You’ve probably heard that Blender ceased publication last week; I’m sorry to see it go, and not just because I know a lot of people who worked there.

I wrote exactly one article for Blender: it was the cover story of their second issue, early enough in the game that Craig Marks wasn’t yet running the show and they hadn’t even started putting issue dates on the front of the magazine. It was an interview with Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, representing for the “50 Sexiest Artists of All Time” (far from the last time Blender would run a list like that). My marching orders were to spend about half the interview probing Stefani for her opinions on sexiness and the other half covering what was going on in her life and career. I did just that–and then observed with some amusement how the editing process systematically stripped out just about everything in the interview that wasn’t about the sexy.

I had met Stefani many times before: in 1996, I spent quite a bit of time on the road with Everclear and Bush–and in each case, No Doubt were the opening act. Stefani was a good sport through the whole interview, but she was obviously uncomfortable talking about sexuality, and visibly relaxed when we turned to other matters. She and Gavin Rossdale are married now, of course, and have two sons together. The song Stefani calls “Boys and Girls” was ultimately named “Hey Baby,” and hit #5 on the pop charts.

I’ve added the interview to the archives, restoring it to its original length (and removing some of the editorial tweaks)–if you want to know more about Stefani’s college major, her collaborations with Dr. Dre and Moby, or how she ended up with pink hair, then you can read about it here.

posted 1 April 2009 in Archives, Articles and tagged Blender, Gwen Stefani, No Doubt. 2 comments