Show Notes
Today on LaunchLeft, guest host Rich Tupica chats with Jenny Lee Lindberg for a candid conversation about longevity and creativity, collaboration, and artistic independence. Jenny opens up about balancing music and painting, Warpaint’s evolving future, and finding freedom through visual art. Then, Jenny launches Sierra Swan, who reflects on growing up around music, self-producing her work, and embracing a fearless DIY spirit. Together, they discuss Los Angeles nightlife, artistic authenticity, dance, and why creating without compromise matters more than ever.
What You Will Learn in This Episode: ✅ How Jenny Lee balances painting, songwriting, and life outside Los Angeles
✅ Why Sierra Swan embraces complete creative control over her music and visuals
✅ The impact of the changing music industry on independent artists
✅ How friendship, dance, and artistic community fuel long-term creativity
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Rich Tupica welcomes Jenny Lee
01:10 Jenny discusses leaving Los Angeles for Salt Lake City and how that’s impacted her creative process
04:08 Jenny opens up about ADHD, hyper-focus, and creative deadlines
05:28 Warpaint’s upcoming Meltdown Festival performance and band hiatus
08:00 Painting as therapy and rediscovering creativity during the pandemic
10:00 Jenny reflects on collaborating with Dave Gahan
14:50 Dream collaborators: André 3000 and Mark Rothko
20:14 Jenny discusses burnout and the changing music industry
28:16 Sierra Swan is launched. She shares how she met Jenny at Burning Man
37:20 Sierra previews her upcoming EP Mistress of Love and her DIY creative process
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
💎Creativity thrives in freedom. Painting gave Jenny a level of artistic freedom she rarely experienced in collaborative music settings. Working alone allows her to reconnect with her instincts and create without compromise or outside pressure.
💎Sierra Swan sees value in handling every aspect of her creative work herself—from songwriting and directing videos to self-releasing music.
💎The music industry has dramatically changed. Jenny reflects on how exhausting and financially unsustainable the modern music business has become for many artists. Streaming culture and constant online promotion have fundamentally shifted artistic careers.
💎Community and friendship sustain artists. Jenny and Sierra’s decades-long friendship demonstrates the importance of encouragement, collaboration, and mutual inspiration.
ABOUT THE GUESTS:
Jenny Lee Lindberg is a multidisciplinary artist whose creative work bridges the raw pulse of post-punk music with the intuitive expressionism of visual art. She is best known as the bassist and founding member of the critically acclaimed band Warpaint.
Parallel to her music career, Jenny Lee is a prolific painter whose visual work reveals the same spontaneity and emotional honesty that defines her sound. Working primarily in acrylics and mixed media, her paintings often explore form, color, and gesture through an abstract lens. Her visual art, like her music, resists easy categorization - favoring mood, movement, and process over polish or perfection.
With a DIY ethos and a fiercely independent spirit, Jenny Lee continues to evolve as an artist across mediums, crafting immersive experiences that are deeply personal, rhythmically rich, and emotionally resonant.
Sierra Marie Swan was born in the San Fernando Valley with music in her blood. Her father Billy Swan had his first hit when he was sixteen with Lover Please. During Sierra’s many nights backstage while her father played rhythm guitar for Kris Kristofferson, she conjured up her own dreams of becoming a professiona
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