R&B.
The band underwent many revamps – well they did start out way back in 1987 - and so has Gwen, reinvention is important as her image is a sharp focus for her fans. No Doubt were huge, especially in the US, piling platinum sales figures for their albums and huge sold out stadium tours. The yellow brick road was always a long and windy one for them though. Just when they thought it was almost over they were working on another album, Tragic Kingdom and the band soon had the label Intersope’s full attention again. The old saying about the third time being the charm proved true, and there was nothing tragic to be found in this offering. The album hit Number One on the Billboard charts and also won the group a Grammy Award.
It was clear even then that the band, whatever their individual talents, had just one star, and she was ready for a new challenge, without forgetting her past. “We’re still going to do No Doubt songs, but 17 years we’ve been together… you hit a point in your music career where you put a Greatest Hits out, it’s like ‘No way!’ you know? So I decided to do this.”
It is a clear example of a change as good as a rest. “I wanted to do a dance record really bad, I thought it was going to be really easy and fun, but it was really hard and took a long time but all I wanted to do was make a dance record. Not event that – a stupid dance record, haha”
Rumours and gossip are the fuel of fame and Gwen knows it. She admits she used the speculation of band break up as a cheeky publicity stunt. “I thought it would be a good idea to say we were breaking up, but really we’re not. We decided after our album Rock Steady we were going to take some time apart to pursue independent projects. And I really wanted to do a movie.” Sure enough, having conquered the MTV screen, Gwen was ready to take over the big screen. She confidently tucked acting under her studded belt with the part in The Aviator. With a top draw cast, Matin Scorsese’s Howard Huges biopic, in which she starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Jude Law and Willem Dafoe gave Gwen the opportunity to prove her performing skills could stretch beyond her singing career. Striking theatricality has always been part of Gwen’s repertoire, which is clear in the music videos. Remember ‘It’s My Life’ – a mini movie in itself.
She may not have been the main role but her part was integral, as was her look. Gwen was initially dissatisfied with the attempts to transform her into screen legend Jean Harlow for The Aviator. “I would have done it a little differently. I’m always in control of my hair and make-up. I was like, ‘Are you sure you want the lips to be that thin? Jean Harlow’s were bigger than that. It’s not like I didn’t read two biographies and watch 18 of her movies before I got here!’ “
The look, recapturing Harlow’s incandescent beauty turned out to be good enough for the cover of Vogue, but Gwen’s looks have always been a focal point. She is still not sure about all the hype. “It’s always odd to talk about my fashion. It’s something you look at, you don’t need to talk about it.” How can it be ignored though? It is so out there and unique, much like the person within the clothes. Gwen definitely has some fashion interest as she has gone on to launch her own label, L.A.M.B (Love. Angel. Music. Baby of course!). “L.A.M.B is based on everything I’ve ever worn from my first punker pants to the present day.”
Discontent with cornering the casual market, as a favour Gwen agreed to design the wedding gown worn by close pal Mieke Binzer when she wed Gwen’s bandmate Tom Dumont in October 2004. The bride was so impressed with the 1920s inspired satin gown the pop star created she thought Gwen should concentrate on becoming the next Vera Wang.
The hype surrounding Gwen’s own wedding to Gavin Rossdale, of the band Bush, was itself enormous, and played it’s part in developing Gwen’s profile away from No Doubt landing them in the pantheon of glamorous celebrity couples inhabited by Sienna and Jude, Brad and Jen, Ben and Jen, Posh and Becks and other hapless lovers served up as tabloid fodder for the generation of Heat-reading suburban secretaries and fat, lonely no-hopers.
Gwen may have been generating the hype when she got married, when someone else got married, and even when no one was getting married but few stars seem to do it with such ease, and remain so much themselves. So here’s to Gwen, there’s no doubt she’ll continue to get everything she deserves and more in 2006. Can I have it like that? You got it like that!