This Modern Love: Britt Warner

Several times each month, Britt Warner gathers her things—a keyboard and its corresponding stand, a vintage yellow purse filled with cables, car keys, house keys, a pack of Nicorette chewing gum—and journeys from one side of Hollywood to the other in a gray Dodge Stratus she calls “The Shark” to play her residency at Bar Lubitsch, an intimate Russian dive adorned with brick walls and home to 200 different kinds of vodka.

On Monday she was performing a sparse, piano-only cover of Father John Misty’s “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” in the venue’s “Red Room,” named for its choice of scarlet-colored lighting and matching booths. Warner’s interpretation of the song, which she describes as “a soul mate in music form,” is haunting in its delivery, whispered as a secret between artist and audience. “Every time I perform it live,” she says, “it feels like slipping into the perfect pair of jeans.”

Warner, 26, is the kind of artist who meditates on each and every word. Whether she’s afraid to confront her father in “Papa Says,” or moving on from a former flame in “It Is What It Is,” her lyrics, all handwritten before being taken to music, contain a confessional quality. The self-taught Warner, who overcame her fear of singing in front of others with the aid of a high school friend—“I exclusively sang to horses for most of my life because I was shy and my lyrics felt so personal,” she says—turns to the experiences of others in her latest, the Noisey exclusive “OKCupid.”

“I’ve observed and absorbed the experiences of others even more so than my own,” she says of the song, “and want to tell the stories, give voices to those who can’t always articulate their feelings so easily.”

Warner answered our questions at home in West Hollywood, where, following a day spent with family an hour north of L.A.’s borders, she was “…propped up against a pile of pillows in bed, curtains drawn, and chewing nicotine gum.”

britt_warner
26 / F / Straight / Single

Los Angeles, California

My self-summary
I’m The Last Unicorn, living The Neverending Story.

What I’m doing with my life
Writing and recording songs; falling in and out of love; writing and recording more songs; eating Clif Bars; having a daily existential crisis; evolving; rinse and repeat, if necessary.

I’m really good at
…eye contact. Soul-searching. Empathizing. Intimacy. Writing. Analyzing. Conversations. Solitude. Keeping secrets.

The first things people usually notice about me
My height (I’m 5’10”); the way I carry myself; my indiscernible ethnicity; calm, quiet intensity.

Favorite books, movies, shows, music, and food
The Art of Loving, The Celestine Prophecy, Just Kids, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Ask The Dust, Summer Sisters, The Chronicles of Narnia, A Calm Quiet Place To Self Destruct, and anything by Shel Silverstein.

The Big Lebowski, The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride, The Three Amigos, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Wet Hot American Summer, Almost Famous, Billy Madison, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Best In Show, Anchorman, Secretary, Midnight In Paris, Some Like It Hot, Paper Moon, The Last Unicorn, Before Sunrise, Annie Hall, Wayne’s World, Wonder Boys, The Wedding Singer, The Station Agent…this list is already too long.

Seinfeld, Nashville, Extras, The Office, Eastbound & Down, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Broad City, South Park, Metalocalypse, Chappelle’s Show, Orange Is The New Black, The Boondocks, Californication…

Sushi.

The six things I could never do without
My brain; my eyes; my heart; my voice; writing implements.

I spend a lot of time thinking about
Music…words, melodies, next steps. Music consumes me.

I think about the people I know, people I’ve met, things they’ve said, qualities I appreciate about them, how I can help the ones I love. I daydream about what I want to do and achieve, play out conversations and scenarios that have yet to occur. I think a lot about societal trends and behaviors, the effect technology continues to have on humanity for better and worse.

I think about molecules and particles and time and perception and am aware of the constant self-pressure to substantiate ideas and dreams with the hope that I can leave something beautiful behind. When I die, I want the majority of my matter to be positive particles that can be dispersed back into the Universe and reformed as something even better than whatever I am now.

The most private thing I’m willing to admit
I’ve been aware of my own mortality since the age of 5; from my perspective, life is beautiful, entirely bittersweet, and all too temporary.

You should message me if
You are your own best friend and not your own worst enemy. I’ve lost my lust for self-loathing.

Having filled out her “profile,” Warner takes a moment to share her thoughts on finding love online, offline, and the dating scene in L.A.

I know a LOT of people who have tried online dating…including my parents! I’d say two-thirds of everyone I know have at least created a profile on one site or another. The dating scene in L.A. is alternately incestuous and challenging. I’m a native, but the majority of residents move here primarily for career purposes, not to fall in love. There’s a very transient, sink-or-swim feel to the environment that doesn’t always lend itself well to the slow unfolding of deep, true-connection romance. With that said, L.A. has the potential to be the most romantic city on Earth for those who are open to experiencing it as such.

I’m single, yes. I can’t remember the last date I went on!I tend to hold out for ages and then choose poorly anyway. Making music fills me with love and purpose and a strong sense of self. I trust that if I’m on the path that’s right for me, I’ll eventually collide with the person who’s right for me, too.

Get clear on what qualities you are attracted to. Is that consistent with who you attract? If not, spend more time becoming a person that YOU love to be around before meshing your identity with someone else’s. Online dating is great for people who don’t meet a lot of potential mates on a day to day basis via work, school, etc. It’s become widely accepted, doesn’t have the old negative connotations of desperation that it used to. Just be safe, always meet in public first. Dating has never felt natural to me. Lightning seems to strike when I least expect it, and I think that’s ultimately what I prefer.

Britt Warner is currently at work on her debut studio album. Her latest EP, Britt Warner, is out now.

John wears glasses and is a writer living in Chicago. Follow him on Twitter -- @johntaylortweet