Gwen Stefani On Growing Up In Anaheim, No Doubt Reuniting at Coachella, Her Collab With Husband Blake Shelton and More

Gwen Stefani chats with host Lisa Worden about growing up in Anaheim, making it big with "Just a Girl", No Doubt reuniting at Coachella, collabing with husband Blake Shelton and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If you're listening to she is thevoice the female alternative artists that you need

(00:04):
to know. Here's your host.Police awarded all ninety eight seven, LA's
new Alternative. And guys, I'mlike, I don't know. I'm dying
inside right now, so I can'tbelieve in studio with us right now.
I actually want to call her myfriend because you can do each other.
Okay, thank you. We've knowneach other for so long. Gwen Stefani

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is in the studio. I lovethis. This is so unexpected and we
guys, just so you know,she is my friend and we got to
have like a reunion right before ata Christmas party. Unexpectedly this well in
December or last December. I'm nowlike to be face to face here at
the radio station. Is this Itwas totally unexpected and it was just such

(00:47):
an unbelievable night like Memory Lane andConfessions and everything. It really was.
It was one of those nights neitherone of us planned or expected. And
I saw you across the the theway and I went, oh my gosh.
I was like, oh we gotI know somebody barely and I wasn't
going to go out. I wasjust like I was home alone, like
I didn't have my kids, weren'tthere, I Blake was somewhere, and

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I just even like when I committedto going, I was, you know
when you like are like crap.I shouldn't have said I was going to
go, Like now I have toput my makeup on, and like yeah,
And I did the whole thing andI and I even got a car
to take me because I was like, maybe i'll have a little drink,
you never know, And we didand I did, and I walked into
the party by myself, and Iwas just thinking I did not know anyone

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that was going to be there butJohn uh. And then there you were.
So here we are and what wehave so much to talk about.
You just released a really amazing newsong with Blake that I want to talk
I'm to say that, thank you. Oh it is We're going to talk
all about that and something we doon She is the Voice. It's our

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weekly show where every Friday night weplay nothing but female artists and alternative music.
So I think I told you atthe party. Every week we are
playing a Gwen song, a nodoubt song, because you are a goddess
of alternative music. Yes, youare so bizarre. I was thinking,
we were just talking to the girlsin the other room, and I was

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thinking, you know, just agirl came out. I was twenty six
years old. I was already likeway up there in so many ways,
you know what I mean, Andlike I just think back and I think,
how, like, how did that? How did that? It was
nine years that we were in thatband before that song even came out,
you know what I'm saying, Andlike it was in the middle of such

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well, there just wasn't any otherfemale artists. It was. I mean,
it was like you there were,but not in the same way like
there was like a jewel or therewas you know, jewel, like just
doing different kinds of music. Yep. So it was. It was just
a wild ride, this whole thing. So thank you for playing me on
the radio. Like what no,you know, I was at K Rock
at the time when we first met, and you are right. When I

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think back on that time, itwas a lot of the Red Hot Chili
Peppers and Pearl Jam and bands likethat getting played on the radio. And
when No Doubt came on the scene, and especially when you released the album
Tragic Kingdom, it changed the faceof alternative music. Well even that time
that, I mean, K rockwas just so incredibly weird because I mean

(03:19):
I the first time I ever heardPrince was on kateble I could yeah,
I little red Corvette like that wasprobably when I was in high school.
Yeah, I'm saying, but itwas like they were always breaking like weird,
weird music. I mean, notthat that was, but it didn't.
That wasn't alternative, but it wasat the time like a really weird
song, you know, and itand for us, I remember the programs

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directors at the time being like,because we'd been around so long and just
begging and begging everyone to like makeus get on the radio. Somehow we
knew it was never gonna happen,but they told us it would take an
act of God, and oh myGod, and here we are. The
God is real, guys, Likeit is real. I mean surely,
even this moment, it's like,gosh, it's unbelievable. And I have

(04:01):
such one of those like you know, finding Nemo what's her name, dory
Y. That's me, Like Idon't remember anything. That's why it's so
fun to get my memory like joggedwhen I see people from the past too,
because it's like it does make youreally think about how incredible of a
miracle it is that we got anywhere. You know well, and you're so
humble you act like, oh gosh, it's so you you did that,

(04:26):
like you did that well. Iit was just what my path was,
my destiny was given to me,my blessing, I believe, because every
single song is just what just feelslike it just was handed down to me,
you know what I mean. Like, And that's truly why I think
I am still writing music is becausethat miracle feeling when you get one,
and especially because the songs, ifthey're good and if they're truthful and they're

(04:49):
coming from a pure place, theyare speaking back to you and you're learning
about yourself, you know, andsometimes you put words together. And that's
coming from me being like I had, I have and I never I'm not
going to go away. I havedyslexia, right, So I didn't know
when I was a kid that Idid, but I really struggle. That
was like my like now, whenI if I have therapy and the word

(05:11):
comes up, I'll start crying becauseI it's such a huge impact on all
the choices I made in my lifeand like and my superpowers of who I've
become. And I think it's justinteresting to just think about like that,
you know what I mean, Andespecially with the songwriting thing, because these
these songs are like you're putting togetherlike a minimal amount of words in a
small amount of time, but theycan be so powerful, so like your

(05:34):
life and what they're saying to you, you know what I mean. So
I'm always never I feel like I'malways going to chase that. Yeah.
You know, well, we arehere with Gwen Stefani on ninety eight seven
and we're talking about songs, andI want to get into your latest song
that you just put out with yourhusband, Blake Shelton. But going back

(05:56):
to the career of No Doubt,just a girl, spiderwebs, morning,
don't speak, bath water, simplekind of life, not even she's not
looking at a paper guy. Weplayed most of these songs on the station
still. But you're a pioneer.That's why. That's yes, And that's
kind of where I'm going with thisis you know, I don't even know

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if you understand the influence and theimpact you have had on young women,
and you know they it was agateway in my opinion, when No Doubt
came on the scene, it openedthe door. That's wild. I don't
I don't. I don't get it, Like I don't understand that, like
I do know that, like untilyou are get older and like you go

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through life and you lived and youlook back, that's when you start to
see like the patterns or the reasonsor because and also like in real life,
nobody just sits there and talks toyou about yourself unless you go to
therapy, you know what I mean. And so for my it's always weird
when I go in these interviews becauseit makes me think so much. Like
people will ask you stuff and you'relike, well, how did you feel
or how did this happen? Orhow did you get that? And you're

(07:02):
like, let me think about that, you know. And the one thing
I will say is the one thingthat we did and that was truthful was
to just be truthful. Like weknew we didn't stand a chance, you
know, we were doing something weirdon purpose, like in the sense that
we fell in love with this musicthat we found that was already you know,

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happening in the late nineteen seventies.Which is called SCA and it wasn't
even Scott like we me and mybrother Eric Stefani, by the way,
he was one of the probably thefounding member. He was he was the
whole reason why no Doubt existed.And there was a kid at our school
called John Spence. He was theone that said to Eric like he's the

(07:44):
one that he said, we gotto this band, you know. And
Eric had brought home a Madness recordand Madness was the band. It wasn't
like all the other we discovered allthe other SKA bands because of Madness,
but Madness was like the one likethat was like it was just this weird,
quirky under It was so underground herein America and now in London,

(08:05):
right yeah, Like and they inLondon it was like they were like a
household name. They still are andthey still play and it's like there they
but to us they were just like, I mean, we were like the
biggest Madness mans in the world.And so just to have found this undiscovered
music that kind of you know,at that age you're trying to find yourself
and it was like so easy tojust identify with it and be like we're

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not like everybody else like we're skaand like the whole like kind of sentiment
behind ska music in the late nineteenseventies was this unity, you know,
black and white coming together. Youknow, That's why the checker War,
That's why we wore black and whitelike that's and we were mimicking, you
know, as kids, what hadalready really happened in you know, England

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and with you know, I feellike ska and punk rock was kind of
happening simultaneously at that time. Andit's just interesting because we were kind of
like the third wave because really Scottstarted in the nineteen sixties in Jamaica when
and Scott was born before reggae,and it was because basically they had the
Jubilee and they were freed and thenthey started this happy music. And it's

(09:11):
just interesting because you go back andlook at the history and to think that
I would be somehow like I cantrail No Doubt back to all of that.
It's it's kind of interesting and andit kind of it became a sound
for southern California. And when Ithink of No Doubt, I think of
scan, I think of reggae.There's there's always been kind of that infusion
in the music. I wonder ifthat is sort of like I don know,

(09:35):
I don't know how that happened.I just know that back in the
day, we were just so naiveand we were so like kind of into
what we were into, and itreally was just trying to find your identity,
you know. And I think musicis the thing that really does that
for people, because music is justsoli other. It's like it's so it's
so spiritual, it's so truthful andpowerful, and it transcends languages, and

(10:00):
it's just it's just this thing.And so I think that like when you
discover that when you're a teenager,it's just it's so big and any you
know. I think through the years, like even up to this point where
I'm still writing music and the songsout for Viruses, I think of this
music being kind of inspired by Beforethe SKA. It was like me in

(10:24):
the back of the station wagon onour way to glass El Street and Orange
going to Holy Family Church and mymom and dad having on the radio and
listening to all this kind of Nowwe call it yacht rock, but it
would have been like, you know, soft rock, and I love that
music. So much. I mean, my parents really were into bluegrass music

(10:46):
growing up. It was just likevery folk folky around her house and and
and so like I think that likeyou just kind of like the older you
get, the more kind of sentimentaland the more you like crave, like
if like I'm Instagram for example,and those like you know, those ones
will come up of like this wasthe eighties and like show like a picture
of strawberry short cake and you're like, oh my god, I feel like

(11:09):
that now, Like I craved thattime period. Oh my gosh, et
like anything that you stop the phonewith a cord on it, like this
is really excited. I kind ofwant a phone with a corn I really
do. Let's do it, butlet's talk about purple irises. You just
put the song out. It isyou and Blake, and it's a beautiful
love song. It is. It'swild because I had I've been telling this

(11:35):
story all day, but I waslike the why why did I? How
did I get to this point?Was I during twenty twenty? I wanted
I basically we're in quarantine. Yeah, and like all of us we were
all having this like lockdown, andwe were so blessed. We were in
Oklahoma. Blake was like, comeon, get your whole family. You
know, we were scared. Wewere. We were on tour in the

(11:56):
tour bus and Linke's concert got likecanceled that night because it was like this
this virus is out there and everyone'sshutting down. And we literally took all
of those supplies off the bus andlike got went to Oklahoma. Wow.
And so we were we were therefor the whole almost the whole thing,
with the boys and my sister inlaw, and we had like about fifteen
people, so it was very likecommunal. And we didn't have a house.

(12:18):
We had this lodge and there waslike a tiny cabin and it was
me, Blake, Apollo and atrundle zoom on the couch. And when
I say little, I mean I'mtalking about not even a not even a
queen bed like a double bed withBlake, and I mean we had to
pick. Yeah, like the trundlehad to be put away or else you

(12:39):
couldn't walk through the room. That'show small this room was. And then
we had the lodge that was separate, and everybody had little cabins and we
were like, you know, wehad to do everything like, yeah,
I wasn't used to that. Guys, Like I was like cleaning the toilet
like it was like picking up allthese boys clothes every meal, like that
was three meals a day plus now, you know. Like so I get

(13:01):
these texts from Kelly Clarkson and she's, you know, hey, check out
this new song I wrote. AndI'm like what, Like what are you
talking about? Like when do youhave time to write a song? You
know? It's so jealous and shewas like, oh, I just stay
up all night. And I'm like, if you know, Kelly, like
she's she's not lying, like she'sjust she has like an energizing bunny.
She's never I don't think she sleeps, but she And so that kind of

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just got me thinking about writing music. And when I came back. I
remember the first session I did inLa It was like I think I went.
I can't remember the name of thestudio. I'd been there one hundred
times, but they had plastic everywhere, like it was like a plastic tunnel
to go inside the room, andeverybody this girl I wrote with, and
we were both wearing masks and stilldon't know what she looks like, like
you know what I mean, Like, but I went down this whole rabbit

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hole of like I'm gonna make areggae record and I'm gonna go and I
feel kind of realized that I wastrying to like compete with myself in the
past or like repeat myself in someway, like I wanted to find this
nostalgic thing, but it wasn't thatwasn't the right place. And I spent
years working on this music and itnever made me like sit in the driveway

(14:09):
and listen to it like one hundredmillion times to the point of embarrassment,
like purple irises. And so whenI finally wrote, I got to keep
and nobody was having the reaction.So it's like, finally when I wrote
this one, it didn't it actuallydidn't matter what anyone thought. I was
like, I know, this iswhere I'm at now, and it really
does echo kind of that that childhoodmusic that and also the place where me

(14:33):
and Blake always kind of bonded over, which is that kind of yacht hot
rock sound, you know what Imean, because it's somewhere in the middle
of like I don't know what youcall that music, but and but yeah,
Blake was never meant to It wasa song I wrote about Blake but
I didn't and I bought myself andBlake, but he was never meant to
be on it. And then heloved the song so much, and there

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was like this sort of like wouldyou want to be on it? Like
I wouldn't dare ask you to beon it because you're like Shelton and everybody
wants you to be on their thing, but I don't want to use my
own husband. But but it's sogood together. Well, he loved it,
and it just kind of all cametogether and we ended up being able
to record it in Nashville, andwhen we got there, the studio just

(15:16):
happened to be on Irish Street Swearto God, and it was like this,
oh my god, you're like,okay, I know I've got the
songs, and everything was like likesynchronicity, like I was on the voice,
the band and the guy that ownedthe studio, like everybody had to
like it, come together and makethis happen because it was a live like
live musicians and everybody has lives andit was just it all came together like

(15:37):
less than a week and we gotto record it. And it was just
absolutely magic. I did want toask you, are you excited about Coacha?
Am I excited about Coachella? Like, I'm sorry, Like, and
you know, what's so cute isthe excitement of everybody else about Coachella.
Like I just was not. Thatwas by the way, and that whole
line, that's what everyone's talking about. I swear I was never expecting that.

(16:02):
It was just so electric and amazing, and even to the point where
my own nine year old baby,like I never said, I didn't say
much about it, and he cameinto me and he was like, mom,
what is this Coachella thing? LikeI'm just hearing about it, and
I just think it's actually a reallybig deal. So what is it that
is so precious? Yeah, Sothen I had to tell him, like
it is a big deal. Ihad to show him some of my videos.

(16:26):
Yes, mommy used to be inthis band. That's so cute.
How many years has it been sinceyou've performed? Well, if Apollo was
born, you know, he's goingto be ten. We're having a big
disco party this week and for him, so and so yeah, like it's
been about ten years. Okay,because I want to say I'm trying to

(16:48):
No, Apaula was born, andwe ended up doing I think like a
hand like sixteen making up the number, but like, I feel like we
did like a string of like festivalstogether. Yeah, and I remember we're
doing those and then then everything happenedand my life went crashing before my eyes,
and that's that was kind of theend. That was the last time
that No Doubt, you know,played together. Yeah, you know,

(17:12):
So it's just going to be prettyepic. It's going to be incredible.
I feel like it's going to bespiritual. I feel like we're going to
look at each other and start crackingup on stage we see each other.
I believe it. I do.I believe it. And you know what
No Doubt represents in southern California,I mean it is. It's so special.

(17:33):
And when we all saw it,all of us, especially you,
absolutely, but I knew. Iwas like, I bet this wasn't in
the in the plans. When Isaw you, I just based on our
conversations, I was like, Idon't think this has this was in motion
at that time. So no,it's going to be such a special two

(17:55):
weekends, No Doubt headlining Coachella it'sit's going to be incredible. Yeah,
I love you. Oh no,I love you. And you know I
wanted to ask you. You're anAnaheim girl. You grew up here.
Do you look back on you know, when you were a young girl and
then here you are now and go, wow, my life like just all

(18:18):
the time, like all the time. And I try to express to people
like you don't understand, like ifthis could happen to me, like anything
could happen, like it doesn't.I am not I And the only way
to explain it is that God likeshose me. Because I used to think
that if I said that, likethat would sound arrogant. But I really

(18:41):
through like my kind of spiritual journeyand my faith journey, like I've kind
of learned through just studying. Uh. The word is that, like I
like, everyone has a gift,like you have your gift, Like how
did you get on the radio?I mean that's a miracle too, Like
anyone in this building right now thatworks in radio like that everybody wants to
be here, you know what I'msaying. And so the fact that I

(19:04):
could even write a song one day, I couldn't write a song one day.
I didn't even try, and Iwrote my first song yeah that I'll
probably play at Coachella. Like,I mean, that's a miracle, you
know what I mean. It's likethose things just it's it's and every song
to me feels like that. Youknow, it's just like this God,
how does this stuff happen? It'sreally And you can ask a lot of
people that write songs, like especiallythe ones that are the ones that reach

(19:29):
a lot of people, they're justthere and it's just that's why. Like
I'll sit here and go and thenremember then, like I said the word
iris and then you said the wordlike, I like to go back through
it and try to like discover,like exactly how this song was written,
because it's just such a miracle.It's just such a like it's just come.
You have nothing and then you havethis this thing that's speaking to you.
Yeah, well you definitely have areally real talent for writing songs that

(19:55):
speak to the heart. I mean, all of Tragic Kingdom, I think
everyone related to all those songs andthe meanings behind them. And now you've
got this beautiful love song that you'vewritten about Blake and you and your love.
But I feel like that is suchan amazing like thing to remember as
humans. And again, like Ifeel like Purple Irises is one of those

(20:15):
songs where it you know when youtalk about like we're like huge gardeners.
I know this sounds nerdy, butlike we love to be in Oklahoma and
plant things together, but we dolike large scale, like tractor kind of
crass craft, you know what Imean. Like it's pretty awesome and and
just like you're planting these this hope, right, and that's kind of like

(20:36):
what love is. You know.It's like you you're just you're dreaming always
of the future together, that youwill be together, that you're not gonna
lose it, that you're gonna keephaving that feeling. And I think that
that's what the song kind of represents, is like you know, every time
you plant that seed, it's likeit's gonna grow, it's gonna blossom.
There's gonna be hard times, youknow, and we all have that in
our lives. And yes, youknow, I think that we all have

(20:59):
that. It doesn't matter matter ifwhat your job is, what your gift
is, but you know, it'sa journey and we're all gonna have to
suffer it. Doesn't matter. Itdoesn't matter, We're going to suffer.
It's like what do you do withthe suffering? What do you do?
And for me, it was alwayslike, I'm going to put this in
a song because that's all I knowhow to do. I can't spell,
I can't do MAP. I don'tknow what other job I would have,

(21:21):
Like I am completely dependent on everyoneelse like I, and all I could
do is write these songs, andI can't always write them. That's the
thing, if you think about it, I don't only have that many songs
compared to some people. Like it'sjust well, know what you put out
the good ones, and sometimes youknow, not every song is meant to

(21:41):
be out there, and you knowthis one, this one is specialank for
sure, Thank you for sure.And then lastly and closing, I wanted
to ask you, do you haveany advice you would give I have a
lot of young women that listen tothe show That's so cool it is I
love that, And is there anyadvice you would give them anyone who's trying

(22:02):
to break into the music business oryou know, get discovered or you know,
just show. I feel like timeshave changed so much and I always
go back because my son is asongwriter as well, and he's just so
gifted, and you know, Idon't I think about it, and it's
just a different world now, youknow what I mean. There are and
also being on the Voice, youknow, all that time, I get

(22:25):
asked this a lot, and Iwonder, like, I have a guy
that that was on my team calledBias, and he just played into Shmio
at our little town and old RedPflick thing and he's just out there just
grinding on Instagram trying to like getthe word out, you know, and
he did so well on the show. But it is it is true.
I think that you don't know.I always look at it like, if

(22:51):
you're meant to be doing that,then it's gonna happen for you. It
doesn't matter if you're on American Idolor if you're in a garage somewhere in
like pennsylvani Ye, like you willrise to the top. I mean you
look at all the different people's storiesand you just think, wow, they
were you know, Prince he wasin Minneapolis, Like how did he become
like this guy? You know?And it's like so I think it's just

(23:12):
really like just listen to your heart, you know, ask ask, I
don't know, I don't. Forme, the only way I've done it
is to always just ask to begiven that, like give me direction,
like show me where I'm supposed togo. I don't want to do anything
else but my purpose, Like Ijust want to contribute. I want to
be a light. I want peopleto be like I want. I want
to bring love, like all ofthose things that we all hope to do,

(23:34):
you know what I mean. Andthat's just kind of what I learned
to do through the years. Andbut I don't I'm not a good advice
giver. I just I just knowhow I did it. Advice, No,
listen, you did. I justthink the other thing I would would
I truly, truly, truly believeis that music is sacred and to do

(23:55):
it for the wrong reason is completelywrong. And you have to do it
for the right reason, which isfor the art of it or for the
therapy of it, for the truth, and anything other than that is just
going to be like you know,I don't know, well, there like
a diet pill. I don't knowhow to even describe it. You just
summed it up. I don't know, said diet pill. It didn't.
Somehow it came. I need someof those. When Sefani, thank you

(24:22):
for coming on, thank you forvoice everything. This has been a dream
in the making. I just sayone more thing about you, like I
don't you said so many nice thingsabout me, and you did that Instagram
post after we saw each other,and I saw it and it was like,
thank you, Like everybody needs love, like everybody needs that, Like

(24:42):
I don't feel how you make mefeel, Like you made me feel a
certain way and I really appreciate that. I adore you. I adore you.
She is the voice the female musiciansthat are creating tomorrow Sounds. He
is the voice LA's new alternative