Gwen Stefani's advice to young musicians: 'Be true to yourself'

Gwen Stefani is nothing if not a chameleon. From her early years as the punk darling fronting No Doubt to her off-beat HollabackGirl era to her present, endearing, diamond-in-the-rough persona, Stefani has managed to carve out her own artistic quarry — a space space for her to metamorphose without ever losing the loyalty of her eclectic fanbase.

Now, in the wake of Stefani's latest album release, the This Is What The Truth Feels Like artist is sharing her secrets to success. During a recent interview with LinkedIn, Stefani discussed everything from the key to a powerhouse single to her advice to young musicians. "People should always do what's genuine to them and their heart," she said. "Try to be true to yourself because people…see right through that stuff. For me, I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be anywhere outside of my dad's garage."

Among other highlights from the chat?

The reality of the music industry: 

"There are a lot of opportunities…to just put out one song. Right now, if I wanted to, I could be like, 'Guess what I'm doing this weekend? I'm going to write a new song.' And if I really wanted to, I could just put it up on iTunes."

The secret to a hit single: 

"I think that singles are a mystery and you can think about them as much as you want, but that doesn't mean you're going to ever get one…it doesn't matter if you work with the greatest single makers…which I've done… it doesn't work like that. There's a magical piece to it."

...and the importance of following your heart: 

"An example of this would be, 'Gwen, the record feels too personal. We think you should just put out an artistic body of work.' At that point, they were probably right, because I hadn't written the rest of the record. Instead of listening to that and quitting… I went back in and I wrote Used To Love You the next day. I sent it to them… and for the first time ever somebody from a record company called me to say that they thought I had a big record."

Watch the full interview below.