Don’t let the coy pose fool you – there’s nothing this superstar won’t reveal. When we asked Gwen Stefani to give it up about life, love, work and mommyhood, she most certainly did. By Liza Ghorbani

The Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel has played host to the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Jean Harlow, so when Gwen Stefani walks in on a sunny afternoon with her Old Hollywood glamour — dark oversize sunglasses, scarlet lips, and platinum tresses swept into a polished updo — she certainly looks the part.

“Sorry I’m late,” says Stefani, sliding into a green velvet banquette amid a fragrant whirl of cocoabutter. “I was getting my color done, and now I feel like a different person. So much better.”

She’s wearing a demure plaid cap-sleeve blazer and pencil skirt of her own design with sparkly diamonds on her ears and fingers, an appropriate look for the ladies-who-lunch crowd. But on closer inspection there are a few giveaways that she is, in fact, a Grammy-winning rock star. Stacks of white rubber bracelets are piled on her forearms, a lacy blue peeks our above her threadbare ribbed tank top, and her nails are painted a stark white.

Stefani, 40, an Orange County girl born and bred, has just returned from a lengthy vacation in St. Tropez with her husband of seven years, British rocker Gavin Rossdale, and their two boys, Kingston, 3, and Zuma, 1, for whom she wears two delicate gold crosses around her neck. The successful designer, with seven years at the helm of her LAMB line, couldn’t be more excited to show her latest collection at the upcoming New York Fashion Week.

It’s surprising that Stefani, an unabashed girlie girl, has been hanging out with the fellas her whole life — first No Doubt, her all-male rock band, and now in her houseful of boys. Pushing her side swept bangs out of her big brown eyes, she leans in conspiratorially when she whispers, “Do you love clothes?” Content with her response, she grins and squeals, “I love clothes too. So much it’s embarrassing. But it’s so fun!”

She shares a photo of adorable baby Zuma on her Blackberry and orders a soy-milk coffee before settling in for some good old-fashioned girl talk.

1. Have you always been obsessed with fashion, even before you started designing?
   It’s been the same my whole life. I made so many clothes growing up, and I used to design my own costumes. Like, in college — we’d have a concert coming up and all I would do was just daydream about what I was going to make. And it’s the same now. Fashion gets me so excited.
2. Where did you draw inspiration for your spring line?
   I wanted to make a collection I was really going to wear. I was into gray, black and white with just touches of color, like yellow here and there. And a lot of drapery and slouchy stuff, and some tailoring — and looks that were a bit ’80s but also modern. We pull inspiration from everywhere and make it our own. It’s important to me to be involved because it’s about what I would wear, to be honest. It’s very selfish!
3. And what is it about designing that you love so much?
   When you find your passion, you can’t help it. I’m generally lazy. I like to sleep, I like to eat, I don’t like to work out, I don’t like to do anything. I want to watch TV, eat in bed, and sleep. And with designing, it’s just fun. I always enjoy doing that. It’s never a drag.
4. After two solo album and two babies, you just completed a 60-concert tour with No Doubt. What was that like?
   This tour was so emotional because it meant going back onstage with those guys who were my best friends since I was 17. We’re in such a great emotional space right now. And knowing that it’s not going to last forever makes it even more precious. I had tears in my eyes as I singing certain songs, like “Simple Kind of Life,” where I say, “I always thought I’d be a mom” — and all of a sudden I am, and my kids are sitting on the side of the stage watching me sing. It’s really intense.
5. Do you enjoy performing onstage in front of thousands of people?
   I love it. It is so awesome. I love getting ready and getting in costume, and then performing and being physical. If you don’t play live concerts, nothing feels real. It’s just a song on the radio you hear when you’re driving, and it doesn’t affect you. But when you walk out onstage and there are people who actually spent their money to buy a ticket and they’re singing the songs, it’s suddenly mind-blowing.
6. What initially made you decide to jump from musician to designer?
   I wanted so badly to have a backup plan for when I’m not performing anymore. Let’s be realistic: It’s not going to be like this forever. So I wanted to continue having something creative to do. I have to be creative to be happy. I don’t have a strong sense of self-worth unless I’m doing something. I was a different person before I started to write. When I realized I could be a songwriter and that people would listen — that was when I started feeling good in my life.
7. You’ve said you had writer’s block when trying to work on the next No Doubt record. Have you overcome it?
   I just wrote a song, which is really exciting! It’s not even done and I’ve listened to it two billion times already. It’s like I can’t stop. I’m embarrassed — if my husband comes in and I’m listening to it, I’m like, I’m sorry.
8. Tell us about your boys — what are their personalities like, and which one of their parents do people say they look most like?
   They are totally different, and they look totally different. Kingston didn’t like the fans on tour. He doesn’t like having his photo taken or the paparazzi. We call him Sid, like Sid Vicious. He’s a little punk, he really is. Zuma is more of a show-off. He wants everyone to watch him, he’s a goofball, and he’s really silly. He’s a funny guy. People say Zuma looks like my dad, and like me more — and obviously Kingston looks exactly like Gavin from head to toe. It’s crazy how the second child is so different from the first and has the same parents.
9. Does Kingston pick out his own clothes? He has such a cool style, and he really seems to own it.
   I know! At that age they like to be in control of everything, so I let him choose. Luckily, everything in his closet is cute, so no matter what he picks, he’s gonna look good. For a while he was into costumes. Now he doesn’t ever want to wear shoes.
10. What do you miss about L.A. when you’re living in London, and vice versa?
    I miss my family when I’m in England. And when I’m in L.A., I miss the role I have when I’m in London. I’m not working there, so Gavin spoils me and I get to be really dependent. I don’t drive when I’m there, and I like that. It’s a different lifestyle to be able to walk to the little village to get milk. I take Kingston to the gym with me, with no nanny or assistant, and that would be very rare in L.A. — that I could actually go somewhere on my own. Things can get out of hand with the paparazzi, so I don’t feel safe.
11. Do you or your kids adopt an accent when you’re over there?
    Not me, I can’t even pretend. But kids are like little sponges. Once in a while Kingston will pick up a word, like “I’m going to take a bahhth.” And I’m like, really? A bahhth!
12. When I interviewed Gavin years ago, he said he prides himself on being an excellent gift giver. Do you ever drop any hints about what you want?
    Oh no, we’re not allowed to do that. It’s just old-fashioned gift giving. He goes all out, you know? He’s romantic, so it’s good. He is a creative guy, and he’s amazingly inspiring with that creativity. We had a really good Christmas last year; it was fun getting gifts for the kids.
13. How do you and Gavin coordinate your outfits for a red-carpet event — is his outfit based on your dress?
    We just do our own thing, and it always seems to work. He has such great style. I get ideas from a lot of his clothes for the women’s clothing line because I like that kind of mixture. I use a lot of stuff in his closet. I’ll be like, Ooh, we should do a girl version of this!
14. Let’s talk about your closet. With all your LAMB collections, and pieces of Galliano and Vivienne Westwood, tell us: What’s it like in there?
    It’s really a work of art. I have a very, very large closet. Girls fall on the ground when they walk in. They’ll be like, ‘I just want to stay in here!’ It’s awesome. I keep all my main costumes and archive my favorite things, and I’ve held on to so many things I’ve designed in the past seven years, so you can imagine how many clothes there are. It’s insanity. I just cleaned out my closet, and I had like, 20 bags of stuff. Usually I let my friends and family just go nuts, but this time I’m going to do an auction and give it to charity. I mean, why should my sister always get it?
15. You’ve even worn red lipstick while you’re jogging. Is there any time you don’t wear it?
    No, I wear it all the time. I wear pink, I wear gloss, I wear everything, but my husband prefers when I wear red. I want him to like me still! I remember the first time I wore dark red lipstick. I was maybe 18, and I can remember the moment I put it on — in my Honda Prelude that I bought for like, $3,000 — and looking in the mirror going, “Good, I like that.” Never again did I stop wearing it.
16. How do you get motivated to work out so religiously?
    I like to wear clothes. That’s the only reason. You can’t make a whole fashion collection and not be able to fit in it. Plus, I feel so much better. And if you work out, then you can eat!
17. What advice can you give to women who see your post-baby body and feel inspired?
    I have to work out before noon or I won’t do it. You just have to get what you want in your head. It’s hard, but it’s like a domino effect once you see the results. I think I’m like the average person when it comes to all those things, so if I can do it, then I think anyone can do it.
18. What’s your favorite meal to cook, your signature dish?
    I don’t cook. I can toast in the toaster. I can pour and set the table. No, Gavin is the one. It’s not even an option, he is so passionate about it. He cooks every day. He loves to go grocery shopping and find different things. I’m really lucky. It’s actually lucky and hard at the same time because sometimes you want to be fit and not eat it, but you have to eat it.
19. Are you and Gavin going to try for a little girl? Someone should get to inherit your wardrobe!
    I don’t know. Having children is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. No one could have prepared me for how awesome it is, and how hard. And having two boys — there’s a lot of energy. I mean, it does seem weird that I don’t have a girl, but I feel like I’m running out of time. I also don’t want to spread myself so thin that I can’t even be good for them. Poor Zuma, he’d be the middle guy. I’m not focusing on it right now, but it’s not up to me anyway, you know? These things are miracles, so we’ll see. Otherwise, the clothes are probably to go to some girlfriend of Kingston’s!
20. What do you consider to be your biggest career achievement to date?
    Walking through an airport in Israel, and soldiers with machine guns coming up and being like, “Don’t Speak.” Or meeting kids who tell you that you’ve changed their lives because the music is so powerful. Or seeing girls who are wearing my clothes and saved all their money to get them, and suddenly they have this style and “this is who I am,” and at that age it’s really important. I get to meet all those people, and it makes me feel so good.

Transcribed by Jenny from Beacon Street Online. What a star!

After two kids and 15 years at the top of the pops, Gwen Stefani and her trademark style-SoCal tomboy meets ultrapolished pinup-still win us over every time. by Maggie Bullock

Fresh off a No Doubt reunion tour and the spring show of her fashion line, L.A.M.B., Gwen Stefani touched down in New York recently to introduce the latest version of her Harajuku Girls fragrance franchise (this time,the fab five are reimagined as tanned, bikini-clad Sunshine Cuties). An inspiring blend of superstar and supermom, Stefani was in full regalia-sharp brows, pink-painted lips, gobs of gold jewelry-while Zuma, her one -year- old (”my bunny”, Gwen cooed) attempted a sweet escape from her hip.

Fans love that your look wasn’t dreamed up by some music exec; it’s very authentic.
No Doubt was together for nine years before we even got on the radio, and I’ve looked pretty much the same since the beginning. In one of the first interviews I ever did, I’m sitting on the floor, gluing together this jailbird costume – basically the same one I wore two years ago in The Sweet Escape video. I still use the same references: old-Hollywood Marilyn, chola girls, Anaheim girls, English schoolgirls, and Japanese Harajuku.

You seem to have an abiding love affair with Japan.
Whatever trend is happening there, it’s everywhere – like, oh my God, lots of zippers! I look at millions of Japanese magazines, and my design associate goes there on inspiration trips. I’ll be in bed at 11 PM and she’s sending me pictures.’ ‘Want this $350 fleece motocycle jacket for Kingston?” I’m like, ”Yes, he definitely needs a $350 motocycle jacket – not”.

Was the makeup at your spring runway show inspired by your own look?
I’ve basically done the same makeup since ninth grade: eyeliner, a strong brow, not much eye shadow, and red lips. For the show, we did the big thick liner I’ve always done,but in pop colors: red,blue and yellow. I thought it was going to look tough,but under the lights it was soft,pretty.

What’s the secret to doing your own makeup on tour?
Sweatproofing. I don’t know how many calories I must burn every night, I’m dying up there! You can get waterproof stuff at the beauty supply, but it’s mainly about layering.And double lashes! I stick two rows of false lashes together.Luckily on this tour,I had a little break to go backstage and re-spackle.

Do you ever leave the house without makeup?
I’m not in full-on makeup every day, but my husband and I just had our seventh anniversary – he makes an effort for me, I make an effort for him. It doesn’t take me very long. I’m fast!

Well, you have professional experience, right?
When I was 20, I worked in a department store – basically a mature women’s shop with, like, polyester slacks. The clothes were horrible, but I really enjoyed helping women pick outifts. Later, I graduated to be one of the stuck-up girls at the makeup counter, which was a big deal. I never thought I’d get there [laughs]! I got to smell all the fragrances and be with all the pretty girls and intimidate everyone. Well, I didn’t, but they did.

Where are you headed next?
Back into the studio for a new No Doubt album. I hope. I’ve had writer’s block a for a while, maybe because I was too homebound. How was I supposed to be modern when I was sitting there with this post-pregnancy body, in the house, banging my head against the wall! On tour,I freed all that up and got inspired.

Five years, a grip of side and solo projects, limitless speculation and a nursery (or two) full of babies later, No Doubt are heading back on the road. They’re ready, more or less.

“I think we’ll be just rehearsed enough to pull it off, not so well-rehearsed that something couldn’t go wrong,” guitarist Tom Dumont admits. “That’s just where you want to be at the beginning of a tour, I think.”

Dumont and Co. would know, having cut their teeth relentlessly touring their native Orange County prior to blowing up into one of the world’s biggest bands. But things have changed, both professionally and personally.

“It’s crazy, the last four or five years, everybody’s really grown up in the sense of – I got married, I have two kids,” Dumont says. “Gwen [Stefani] has two kids. So, I guess we’ve kind of just crossed into that next phase of our lives.”

The very same life changes have rendered speculation about production of the band’s yet-to-be-written or recorded fifth album; a wild goose chase, not only for rabid bloggers and fanboys, but for the band itself.

The seeds for a follow-up to 2001’s Rock Steady were planted in 2007 when, following a three-year hiatus in which Stefani cemented herself as a bona fide superstar with two wildly-successful solo albums and became a first-time mother, the singer voiced a desire to reunite the group.

“The idea was to have an album finished, you know, by the end of [2008] and tour this year, but you know, we didn’t get much done,” Dumont says.

When Stefani became pregnant with her second child, the record-writing process halted altogether.

“We’ve kind of never been fast at making records and writing albums,” Dumont says. “And, so towards the end of the year, after she had her baby and we realized we weren’t going to have an album ready, you know, we were kind of bummed because the touring part of the album is kind of the pay-off and the fun part. Hitting the road and playing live is kind of the blast of it all.”

Luckily for hoards of fans clamoring for tickets to this summer’s much-anticipated super tour, the draw of the road was too strong to foil the plan.

“The novel idea came up at the end of last year; ‘well, screw it, let’s just tour anyway,’” Dumont says.

“The idea was just to play shows and go and kind of revisit the early days of the band when we were a live band again, have fun together, and hopefully through that process we’ll get stoked and figure out what kind of album to make, how to make an album, what to write about, all that.”

As such, the Summer Reunion Tour with the likes of openers Paramore, The Sounds, Katy Perry and Panic at the Disco, will have a distinctly “greatest hits” flavor to it (Diamond-certified album Tragic Kingdom will provide plenty of ammo, alone).

Still, the wait for a new record for the first time in nearly a decade weighs heavily on everyone. What will it sound like? Lyrically, what direction will it head?

At this point, even the band has more questions than answers.

“I think it’s partially a matter of figuring out; ‘what is relevant to write about?’ Dumont says. “It’s that figuring out process: what do I have in common with these three guys now, and what kind of music makes sense for us to do? It’s kind of like getting reacquainted again, in a way, as friends and everything. It hasn’t been that long of a break, but it’s been long enough that, it’s like, what’s our common ground?”

And while No Doubt sorts through what remains, interpersonally, after a long layoff, the bigger challenge may be coming to grips with the dramatically-transformed world around them.

“It’s a hard thing to figure out, and the way the record business is, it’s hard to figure out if we make a record, who is it for? The world’s changed. Records are still meaningful and relevant, yet at the same time, they don’t have the cultural impact that they used to have. We’re never going to sell 10 million records again. Nobody does. It’s like the whole world is splintered into a thousand little pieces, which I think is a healthy thing for music,” Dumont says.

“It’s just up to us to figure out what’s our place in that, where do we fit in, and where can we do something that feels right and feels meaningful.”

In between bites of a Cobb salad at New York’s Tribeca Grand Hotel, Gwen Stefani is explaining why No Doubt is going on tour for the first time in five years without a new album to promote.

“Honestly, it’s procrastination,” she says with a sigh. “My plan was to get pregnant and write a record, but instead of writing, I just ate all the time.”

Stefani laughs as she pops a tomato in her mouth. “Writing is always really hard for me – I hate it and hate it and then I do it, and I’m happy it’s done,” she says. “I was blocked and I needed to get inspired, and I thought playing live would get the creative juices flowing again.”

Which isn’t to say Stefani and her No Doubt bandmates haven’t been busy since the 2001 release of their last album, “Rock Steady.” Stefani, who has two sons, ages 8 months and 3 years, released two solo albums, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.,” which sold 4 million copies, and “The Sweet Escape,” which sold 1.7 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Bassist Tony Kanal did production work on Stefani’s albums and wrote songs with artists including Pink. Guitarist Tom Dumont produced two records, scored a documentary and was a stay-at-home dad. Drummer Adrian Young did session work and played golf.

Now they’ll be together for a tour that starts Saturday (May 16) in Las Vegas and ends August 1 in Irvine, California.

Hitting the road without new material after years of relative silence might seem like a risk, but the band’s manager, Jim Guerinot, was delighted when the group approached him with the idea. “I think it’s the right move,” he says. “Even though they remained friends throughout the hiatus, they’ve all been working on other projects and haven’t spent a lot of time together. They’ve become more of a unit in the time they’ve been rehearsing together and played a few shows, and I think this will change things for the positive.”

A weight was lifted

So far, the reception has been enthusiastic. Tickets have been selling briskly for the shows; seven dates in Southern California have sold out, according to Live Nation spokesman John Vlautin, as have shows in Houston, Denver and at Jones Beach on New York’s Long Island.

The band started rehearsing in Hollywood, then set up shop in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to prepare for East Coast dates. “As soon as the pressure to make a new album was off, it was like a weight was lifted,” Stefani says. “I could get back into learning the songs and planning the show, and it was so much more fun than banging my head against a wall in the studio.”

No Doubt wants to make it clear that it’s not another ’90s band looking to hit the road and cash in on the band’s greatest hits. “I don’t see us as being part of that ’90s revival,” Kanal says. “We were always a band, even when we weren’t playing together.”

The group also wants to make sure its audience doesn’t consist entirely of twenty- and thirtysomethings who know the band only through “Just a Girl,” its 1995 breakthrough hit single. So it will give away digital copies of its three studio albums to anyone who buys tickets in the top two price tiers. (Seats for No Doubt’s run of summer dates range from $10 for lawn seats to $80 for the best seats, with $59.50 and $24.50 price points in between.)

“Tom had the idea to give the albums away electronically for free with the ticket purchase,” Guerinot says. “A lot of people like Gwen’s solo work but might not be as familiar with No Doubt. There are people who might not have listened to the records in a while.”

Dumont says that giving away the catalog seemed like an obvious value-add. “Lots of bands give away their new CDs, but we didn’t have one of those,” he says. “I’ve always thought you should be able to go and buy an entire catalog in one click, so you could get a broad representation of a band’s work.”

In his mind, giving the music to fans is a continuation of No Doubt’s time-tested strategy. “When we first started out, we had mailing lists and parties where we’d sit and lick stamps for hours. This is a more modern version of that. And we won’t get high off of licking stamp backing, either.”

Today and tomorrow

If the band is worried about fans forgetting the hits, it shouldn’t be. At recent performances on NBC’s “Today” and at the Bamboozle festival in New Jersey, the audience sang along as the band ripped through a set of its greatest hits, including “Spiderwebs,” “Don’t Speak” and its cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life.” The audience at both events leaned slightly older, and at Bamboozle, when Stefani asked those in the crowd to raise their hands if it was their first No Doubt show, many did. Still, they proceeded to sing along to most of the songs.

After the joys of parenthood and channeling their inner Tiger Woods, the band members will do their best to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the road. All admit to being fitness fanatics, and they’re indulging their need to jog while touring. “We travel with two personal trainers,” Kanal says. “We make hotels keep their gyms open late so we can work out. We’re getting older, and we can’t party like we used to.”

But Kanal says that being older has plenty of perks. “We got to live though the record industry in its heyday. When we started, we were in a van and looking for change under the seats so we could buy food. We went from that to having a hit and getting to do things like make music videos with million-dollar budgets.”

Stefani says she and the rest of the band aren’t interested in “gratuitous fame,” but she still finds herself in the spotlight. “I have to wear makeup to the gym because I get some dude doing sit-ups next to me and surreptitiously taking pictures,” she says.

And although Stefani cheerfully shows off pictures of her sons, Kingston and Zuma, she’d rather talk about her ventures as a businesswoman, albeit in a self-effacing manner. Her clothing line, LAMB, is in its seventh year, and she also has her own perfume. Still, Stefani is slow to take credit for it all.

“I’m a good collaborator,” she says. “I’m always open to other opinions, and I can do things like have meetings at my house and juggle it all. I’m actually heading to a five-hour meeting about the new line of handbags after this, and I’m pretty excited. I started it seven years ago and never thought it would last, but here we are.”

During the “Today” performance, Stefani and her cohorts were self-assured, despite worries the day before that they might forget parts of the set. There was a moment during the intro solo of the track “Don’t Speak” where a slight tension rose among the members, but it quickly dissipated as Dumont hit every chord and Stefani’s voice kicked in. Backstage, the visibly relaxed band conducted an interview with a local morning news anchor, who had attended some of the act’s mailing-list parties in the early ’90s in Orange County.

“We’re from Anaheim,” Stefani says with a laugh as she considers her opportunities. “This is cliche to say, but we never thought this would happen to us. We built a studio in the garage, and now we’re driving around on tour with a bus that has a studio in it. We survived it all and we’re still friends, and that’s great.”

On the second night of No Doubt’s new tour, Gwen Stefani looked into the sea of fans and screamed, “I fucking love this song!” before launching into “It’s My Life.” It’s the band’s first time on the road since 2004, and the adrenaline is pumping: Stefani also climbed a lighting rig and busted out a set of push-ups during the show, which highlighted the group’s hits. “We’re a live band — we had to get out there and reconnect onstage,” says bassist Tony Kanal, who filled usin on the band’s 55-date tour.

Why tour without a new CD?
We need to find our muse — that’s what this tour is for. Before we made Rock Steady, we has so much fun on the road — having dance parties — that we got excited about dancehall and went to Jamaica to record. When we started wrting our new album, the inspiration was missing, so we decided to get out and play.

Have you written any new tunes?
There’s tons of ideas, but we’re not far enough along to play anything live. I put a studio on my bus, so whenever there’s a long drive, I’ll invite my bandmates on board to work on music.

How is touring now that your bandmates all have kids?
It’s a totally different dynamic — there are five babies out there! Gwen and the guys have cribs on their buses; the afterparty room with the DJ rig and bar is being turned into a romper room.

What’s it like to play old songs?
Tragic Kingdom songs like “Happy Now?” and “End It On This” bring back memories. We’re so lucky to be doing this after 23 years. I know it’s difficult for other bands, but not for us. We actually like each other.

Thanks to Jenny at BSO for the transcription!

The singer-songwriter always knew No Doubt would rise again. No matter how long it took. By Randy Lewis

Gwen Stefani may be a superstar pop singer, hit songwriter, fashion maven and role model for millions of girls and young women, but on a brutally hot afternoon late last week, on a loading dock outside a largely empty sports arena in Ontario, she was just a mom, trying to keep her 3-year-old son entertained while she took on an impromptu decorating project.

“I don’t have time to do this, but you know me — once I get obsessed with something . . .,” Stefani said while splattering globs of sky blue, neon orange and electric pink paint across three large squares of white fabric. She and a couple of friends were creating tapestries that will hang in the backstage dressing rooms during the first full-scale concert tour in seven years by No Doubt, the once-scrappy ska-rock group that emerged from Anaheim to become one of the biggest-selling pop music acts of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Nearby, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, the first of Stefani’s two kids with rock star hubby Gavin Rossdale, frolicked over a separate sheet of material reserved for him. Eager to include his 8-month-old brother, Zuma, in the fun, James (as Stefani usually calls him) plopped his hands on his young sibling’s head.

Inside the 6-month-old Citizens Business Bank Arena a short time later, Stefani, bassist Tony Kanal, guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young were showing pretty much the same childlike exuberance and energy as they bounced around the gleaming white retro-futuristic stage set they were trying out for the first time before the tour kicks off Saturday in Las Vegas.

Following a group hiatus of five years while Stefani put out two multimillion-selling solo CDs, “Love.Angel.Music.Baby” and “The Sweet Escape,” No Doubt is back. From the early box-office response to nearly 60 shows across North America, the quartet is poised for one of the biggest tours of 2009.

During the break, many fans wondered whether Stefani’s solo career would mean the end of the road for the Orange County band that launched her, but in Stefani’s mind there was always No Doubt.

“The day I got home after my tour ended last year, I wanted to do a photo shoot with the group — I thought it was an important thing to do,” Stefani, 39, said during a lull in the show rehearsals. “This is what I told the guys: The plan was I wanted to do the dance record, go on the tour, come home and get pregnant — since I’m a pro at it now because I did it before,” she laughs, before elaborating on her plan. “I’ll write the record while I’m pregnant, then after I have the baby, we’ll go on tour and we’ll have a new No Doubt record. It’ll be amazing.”

Inspiration lacking

All but one part of that plan has worked out. Musical inspiration for Stefani, the main songwriter of such No Doubt hits as “Don’t Speak,” “Ex-Girlfriend,” “Just a Girl” and “Underneath It All,” just wasn’t there after she and Rossdale became expectant parents for the second time.

“It totally didn’t work,” Stefani said. “I don’t know how other women feel, but I lose connection with myself because my body becomes this other vessel for this other human, even after a few months, you don’t have your body back, you’re not yourself. I was feeling not very modern, not very creative.”

After a few months of fruitless writing sessions, Stefani, Kanal, Dumont and Young decided the best thing they could do to get the creative juices flowing again was to follow the path that had first served them so well: Go out and play.

“We’re not calling it a reunion tour, because the band never broke up,” manager Jim Guerinot said.

Disbanding “was never discussed,” Dumont, 40, said on the first of several days of band rehearsals in Ontario. “In fact, it was specifically discussed as ‘Let’s not be one of these bands that breaks up and gets back together.’ We don’t hate each other, it’s just time for a break. Gwen had some real specific things she wanted to do with the time.”

The last time No Doubt toured was in 2004, performing just more than a dozen shows in conjunction with a hits compilation, “The Singles: 1992-2003.” It was 2002 when the group last mounted a full-scale concert tour, following the 2001 release of its last studio album, “Rock Steady.”

That’s when Stefani realized she had some career steps to take outside the parameters of the band she joined as a teenager, entering the group as “Just a Girl” singer before taking over the role of chief songwriter after her older brother, Eric, left the band to pursue his dream career as an animator for “The Simpsons.”

Following No Doubt’s 2004 tour, she intended to put out just one, as she often called it, “stupid dance record” on her own. “Love.Angel.Music.Baby” sold 4 million copies in the U.S. and yielded hit singles including “Hollaback Girl,” “What You Waiting For” and “Cool.”

Guilty feelings

What she hadn’t figured on was doing a follow-up, which left No Doubt in limbo a couple of years longer than the musicians initially anticipated. During that time Stefani also launched her phenomenally popular L.A.M.B. fashion line.

“All I know how to do is follow my inspiration,” Stefani said in a separate interview in her dressing room. “That’s why I did those dance records, it’s where I wanted to be. . . . I really didn’t plan to do the second one. I felt guilty about it, and it was a real scary conversation to say, ‘Listen guys, I feel like I’m this close to another one, it’s really what I want to do right now.’ They were really so supportive and thank God I did it, because that tour was so rewarding, such a great thing for me to do.

“But as soon as I finished that second record, literally it was during mastering of that record I was like, ‘I know I need to do another No Doubt record now. I’m done with this.’ ”

While their celebrity band mate toured and appeared on one magazine cover and TV talk show after another, Kanal, Dumont and Young kept busy. Kanal collaborated with other songwriters, he and Dumont produced recordings for other artists, Young kept his drum chops up guesting with a variety of bands on the road and in the studio.

Dumont and Young also started families of their own, something Kanal and his girlfriend of 6 1/2 years hope to do as well.

“For the first time ever we have our own buses,” Kanal said. “That’s purely out of necessity because Gwen’s got her nannies and the babies on her bus, and Tom has his wife and his nanny and baby, and Adrian his wife, nanny and their son. That’s going to be an interesting dynamic, a little bit of a change, by default. It’ll be interesting to see how all that plays out.”

New fans

No Doubt is finding it illuminating to pick up where the group left off five years ago. Earlier this month the group played a couple of warm-up shows, minus the full stage production that will be unveiled publicly on Saturday.

During the band’s headlining set two weeks ago at the Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, N.J., Stefani asked how many in the crowd were seeing the group for the first time.

“I was just in so much shock by the amount of hands that went up,” Stefani said. “I’m still sort of like: Did they understand the question? Because it was like the whole audience. . . . I still don’t know if maybe they heard me wrong or what, but it was kind of exciting.”

Manager Guerinot says he hasn’t been completely surprised by the enthusiasm he’s witnessed so far. “They’ve been away for five years,” he said. “Gwen had spectacular success in the interim, people remember this band as a tremendous live attraction and I think there’s an awful lot of pent-up interest in whether we’d see No Doubt again.”

The group has sold out four nights at the 15,000-capacity Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine – they’ll play July 31 and Aug. 1, 2 and 4 – and three L.A. shows at the Gibson Amphitheatre in late July.

All four band members say they aren’t interested in milking the nostalgia circuit, and that they consider this tour a steppingstone in the creative process, much like the way they operated in the beginning, before their 1995 album “Tragic Kingdom” transformed them into one of the world’s most popular acts.

“It feels so much more right than I thought it was going to feel,” Stefani said. “Physically it feels right – I feel powerful again, I feel modern again. And I have my little baby, and everything feels so great in that kind of way. And on top of that, the welcome we’re getting: Selling out the four Irvine shows, we’re feeling bigger than we’ve ever been.”

No Doubt kicks off tour in Borgata by Alan Scully

When No Doubt went on hiatus in 2004, nobody in the band faced a bigger adjustment than Tony Kanal, the band’s bassist and along with singer Gwen Stefani, a key songwriting contributor for the band.

For Stefani, the break gave her the opportunity to launch her solo career, which she did with great success. She made two CDs – “Love.Angel.Music.Baby” and “The Sweet Escape” – each of which went platinum and allowed her to stretch musically into a sound that liberally mixed hip-hop and dance styles with pop. She also married former Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, with whom she has had two sons.

Guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young, who are also married and parents, got in some family time, pursued outside music projects and also had time for their favorite hobbies – surfing and golf, respectively.

Kanal, though, faced a different set of circumstances. By his own admission, he didn’t have any real outside interests or hobbies. Since No Doubt formed in 1986, he had basically immersed himself in the group 24-7.

“I think the first couple of years, to be honest, were kind of a challenge, the vacuum that’s kind of created by something that you had been doing at that point, what, 16 or 17 years,” says Kanal, whose band performs at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa on Saturday, May 2. “It’s just like, ‘Wow, now what?’ But I did a lot of soul searching and I worked on music for the first couple of years, doing soundtrack stuff and working with some other people.

“And then I kind of took a break from music for a couple of years. I had bought a new house and my girlfriend and I put our whole lives into this house and just really dove in deep. And you know, I think looking back on it now, that was a good thing because it gave me some perspective on my life and music and stuff.”

After working on his house, and realizing that the No Doubt hiatus was going to stretch on a bit longer, Kanal decided to really explore a musical life outside of the band.

“I started writing with a lot of other artists and songwriters and working with other artists and pushing myself out of my comfort zone,” he says. “I think all those are great learning experiences and they’re really important in this creative journey that you’re on. Also, I think you bring all of this stuff back to the band then.”

Unfortunately, the outside musical projects of Kanal and his three bandmates have yet to produce the payoff the band wants most – an inspired and focused musical direction for the next No Doubt CD.

This also brings us to this summer’s No Doubt tour, an outing Kanal says is very much a part of the quest to find a musical direction for the next CD.

“The reason for this tour is because while we were in the writing process last year, there was something missing,” Kanal says.

“We haven’t found that thing that’s the unifying, guiding light, for lack of a better way to describe it. So Gwen said, ‘Hey, why don’t we go play some shows?’ I think it’s going to be incredibly productive and a great way to inspire some creativity for making the new record,” he says.

The band is returning to the road on a grand scale, headlining amphitheaters and bringing out a full visual production, some of which is based around the movie, “A Clockwork Orange.”

“It is one of I’d say half a dozen or so points of reference that we are using for the tour design and for wardrobe and for stage design,” Kanal says, declining to disclose other facets of the production.

As for the music, fans that come out may get a few surprises from the song selection for this summer’s shows.

“In addition to playing all of the singles, we dug a little deeper into a couple of the records and we pulled out some songs that we haven’t played in a long time that still really get us excited, (make us) feel something emotionally and are still fun to play,” Kanal says.

In writing for the new CD, Kanal says the band is looking for the same inspiration it found for making the “Rock Steady” album – a song or theme that drives the rest of the album.

“That’s what happened with ‘Rock Steady,’ with writing (the song) ‘Hey Baby,’” Kanal says. “That was kind of our take on Jamaican dancehall music. All of a sudden, this very happy and fun party record kind of unfolded in front of us. Not to use a pun, but I have no doubt we’re going to find that and it’s just right in front of us,” he says. “And as soon as it makes itself clear, we’ll be going full steam ahead.”

No Doubt

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, May 2

WHERE: Event Center, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City

HOW MUCH: Tickets, priced at $105, are available at the Borgata box office, www.theborgata.com or ComcastTix at 800-298-4200.

WEB SITE: www.nodoubt.com

No Doubt’s Musical Progression

Initially formed more than 20 years ago, No Doubt has progressed artistically over the course of five studio albums. In its 1992 self-titled debut, the band came to the table with influences ranging from Madness to Blondie. While the album was not considered a commercial success, No Doubt built a name for itself in the southern California punk scene. Its pop-tinged anthems, complemented by the bouncy guitar lines of ska, offered an alternative to the increasingly popular grunge genre.

The band harnessed its raw energy into polished pop songs on 1995’s “Tragic Kingdom,” which netted No Doubt two Grammy nominations. Shaped by the breakup of singer Gwen Stefani and bassist Tony Kanal’s relationship, the album featured the heart-wrenching “Don’t Speak,” leading to sales of more than a quarter of a million copies.

Stefani jumped to the forefront as a songwriter with 2000’s “Return of Saturn,” with tracks such as “Simple Kind of Life” and “Ex-Girlfriend.” Then, in 2001, No Doubt embraced a more pop-centric sound on “Rock Steady” and incorporated a dancehall reggae influence, a progression of its past ska tendencies. The album boasted two Grammy-winning singles, “Hey Baby” and “Underneath It All.”

Fans can hear No Doubt’s musical progression with the purchase of online tickets for Borgata’s show. A free download of the band’s entire digital audio catalog is offered with each ticket purchased.
- Christine Ernest

Gwen Stefani and No Doubt kick off reunion tour at Borgata by Ed Conran

When a recording artist possesses star quality, it’s usually fairly apparent. That’s typically so well before a singer-songwriter goes national. While having drinks, hot water and whiskey, with Courtney Love, circa 1991, it was obvious that the virtually unknown, yet larger-than-life rocker was destined to become a star. But then there was Dave Matthews. After chatting with the laidback Matthews before an early club show once, I never in a million would have guessed the soft-spoken, unassuming songsmith would become an icon.

And then there is Gwen Stefani, who fits somewhere in the middle between Love and Matthews. It was obvious that the bottle-blonde No Doubt vocalist from Orange County, Calif., wanted to become a pop sensation.

That was part of her appeal during the early to mid ’90s. Tough girls ruled that classic misnomer, “alternative” world. In 1994, the resilient Bikini Kill leader Kathleen Hanna was leading a riot girl revolution. Who would mess with a rocker who was screaming for vengeance?

Well, Hole’s Love beat up Hanna backstage at Lollapalooza in 1995 while she was busy touring behind Hole’s breakthrough release Live Through This. But that’s another story. And there were such female acts as Babes in Toyland and L7, possibly the hardest looking band I ever met. They were the last people you would want to see in a bar fight unless they were on your side.

And then there was the cute, non-threatening Stefani. Shortly after the release of No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom back in the autumn of 1995, 20 or so curious ska-pop fans caught the obscure band at the Middle East, a small Philadelphia comedy club that also hosted rock shows. Bands didn’t care for the venue since they had to haul gear up three floors and, well, it was a comedy venue, so it was hurting on atmosphere.

After a spirited set of ska-pop, Stefani hung out and told the few fans in attendance that she and her bandmates were going to catch Dance Hall Crashers across town. Within months, No Doubt broke through courtesy of Tragic Kingdom. Within 18 months, No Doubt packed 3,000 seaters.

Thirteen years later, No Doubt has sold more than 27 million albums and won two Grammys. The group, which has been on hiatus since 2004, will kick off a reunion tour Saturday at the Borgata. Tickets to the band’s shows are as hot as the glamorous Stefani, who has become a solo sensation.

“The fans have always loved Gwen,” guitarist Tom Dumont said during a late 1996 chat. “There’s just something about her.”

The band’s ska-pop sound is catchy but Dumont is correct. It all emanates from Stefani.

During the mid-’90s, grunge reigned supreme. Musical heroes dressed down in flannel and their tortured souls created bleak tunes. And then there was Stefani, who had much more in common with Debbie Harry than gritty girl rockers such as Corin Tucker of Sleater Kinney fame. Stefani sang of being just a girl or being caught in the spiderwebs. Her appeal was obvious when No Doubt’s ballad “Don’t’ Speak” set a record when it spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart throughout the summer of ’96.

“Things really took off for us after ‘Don’t Speak’ hit,” Dumont said. “Things changed and a lot had to do with Gwen and the video. If you didn’t think she was a star before ‘Don’t Speak’ she was definitely a star after that video just took off.”

Indeed. Stefani has that certain something that special performers possess. It’s that intangible, which Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Madonna, a distant cousin of Stefani’s, also have in spades. You can’t take your eyes off of those performers when they take the stage. They command your attention. Fewer and fewer younger performers have that connection.

But Stefani and her bandmates, which include bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young, possess a great deal of showmanship. No Doubt shows are all about entertainment. Stefani and Co. put on performance clinics.

No Doubt is working on a new album, which is slated for 2010. A tour supporting the disc will likely follow. But how long will Stefani hang with her bandmates before embarking on another solo venture? Both of her solo albums, 2004’s Love, Angel, Music, Baby and 2006’s The Sweet Escape went multi-platinum.

Kanal has worked with Stefani. Dumont spends considerable time with his side project Invincible Overlord. Young plays drums for the band Bow Wow Wow and has worked with Unwritten Law. Young will also keep time for Dilana Robichaux (of Rockstar Supernova fame).

And then there are the extracurricular activities. Stefani is a fashion designer and a mother of two sons, two-year old Kingston and eight-month old Zuma. Stefani has also dabbled in acting. She played legendary actress Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator.

There’s no doubt that Stefani is terribly busy. How long until No Doubt is on hiatus again? Who knows, and who knows if it’s going to be long term. Fans should just revel in the fact that there is going to be at least two years worth of No Doubt. The group’s return is welcome since No Doubt is one of the more stylish, energetic and entertaining acts on the circuit. The act can be campy, theatrical and boisterous. And then there is the band’s music, which ranges from celebratory to poignant.

It’s not a bad package from a band that once hoped to be on the cult level ala the aforementioned Dance Hall Crashers. No Doubt went much further and the group is back for a long run.