Shortly before the release of their latest full-length studio album, Keep Me Fed, which will be released via LAVA and Republic Records on June 28, 2024, the Mexico-born sister rock trio -Daniela “Dany” [guitar, lead vocals, piano], Paulina “Pau” [drums, vocals, piano], and Alejandra “Ale” Villarreal [bass, piano, backing vocals]- hopped over a Zoom call with media to talk about their new album, their upcoming North America tour, being sisters in a rock band, and much more.
What's the meaning behind the title of your newest album, Keep Me Fed? Pau: So Keep Me Fed, speaks about this need that we all have to keep being fed, whether it be entertainment through social media or through just everything that we consume and how we participate in this cycle as well. How we feed certain things to our fans and people who follow us, how we feed on what other people do, and how it's just a little never-ending cycle that we're in.
You guys are set to play many festivals this upcoming summer including Mad Cool Festival, Aftershock, and Rocklahoma. Do you have any pre-show rituals? Dany: We stretch a lot, 'cause we usually jump and move around a lot. I need to stretch my neck. If not, I won't be able to move the next day for sure, because of all the headbanging. But I don't feel we have a set ritual. Pau: We have one ritual. We all just like, hold hands. My mom says a quick little prayer. And we all put in our intentions, like, a prayer. We say what number of the show that we're on and just like really put it into the universe and feel grateful and then we just go into the show.
How does it feel to kind of experience like rock 'n' roll fame at such a young age, and then how do you guys pursue music differently now that you've been in the industry for a while? Pau: Well, I feel like we didn't really realize what was going on when we started out. We were just riding this wave of good fortune that happened. Dany: I don't know if you would even like describe it as fame. We were receiving a lot of attention for sure that we were not used to, and we were so young. We just kind of like step by step. And you know, we are very grateful that we got to do this together. I don't know how I would have done it if it were like only me. Pau: And also to have had the experience of these past 10 years. I feel like it really lets us do what we do now in the best way that we possibly can. It really helped us set a foundation for what we want to do. And now that we have new opportunities and new opportunities for growth, we feel like we have the experience to back it up, which is fantastic. It's a really big blessing to have had all of those experiences to be able to keep taking those 10 years of experiences. You guys have played with, or you've worked with so many iconic groups like Metallica and The Pretty Reckless, how does it feel to have collaborated or played with so many iconic names in rock music? Dany: Amazing. We're super grateful for all those opportunities. We're super grateful for everyone who looked at our project and wanted, you know, to give us that platform to grow. Pau: It just means the world. What was it like working with writers outside of your team on this new album? Dany: It was very new because writing with a complete stranger and having to nail a song that day, it's a very interesting experience. And English is not our first language. We are very used to working creatively between ourselves in Spanish and going to work with someone who you don't know, and they don't speak Spanish, which is what you're comfortable working in, it takes some kind of figuring out. Pau: But it forces you to be very clear with what you want to do. Like you have to be confident in your ideas, and obviously open to what other people are bringing to the table, but at the end of the day, it is a Warning song. So what do we want The Warning to sound like on this album? We had to have that very clear since the very beginning. As an all female rock band, how has it been to pursue music in an industry that mostly consists of and has historically consisted of mostly men? Pau: I feel like, as women, it's not like we always sit down and think about it, like, “Oh my god, we're the only women here.” It's not something that we talk about or that we write about. But most, more than anything, it is just part of the experience that we live on a day to day. And we've been living it for 10 years. So it is something that more than anything, people don't have high expectations. They really expect a gimmicky thing and they don't expect women to step on these stages and play well. So it's really our goal every time that we step on these stages to show what we do musically and hopefully that changes people's minds. Over the years, it has just been like chipping away at rock and slowly things have gotten better like the women's bathrooms used to be our private bathrooms every time we went to every festival. Now it's not a private bathroom anymore, but it's really nice to see. So that means that doors are being opened and more opportunities are being given. And to be a part of that change to open those doors as well. It's just an honour that we get to do that with our music. How is Keep Me Fed different from your previous work that you've put out? Dany: Oh, very different. I feel like we grew a lot in the last few years. We started touring, we got to experience a lot of different things, meet a lot of different people. And the last album that we had was like a pandemic album. We had all the time in the world to be creative, to nitpick, and this new album is the complete opposite. in between tours, a very chaotic schedule, kind of like writing with other people. We like put everything that we hadn't done in our whole careers into a single album. And challenged ourselves musically to like get that step further... Pau: ...Up higher. Yeah, just take that next step. Dany: And we love it. We love what it represents for us. This new era of The Warning and this new sound that we discovered within ourselves to just kind of like have each song feel like us and still offer different things in a very wide area of musically. What was the inspiration and the thought process behind “Automatic Sun,” specifically? Pau: “Automatic Sun” was the last song that we wrote for the record and it was a really crazy process. We were really tired and we had no idea what we wanted to write about or sing about, but it grew into this thing where we had the phrase “automatic sun,” and we wrote the whole song around that. “Automatic Sun” is about missing somebody, and really like craving the energy that they emit, and just being drawn to that gravitational pull this person has on you. And it's a really fun song. It is personally my favourite song on the album, and now that we're playing it live, it's just, that you connect so much with people. Like, you can feel the excitement and it is just so much fun to play.
How was the process like for you guys to write your new album, Keep Me Fed, while you were on tour versus the first album, Error? Pau: I feel like when we were doing, Error, since it was the pandemic, it was kind of like this little echo chamber. It was always our opinions and just like this team that had listened to this music all the time, for a long time. For this album, we were working with new people every single day. We were meeting new people who had different experiences, different tastes, different cultures, and to have that it really opened up so many possibilities of what we could do with our sound. I feel like you hear it in every song, that different influence that each person had and how we turned that into ourselves, how it still sounds like The Warning, but it is just something new. I feel like that's what music is about. It's about evolving and exploring new things, and to have done it in such a hectic time, it was in between tours, we were really tired, but we went right through it. We would write three songs and record those three songs and write more, than leave for tour. I recorded drums for the whole album in a day and a half. We had no time to do anything, and we just kind of made it work. It really encapsules what we were living in at the time. Dany: I think you can hear it in the music, how energetic and chaotic it kind of is. So for sure, it did push us to a different type of experience.
What was the most memorable song to create or record on the last two albums? Dany: [Laughs]. I'm trying to remember everything we went through. You know, I think actually “Automatic Sun” because I remember being so like stuck...Oh, no! You know what I really remember? When we were writing “MORE”, we were stuck with the lyrics. We really wanted to make something impactful, but we were like completely dry on ideas. And we all went to the parking lot of the studio and sang Shakira songs. We just kind of like sang in the parking lot and then we went back and then boom, the song came out. Pau: Thank you, Shakira! What was it like to make the music video for “Qué Más Quieres,” and could you describe who the creative mind behind this was? Dany: It was born out of the creative mind of Paulina Villarreal Vélez. Pau: It's very exciting to say that I co-directed this video. And this was like my little brainchild and it was my first time doing something like this. I'm very happy that you liked it because I love it. You can tell that it was my idea because everything is so pink and fun and just over the top and that is just so me. It was very fun making this music video from just planning it from the beginning and being in all the directive art meetings and production meetings and doing the scouting and just being part of all of that was amazing. But also recording the video, like directing my sisters on how to act and stuff like that. It was just very, very fun. It was something that we hadn't done before, that acting aspect and just having such a strong story like to that be the main aspect of the video, but it was so much fun. Dany: And you're very good at saying action! And just speaking really loudly [Laughs]. Pau: Cut! I enjoyed it. How do you think the family aspect of your band affects your creative process and your overall group dynamic? Dany: Oh, it's very important. I think that that is what mainly encapsules what we are as a band. The family aspect is so important, not only with us that we are our family as sisters, but like within our whole team. Pau: It's that we really have that environment to be like a family all the time. Because we work together as sisters but our parents also work with us, and they travel with us, so everyone that gets added to our team that it just really becomes like a big family, but it really dictates everything that we do, how we work creatively. We work creatively as sisters. I mean, I feel like if we were in a band and we were not sisters, we would sugarcoat things a lot more. Like, I would talk to people talk a lot nicer. I don't know how that's how you say it in English, but in a kinder way when they're talking to their coworkers that you wouldn't do to your siblings. What are you most looking forward to on your upcoming North America tour this fall? Pau: Oooooo, the gas stations! I'm so excited to stop at a Love's because we've been touring Europe a lot. No offence to Europe, but those gas stations are not it. No, they don't have good snacks. They don't... I don't like it. I like when we're in the US touring and we have a stop. I always get out of the bus. But in Europe, I never do it. It's a waste of time. So I'm very excited 'cause like, they sell bandanas, and hats, and ugly t-shirts, and stuff like that. I love it! I love Love's. Dany: You're so passionate, I love it [Laughs]. Buc-ees, as well. Oh my God, Buc-ees is like the best thing. Apart from the gas stations, sharing our new music, and we're playing this music for the first time in the US. So we're psyched about that. Do you have any other musical influences that might surprise people? Pau: K-pop... K-pop has a very big influence on what we do. They have really crazy melodies and they're always like stepping out of the box and exploring new things. And I feel like that's what you always want to do as a musician, just try new things. And I'm very inspired by that. Dany: I feel like listening to music that is not in a language that we understand helps us open our ears more to the details of melodies and instrumentation. Is there a certain line on the song “Burnout” that you're especially proud of? Pau: Yes... “You plan your demolition with a list of self-inflictions.” Which songs are you most excited for fans to hear off of Keep Me Fed? Dany: I'm psyched for people to hear “Apologize. Pau: I'm excited for them to hear “Sharks.” I feel like some people are going to be like, “Oh, they went a little bit too pop on this one.” They're going to hear “Sharks” and it's going to be like, “Oop, well, I'm wrong.” Dany: Yeah, the songs that haven't been released yet are the heaviest ones, for sure. If you had any sort of advice to give to a young girl who might have a certain inclination to start playing an instrument or wants to get into music, what would you say? Pau: Confidence in yourself is key. I feel like sometimes, and I won't even put it in a little music industry box. With everything, sometimes we are conditioned to be scared to speak out on things that we know about. Like, sometimes I'm in soundchecks and I'm afraid to tell the engineer from the festival that I can't hear myself in my in ears. It's like, why would I not do that? It's literally part of my job and it's part of their jobs. I can do that. Nothing's going to happen. So it's really just about knowing where you are and being confident in what you know. Obviously, with the openness to learn and to grow, but also having the confidence and security to do things and surround yourself with people who will take care of you. I feel like people can be really... mean is a very dumb way to put it, but people will try to take advantage of so many things, especially in the music industry. So we surrounded ourselves with people who are like family and who take care of us as we were their own children. Like they really do look out for us. It's important to have people around you who will push you as parents would push you, but also who would protect you as parents would protect you. How has growing up in Mexico impacted the music that you make? Pau: I feel like with every single person, obviously your childhood affects what you do and how you are as a person, and that directly would translate into our music. And again, we were very fortunate to live in a city where there's just such a big booming music scene and where there's music around all the time and in a very passionate way. Mexico has a very passionate culture for everything, but in music, it's just like you feel it, you feel that warmth. So that warmth was always very inviting and to have grown up with that and to be able to put that into your music as well and share it, of course, it has impacted us in like... Dany: ...Maybe in ways that we don't even know.
Read our review of The Warning's brand new album, Keep Me Fed, HERE