I can’t wait to get out and on tour again this year. I felt like I got ripped off on the last tour because I was pregnant with Kingston. I would be seriously crying before I went onstage. I didn’t know how I was going to get through the tour, putting on nine costume changes on a stage in front of 12,000 people every night. And I didn’t want people to know I was pregnant. I didn’t want to become the Gwen Freak Circus Show – “Watch it grow onstage”. And I’m really looking forward to touring Europe. I want to go to Austria because The Sound of Music is my favourite musical ever.
My son Kingston is so chilled. He goes with me everywhere. He’s been to every studio in LA, New York, London. He lives up to his name, he’s a total Rasta boy. He’s fine with travel. He slept last night, but I was jet lagged. I was like, wow, I’m really going to regret this in the morning.
I live in two countries. Gavin [Rossdale, her husband and lead singer in Bush] and I split our time between our houses in London and LA. When we’re in London, my in-laws are always taking Kingston everywhere.
My second album was the result of a plane ride. Pharrell [Williams, the hip-hop producer] called a year ago and said, “Do you want to come down to Miami and write some more songs?” I thought, am I going to take this time away from my husband and fly across America to Miami? But I did it because I felt like I had to. I thought, he’s asking me, how can I miss the opportunity? Ended up writing the album.
I’ve always been a fan of Japan. I’ve loved its mix-and-match fashion sense since first visiting the country with No Doubt in the mid- 1990s. My dancers, The Harajuku Girls, are basically me saying how great that culture is. I was surprised by how racist interviewers were about them. Everybody’s making jokes about Japanese girls and the stereotypes. I had no idea I’d be walking into that. The Harajuku Girls are fun!
Interview by Stephen Armstrong.
