A young and energetic Gwen McCrae Stefani moved into the music spotlight in 1987 as the sexy lead singer for the band No Doubt. One of her biggest hits in the '90s with the cross-mixed group of ska-punk and new wave fashion was a single called "Don't Speak," one of the tracks from No Doubt's Grammy nominated third album Tragic Kingdom. The video for "Don't Speak," a play on inner jealousy in a band, accumulated plenty of play on MTV, giving the group and its lead singer a chance to reach even more fans. The rest, as they say, is musical history!

Gwen Stefani is cruising right along on her first solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby. She refers to it at all times as "my dance record" and is very happy to chat about it whenever the occasion arises.

You said a month or so ago that you had become "overwhelmed" with the responsibility of not only coming up with words and melodies but also steering the ship and making all the songwriting and arrangements calls yourself ... is that still true today? "It has been really challenging, but over the last few weeks since it's been out I've been able to turn a corner, yes."

Is there a fear that people will mistake this solo effort for a new No Doubt CD? "I think this album sounds totally different than any No Doubt stuff we've done. There's some strange stuff on here that No Doubt wouldn't have dared include on any of their albums," she laughs.

Tell me more about the process behind your creating of this new solo CD "I guess it all started to come together on the way home from London back a few months ago. I stopped off in Atlanta to finish some tracks with Dallas Austin. I got three done and we then went on to finish two more there in LA the next weeek. Some of the songs are a real mixture of everything we loved growing up: Prince, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, and Club Nouveau."

Anything new to tell us and your fans? "The first collection of LAMB is coming out anytime in stores! It is very exciting for me. It has been a project I have been working on for over two years. It is an interesting process because by the time the clothes come out they seem almost old to me. I want to go and see them in the stores. I am always most excited about whatever I am working on at the moment. I am currently working on Spring 2005!! Crazy how it works. I feel like LAMB is something that is going to take a long time to grow. It is still at the baby stage and I am still learning about design."

Will you still be working with LeSportsac? "I just signed on to do one more season with LeSportsac. I couldn’t say no. It is really funny to see everyone with the bags. The second shipment for Spring 2004 is hot and should be out soon. I just started Fall 2004 and I am really excited for these ones. It is so fun to make bags selfishly for me!"