Gwen:
I'm Gwen and this is Shalom, one of the cutest girls I've seen in real life.

Shalom:
Awww! Thank you. You're not so bad yourself.

Gwen:
Awww...thanks!

Shalom:
So you said earlier you don't really enjoy working out, but it's something that you have to do. Why is that?

Gwen:
Exactly. Well I was like a chubby girl, a chubby kid my whole life. So it's just something that I've always had to work on.

Shalom:
Well I read something that your mom put you on a diet when you were 10 years old.

Gwen:
Yeah, well you see I had a big Italian grandma. Like this big (her arms stretched out). She was really cute and I used to cuddle in her chubby arms. The reason I work out these days is because if I didn't, I would be like a rock on stage and I can't do that.

Shalom:
Right, because you're so active. It's like a full workout in itself, your show. You've been touring for a year now.

Gwen:
One year. This August, one year. I've been home probably under 20 days.

Shalom:
My Lord. Do you miss your family?

Gwen:
Yeah. I miss my little niece.

Shalom:
You've been all over the world in the past year.

Gwen:
Yeah, actually we just went to Europe for the first time a couple months ago.

Shalom:
That was your first time in Europe? Did you get a chance to see any of the sights.

Gwen:
I got to see all the chocolates and cheeses and breads.

Shalom:
Mmmmmm! I know. The food's incredible. Did you expect this kind of success?

Gwen:
Well, um, I'm just a loser from Anaheim, and I didn't think that would even come out. I mean I don't think any of the band did. It's not easy. It's a lot of work. But it's a lot of fun.

Shalom:
Right! The rewards are great! Have you enjoyed song writing? Cause with this last album you really started getting involved in the whole lyrical process?

Gwen:
Definitely, this record came from my heart. (Gwen points to her heart) Right here!

Shalom:
Right.

Gwen:
Instead of singing a song about getting my wisdom teeth pulled, like I've done in the past, I could sing a song about being a chick or about my boyfriend breaking up with me.

Shalom:
I'm sure you do a lot of that on stage too. That's got to be a good releasing process... just getting up there and screaming!

Gwen:
I can't imagine..I release a lot of things. I wonder if I didn't do any of this, what would happen. I'd probably explode.

Shalom:
I've heard you say that you notice there's a lot more girls in your audience lately. Just in the pit. A lot more girls involved in the show.

Gwen:
I can remember...definitely we paid our dues. You know? 9 years of working really hard.

Shalom:
It's amazing you've stayed together for all those years.

Gwen:
I know! We just keep climbing and climbing and climbing.

Shalom:
Right. It's like, "we've fooled them all."

Gwen:
Definitely, we were just trying to enjoy it while we got it and suddenly...We're the cool kids on the block and everybody wants to be our friends. So we're like, okay, we'll play with you.

Shalom:
So we're going to head up to Roseland, where you're playing tonight and go through some of your clothes.

So here we are at Roseland in New York City. This is where your show is tonight.

Gwen:
Yeah... the Roseland.

Shalom:
So what kind of show is this for you? Is it a big show?

Gwen:
We, um, actually... yeah! It is a big show for us considering we haven't played New York very much and last time we played here we played Tramps which is smaller. It was an amazing show.

Shalom:
But this is your own show. You're not opening for anybody.

Gwen:
Yeah! This is our gig.

Shalom:
You have fun with your shows. It's not just you up there singing.

Gwen:
Totally. This is my jail outfit, and I actually glued all of this on. That's how stupid I was.

Shalom:
So how did you get into this? With your mother?

Gwen:
My mom, she always sewed clothes for me and my sister like matching outfits and all that stuff and then I just started getting into it and I felt desperate to have my own clothes. Playing shows every night it's like you find something that works, like, okay I need baggy pants that I can move in and I need something that's stretchy that I can.. you know what I mean? Like I have all these limitations. So I found things that worked and then we were kind of knocking them off.

Shalom:
(holding up silver striped pants) What fun!

Gwen:
Apparently, it was worn one time by a woman that went to an Elvis concert.

Shalom:
Whoa!

Gwen:
I was like whoa! But it was like brand new when I got it.

Shalom:
Basically, you're your own designer as well.

Gwen:
Right, pretty much. Deborah and me kind of collaborate. Like I have has the basic ideas and then she'll do a little detailing.

I really kind of like primary colors you know... I'm like really into it. I think just growing up in Orange county next to Disneyland.

Shalom:
Not only do you stylize your own wardrobe, you've got quite a look going for you. I've noticed you always have different hair colors. You told me you cut your own hair.

Gwen:
I'm always changing. I'm such a girlie chick, it's stupid! I just makeover myself constantly.

Shalom:
So, I see that there's purple streaks back here somewhere how did that happen?

Gwen:
I did that the other day by accident.

Shalom:
Sound check now? You have to run.

Gwen:
You want to come do it with me?

Shalom:
Yeah!

Gwen:
Can you sing by the way? Do you want to meet the boys?

Shalom:
Yeah, let's meet the boys.

Gwen:
This is Adrian. He's our drummer. This is Tony, obviously, the bass player. This is Tom our guitar player. We have some horn players too but they ditched us.