Warpaint - Radiating a positive message

by Giulia Polvara, Luca Pasi and Stefano Macchi

This is definitely not the first time we've heard about Warpaint. This all-female quartet already has a 2008 EP, Exquisite Corpse, mixed by none other than John Frusciante, and a 2010 debut album, "The Fool", under their belt, which won over international critics and earned them the title of rightful heirs to Siouxsie And The Banshees. Now, just a few weeks ahead of the release of "Warpaint", their second LP, we had a chat with Stella Mozgawa, the Australian drummer who joined the band in 2009. We talked about the great producer Flood, about how important the union of mind and heart is when making music, and somehow Tom Jones even came up. The whole thing was regularly punctuated by the shrieks of my parrot in the background.

Let's start with the questions. Where did you record the new album? What approach did you take compared to the previous record, "The Fool"?

We recorded it mostly in LA with Flood, especially early on in the whole recording process. We also rented a house in Joshua Tree for a month, in March 2012. That month, and everything that happened during it, was really the genesis of a good chunk of the record. There's one song in particular that was recorded entirely at Joshua Tree, plus a bunch of demos that we ended up using anyway; tracks like "Feeling Alright" were recorded by me and Theresa in a recording space in downtown LA. Then when Flood came on board we re-recorded some of the songs.

Speaking of Flood, what was it like working with him? He's worked with musicians of a certain caliber, including PJ Harvey, New Order, Nine Inch Nails. What kind of impact did he have on your music?

The interesting thing about him is that he doesn't have a specific personal style of his own. Not that he's never found one. Technically speaking, there are things he's been doing for years. But if you listen to a record like PJ Harvey's latest, "Let England Shake", well, I remember the first time I heard it I had no idea he'd produced it, because he hadn't produced her immediately preceding albums. So I asked myself if she'd done it herself, or maybe John Parish. It always seemed to me that whenever I really liked the sound of something, or the approach to that particular sound, he was behind it. When a record somehow felt like it hadn't even been "produced" at all. When it gave off the feeling of something completely natural. And he has the ability to give your music exactly the sound you want it to have, not just with demos - he does the same with a lot of hi-fi stuff too. It's a really remarkable quality, especially for someone with so much experience, who works with bands other than Depeche Mode or U2 - trusting what the band wants. He's very humble and a hard worker, with enormous integrity. He genuinely cares about making the best possible album, staying true to the artist's character, rather than telling you: "Oh, we have to do this because it's what I did with U2" or even, "we have to make it sound like this because that's what Pitchfork's really into lately". He couldn't care less about any of that. He just wants to make sure the album that comes out is a good piece of work, from start to finish. That's the only thing he's ever told us, and the only thing he's ever cared about.

Yes, I read that Billy Corgan said something very similar about him. That he really listens to the artists and stays true to their style.

Right, exactly, and that's why I think he's so successful. There are very few producers out there who are able to work that way, you know.

And that's how you were able to keep your own sound.

Exactly. The only other producer I can think of, that I've worked with on another occasion and who has that kind of approach, is Ethan Jones. I think they're among the best producers out there, some of the most honest and true to their craft in the world.

What did you work on with Ethan Jones?

Um, I played drums on a Tom Jones record. It was pretty amazing...

Oh really? When was that?

The record came out last year, but it was recorded around October 2011. It was an incredible experience, Ethan is a wonderful producer. It's pretty rare, though, to find people who can almost be a fly on the wall and fully respect the dynamics at play, rather than saying, "well, I know better, and I say you should do it this way." That kind of energy was never there, it's more like inviting another musician into your world.

...Someone you respect.

Yes, someone who respects you and who you respect in turn, and when that kind of relationship works efficiently, it leads to the best results, at least in my opinion.

So do you think you'll keep working with Flood in the future?

We'll see. Here's the thing: it was kind of a cosmic event, where both sides wanted to work with each other at the same time, and he's pretty particular about the artists he chooses to work with. He wouldn't work with a band if he felt he couldn't achieve anything with them, or for them, or if the idea of working with them didn't excite him. So all we can do is wait and see what happens. It's hard to say at this point, we're so immersed in the world of this latest record.

Right, obviously you're not thinking about the next album yet...

Yeah, well, not yet. We couldn't wait for "Warpaint" to come out and we want to live in its world for a while. But Flood is really happy with how it's been received, and so are we.

So let's talk a bit about this record. What approach did you take in choosing the lyrics? What's your songwriting process like?

Um, as far as the lyrics go, it's Emily and Theresa who write, so I can't say exactly what their routine is when it comes to making music, but generally, just by working with them, I've seen how things progress. Pretty naturally. It's not so much an "oh, here's a poem I wrote. And you wrote some music, let's see how we can put them together." It's more of a syllabic thing, almost a fabric of sounds that emerge spontaneously at a given moment.

Do you focus more on the sounds than on the lyrics?

No, I think it starts with the sounds and then manifests into something meaningful, in a way. If that makes sense. It starts with a kind of organic fabric, in a way, that then gets reassembled so it takes on meaning, trying to figure out why certain sounds or words came out in the first place, or why our tongues decided to articulate a certain kind of words. It's a bit like speaking a language of our own. Anyway, we always know there's something meaningful hidden behind it all.

So you develop lyrics and sounds at the same time, in a kind of undefined core, did I get that right?

Yeah, exactly. I mean, we don't always necessarily do it that way. But what you said is very perceptive. That's generally what happens, exactly.

What kind of sound does the new record have compared to "The Fool"? Has it changed a lot? There's a sense that the sonic spectrum has shifted quite substantially. Can you tell me something about that? Was it a conscious direction you took?

Um, not really conscious, I think it all started during the time we spent in Joshua Tree, during which we had the chance to do whatever we wanted to do, regardless of everything. We just thought about the things that interested us at that moment, the ideas we'd had for a while or that came to us during that time. We explored new things, because we had the time and the chance to actually sit down and experiment with each other, which we'd never been able to do before. I joined the band just a few weeks before recording "The Fool". We'd never had the time to stop for a moment and sit down to write music together. So it was a new experience for the four of us and it was very exciting, more than anything else. I don't think we imposed any kind of inhibition on ourselves with this new record. What I mean is, we didn't set out to try something more electronic or anything like that. I know it might sound strange, but we never have that kind of conversation as a band. I mean, who cares, we just make music that sounds good to us and that excites us the moment we have to play it, because we know that when you perform and play those songs, if you don't feel them yourself, the audience won't feel them either, and in the end you'll be royally unhappy. Because you'll have to play songs you never liked for the next two years of your life and have to pretend you believe in them. So the most important thing for us is to make music we truly believe in.

True, good observation. We talk a lot when it comes to trying this or that sound in the moment, that's a very verbal side of things. But we never sit down to try to frame the whole thing.

In my opinion, doing it that way kills the music, in a sense…

Well, you know what I say? I can't judge, because for some people that kind of process works really well. Good for them. Everyone has to find their own method, I think that's very important. But for us it just feels very unnatural. The girls, or Ethan, even years before I joined the band, never worked that way. So it would be strange to start now. We're quite particular about our music, but that's something we never talk about.

And the last song on the record, "Son"? What's the story behind that track?

That one was written by Theresa, it's about some things that came into play during the time we were recording the album. It's about her son and how to handle what life has handed you. Having to go on tour and be a mother at the same time… it can drive you crazy. I love that song, I think it's one of my favorites.

And how did you meet the girls?

I moved to LA to make a record with Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He knows the girls, they have a lot of mutual friends and we realized we also had a lot of mutual friends. And it was during that time that I decided to stop being a touring musician. They were looking for a drummer. It was a happy coincidence, really. Great timing.

I read that Nigel Godrich, who has also worked with the Radiohead, mixed two tracks on the album… What was it like working with him?

Yes, he mixed “Feeling Alright” and “Love Is To Die”. Actually, it was just him, my manager and me… I was the only one in London at the time. He did it all himself, it wasn't really an event the whole band took part in. But he saved us. We'd been mixing all the previous month with Flood and there were still two songs left to mix. We thought it was time to let someone else have a shot at contributing. And it couldn't have gone better, you know, with Nigel Godrich and Flood. We've been incredibly lucky. Honestly, I don't think we deserve it.

Why do you say that?

I mean, it'll push us to do even better and to make sure we deserve it. We're going to spend the next two years playing this album with a sense of humility and gratitude for the experience we had working with those people.

Your tour doesn't include any Italian dates…

Ah, really?! We'll get there too. I can't exactly announce it right now. But there's no way we won't come to Italy as well. They're just announcing the dates bit by bit. It'll happen, it'll happen.

Do you think our country gets left out of the “indie” circuit?

Doesn't seem like it to me, honestly. Every time we've been to Italy, especially Milan, it's been fantastic. We played a small festival [Grazie A Dio E' Lunedì, 2011, ed.] with Dinosaur Jr. and a few other cool bands, that was about a year and a half ago. But we also played another time before that, or at least we came to Italy for press stuff or things like that.

What about Primavera Sound 2014? Will you be on the lineup?

? [I was specifically asked to put a question mark as the answer. For now Stella says she knows nothing about it, not even trick questions worked, ed.].

What kind of music inspires you and the other girls in the band?

For me, it just has to be music made with heart. If it's also been made with the head, there's bound to be a heart component in it too. A record can be very intellectual, but sensual and meaningful at the same time. For me personally, it has to be a combination of the two. The union of heart and head. But we all agree on artists like Talking Heads, Aphex Twin, a lot of electronic music and things like that.

And, to finish, are you still in touch with John Frusciante? [who dated Emily for a while…]

Not really, no. But he played an important role in the band's beginnings, you know, and he's a friend.