Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2014

First produced by ex-Chili Pepper John Frusciante, LA quartet Warpaint are now on a self-sustained flight path, with accolades streaming in for their hypnotic new eponymous album. Metropolis talked to bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg about what makes an all-women band different and the relative merits of festival gigs versus club dates, ahead of their appearance at the latest Hostess Weekender fest.

Where does Metropolis catch you?

We’re relaxing in Brisbane, Australia after our European tour. We’ve got three days off and I’ve already had two massages and dyed my hair pink.

What brings you to Australia?

We’re here for the Laneway Festival. The same bands travel together—it’s fun, kind of like band camp. We’re playing with Lorde, Haim, Savages and Kurt Vile.

Do you prefer the festival shows or the smaller clubs?

I like both. I get more nervous when the shows are smaller and intimate, but I really like the feel because they’re more raw and punky. But big shows are fun, feeding off the energy of thousands of people. It’s a pretty powerful exchange, a real adrenaline rush.

Why did you decide to self-title the album this time?

It was easy, we all agreed, which can take a long time. But we all liked the sound of it, so there was no debate. Also this is the first album we’ve made with Stella (drummer Stella Mozgawa) from the ground up. We’ve released two albums already, but we’ve had a lot of different incarnations and drummers. On the last record a lot of the parts had been written years ago by other people, so the songs didn’t feel as much hers as this record’s do. This record is from the four of us.

Tell us about the creation of one song on the album.

This time we did things differently—one song that comes to mind is “Go In.” We were at Joshua Tree making demos, isolating ourselves to write. But at one point when the rest of us had gone to LA for a break, Stella stayed and wrote all of it by herself. It’s a beautiful song, deep and cinematic—our minds were blown. We were like, damn, you go girl.

What is different between having women in a rock band, and being an all-women band?

We’ve never really thought too deeply about the fact. We think of ourselves as a band making music we love with people we love. There are challenges that come with being all women—we have our time of the month—and women tend to be catty and emotional. But with Warpaint there was a sense of kinship between all of us and the music we began making. It felt really good, and there is an intuition and instinct we all have, and a way we play off each other that is pretty special. It’s almost like we can read each other’s minds. Making music with people you love and trust is pretty amazing.

Hostess Club Weekender
Warpaint, Mogwai, The National and others. 
February 15, 1:40pm, ¥7,900 (1 day, adv)/ ¥13,900 (2 days, adv) +1d. February 16, 2pm, ¥7,900 (1 day, adv)/ ¥13,900 (2 days, adv) +1d. 
www.ynos.tv/hostessclub
Venue: Studio Coast, Koto-ku. Nearest Station: Shin-Kiba.