Gwen Stefani, 35, knows that people are going to be “weirded out”—her words!—that she's done a solo album. But she can't let that stop her. This is what she needs to do to grow— personally and as an artist. “Life moves by so quickly, and you start to realize that you want to try some other things,” she explains. “I think this whole album [love. Angel. Music. Baby.] was inspired by the ticktock2 in my head, like I gotta do this now.”
But No Doubt fans have nothing to fear: This album doesn't mean Gwen's leaving the band behind. “We definitely have plans to get back together,” she says of No Doubt, which she has fronted for 17 years. “But the one great thing about being in a band for this many years and having the success that we've had is that we don't really need to plan for the future.”
That freedom has allowed Gwen to continuously push herself into unknown territory for years. In 2002, she married Bush frontman3 Gavin Rossdale. The next year she launched a clothing and accessories line (L.A.M.B.). And now she's making her acting debut, opposite Leonardo Dicaprio in The Aviator. But of all these projects, her solo album is probably Gwen's riskiest—she's putting herself out there all alone, and it'll inevitably be compared to the amazing work she's always done with her band. Making this album “was not fun and easy,” Gwen admits. “It turned into this really hard, ego-busting4 experience.”
Face to Face with Stefani
Q: What was it like for you to go into the studio for the first time without No Doubt?
Gwen Stefani: When I went into the studio originally, I was totally burnt out5. I'd just gotten married, and I'd just gotten off tour. But I felt like there was this little time clock ticking. I really wanted to do it, but I really wanted to sleep—and I was really torn6 about actually getting in the room with new people—I'd never done that. It was always the band for 17 years, and when I write songs, I feel like it's a very intimate thing, you know, because you really have to drop it all off and kind of open yourself up. You never know if it's gonna come out or not.
Q:How did you first realize that you had a talent for writing music?
GS: I've learned over the years. Like when I wrote “Tragic Kingdom,” I was very naive, you know? I didn't even know I could write songs. And when I had something to write about, when me and my boyfriend broke up, suddenly I, like... I found my gift, my talent. I mean, I was suddenly a human. Before that all I was was in love. I didn't even know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was all about like, getting married and having babies. That was just my passion. When I learned how to write songs, that became my passion. It opened up my whole life. But I never intended for the world to hear any of those songs—or even to still be talking about them at age 35. It's just so bizarre7. Because I write songs from my heart, especially on that record—we wrote that record for three years, and we never thought it would come out. And when you write about your life and you share it with the world, it's amazing how comforting it can be because there are so many people out there going through the same thing you might be going through.
Q: How do you think your fans will feel about you going out on your own?
GS: I know some of the fans are gonna be bummed8, like scared that I'm gonna ruin everything doing this record. My whole point in writing the song “Holla back， Girl” is that I've been around the track, and that no matter what people say, I feel powerful, which I've never personally felt before. With my band, I always felt like we were huge: We've been together for nine years when "Just a Girl" came out, but we always sold out whatever club we were playing even before that. We were always lucky in that way9, just having a history. And that history, that strength is something that nobody can take back. So I've been around the track. You can't take away my history, and I'm not gonna make any excuses. I'm not gonna holla back. I'm like, This is who I am—and it's pretty powerful.
35岁的戈温·斯黛芬妮知道人们得知她要出一张个人专辑时可能会“吓一大跳”——用她自己的话说。可她不会就此止步。这是她必须做的，为了个人成长——也为了成长为艺术家。“人生易逝，你开始认识到你想尝试别的东西；我想整张专辑（《爱·天使·音乐·婴儿》）都来自我脑中嘀嗒作响的灵感，我必须现在就做。”她解释道。
不过No Doubt乐队的歌迷们无需多虑：这张专辑并不意味着戈温把乐队给甩了。“我们肯定有重聚的计划，”谈到她做了17年主唱的乐队时，她说：“这么多年来在乐队取得成功的最大感悟就是：我们其实无需计划将来。”
多年来，这种自由让戈温得以不断地把自己推到陌生的新领域。2002年，她嫁给了布什乐队的主唱加文·罗斯达尔。第二年，她开了一条服饰生产线（L.A.M.B）。眼下她又“触电”，在《飞行者》一片中和迪卡普里奥演对手戏。所有这些项目中，推出个人专辑可能最具风险。她自己独当一面，人们不可避免会拿它与以前那些与乐队合作的精品作比较。戈温自己也承认，制作这张专辑“既无趣，又麻烦。事情变成了一种非常困难、自我折磨的经历”。
问：第一次没有No Doubt伙伴独自走进录音棚时，你感觉如何？
戈温·斯黛芬妮：刚刚走进录音棚时，我精疲力竭。刚刚结婚，巡演刚刚结束。但是我觉得有一只时钟在嘀嗒作响。我真的想做这张专辑，但也非常想睡觉。跟一些陌生人走进录音棚让我很烦——我从没有那样过。17年来一直是整支乐队一起录音；还有，我在写歌时，觉得这是件亲切的事，因为你知道，你必须实实在在地把一切逐步放下，袒露几分心扉。你永远不知道这种情绪会不会流露出来。
问：你最初是怎么发现自己有写歌天分的？
戈温·斯黛芬妮：我也是多年以后才知道（自己有这份天赋）的。像我在写“悲剧王国”的时候，我很天真，知道吗？我甚至都不知道我可以写歌。当我有东西想写时，当我和男友分手的时候，突然，感觉就像……我发现了自己的天赋，自己的才华。我是说，突然间，自己成人了。在此之前，我只知道“恋爱”。我甚至都不知道长大以后想干什么。只想结婚、生儿育女——那才是我的热情所在。学会如何写歌之后，音乐创作成了我的激情。它开启了我的全部生命。但当时我从来没有想过让世人听这些歌——甚至也没想到我35岁时还会谈到它们。事情就是这么奇怪。因为写歌发自内心，尤其是那盘录音——我们写了足足有三年，从来没想到它会问世。当你写到自己的生活，并和世人分享时，你发现竟有这么多人经历与你相同的事情，真让人惊奇，也令人宽慰。
问：对你的单飞，你认为歌迷们会有何感受？
戈温·斯黛芬妮：我知道有些歌迷会失落，好像我的这盘录音要毁灭一切，他们被吓坏了。写“嘿，回来吧，小妞”这首歌时，我一直追随我的轨迹，我想表达的是无论人们怎么评价，我都会觉得自己很强大。这是我个人以前从没有的感觉。跟乐队一起，我总是觉得我们无所不能。歌曲“不过是个小女生”推出时，我们在一起已经有9年，在此之前，不管在哪家俱乐部演出，我们的歌一直卖得很好。我们总是那么走运，就像在写一段历史。那段经历，那种力量是没人能够拿走的。因此我一直在追随我的轨道。你不可能拿走我的历史，我也不再做什么辩解。我不会回头。我就是我——这真是力量无穷。
1． coincidence n． 巧合
2． ticktock n． 滴答声
3． frontman n． 头面人物，代表人物
4． ego－busting 自我毁灭的
5． burn out 筋疲力尽
6． torn adj． 不安的
7． bizarre adj． 奇异的
8． be bummed out [美俚]灰心丧气，烦躁
9． in that way 那样