Bacchanalian songs (Just a Little More Caffeine & Alcohol), relationships gone bad (Maybe Just a Little More Than You) and regret at the weekend's end (Sunday Blues). Besides performing and releasing his own music, Warren plays bass guitar for the Southern Rock/Psychedelic Rock band The Black Marshmallows.
SOL: You describe your music as emotionally charged. What kind of emotions do you identify with most? Which emotions do you think make you create the most effective music, or allow you to tap in to your creative zone the easiest? Why?
Warren: My songs are informed by a wide range of emotions: regret, care, fear, hope, self-criticism, sorrow, trauma, love, hope, etc. The harder or non-socially acceptable emotions to express in everyday life (regret, trauma, fear, but also anger, sadness, and a feeling of powerlessness) are often easier to express via song. It takes a high degree of intimacy to divulge such emotions in one's daily interactions. However, rock and roll is mainly about emotional release, and punk rock, at its core, basically says fuck you to the idea of forbidden emotions and thoughts. I think the "poser" concept, in punk, relates to the oppositional relationship between authenticity and the performative. Punk culture has always been a fight between these two opposing elements, and where one stands on what punk means (sound, image, attitude, and what the boundaries for punk are) relates entirely to where one stands in regards to these two elements: performance and authenticity. I fall into the anti-performative school--punk is an approach rather than a product or look, but I don't really care what it means to others!
My new album, Just a Little More (available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, etc.) includes songs about depression, the sorrow of being homeless after one's lover dies, struggle against racism and antisemitism, struggles against militarism, and the need to unify against hyper-nationalism. My last album, Some Shadow Songs, is less political and more personal and deals with a wider range of emotions, including regret, fear, trauma, hope, and shame. And my album LiltsDirges deals, among much else, mainly with death.
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