Warpaint Discusses Making their new Self-Titled Album
2014 has been a big year for Warpaint. The all-female group has put out their sophomore release, Warpaint, and been on tour in support of it all year. The all-female group has made quite an impact, delivering beautiful harmonies and layered guitars in their ambient indie rock style.
We were lucky enough to chat with Theresa Wayman before the group plays New York City. They’ll be at Webster Hall tonight, you can still get tickets here. Their live show is one you definitely won’t want to miss!
How does your writing process generally unfold?
We go about writing in many different ways. I suppose the quintessential Warpaint way is to just jam it out together in a room and let all ideas fly, no talking, just playing. We record what we do and then listen back and start to dissect and reform the ideas into something more comprehensive.
Your latest release, Warpaint, is a beautiful hazy dream. What themes were you exploring during the creation of the record?
Simplicity and space. We felt as though our last album had a lot going on..sometimes to the point where there were actually seven songs in one. We just wanted to experiment with being more straightforward.
You’ve been touring for the better part of this year in support of the record. How does being on the road morph the relationship you have with these songs?
As you can imagine, the songs really come to life and it teaches us something new about them every time we play them. I love getting more and more inside them and feeling like we’ve really found their expression.
Earlier this year you were quoted and misquoted in the public eye about women in music. What pressures do you face as an all-female group?
I think we’ve created a niche for ourselves where we are loved for what we create and who we really are. I love that. We don’t feel pressure to be any sexier or more attractive than we want to be. We are women and we do love being considered beautiful and feeling sexy but that comes from us, not the outside world. Ultimately, I think we represent something that goes beyond that and that’s our musicianship, artistry and creativity. I feel lucky that this is my profession; that there are enough people that respect and support those qualities that I can make a living doing what I love and just being me.
What artists are you listening to right now?
Kendrick Lamar, King Krule. I’ve been revisiting Bob Dylan…I could make the sickest Dylan playlist if anyone’s interested! ;), and also Stella found this guy called Karriem Riggins that made an album on par with J. Dilla’s Donuts. It’s AMAZING and I can’t get enough of it!! It’s called Alone Together.
Lastly, any insight on what Warpaint has in store for the future?
We’re going to start writing again right away…in fact we’ve already started some. We’ve got a lot more to express and feel like we’ve only just tapped the surface of what we can create.
Warpaint play Webster Hall in NYC tonight. For more information and to catch them on tour, please visit http://warpaintwarpaint.com/tour/.