American Girl Group Interview

In their early days, an all-female indie rock band from Los Angeles war paint, Formed on Valentine’s Day in 2004, the band remained a subject of interesting, but disappointing, merit to music critics. The group consisted of Emily Kokal (vocals, guitar), Theresa Wayman (vocals, guitar), Jenny Lee Lindberg (bassist) and Stella Mozgawa (drummer).emo rock witches And “Californian Pythias,

Or we saw them as the troubled and dark little sisters of the Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure. Reportedly difficult in interviews, he embodied a kind of mysterious art-rock elite who happily flirted with Hollywood. Actress Shannin Sossamon (Holiday, laws of attraction) was part of the group. Several members of Warpaint have starred in films and have had famous love relationships. Controversial actor Vincent Gallo, musical prodigy John Frusciante, member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and cult clipper Chris Cunningham (who has worked for Björk, Aphex Twin, and Madonna) are among the musicians’ former flames.

Interview with the group Warpaint on the album Radiate Like This And His 20 year career

This very charming and very spectacular mythology (photos of the quartet look like the lookbooks of Urban Outfitters stores) has sometimes overshadowed the group’s musical power. Over the course of three albums, the musicians have never stopped pushing the boundaries of rock. Their complex melodies borrow equally from New Wave as well as post-rock, synthpop and spectral folk. The four artists, with a certain magic, manage to weave captivating melodies, based on multiple layers of sensual vocal harmonies and layers of hypnotic guitar playing.

The Americans also proved that they performed equally well in the obvious hits (their pop hits). new song, which has received millions of views on YouTube) compared to more “ambient” vaping chants. The “alternative” stars, while not spoiling anything, have sharpened their almost embarrassing “live” charisma by touring with Depeche Mode, The xx, Harry Styles and… management first,

While their fourth album, dazzling and atmospheric, was released in 2022 radiate like thisWe met the group’s two lead singers, Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman, in a bar in Paris, who turned out to be far more friendly, cheerful and talkative than the legend surrounding them.

“The song Send Nudes is pretty obvious…(laughs). We’re begging someone to send us their nudes.” war paint

Number: Album Title radiate like this And its cover, which shows a colorful sky, suggests that you are in a brighter mood than usual…

Emily Kokal :The album title comes from a song on the album, melting, He It may resonate in different ways but to me it conveys a very open, warm and hopeful message. On the cover is a photo taken on an airplane by the father of my daughter, who is two years old and was born on the first day of confinement in Los Angeles (she is standing quietly in her mother’s lap at the time of the interview). We were going to Mexico when he shot her. It’s reminiscent of the sky we saw in the Joshua Tree desert in south-eastern California, where we met with the other girls to record this new album. The energy of the record largely comes from these landscapes that surround us out there. Space and nature helped me focus and navigate my attention deficit disorder. For me it was a more conducive environment for creation than the city.

Theresa Wayman :This trip to the desert allowed us to bring more space and clarity into our music. It helped to incorporate more atmospheric elements, some sound vibrations. As for the cover photo, which shows a certain distance and perspective, it invites us to see everyday things from another perspective. This is a major theme of the songs on our new album. If we step out a little from the situation in which we are entangled, we realize that many details can change. Everything shines brighter with a broader view. And together we shine brighter than alone.

the name of one of your songs is send socks, Second, the champion, talks about empowerment and the desire to transcend oneself. You said about him: “It’s about becoming a champion for yourself and others. We are all in this together, life is too short not to strive for excellence in everything we do, Your articles seem clearer than before…

Emily Kokal: Yes send socks It’s quite obvious…(laughing). We beg someone to send us their nude photos. We’ve really tried to be a little more understandable and direct in our new songs than our last album.

In recent years, you have multiplied your solo adventures and great escapes. Theresa, you’re in LA and have released a solo album and launched a lingerie line. Emily, you split your time between LA, Oregon and Joshua Tree, embracing a new spirituality and sobriety and collaborating with artists like rapper Saul Williams. Jenny Lee moved to Utah, pursuing personal music and painting. Stella, who moved to Australia, is a drummer who has been in demand by musicians such as Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett. I read that you almost went broke after your album was released conscious (2016)…

Emily Kokal: I don’t know if it has anything to do with feminine energy, which can change. Personally, I need to see a great movie to inspire me to visit the city where the action takes place. As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to stay committed to any one project. Especially since the group has been in existence for eighteen years. We always wanted to control the telling of our personal story, which we managed to do. Today we are together again and we have found our chemistry again, which feels good. Most of our magic is about gathering together in a room and playing. Especially during the pandemic, we had to start or finish songs differently because we lived in different cities.

“It’s not easy to write pop songs like Taylor Swift. Not everyone can do it.” war paint

You have already written works for the series (e.g. made for Love on HBO Max and Canal+) and movies (hypnotic on Netflix). And some of you have acted in films. Do you work on your songs as if they were soundtracks to non-existent movies?

Emily Kokal: Yes of course. I often look at images when I’m writing a song. Sometimes I contemplate a landscape and it inspires a text or sound. For me, sound often comes with a more or less abstract image of an external or internal setting. It could be a specific moment of the day, surrounded in a certain light, that I picture in my mind. Image allows me to tell a better story. I would like to have the gift of synesthesia, this neurological phenomenon that involves connecting multiple sensations.

Theresa Wayman: We’ve played soundtracks live in San Francisco before they were even recorded. We also want to send a message to filmmakers. If you want us to write a complete movie soundtrack, we’re up for it.

You filmed Depeche Mode and Harry Styles. What did you learn from them?

Emily Kokal: Professionalism can pay off (laughs). It takes a lot of effort, sacrifice, and work to get on stage, put on a show, and present a good self-image. To always look in good shape. And you really have to see it succeed at this level. To make sure the music sounds good, Dave Gahan has to listen to the feedback in his headphones very, very loud, for example, for hours.

Noel Gallagher recently said that what Harry Styles sang had nothing to do with the music and the songwriter’s work in the studio. This reminds me of Damon Albert’s recent sentence declaring that Taylor Swift doesn’t write her songs. What do you think ?

Theresa Wayman : We love Noel Gallagher, but we don’t agree with his take on things at all. Especially when Harry Styles’ first solo album contains not only the obvious pop hits but also very different, darker pieces. And then there’s room for everyone. Noel Gallagher doesn’t recognize himself in Harry Styles’ music but thousands of teenagers can relate to what he’s saying. As far as Taylor Swift is concerned, she has been writing her songs for a long time. Besides, writing pop songs is not an easy task. Not everyone is capable of this. We should not underestimate pop songwriters just because it is a commercial genre.

You are not on social networks very much. Isn’t this something that interests you?

Theresa Wayman: I guess you have to be there and participate to sell more records (a track from Warpaint, new song, still ranked within the top 50 of their country, editor’s note). But we are not interested in showing ourselves off on the network and posting a lot of photos of ourselves. We come from another world, from another generation, which experienced the absence of social networks and then its infancy. I’m over 40, so maybe that’s why I’m having a hard time getting into it. I still remember when Emily and I sent each other emails to communicate. The most important thing for me is to make music whenever possible, and as much as possible, not to say, “Look at me!”

It never feels like you’ve corrupted yourself into a mainstream project that didn’t resemble you…

Theresa Wayman: It’s good that you see things that way. Maybe we haven’t been presented with anything too “corrupt” or too different from our morals because people don’t dare get angry at four women. They look at us and probably say to themselves: “We’re not going to bother them or fight them.” But we don’t mind the idea of ​​being challenged a little…

normal blue (2024) from Warpaint, available on all platforms.