Dive into the world of Gwen Stefani as she reflects on her most treasured times with No Doubt! Gwen tells Mike Adam what's her saddest song on her upcoming album and her admiration for Olivia Rodrigo's vibrant punk style.
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00:00Hi Mike. Hey, how are you? I'm good. I can't believe I'm doing this like I'm sitting on
00:10zooms talking to DJs like what am I? I know I know it's time it's time you got to do the
00:18rounds and all that. I love it. I feel so it's weird because I feel more blessed like
00:25it's like the longer that I get to do it the more I know that I'm like you know it's like
00:30life right like we know that we're gonna run we know what's gonna happen right yeah it's
00:36gonna happen so to be able to have new music at this point feels um it feel it's hard to explain
00:43it because I've had so many chances but this one is just it feels even I feel even more grateful
00:49than ever which I didn't know was possible but yeah here we are yeah you know I I grew up with
00:55you and you're really a pioneer in the punk ska space and uh you really helped bring that to the
01:04forefront in pop music and mainstream do you feel like you get the recognition you deserve when it
01:10comes to that you know what I don't really go forward in my life trying to get recognition
01:17I think that's the wrong kind of kind of way to think about things and I think that we would
01:22have never had our success if we were looking for that like I feel like we were doing it from a
01:29really pure place in our hearts where we were trying to find our identity and it's like when
01:34we found you know my older brother found ska and he was my like he was like my big brother like he
01:42was so cool and he was so eccentric and artistic and creative and it was like I want to hang out
01:49with him and he he would be the one like I didn't I was very passive like so I wasn't trying to do
01:54anything except for just hang out with my brother and and my friends and just and and I didn't know
01:59that when I sang it felt really good and when I heard that music it felt like nobody else knew
02:06about it and it felt really cool to to kind of have this secret like club and and then as we
02:12kept going in it you found all these other people that knew the secret too and then we were all cool
02:17together and so I don't know like I don't really care like I just know that I was so blessed to be
02:23able to find my identity and I a lot of people are get this I see my children right now finding
02:29that through music and um it music is so powerful you know and it's interesting because this album
02:36is obviously nothing like the ska days and you know I don't know like everyone wants to tell
02:42say I was so punk and I guess there was a punkness in the attitude of like the energy of what we did
02:48on stage and um I mean I know that my band back then wished that I was more punk I wish they were
02:55in a real punk band I know Adrian did because he wanted to do but um I feel like this this album is
03:03like coming more from the punk inspiration of truth right and being cool being like purely who
03:10you are in the moment and I think there is there there is like an edge to what I'm doing because I
03:15felt like when I started writing this record which was a long time ago I started in like 2020 trying
03:22to actually trying to start off doing like more like reggae and ska yeah like it kept not landing
03:28because I think I was trying to repeat myself or like compete with myself and that that just wasn't
03:34where my that wasn't the purpose of where I'm what I was supposed to be doing now I found that out
03:39later but like this was more inspired by being in the back of the car right before I found ska music
03:46and on my way to church in the station wagon listening to all the songs that were on the radio
03:51in the 70s which was like kind of what I grew up in like when I was a kid you know like yeah I guess
03:57rock yacht rock or classic rock or you know um soft rock is you know what I love so much so this
04:05kind of had that inspiration as far as like sonically how this record sounds so when you look
04:10back on this album you know 15 20 years from now what do you think is going to be the the brightest
04:16spot when it comes to putting it all together the recording process what's going to really stick out
04:21to you as a fond memory for me it was the fight I think which is always what we're doing on this
04:29planet right like whenever you have to work or fight for something that reward is gonna be the
04:35most fulfilling it's just like exercise right like even though we hate it it's like once you're done
04:42you're like dang like I did it you know and that's kind of how this record feels because at this point
04:48in my life like as a person as a mom lady woman whatever I've become like you feel like it's hard
04:58to describe it but you you you have a lot of feelings of like identity like like you do when
05:05you're a teenager it's like what am I who am I what am I supposed to be doing like it's it's it's
05:11like that again you know and I think that like creatively you you know it was a fight because
05:16I was like who am I like I want I don't care about what I was this is this record is kind of a bouquet
05:24because it is like a combination of the past the present and like the seed of hope for the future
05:32and each song was sort of individually like finally chosen for this bouquet of work of art
05:38you know and it does feel like a work of art for me like because it doesn't feel like I'm trying to
05:45um like it doesn't matter like I did what I needed to do which was write it and so now sharing it
05:49feels like I like I here's Christmas guys look what I got you like because I know that for me
05:56it did what it needed to do for myself and so I know that it will do that for somebody else like
06:01if there there's no way that there's not at least one person that's going to get what I got out of
06:06it and because there's some there's something so real about it you know there's nothing I wasn't
06:10trying to do something I can honestly say that now I can say that I tried to do what I tried by going
06:17down the other path that I went down on all the cul-de-sacs that I ended up on to try to get to
06:22this record but it's exciting new music is just and it's so like um emotional because when you
06:29share it it's like a confession you know what I mean and then you get like lifted like you get
06:34sort of released and it feels so good is there a song on the album that makes you sob the most
06:41um I've had so far like because they've sent the record out to like like I went to a bunch of
06:49stations here in LA like to just talk about the record and stuff and there was a like maybe like
06:54three girls that told me that pretty the song pretty that they cried already and when I wrote
07:01that song which you know it it was the same feeling like the song is you know it's about like
07:08not not feeling pretty right until you actually loved and like how beauty is in the eye of the
07:16beholder you know what I'm saying like it's so true when you find true love because sometimes
07:22you look at people and maybe like like even like they're older or they're like you know they're not
07:29as beautiful as they used to be or whatever but you see that love between them and you're like
07:33unseen it's felt you know so I think that that song really like hits people when they hear it
07:39like in that that truth of that and um sure yeah before we wrap up um you know I know you've kind
07:46of gravitated towards Olivia Rodrigo and you've seen the the punk inspiration in her and so if
07:53people like Billie Joe Armstrong and like you know like you know like you know like you know
07:58the punk inspiration in her and so if people like Billie Joe Armstrong I just wanted to know
08:05what you thought um what reminds you of yourself in her or just the genre in general
08:15um I think that when I first heard her music I I just heard that song driver's license I don't I
08:22think I was like everybody else that heard it was like wow this is like I can relate to this song
08:29lyrically it's so human it's so um told and said the story was told in such a uh unique like but
08:36yet universal way and when I heard that somebody out there I didn't know what she looked like I
08:42didn't know who she was nothing I was like oh my god this is a cool song who wrote this um just
08:48like everybody else I'm no different and it did give me that little like dang this person's good
08:56so then I look I got the record or whatever and I remember I was in the backyard in Oklahoma we
09:01were doing some gardening me and Blake and you know he's country so he's like what are you
09:06listening to and I'm like because it's also young you know what I mean it's like the record is young
09:13but it's weird because even when you're grown you still relate to yourself from when you're young
09:18you know what I mean so I just was like I listened to it I just thought it was such a good written
09:22record and then I got to meet her um I got to meet her on the red carpet when we were doing the met
09:27ball and I hadn't been to the met ball in ever forever and I was there on my own so it's like
09:32standing like we are the met ball's weird she'd like stand in line and wait with everyone to go
09:36okay you're next it's really odd and she was standing next to me so we got to meet each
09:41other and hang out and she was just so cool and she was telling me about how she was in like kind
09:46of a dead space with writing and how hard it is for her um to and how long it takes her to write
09:52records and and then vampire came out and I was like so happy for her but she's a cool girl and
09:57then when Coachella came around um it was just you know everybody always invites somebody up
10:04and it's just a fun thing to do and so having her up there I didn't you know what my favorite part
10:09about that was the photos they're so cute I don't even know how they got those yes they're so funny
10:16and she's like my little baby but it's like interesting because like so many like the
10:22younger younger generation like my my niece who's 15 she's like that's her idol like you know and
10:27it's like I can be like hey I got her text it's really fun but yeah there's a lot of good there's
10:34so many good songwriter girls out there right now Sabrina Carpenter I love her totally her style
10:40Chapel Rowan like I mean there's just some really great songwriters and that's always so inspiring
10:46you know even like I loved um during 2020 I loved Taylor's um folklore sorry yes yes I love that
10:54record like I love lyrics so you know and I'm I love I'm a girl so I like girl talk yeah oh man
11:02we're so excited for you thank you for taking out the time we can't wait for uh you hopefully
11:07next time we could see you in person and you know all that stuff absolutely we used to do like radio
11:13tours and like show up in on all the stations and like bring a guitar and like sing let's do it
11:20next time yeah yeah yeah thank you so much Gwen thank you