Warpaint

All-female four piece are on their path to glory

Warpaint were formed in Los Angeles in 2004 by childhood friends Theresa Wayman and Emily Kokal, along with sisters Shannyn Sossamon (who had already started carving out a successful career as an actress, appearing in such films as A Knight’s Taleand The Rules of Attraction) and Jenny Lee Lindberg. “Theresa and I met when we were 11, in choir practice,” Kokal has said. “We used to sing together when we’d walk to school. She and I moved to New York when we were 18. We travelled to Southeast Asia, Europe and eventually drove cross-country to live in Los Angeles.”

With Emily dating the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante, and
Sossamon becoming a movie star whilst drumming with Warpaint, perhaps all they had to do was to turn up, in order to generate interest. But it’s never as simple as that, is it? Warpaint’s exploratory post-punk aesthetic took a while to get seriously noticed, and their music has never been about classic verse-chorus-verse structures. “We always try to play from an emotional place,” Kokal has said. “That seems to be what we instinctively use music for – a cathartic experience, getting something out.”

Frusciante did end up helping out, and mixed their debut EP, Exquisite Corpse. But by the time it came out Sossamon had left to focus on acting, and her eventual replacement, the Australian Stella Mozgawa, helped to unite the band’s disparate sensibilities.

Signing to Rough Trade though sealed the deal, taking Warpaint away from their Los Angeles, to the outside world where they were unknown. A support tour with xx was followed by the release of debut album The Fool, which became an indie success, artistically and commercially.

Their second album is perhaps even more experimental than before.
Lindberg has said that the songs were created by “just jamming and free- flowing onstage,” and are more minimalist; keyboards feature throughout.
It’s brave stuff, and further confirmation that while they had some notable rock star connections at the beginning, they were always going to be far too independently minded and musically adventurous to consciously take advantage. Lindberg has said: “We were all enamoured of the entertainment industry at first, seeing famous people, and hanging out – it was how we met. But it all gets to feel a bit old after a while.”

Lindberg’s husband is video director Chris Cunningham, and he spent much of the last two years documenting the making of the album, which will be made available shortly after the release of the album.
Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, Thursday 23 January 2014, 8pm, £17.50