Warpaint Anxious to Release 'The Fool,' Assure Fans 'We're Just Dorks'

Posted on Oct 12th 2010 3:30PM by Anne T Donahue
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Mia Kirby

With only a 2009 EP to their name, Warpaint has already been branded as one of 2010's definitive acts, having landed on magazine covers and best-of lists months before announcing the release of their upcoming full-length debut, 'The Fool.' Yet with the record's Oct 26 release date fast approaching, the LA four-piece strives to avoid the dreaded buzz band status.

"I don't want it to happen because we're really not that cool," drummer Stella Mozgawa tells Spinner. "We're just dorks. I'd like to be a dork for as long as possible instead of being cool for like, a day."

Already a rising star in the LA music scene (the late Heath Ledger was among their fans), it was their performance at this year's SXSW that earned them international attention, setting the pace for several hectic months in the studio, and even more spent on the road. However, with material from 'The Fool' already earning praise from live audiences, the band's anticipation for their release couldn't be higher.

"I'm just really excited about putting it out," Mozgawa admits. "It'll be something really new for the four of us to experience -- a full-length being birthed into the world. We already feel like we've given birth, but nobody's come to see it, no one's visited us yet."

"There's always an element of fear," she adds, "but at the same time, we know that whatever happens with us -- and we're grateful for anything that happens whether it's negative or positive -- we're excited about what's to come; we're excited about the next child."

Thinking to the future, Mozgawa remains firm on the band's stance of rejecting a stereotypical approach to music, wherein current trends factor into a band's sound. "The eternal formula is a genuine attitude to playing and to performing and to creating," she says. "[Which will] always be responded to positively by someone."

Having spent a considerable amount of time in the limelight these past few months as they gear up to release 'The Fool,' the band has learned that taking each experience in stride will only serve to make the next album (and themselves) that much stronger.

"I'm a fatalist in that I believe [the album] is being released when it's meant to be," Mozgawa shares. "We had to go through that teething era before we know what we want to do differently next time, or what we want to do exactly the same."

"There's still an element of whimsy to it always," she continues. "But I think we've gotten a few more notches on the belt so we know how to approach things."

While critical support and a burgeoning fanbase is indeed reassuring, Mozgawa is open about the group's desire to grow, believing it's "completely healthy" that Warpaint are still "not exactly the band ... [they] want to be" just yet.

"I'm so glad that we're talking about the future," she says. "We're not resting on laurels or being complacent because I think that would be just ugly. At this point, we haven't released an album, how can we be cocky about anything?"