Anna Waronker’s Malibu household could very well serve as center stage for a reality-TV series about the intrigue and adventures of a family involved in multiple bands and music-biz ventures. Waronker, former frontwoman of That Dog and daughter of legendary producer Lenny Waronker, co-owns the new Five Foot Two label with sister-in-law and Go-Go Charlotte Caffey (they’re married to Redd Kross brothers Steve and Jeff McDonald, respectively). The indie label’s first release is Anna, Waronker’s solo debut, on first glance very noticeable for its pinup album sleeve of Waronker in the buff (but with arms strategically folded—sorry, guys). The image hints at the musical confidence within; she retains the layered pop-vocal harmonies of That Dog while giving it some guitar-rock muscle. She’s aided by her extended family—notably, Caffey sings backup vocals and brother Joey Waronker (R.E.M., Beck) drums on one song. In the fall, Five Foot Two also plans to reissue Redd Kross material, along with albums by the Muffs and Lisa Marr (Cub).

And there’s more: Anna also plays in Ze Malibu Kids, a sort of McDonald brothers house band, and has recently been involved with producing albums (Imperial Teen’s On) and composing for TV and film (Josie & The Pussycats and the Clueless TV series). Finally, lest the earlier mention of a reality-TV series seem too hyperbolic, Steve and Jeff McDonald have begun broadcasting a weekly episode of Bitchin’ Ass, the Web-only ‘70s-style sitcom they write and perform that’s ostensibly about the history of Redd Kross. (See it at www.reddkross.com.) “We grew up in southern California and were sort of raised by the television,” says Steve McDonald. “So that’s what our lives looked like. The line between fantasy and reality was blurry.”

MAGNET chatted with Anna Waronker by phone at her Malibu home.

Anna, your record rocks!
Thank you—yes it does! I was always trying to achieve that and was never allowed. I thought I would do it now.

I never knew that Retreat From The Sun (That Dog’s 1997 swansong) was intended as a solo album.
Yes. I turned in the record to Geffen and they gave the green light, I got the producer I wanted and it was going to go forward. It was definitely with the understanding that we were going to do another record—it wasn’t in exchange for a That Dog record. But my A&R person at the time felt really strongly about me doing it with the band. I decided that I would defer to him on that and see how it went. And it was amazing and horrible at the same time.

I also remember reading that you’d written a lot of that stuff on piano; did you write the new stuff the same way? It seems more “rock,” more like a group record.
You know, I wrote for a couple years for it, and I tried out a couple different styles that I liked and picked my favorite ones. With That Dog, for example, I would write specifically for the band; I would write harmonies with a person in mind or a guitar part or a bass part—whatever I did, it was made for us. With this, I didn’t have to do that anymore. So it’s kind of all over the place. I didn’t worry about whether I was going to be playing piano or guitar. I didn’t worry about any of it.

With the band, you worry about the logistics of taking the songs on the road and how you’re going to play them live, too.
Oh my goodness, that’s everything I would think in That Dog. Like so-and-so could do this, and she would, and it’d be great. But with this, it’s been a little more trying because I’m playing with all guys now and they can all sing and they’re great, but it’s a little bit different. You can’t quite achieve the same delivery. And the second half of the record is kind of sappy.

Do you think you’ll tour with this record?
We’re going to do a Pacific Northwest tour. Anywhere that’s close to L.A. I’m the label and the artist, so the thing with my label is that Charlotte and I want to have artists who are self-contained. That was part of the agreement: We’ll work really hard for people we trust will work really hard for us. But since it’s on an indie financial level—probably more indie than indie labels—we don’t really give tour support or even recording costs. We’re kind of communists.

Record labels are in your blood, though. Did your dad give any advice or did you solicit any from him?
It’s actually very cool, because obviously we’re running different types of labels. It’s great, because I can go to him—I feel in a way I’ve been brought up to do this. Not by him, but just in the way he’s taught me to deal with people and artists. He treats people like he treats his artists. I think I’ve developed that as well but with my own personality involved. I can go to my dad and say, “So-and-so has seven amazing songs, five OK songs and two songs I hate: What do I do?” Because I’m not sure yet, I’m just getting my feet wet. And he’ll say, “Well, if they have one amazing song, that’s good news.” Or I could go to him and say, “What’s up with this radio station? Are they good? Do they matter?”

The Five Foot Two Web site is really geared toward DIY.
That’s our whole trip. I feel like I’m very mathematically inclined and I’m very musically inclined as well, but I’ve learned to do stuff I never thought I could’ve done. And I feel like if I could do that, I’m sure a lot more people can do it, and it’s really not that expensive. But it is intimidating to think, “I have to make a record. I don’t have $100,000.” It doesn’t cost that at all. A lot of people get very stunted by that, whereas if they can invest in themselves a bit, they can actually do it.

I noticed there’s going to be a page on the site about inexpensive recording equipment.
Steve McDonald is going to do that. He’s like a pro on all levels. There are a few people I would pick as my editor—sometimes I lose objectivity—he’s one of those people I can go to and say, “What do you think? What needs to happen here?” He was definitely helpful in guiding. But you know, we’re married and everything, so ... [laughs] I’m not a good bass player, so when I need someone to play bass I’ll just say “Steve, can you come here?” And then it would be like, “Oh my god, thanks.” I also have that with my brother. I’ll say, “I’ll buy you dinner on Tuesday if you come play drums for a couple hours.” And that’s actually what happened with “John & Maria.” He put this crazy drumbeat on it that I love.

I’m assuming the label name refers to someone’s height. So who’s Five Foot Two?
Both Charlotte and I are five foot two. We had a really hard time picking a name for the label, so we tried to think of what we had in common. Tons of things, but nothing that was really catchy: Guitar Records, or Sister-In-Law Records, but none of those were really good. We’re also referring to that Iggy Pop song a little bit. But just a little bit.

When did you and Steve get married, anyhow?
We got married last August, but we’ve been together since ‘95. Charlotte and Jeff have been together for 10 years.

All this stuff has the makings of a great soap opera: rock stars, a family in show business together, in-laws, brothers. It’s like Knots Landing.
And it’s not gonna end, because Charlotte has 12 brothers and sisters and I have a whole slew of little sisters, and everybody wants to get in on the label. It’s awesome.

Of all the hats you’re wearing now—performer, producer, label owner—which do you like the most? Anything you really hate about any of them?
I love them all. Producing, I love, but I get a little bit impatient. I like to record really fast and get the vibe, and you’ve got to be in tune enough to get through it. With recording, I love, love, love making records. I hate, hate, hate mixing. You wanna see my cry? Go to one of our mixing sessions. As far as performing goes, I love it but it’s so stressful: What if I get sick and can’t sing? What if I can’t carry my shit? What if my strings break? All that stuff is not a big deal, except in the moment it’s like, “aaahhh!” The label stuff I love, it’s just that I no longer have any kind of social life and we haven’t made any money yet.

I have to say that the cover photo on your album is very Janet Jackson.
Oh my god! No one has said that.

Do you remember that Rolling Stone cover?
Was she covering her boobs? Wasn’t someone else covering her boobs? You’re right. Actually, I find that me and Janet cross paths a little bit.

No.
No. But for instance, she changed her name to just janet., with a period and all lowercase, and that dog. did that. And one of her records was “Never Say Never,” which was [That Dog’s] last single. And then she has a record called “All For You,” which is a song on my new record. Janet Jackson and I are on the same wavelength.

You should do lunch.
Hmmm. I’d rather write songs for her. I think that’s the best way to go about it. That was not supposed to be the record cover, but that was one of the standout photos. I wanted something colorful, I wanted my hair down—I have long, blonde hair now that I’ve been growing out for this.

It’s bold.
I like that about it, it’s simple. Although it does kind of remind me of Madonna’s first record cover, which I’ve always hated. [Madonna and Janet Jackson], god, that really puts me on a new level of diva.

One more thing: Tell me about Ze Malibu Kids.
It’s me and Steve and Jeff (McDonald). We actually started it years ago and it just came out in the spring. It’s kind of been creating a little splash in Spain. Jeff decided to include his daughter Astrid, our niece, in the visual part of it. So she’s our drummer, but not really. It’s kind of like a Partridge Family thing. I guess I’m kind of blowing it, though, because I think we’re supposed to keep up the mystique [laughs] And I’m such a bitch about it. No, I’m not really.