User:Wargirl2018/sandbox

Long Beach, CA natives, WARGIRL create analog garage rock for a new era. Inspired by current events and driven by world music grooves, this sextet combines dub-centered rhythms (with two percussionists, no less) with lyrics of substance. This is music that matters but also, music that makes you want to get down.

History
WARGIRL co-founder Matt Wignall is no stranger to eclectic sounds as well as stand out ensemble bands. As the mastermind producer / owner of the garage based Tackyland Studio, where Cold War Kids’ early anthems “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “Hospital Beds” were recorded - Wignall has amassed a wide array of funky instrumentation and collaborators. WARGIRL is multicultural garage rock started between friends in the small studio. Anchored by standout front woman Samantha Parks (daughter of 70s funk singer James Lafayette "Bull" Parks of Bull & The Matadors), and Wignall on guitar. Tamara Raye and Enya Preston play bass and keys and the six piece is rounded out by dueling percussionists Erick Diego Nieto and Jeff Suri. Some of the bands early EP recordings featured Cold War Kids’ own Nathan Willet and Matt Maust on bass and organ.

The band makeup is unconventional as the music. Lead vocalist Samantha Parks is a black, white and native American mix who teaches yoga and was singing jazz when she met the band. Guitarist Matt Wignall got into African music photographing in Malawi, Africa for the charity Water Wells For Africa. (Wignall also does most of the band photography and is well knows for his art with bands like Mando Diao and Cold War Kids.) Wignall also cultivates medicinal CBD cannabis strains used to for his hemp oil company. Drummer Jeff Suri, who grew up under the training of Tom Waits drummer, Stephen Hodges, works as a chemist inventing ways to help chronic diseases like diabetes. Bassist Tamara Wilson races classic motorcycles and is a licensed mechanical engineer. Keyboard player, Enya Preston is an eccentric who met Jeff working at his science lab. Their very working class back ground and eclectic approach to life and music makes for amazing, energetic live shows and honest sometimes raw lyrics and recordings.

In April 2018, Wargirl issued their first release, an EP called Arbolita, on Clouds Hill Recordings. LA’s Buzzbands’ described the EP as “garage rock-meets-world music, the kind of stuff that soundtracks cultural revolutions” and stated the sextet is quite simply, “one of Southern California’s most dynamic, relevant bands.” Meanwhile, Stereogum has described their music as, “the kind of groove you can get lost in” and one that conjures “the exhilarating feel and analog sound of War, Fela Kuti, Chaka Khan, and other such soulful, socially charged ’70s rock acts.”

Wargirl released their debut self-titled full length in Europe and UK on October 26, 2018. After a European tour and an appearance at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, WARGIRL was invited back to Europe to perform at the FM4 Festival in Vienna, Austria and will also be playing across Europe and Scandinavia.

MORE ON WARGIRL SITE: wargirl.com INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE: @wargirlband

Appearances
WDR1 Television

BYTE FM

Ticketmaster Interview

Media Features
God Is In The TV

CLASH

STEREOGUM

stereoboard.com

The 405