American indie rock band Warpaint from Los Angeles, California, were formed in 2004. The band consists of Emily Kokal (vocals, guitar), Theresa Wayman (vocals, guitar), Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass, vocals), and Stella Mozgawa (drums). The original lineup consisted of childhood friends Wayman and Kokal alongside sisters Lindberg and Shannyn Sossamon. The band played around the Los Angeles area for three years, writing songs (“Stars”, “Beetles” and “Elephants”) which would eventually compose their debut EP. Warpaint’s style has been characterized as art rock, dream pop and psychedelic rock. They play expansive, lushly-harmonic psych-rock songs with enough time-changes to satisfy even the most beardy prog-rock bong-tokers. The band has also cited hip-hop as an influence of their work. Two songs have been named after their favourite rappers: Biggy and Dre.
To date, the band has released four studio albums: “The Fool” (2010), “Warpaint” (2014), “Heads Up” (2016), and “Radiate Like This” (2022).
“Exquisite Corpse”
The band began recording their debut EP, “Exquisite Corpse”, in December 2007, with producer Jacob Bercovici. The sessions took over two months and concluded with mixing and mastering by Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, who was also Kokal’s boyfriend at the time. Former RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer performed drums and guitar on the EP. Australian drummer Mozgawa (formerly of Mink and Swahili Blonde) joined the band in the winter of 2009. Shortly afterwards, Warpaint self-released the EP in 2008, In 2009, “Exquisite Corpse” was re-released worldwide by Manimal Vinyl, to critical acclaim.
If there’s one thing to be said of Warpaint’s debut EP, ‘Exquisite Corpse’, it is this: The whole thing oozes sex, seduction, and a drug-like haze. In fact, at times it can seem that everything is designed this way – but never overwhelmingly so, as the EP generally feels very spontaneous. Firstly, it is impossibly smooth, slick almost; though instead of feeling overly polished and manufactured, it feels wholly organic. Secondly, the breathy vocals of Emily Kokal (lead vocalist) and Theresa Wayman (back-ups, lead on ‘Beetles’) are siren-like, entrancing and inviting throughout.
Shimmering guitar melodies characterised by hammer-ons and gentle arpeggios flow in and out of another like water, simultaneously marrying tendencies from shoegaze, post-rock and psychedelica – sometimes in the space of one song (‘Elephants’). All of this is masterfully underpinned by the elegant bass lines penned by Jenny Lee Lindberg, often melodies themselves, as opposed to simple root-note progressions. The relationship between the guitars, and between guitars and bass is, at times, sensually breath-taking, and goes a long way to defining the album’s sound and feel. This tentative, but no less effective interplay between the two is especially gorgeous on the ‘How Strange, Innocence’-era Explosions in the Sky flavoured ‘Stars’. The rhythm section is completed by Jenny’s sister, Shannyn Sossamon, a competent drummer (Warpaint’s rhythm section would exponentially improve after the arrival of Stella Mozgawa after ‘Exquisite Corpse’s” release), but an effective one nonetheless. For example, it is her drumming which facilitates a mesmerising mood change in the EP’s opener.
“The Fool”
In October 2010, the band released their debut album, “The Fool.” The album received a glowing review from various music magazine’s “Shadows”, the first single from their debut album, was released as 12″ vinyl on January 2011. A remix of the single, “Shadows (Neon Lights Remix)”, proved popular.
Warpaint toured the U.S. and Europe in the spring and summer of 2011 to promote the album. They played at various major festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Rock Werchter, and Electric Picnic. In 2011, the rerelease of the track “Undertow” as a single.
On Warpaint’s debut album the LA-based quartet might be addressing their listeners directly. “Now I’ve got you in the undertow,” singer-guitarists Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman chime, in voices sweet and lethally seductive. The line feels apposite because Warpaint make music to submerge yourself in, Ripples of guitar rise above and sink beneath bold waves of bass, while drum lines surge hither and thither, pushing the songs to change their course. There is something subtly contrary about this band: their most enigmatic song bears the name Warpaint, while their least-composed song – which opens in a fury of shouted vocals and uncoils in a meandering jam of slowly detuned guitars – is called Composure. But if this slipperiness makes them intriguing, it’s the consistent sensuality of Warpaint’s sound that makes them mesmerise.
“Warpaint”
As early as 2011, drummer Mozgawa, in an interview with NME, expressed the band’s intention to “experiment and write with one another” as the current line-up had never composed songs “from the ground up” together. Bassist Lindberg further indicated that most of the newer songs were written by “just jam[ming] and free-flow[ing] onstage”. In February 2013, Wayman confirmed that the band intended to create a minimalist sound on “Warpaint”, revealing that the band developed the songs at soundchecks, and experimented more with acoustic guitars and percussion instruments on the album. Lead vocalist Kokal noted that R&B and rap music were influences on “Warpaint” and stated that the album featured “things that have drum machines and ambience, music that’s more than standard rock”. Kokal added that the album was largely keyboards-based, which contributed to the overall sound being “definitely different” from the band’s previous album, “The Fool”.
Produced and mixed by Flood, except two tracks which were mixed by Nigel Godrich, A snippet of the album’s lead single, “Love Is to Die”, was featured in an advertisement for Calvin Klein and later as part of a teaser for an upcoming documentary of the same name about the recording of Warpaint.
A music video, composed of a two-song vignette from the second album—“Disco//very” and “Keep it Healthy” Directed by Laban Pheidias, the video featured skateboarding from professional skateboarders Justin Eldridge, Kris Markovich and Patrick Melcher.
“Heads Up”
On August 2016, Warpaint released a single titled “New Song”,and announced the September release of its third studio album, “Heads Up” they toured as special guest and opening act of Depeche Mode’s Global Spirit Tour. Their four dates opening for Depeche Mode at the Hollywood Bowl marked the first time a band played four consecutive shows at the famed Los Angeles venue. The band also toured in support of Harry Styles on a handful of dates.
After delving in various solo endeavors, including bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg’s solo debut, the members of Warpaint reconvened and began recording the new LP in January. Accompanied by producer Jacob Bercovici, who helped helm their 2008 “Exquisite Corpse” EP, they logged time in local studio House on the Hill as well as Papap’s Palace and their own home studios.
The Los Angeles dream pop outfit tried a new approach during the sessions for “Heads Up” for the first time ever, they recorded in pairs and alone rather than as a full band, a press release notes. “The doors were a little more open in terms of what was accepted and what wasn’t, because we were sharing ideas so rapidly between us,” says the band’s drummer Stella Mozgawa of the recording process. “The roles that each of us individually had or had established were a little more malleable.”
The band were largely inactive across 2020 and 2021, with Mozgawa returning to Australia and recording with Courtney Barnett.
“Radiate Like This”
Warpaint then new album their first since 2016’s called “Radiate Like This” their first song from the album, “Champion” The song is about “being a champion to oneself and for others,” the band said in a press release. “We are all in this together, life is too short not to strive for excellence in all that we do.”
On “Champion” Theresa Wayman started this in my room at my house in El Sereno. I actually sampled a Warpaint song “The Stall” – and that’s what started the whole thing. Then made the beat. I use logic and a program called geist to make beats… We went to Stella’s house/studio out in Joshua Tree to do some preproduction and I showed the girls my demo. We put it on and Stella started playing along with it…really brought it to life to have her layers over it. And then Jen wrote the acoustic guitar… This was one of the first songs we made for the album.
As a drummer Stella Mozgawa in Warpaint, she’s always leaned into her psych background and in this episode we hear how much it has helped her to navigate her way in Warpaint, and any other musical project or otherwise that she’s been involved with—from producing for Courtney Barnett to playing with Kurt Vile.a band with three strong lyricists, she knows her strengths are in the sonic production aspects of songwriting. But after 12 years of “being in each other’s pockets” through three albums she shares some of the struggles she experienced with completing songs like “Send Nudes” and “Champion” the standout opening and closing tracks of “Radiate Like This“.
This one was started by Em. We also worked on this in that first desert session. I wrote that guitar line in the verses really quickly..felt like I was channelling something..that can sound cliche but it’s not always like that! I really felt it with this one. In fact, everything about this song came together like that. Em’s vocals, that middle bridge section, all of it! I’m in love with this one!
Hard To Tell you Em wrote this song on guitar originally. We recorded a version like that at an early recording session in Joshua tree at Rancho De La Luna. It had a much longer arrangement… We then re-imagined it with synths..leaned into an 80s synth ballad feel. This one also came together quickly. I had a lot of fun weaving guitar lines around the vocals in the verses… We did a lot of pre-production on this one at our rehearsal space downtown before we ever went to the studio.
“Stevie” is a love song that was originally written by Emily. She started during the heads up album but it didn’t make it on there. She would play the chords during soundchecks from time to time and we’d all start playing along. Always found the progression very alluring.
There was a little demo chasing with this one because the beat Stella did when we first started demoing just had this perfect feel that was hard to recreate. We got it in the end but re-recorded it 3 times in 3 different studios.
“Like Sweetness” was started this one on piano. Stella and I were working at our rehearsal space downtown, doing a lot of demoing and trying to find out where this album wanted to go. We did a few different demos of this one on piano and then moved it over to the prophet. The initial beat she played on this one was really laid back, a lot of ride. We changed it when we got to the studio… was too similar to another track so we had to dig for something else. Nice where it ended up. It’s a song about self-love.
“Trouble” is another piano song that Em wrote a while ago… finally came together after a couple of different versions. We all played this in our rehearsal space and figured out the arrangement. Played our parts and fell into the song really easily. One of the only ones we recorded together as a band at the same time. Did it at the studio in highland park, 64 Sound. We tried to get the piano at the desert studio but that didn’t work out. And then we still didn’t have the right piano take. Emily re-did it and finally got it at a studio in Portland, Oregon during the pandemic. Also, love the harmonies on this one. We did a lot of work on honing those during the pandemic.
Proof Love the harms on this one. And all the little sonic gems… Stella, Emily and I did a lot of work on this one at the rehearsal space downtown…throwing paint at the wall with my prophet 12 and piano and guitar. And then we arranged them all into the song and that generally helped structure the song. The proof is in the pudding melody was a funny little thing my brother Ivan (he worked with us on ‘Head’s Up’) and Emily made up during a party, years ago. Em realized that this was finally its moment to make it to actual song status! Love it.
Altar is also from the very first batch of songs that were sprinkled with love during the Stella desert studio session. I wrote this song around the time I started champion. The drums, em guitars in the chorus and the bass was added right away. The structure was still very long when we went into the studio. We added more parts but it wasn’t until our remote arranging sessions during the pandemic that we really trimmed it up. I went out to Emily’s house a couple of times during the pandemic and we added more guitar to a few songs. The ending em guitar part that really changes the tone of the song in such an interesting way, came from one of these sessions.
Melting is the only song on the album that came from a jam, written in true Warpaint fashion. It was arranged and written by all of us in the room together. We wrote and recorded this one a year before we did any of the other ones. Did a version with producer Jon Congleton in a studio in LA. I loved that recording but it was also such early days that we needed to breathe different life into it and make it match our other songs a bit more. Em, and I added more guitars during the pandemic at one of our home desert recording sessions.
Send Nudes is a song written during the pandemic. I went on a camping trip with my family and this was written around a campfire. Initially called camping song. Inspired by Erykah Badu and her song, Phone Down. The incredible effective simplicity of that song is addictive. So I approached from that angle. What was initially “send a cup of noodles” quickly became “send a couple nudes”.. Took it out of the PG zone once the kids went to bed ;). Stella did her drums in a studio in Melbourne. One of those back and forth file sharing songs. Not ideal but do-able. At least I got to be in person with Jen to get the bass.
Each of the 10 tracks on the LP were crafted layer by intricate layer, which has yielded a more refined and sharper sounding record overall in comparison to the groups previous releases. Emily Kokal, one-fourth of Warpaint elaborating that “Radiate Like This” captures what’s always been the magic of Warpaint—the delicate interplay of four separate parts coalescing in motion while somehow allowing each individual to shine a little brighter.”
The Fat Angel Sings 
