Bush's Gavin Rossdale is better known these days as Mr Gwen Stefani. He talks music and paparazzi to Scott Kara
Even if you don't like Gavin Rossdale's music you can see what his wife, Gwen Stefani, who's a bit of a looker herself, sees in him.He's got that tanned British skin rather than the pasty white stuff, a faint covering of stubble, and smouldering model eyes. And with his athletic physique you can see why he's a shining light on the celebrity tennis circuit in his second hometown of Los Angeles.Lounging in a suite at the city's W Hotel, Rossdale is softly spoken, casual and open, talking about Stefani and the couple's two-year-old son Kingston as freely as his music.Since marrying Stefani in 2002, he's become best known as Gwen's hubby and that's how many people would like it to stay. You see, his post grunge band Bush, who were defined by Rossdale's overwrought yowl, his stream-of-consciousness lyrics and heavy, dramatic guitars divided opinion. Due to hits such as Glycerine and Swallowed, the British quartet became one of the biggest bands of the mid-1990s, especially in the United States where they were far more popular than in their homeland. For some though, the songs had the same dreary effect Creed or Nickelback might have had a few years back.
In 2002, after five albums, including 1994 debut Sixteen Stone and follow-up Razorblade Suitcase, Rossdale ended Bush in light of declining record sales and a lack of support from record company Atlantic. Following that, he reckons, he lost focus."After being in Bush it's really hard not to be in a band that you have come to define yourself by and that's probably a good lesson in not defining yourself by your work. So I just didn't know what to do and which direction to go in."He broke his musical silence in 2005 with a difficult sounding album with band Institute - "Not many people heard about it, apart from U2, who seemed to like it and they took us on tour," he laughs - but it's been a long time between albums for Rossdale who releases his debut solo album, Wanderlust, on Monday."No one prepares you for fame and success in the same way as no one prepares you for sliding off and sliding away. My career has had the ups, and the downs, and I took so long to get a record deal because they always blamed my voice, that I couldn't sing."But there is something universal about the new record and I think people will be able to relate to it because it does accept defeat in certain areas and it does accept losing in places." Another weighty distraction for Rossdale has been getting used to living with "a force of nature like Gwen"."When I first got married and I'd walk into the bedroom at night and I'd be like, `Am I going to be here again tomorrow?'. It's a bit overwhelming really," he laughs.
