Beginning and formation (2004–2007) Warpaint formed in Los Angeles on
Valentine's Day 2004. The original lineup consisted of childhood friends Wayman and Kokal alongside sisters Lindberg and
Shannyn Sossamon. The band played in Los Angeles for three years, writing songs ("Stars", "Beetles" and "Elephants") which eventually were on their debut EP. According to Jenny Lindberg in a 2011 interview with Guardian Music, the band originally went by the name "World War 4" and changed their name to Warpaint only after writing their song "Warpaint" (which they had been playing for years but first appeared on their LP,
The Fool).
Exquisite Corpse (2007–2010) The band began recording their debut EP,
Exquisite Corpse, in December 2007, with producer Jacob Bercovici. Former RHCP guitarist
Josh Klinghoffer performed drums and guitar on the EP in 2007. The sessions took over two months and concluded with mixing and mastering by
John Frusciante, who was also Kokal's boyfriend at the time. Warpaint self-released the EP in 2008. It became No. 1 in the Los Angeles
Amoeba Records local artist chart. In 2009,
Exquisite Corpse was rereleased worldwide by
Manimal Vinyl. In the winter of 2009,
Australian drummer
Stella Mozgawa joined the band. Shortly afterwards, Warpaint were signed to
Rough Trade Records and immediately began extensive touring throughout the United States and Europe, including an opening slot for
the xx. On December 6 2010, the
BBC announced that Warpaint had been nominated for the BBC's
Sound of 2011 poll and they were the cover stars of
Beat magazine's Winter 2010 launch issue. In 2010, Warpaint contributed a cover of
David Bowie's song "
Ashes to Ashes" to
We Were So Turned On, a Bowie tribute album released in conjunction with
War Child.
The Fool (2010–2011) On October 25 2010, the band released their debut album,
The Fool. The album received a glowing review from
NME. "Shadows", the first single from their debut album, was released as a
digital download and 12"
vinyl on January 10, 2011. A remix of the single, "Shadows (Neon Lights Remix)", proved to be popular and was playlisted by
BBC Radio 1 as part of "In New Music We Trust". In the spring and summer of 2011, Warpaint toured the U.S. and Europe promoting the album. They played at various festivals including Summer Sundae, Bonnaroo, 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 charted in the UK at No.92 and in Australia at No.75. On September 25, 2011, they played the prestigious
Hollywood Bowl, sharing the bill with
TV on the Radio,
Arctic Monkeys,
Panda Bear, and
Smith Westerns.
Warpaint (2013–2015) 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 lineup at the time 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 to
NME that the band intended to create a minimalist sound on
Warpaint, revealing that the band developed 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 for two tracks which were mixed by
Nigel Godrich,
Warpaint was released by Rough Trade on January 17, 2014 in Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Switzerland; January 20 in Denmark, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom; and January 21 in Spain and the U.S. A snippet of the album's lead single, "Love Is to Die", was featured in an advertisement for
Calvin Klein on September 25, 2013 and later as part of a teaser for an upcoming documentary of the same name about the recording of Warpaint. The single was released on October 28 with the pre-ordered digital version of the album. On November 20, Warpaint performed "Composure," from
The Fool, as well as new songs "Love Is to Die" and "Keep It Healthy", on
BBC 6 Music with
Steve Lamacq in the U.K. The next day, an article from the December 2013 issue of
Dazed & Confused magazine appeared online, providing insight into the making of the new album, as well as the accompanying documentary, filmed by Lindberg's husband,
video artist Chris Cunningham (the subject of the song "CC"). Lindberg later confirmed in a November 24 interview on
XFM that Cunningham's documentary would be made available shortly after the album's release. A music video, composed of a two-song vignette from the second album—"Disco//very" and "Keep it Healthy"—was released in April 2014. Directed by Laban Pheidias, the video featured skateboarding from professional skateboarders Justin Eldridge, Kris Markovich, and Patrick Melcher. On September 23, 2014, the band released a single, 'The Chauffeur', a cover of the song by
Duran Duran. The band toured in promotion of the album up to summer 2015, after which its members began separate projects. Kokal collaborated with
folk musician Paul Bergmann, contributing vocals to Bergmann's
extended play Romantic Thoughts (2015); Wayman formed a
supergroup, BOSS, with Sarah Jones of
Hot Chip and Guro Gikling of All We Are, recording material for a solo album; Mozgawa recorded with
Andy Clockwise and
Kurt Vile; and Lindberg released her debut solo album,
Right On! (2015), on which Mozgawa also performed drums.
Heads Up (2016–2021) On August 1 2016, Warpaint released a single titled "
New Song", and announced the September 23 release of its third studio album,
Heads Up. From August 23 until October 27, 2017, 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 in Asia in May 2018, as well as supporting
Foals in Australia in July 2019. In 2020, Mozgawa returned to Australia to record with
Courtney Barnett, but remained there for some time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, Warpaint performed a live-streamed acoustic show at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles, without Mozgawa. On March 19, 2021, Warpaint released the single 'Paralysed', a cover from band
Gang of Four. The track is part of a tribute album
The Problem of Leisure. A Celebration of Andy Gill and Gang of Four which was released on June 4, 2021. On April 30, 2021, Warpaint released the single "Lilys".
Radiate Like This (2022–present) The band began recording
Radiate Like This in 2019. Due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, they recorded their parts in their own homes and studios throughout 2020 and 2021. On January 26, 2022, Warpaint released the song "Champion". It is the lead single from the band's fourth studio album,
Radiate Like This, which was released on May 6, 2022 via Virgin Records. For the band's 20 year anniversary, they released the single "Common Blue" on February 14, 2024 via their
YouTube channel, followed by the single "Underneath" on March 21, 2024. ==Style==