(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-29 17:31

True Blue: Samantha Cameron (left) told Harper's Magazine that Gwen Stefani is her 'alter ego'

"On my days off, I used to sleep in for as long as I could and then do a workout or go shopping. Now I get up early, play with Kingston and go out. For the first time, I'm actually seeing the places I'm visiting."

Stefani has sold 30 million albums since joining Orange County ska group No Doubt as a fresh-faced 17-year-old in 1986.

That band, heavily influenced by British acts Madness and The Specials, paid their dues on the LA club circuit before chalking up a global hit with Don't Speak in 1997.

Gwen plans to rejoin No Doubt in 2008, but the past three years have found her concentrating on an eclectic, unconventional side-project that has spawned two zany albums, the Eighties-influenced Love Angel Music Baby, from 2004, and last year's more modern The Sweet Escape.

But Stefani, who has worked with collaborators as diverse as Pharrell Williams, Andre 3000, Linda Perry and Keane, does not view either record as a solo album.

"That's what everyone calls them, but I'd be embarrassed to call myself a solo artist. Maybe one day I'll sit down at the piano and make a proper solo album.

"But the records I've made so far have been collaborations. I like letting other people into my world.

"I enjoy working with people who are intimidating to be around in the studio, people from different walks of music. Sometimes it is torture, but it has helped to keep everything fresh.

"It was all about making the greatest, most fun record."

And despite her upfront, confrontational style, Stefani insists that her "overall thing isn't sexy", an approach she puts down to her strict Catholic upbringing in comfortable Anaheim, California.

Her father Dennis worked as a Yamaha executive while mother Patti was an accountant who gave up work to bring up Gwen and her three siblings, one of whom, older brother Eric, was a founder member of No Doubt.

"I had very cool parents. Although they were very strict, they were also creative. My mom made all my clothes and they used to take us to art shows and bluegrass festivals.

"They were very folky, two high-school sweethearts who just wanted to settle down and have four children.

"That was what made me who I am today. From the age of 17, I was in a band with a bunch of guys. But, from my shoulders up, I was also very feminine. I've always been into dressing up and playing the Barbie Doll, but I don't think of myself as a sex symbol.

"I'm not the kind of woman who would appear in Maxim magazine. I don't want guys lusting after me. I'd be so embarrassed."

One woman who recently owned up to being a big fan of Stefani style is Samantha Cameron, wife of Tory leader David, who claimed in a magazine that she would love to dye her hair blonde just like Gwen, who she referred to as her "alter-ego".

Stefani confesses to not knowing too much about the Camerons - she was even unaware that she had a new fan - but is pleased enough with the compliment.

"Are you serious! That's crazy! I'm really proud of that kind of stuff. When I started in No Doubt, I never had the support of women.

"But then I started writing songs like Just A Girl, and that changed. I suddenly saw mirror-images of myself in the crowd. That was a very cool feeling."

Stefani is looking forward to completing her current tour and spending a few months with her husband and son in their London townhouse.

After that, still an Orange County girl at heart, she will head back to California for the No Doubt reunion. She might even catch up on some sleep.

"It's hard," she says. "I'm trying to focus on where I am right now, but I also feel that this is the end of a chapter. I never intended to play live so soon after having a baby, but making those two albums was so great that it inspired me to tour.

"I won't be doing these songs again, though. I'm going to miss them, but now I've got a light bulb in my head telling me what kind of music No Doubt should be making. I'm going back to my roots."

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