Living The Labour & Life-Intensive Dream

Enjoying decent flat whites, Sydney's northern beaches and chilling with Mum and Dad, Warpaint's LA-based drummer and sole Aussie Stella Mozgawa is loving being back home. With Warpaint's acclaimed third album Heads Up released last year, Mozgawa and co will kick off their 2017 tour schedule with four Australian shows.

"This was very much the record we wanted to make and we wanted to hear," says Mozgawa on Heads Up. "We purposefully weren't too concerned about how we'd recreate the songs live, which was a new approach for us." Australian punters buying tickets to Warpaint's forthcoming gigs shouldn't panic. If this devil-may-care approach is good enough for Coachella, who've given Warpaint a 2017 slot alongside Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar, then it's damn well good enough for Australia.

"It's just like a relationship, one person might want to break up, and the one who doesn't still has to honour the way they feel."

Widely described as 'more electronic' than their previous offerings, Mozgawa explains the simple reasons why. "We were all making music individually that was more directed at that sound," she says, touching on the band's time apart focusing on solo and session work. "It felt a little more faithful to the music we were interested in making and listening to. Plus, we've always had a lot of electronic elements in our music, but it's been overwashed by the live sound."

Despite the worrying internet rumours, plus the easily misconstrued time apart, Mozgawa is happy to confirm there was no actual Warpaint breakup. "There was a bit of exhaustion at the end of touring our last record," she shares, happy to set the record straight. "It's just like a relationship, one person might want to break up, and the one who doesn't still has to honour the way they feel." Mozgawa confirms that "options were explored". "Music is a labour-intensive and life-intensive line of work" she shares. "Even though we're living the dream creatively, it's still a job. I can't do anything else but tour this whole year. We had to make sure we were all still doing it for the right reasons."

Having spent her alone time as a session drummer for acts like Kurt Vile, Jamie xx and even the legendary Tom Jones, Mozgawa loved the opportunity to learn new skills. "I rarely take a break, because I'm usually so excited about the projects I'm offered when I'm having time off from Warpaint," she says. "It all helps me build my range of skills as a drummer, because that's who I am and how I learn how to do my job."

Mozgawa's job skills will be on full display during Warpaint's Australian tour. With a simple KPI of 'play drums live', Mozgawa should do so perfectly well at the Perth Festival, Melbourne Zoo Twilights, Brisbane's The Triffid and the Sydney Opera House. "The day we play the Opera House just happens to be my birthday," says Mozgawa, sounding stoked. "It doesn't get any better than that."