TT (Theresa Wayman of Warpaint) finds a tranquil groove at MOCA Music

Daiana Feuer on June 22nd, 2018

0

TT at The Geffen Contemporary for MOCA Music (photo by Daiana Feuer)

tt-moca — TT at The Geffen Contemporary for MOCA Music (photo by Daiana Feuer)

With bass-heavy drum rhythms like slowed-down breakbeats and her gauzy, low-light singing, Theresa Wayman’s solo project TT conjures elements of trip-hop, R&B and electronica originating in the 1990s, so it seemed only right to photograph her performance for MOCA Music at the Geffen Contemporary with a instant camera from 1998.

Released by LoveLeaks/Caroline on May 18, Wayman’s album “LoveLaws” actually was started in 2010, the same year her band Warpaint picked up momentum around their own full-length debut, “The Fool.” She didn’t exactly shelve her solo project, but two years ago she finally found space to write lyrics and finish the songs she’d been building on her computer. Recorded with her brother Ivan, Wayman played bass, guitar, synth and programmed drum beats on almost all the tracks, with a few appearances from Warpaint’s Jenny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa. She only announced two shows, Thursday’s at the Geffen and a performance at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop, and so received a large audience filling the museum’s concrete courtyard with eager youngsters celebrating the official first day of summer.

Translating the layered drums, electronic sounds, swaths of reverb and fuzzy peaks crossing “LoveLaws” into a live band, Wayman played as a four-piece, alternating guitar and keyboard herself, in addition to having a drummer, bassist and another keys player, with tracks and samples triggered along the way. While her voice carried the mellow mood, Wayman realized a little more than halfway through the set that she had forgotten to throw some reverb on the mic. “I can’t believe I haven’t had the effect on this whole time,” she exclaimed with a laugh. “Jesus Christ.”

Wayman’s Warpaint bandmates were in attendance, hooting from the grownup section by the bar — coincidentally the best place to feel all the sounds come together. The vapes were out and the audience dosed themselves into a tranquil groove, feeling the emotional songs and nodding into the heavier rhythms. Wayman herself seemed to enjoy these the most, reveling in the breakbeat and swaying like a sensual boxer warming up to a lava lamp.

Setlist: Love Leaks, I’ve Been Fine, Mykki, The Dream, Tutorial, Dram, Safe, So To Be Forgot, Take One, Too Sweet

||| Watch: “I’ve Been Fine”