Theresa Wayman

Theresa Wayman
A woman performing live on-stage. She is holding a red guitar. A drum kit is seen in the background. Theresa Wayman performing in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Theresa Becker Wayman
Born	(1980-06-23) June 23, 1980 Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock, art rock, dream pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, drums
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Manimal, Rough Trade
Associated acts	Warpaint, Vincent Gallo
Notable instruments
Fender Mustang

Theresa Becker Wayman (born June 23, 1980) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and occasional actress, best known as guitarist and vocalist of the indie rock band Warpaint.

Personal life

Theresa was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon. She became interested in music at 9 years old when she started "jamming along with [her] dad" on guitar. At age 10, her mother encouraged her to learn piano. Wayman has said that she "dabbled in guitar as a teen; then got really serious about guitar and drums when [she] was about 21." Wayman's musical influences from her childhood and adolescence include Talking Heads, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Jimmy Page and Björk. During her adolescence, Wayman became close friends with Emily Kokal, with whom she would later form Warpaint. Both traveled through Europe together in their late teenage years and lived together in New York and Los Angeles, California.

Wayman has one son, who was born in 2005. She has said that since becoming a mother she is "more inspired, and my life is more rich in a certain sense. Because you see the value of human life, and just how fast time moves along. All of a sudden your son is five years old, and you see just how much has happened in that time. It's a good perspective."

Music career

Main article: Warpaint (band)

After relocating to Los Angeles, Wayman formed Warpaint on Valentine's Day 2004 with Emily Kokal and sisters Jenny Lee Lindberg and Shannyn Sossamon. The band spent four years performing around Los Angeles and composing original material before self-releasing its debut EP, Exquisite Corpse, in August 2008. Following a number of lineup changes in 2009—which included Wayman recruiting drummer Stella Mozgawa—Warpaint released its debut studio album, The Fool, in October 2010 on Rough Trade Records. The album was well received by critics, peaked at number 176 on the Billboard 200, and charted in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Wayman also had "a brief spell" as a member of Vincent Gallo's backing band in 2005. Describing the experience, she said, "I was really, really bummed when Warpaint split up, and was really grateful to be able to keep playing. He and I were going to continue playing, but then Warpaint got back together, and I had to go with that. Because Warpaint is my heart and soul."

Film career

Wayman is an occasional actress and has appeared in two feature films and two short films. In 2002, she appeared in a minor role as a food service girl in The Rules of Attraction, alongside later bandmate Shannyn Sossamon. She later portrayed J.T. in Rift, a 2004 short film by Sam Goldberg, and Ada in Burke Roberts' 2006 short film Insult to Injury. In 2010, Wayman played a supporting role in Pete Smalls Is Dead, portraying Saskia, "a laconic femme fatale."

Discography

With Warpaint

• Exquisite Corpse (EP) (2008)
• The Fool (2010)
• Warpaint (2014)