The Warning’s Paulina Villarreal talks women in rock

The Warning drummer Paulina Villarreal recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Fierce: Women In Music, where she spoke with host Lori Majewski about the band’s new album, Everything’s Falling, as well as the growing presence of women in rock.

During the conversation, Villarreal explained the meaning behind Everything’s Falling, which arrives August 28, and how the record explores failure, personal shortcomings and the process of learning from difficult moments.

“So, Everything’s Falling talks about the journey of failure and how failure is such a human thing to go through and that we all fail,” Villarreal said. “Even though our careers are at like an all-time high, we have serious falls and shortcomings that we live through every day and we have to deal with them.”

She added that the album examines the pressure to appear perfect and the importance of allowing room for failure and growth.

“Failure isn’t necessarily a negative thing. Failure is a necessity. If you want to grow, you need to have that space to grow. And by falling, you can always rise again.”

Villarreal also discussed how relentless ambition can sometimes come at the expense of other parts of life, explaining that taking time away from touring gave The Warning an opportunity to reflect on what they had experienced over the previous five years.

“It can fall apart, but it can also fall into place,” she said of the album’s central theme.

Elsewhere in the interview, Villarreal reflected on the changing landscape for women in rock. She recalled the lack of women she encountered backstage at festivals when The Warning were starting out and contrasted that with what the band sees today.

“We would go to these festivals and the women’s bathrooms were private bathrooms for us. There was nobody there. There were no bands, no crew, no engineers, no nothing, no musicians except us and my mom,” she recalled. “So now that we’re going to festivals, we can see that change. We can see that there’s a line for the bathroom now. And that’s a great feeling overall.”

Villarreal also pointed to The Warning’s past tour with Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless and Lilith Czar as an example of how meaningful that increased representation can be.

“That was so empowering to look everywhere and that every time that somebody was on a stage, you would see yourself represented,” she said. “That is so special.”

She also praised The Linda Lindas, describing the young punk band’s strong identity and live presence as an encouraging sign for the future.

“When I see bands like that being so good at what they do with such a strong presence and such a strong identity, it’s very comforting to see,” Villarreal said. “I really love the moment that we’re in right now.”

The full episode of SiriusXM’s Fierce: Women In Music featuring Paulina Villarreal is available now on the SiriusXM app.

Check out clips from Villarreal’s conversation with Lori Majewski below.

Photo by Brian Ziff