Just say Gwen

By REBECCA BARRY

Gwen Stefani is having her hair done, and it's a wonder she can sit still. "I'm buzzing," she rasps, in her hyperactive, girly voice, a few disconcerting seconds before instructing her stylist to pass the scissors.

The previous night she put the finishing touches to her debut solo album. Now the No Doubt singer is chatting to international press about it on her cellphone, while having her trademark platinum tresses tended to.

"My problem is I get so passionate and enthusiastic about some things," she says of her multi-tasking, "that if they don't get done, I feel bad."

Love, Angel, Music, Baby is Stefani's first official detour from No Doubt in almost 18 years. Accelerating her rise from pop star to superstar is her first major movie role, playing Hollywood's original blonde bombshell Jean Harlow in the Martin Scorsese-directed Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator.

"It was an amazing experience working with people like Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio ... I had two lines, so it wasn't like I could go deeper into the character."

Famously down-to-earth, Stefani distances herself from the hype.

"It's like, well, who am I? What do I know? I'm just a girl from Anaheim."

Just a girl with her own fashion label, that is. L.A.M.B. (also the album title's acronym), capitalises on Stefani's outlandishly mix'n'match vintage style and her reputation as one of the most photographed fashionistas on the red carpet. Unlike some stars who simply put their name to other people's designs, she insists she is "absolutely hands-on". To say she is overworked is possibly the understatement of the year.

"I know it sounds insane, but I've just started another label, Sub L.A.M.B. But I'm thinking about changing the name. It's more accessories and I want it to be more accessible, more affordable, you know? My bedroom is just full of clothes right now. I don't even know what I'm going to do with them all. And it's such hard work, I had no idea. My chief designer just quit and I was like 'What?! Oh man'."

The time couldn't have been more appropriate - or more difficult - for Stefani to branch out on her own. Over the past nine years No Doubt had carved a niche as a Top 40 band of considerable street cred, fusing ska and new wave with Stefani's breathy, quavering melodies. They burst onto the scene with Just A Girl and Don't Speak in 1995, and it certainly helped that Stefani looked like a punk who'd stepped out of a 1940s film.

On their last album, 2001's Rock Steady, the band diversified, working with reggae maestros Sly & Robbie, Soul II Soul's Nelle Hooper and the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart on the Grammy Award-winning Underneath It All.

After that, however, No Doubt's reign appeared to draw to an inevitable end. In 2001 Stefani collaborated with hip-hop star Eve on the single, Blow Ya Mind, singing, "I've paid my dues and done my time / So I'm going to enjoy this while I can."

The following year she wed long-time boyfriend, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, and during interviews talked about babies. (Last month, Stefani discovered hubby has a 15-year-old love child.)

When No Doubt returned from touring Rock Steady, she and bass player Tony Kanal sat down to talk about the band's direction.

"I just suddenly realised, I've been doing the same thing for 17, nearly 18 years. I've travelled the world and it's been amazing, but there are so many things I haven't done in my life that I still want to do. I would love to do film work, have a baby, work on my fashion, find a balance.

"It was a really exhausting time - I was feeling burned out. I had a new husband and we just wanted to take time out to re-energise and like, refuel our creativity - also, all I really wanted to do was sleep. We thought, wouldn't it be cool to take a break for a year?"

Not surprisingly that soon flew out the window as she and Kanal slipped into enthusiastic discussion about the bands they loved back in high school: Club Nouveau, Prince, New Order. Next thing they'd masterminded their next career move - an album starring Stefani and backed by a who's who of producers, concentrating on fun, '80s dance-pop, electro-funk and "all these things that we couldn't really do in No Doubt because we're a rock band".

"We've never planned anything, like after this record I want to do this, or after that I want to work on an album like this. That's the thing about No Doubt. We just sat down for breakfast one day and we were like, 'What are you doing on Tuesday?' And then next thing we're working with Sly & Robbie and travelling from San Francisco to Jamaica. And that was Rock Steady."

Stefani soon found herself in the studio working closely with Kanal, Dr Dre, Outkast's Andre 3000, Nelle Hooper, Jimmy Jam and the Neptunes.

She also enlisted the help of former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry (who helped to bring Pink out of her shell on Missundaztood). The collaboration proved not only musically advantageous - together they wrote the bumping first single What You Waiting For? - but on a personal level, too.

"Linda had to really force me to get on with it," says Stefani. "I actually cried on my way to the studio because I so didn't want to go. I just wanted to sleep. But she was like, 'Come on, you know you're going to do this. What are you waiting for?' And I said, 'I'm scared.' It was really hard.

"It was the first time I'd ever worked with a girl before, and she just kinda came in and took over and I was drowned by her creativity. It made me look at myself and go, whoa, I thought I was good, but she is good, you know? I learned a lot about myself, it was a bit of an ego-check.

"It's cool when you write a song and next thing it's on the radio and it's doing well and you think, 'Hey, did I really do that?' And there are certain songs I feel really proud of writing. But it should never be about that. That's why I worked with all these amazing producers and that's why I can brag and say this album is [expletive] good.

"Sometimes I just want to go, well, she did that bit, and I did that and he did that. But you know, I would be happy if I just wrote the chorus to Imagine."

Stefani refuses to call the album a solo venture - she says there is actually less of her on this project than in No Doubt and Kanal had as much of a hand in it as she did. Even so, you have to wonder how long she can maintain such a crazy workload.

"I'm getting good at just enjoying the moment, because there are always times in your life when you think, I can't wait until I'm finished, and you're always looking to the future. But you know, even though this record was really hard, there was a time when I was like, I'm in the studio with Dr Dre. Why would I want to be finished?"

LOWDOWN

WHO: Gwen Stefani

SHORT HISTORY: Grew up in California, formed No Doubt with brother Eric in 1986 as a ska band. She sang backing vocals. When bass player Tony Kanal joined, he and Stefani began dating. Stefani became lead vocalist. First album was in 1992 but it wasn't until Tragic Kingdom they made a name for themselves with Just A Girl. Don't Speak, the album's biggest hit, was written about Stefani and Kanal's break-up. The Return of Saturn (2000), Rock Steady (2001), It's My Life and singles collection (2003)

SOLO STUFF: Debut single What You Waiting For, album Love, Angel, Music, Baby, out Nov 22

SEE HER IN: The Aviator, opens here Feb 10