FEATURE: HINKLEY FILES - ANNA WARNOKER 
by Pat Smear

(First appeared in BAM magazine, 3/27/98)

For this installment of the Hinkley Files, guest writer Pat Smear spent a day with Anna Warnoker to give us a glimpse inside her world.

I first saw Anna open for Beck at the Troubadour in 1994 when she was the singer/guitarist/songwriter for ultra-indie band That Dog. I immediately fell in love with the band and got a big crush on Anna. Through mutual friends we soon became best friends ourselves.

I was so impressed by her musical talent and innocence that I asked her to produce my next record. With the rest of That Dog backing us up, we went into a studio but never finished the album. We did six songs no one will ever hear.

I invited That Dog on a couple of Foo Fighters tours and later featured them on an MTV House of Style segment when they were promotoing their last and greatest album Retreat From the Sun.

We've both given up our touring lifestyles (well, temporarily at least), so I think I pretty much know what her days are like.


Good Morning Starshine: 
Anna always wakes up a little too late. "Steve has minor panic attacks every night about staying up too late," she says. "I know he passive-aggressively blames me for it. It's probably true." (Anna's longtime boyfriend is Redd Kross' Steve McDonald, a sexpot popstar in his own right. Together, they're sort of the Gavin and Gwen of the LA indie rock scene.)

Hanging On the Telephone: 
After rising, Anna turns on her phone's ringer. This is usually right around when I'm calling her for the second or third time. "I'm always on the phone," she says. "I carry the portable with me all over the house. I hate running for the phone!" Well, a girl has gotta keep up with her girlfriends. 

Welcome to the Working Week: 
After breakfast and a little light house keeping, its off to work in the dining room home studio where she is writing songs for her next album, her first without That Dog. Anna is the most prolific songwriter I know. She's also recently collaborated with Steve and his brother Jeff on the odd movie soundtrack contribution and with Charlotte Caffey for a TV theme song.

Once hard at work it's difficult to get her attention. She's a frequent user of Pink Dot's delivery services, and she rarely leaves the house unless you go get her, which is what I had to do. 

Take the Long Way Home: 
I hate going to Anna's apartment. I mean it's a fabulous apartment with a fabulous view, but--that drive. It's up those narrow streets above Franklin in the Hills. 

She Has Funny Cars: 
Anna drives a Toyota Rav "It looks like a suppository," she says. She parks it in her semi-legitimate parking space on the hill. "My car got hit again," she tells me while climbing into mine.

Eat to the Beat: 
Anna's just done a photo shoot for Vogue magazine and is craving a very un-Vogue-model-like meal at Carney's. We dine on burgers and chili fries to the strains of classic rock; "Hello It's Me" for her, "Jet Airliner" for me. She wants something off the menu, but won't ask 'cause she hates ordering.

Rocks Off: 
We sit and chat about music, comparing the breakup of That Dog to the breakup of the Beatles. She tells me of her new obsession with Mick Jagger--well, the version of Mick Jagger from when she was, like, zero years old. "When I hear those records it makes me wanna fuck," she says. "Not have sex--fuck."

Hit Record: 
So what's the new record gonna be like? Grunge? "Yes," she says. "I kept trying all during grunge and it didn't really work, so maybe I'll make one now when it's really, really uncool." She's kidding, of course. We agree that it was uncooler to do grunge when it was happening.

"What time is it," she asks. "I've got a date with Fox TV."

"It's 7:30," I say.

We're outta here. *

(c) 1998 Pat Smear