Warpaint Interview for Know Your LA Bands

BeatCrave brings you luscious band, Warpaint, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. Although your research on this band may be obscure, word of mouth is by far the best resource for this four-piece band. Better yet, take in a live show of Warpaint’s and throw all your research away. With three rad females and one bad ass male drummer, this band brings you the atmosphere of mystique, beauty, and psychedelia all at once. With gorgeous vocals eloquently coming from all three girls, the melodies are lilting yet seductive and their instrumental skills speak for themselves in a live setting. It’s almost impossible to define Warpaint’s exact sound in a wikipedia entry or summarize it in a bio. The essence of this band is an organic experience.

One serendipitous night, I was lucky enough to catch this band close out a show at Spaceland, and they made everyone’s decision to stay until the end of the night a very worthy choice. Their next three shows are at Bardot, Amoeba, and The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. So if you’re in the area, make sure you catch shoegaze at its best. Warpaint is up there with Blonde Redhead and Sonic Youth. Perhaps you think that’s saying a lot, but that’s the point.

Check out our exclusive interview with Warpaint’s very own Theresa below!

Who decided to start a band and how did it happen?

Jen and her sister, Shannyn, actually approached Emily and I in 2004 with the idea. We got together and played and it was awesome magic, but we’ve had a strange stop start band since then. It wasn’t until late 2007 that we realized the core of the band would be Jen, Emily and me with the fourth member possibly always be changing.

Even though you guys have a boy in the band, most people seem to pen you as an all-girl band. Does this bother you or is it empowering in regards to the music industry?

This doesn’t bother us at all. I think it’s a very strong thing to be females writing and playing music. All girl bands are rare and we’ve never seen it as a bad thing to be rare, only an asset in that there is a need for bands like us in the industry and in general.

I’ve heard one of your guy drummers in the past have dressed up in drag to “blend in” before. Is this true and was it hilarious as it sounds?

Yeah, that was David Orlando who did that. The only drummer we’ve really had besides Shannyn. He only recently stopped playing with us after little over a year together. It was especially hilarious because his wig was a bad bleach job, blond gone green – as in really bad, and he wore a muumuu. We love Davy for all his bad-ass pranks!

You guys came up with the name, Warpaint, but did you also know that it’s the name of a Black Crowes album?

They named their album after we named ourselves so… Yes, we know that but it was too late to change it. We were attached. It doesn’t seem to really get in our way and I know it doesn’t get in theirs.

Congrats on getting Manimal Vinyl to re-release your EP! How did that come about?

There’s this really cool scene going on around Echo Park where some great bands are playing together and living in the same neighborhoods. Manimal Vinyl actually supports many events in which these bands play and some of them are on that label. It was just natural that we end up doing something together and it’s awesome!

Where does the EP title, Exquisite Corpse, come from?

From sad things… maybe you can fill in the blanks.

Are you guys getting close to choosing a label? Or is that something you’re not worried about yet?

We are speaking to labels. We definitely want to move forward in that way.

I love that all you girls do vocals. Is the switching off of vocals decided as you write the song or is it decided after?

It’s decided as we go along, mostly. One of us will come in with a song and the others will add harmonies or we will all be writing together on the spot melodies and harmonies. It’s fun… there’s a lot more of that to come; we feel like we don’t do it enough.

What are you excited for most in regards to your upcoming west coast tour?

To FINALLY go on tour. To say we’ve done it and to have the experience will be a huge milestone for us. We’ve heard you don’t truly find your voice as a band until you’ve toured, playing night after night and that it really assists finding a groove with the songs and the message to be conveyed. Traveling in close quarters with your band mates for extended periods of time can be very bonding. It’s so exciting for us to be in a situation in which we are ONLY supposed to be playing music.

Quick-Fire Round:
What is currently your favorite Warpaint song?

“Lissie’s Heart Murmur.” It’s a new one… not on the EP but it’ll be on the full length.

Who are some of the local LA bands you are smitten with?

Hecuba, Black Black, and Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros!

What is your favorite way to relax in LA?

Taking a drive out through Malibu Canyon, going to the beach and then going to get a nice dinner.

Tell us one thing about yourself we probably don’t already know.

We are really good cooks.

Photography courtesy of Mia Kirby and Dylan Gordon