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A musician and the creative director of Chrome Hearts, Jesse Jo Stark has an immense presence in both the fashion and music scene. She continues to produce merchandise for renowned musicians such as Post Malone and manages her brand, Deadly Doll. As a daughter of Richard Stark, founder of Chrome Hearts and having Cher as her godmother, she grew up in such an artistic environment. Her early start brought her to release her first EP in 2017, produced by Steve Jones from Sex Pistols. Soon her edgy music sense caught public attention. This time she is releasing her first full album, “DOOMED”. Rock, country and disco are merged and expressed in Jesse’s dark and mysterious mood with pop tones. She deconstructs what it means to be herself and ends with a message for vast love.


━━Is this your first time in Japan?


Jesse： I have been to Japan many times and I love it but this is my first time without my family. So it’s been different because I usually come with my whole family.


Jesse： I have been to Japan many times and I love it but this is my first time without my family. so I’m missing them.


━━Did you get to see Summer Sonic?


Jesse ：I did because my boyfriend was playing it for the first time. It was my first time going to that festival and I loved it. I want to play in it one day.


━━You were interested in music since young, where did your musical influence come from?


Jesse ：I grew up among musicians, different artists and inspiring adults. My dad always played music on the way to school like country, rock and everything. One day I asked him if he’d put me in vocal lessons and the rest is history.





━━You started music at about seven years old.


Jesse ：I was seven and then I wrote my first song. I’ve been making music ever since.


━━Your father gave you a circumstance to get influence


Jesse ：I think my parents in general are very supportive and they will allow me to try things. It’s cool how they are good at embracing youth. They let me mess up and try everything in design and music. They are very supportive and still are.


━━You are the designer and part owner of Chrome Hearts and the artist and creator of the brand. And a musician how do you keep a balance between them?


Jesse：It’s very difficult but Chrome Hearts is my blood and my family. I’ve always wanted to be a part of it since I was a little girl but music is also something I need to do to survive for myself. So I just do it. I make it work and it’s very interesting.





━━So is fashion and music separate for you?


Jesse ：I don’t think so. I think they go hand in hand. The boots that I make are called Sugar Jones, I make them for Chrome Hearts, I made because I wanted a boot that I can perform in. So that’s a perfect example of how music and design overlap. They both make you feel good.


━━You design for other artists such as Post Malone and Yungblud, does that influence your music in any way?


Jesse ：I’ve always loved creating for other people. I think it feeds the fire. It keeps your brain moving. I love it.


━━So your music is from yourself, rather than being influenced by other people?


Jesse ：Selfishly, I write music for myself and I hope people will like it.

━━This new album, “DOOMED” is about expressing who you are.


Jesse ：Yea, I think music is like poetry and writing is something I crave, I have to do it. But “DOOMED” feels like the different moods of mine. It’s my life’s work, it’s like the sound that always loved but it feels like a perfect introduction because it’s my debut album. It’s me and it’s all of me. It’s about duality and both of me, like light and dark, heaven and hell, the juxtaposition.


━━The album does have this dual composition, dark yet dreamy and pop sometimes.


Jesse ：Yes, rock, sad, love, mad, disco. You know when you wake up in the morning in a mood and you go to bed in another mood because people are so complex and you change throughout the day. I want the album to express all moods.


━━For this album, you had two producers, Jesse Rutherford (produced The Neighbourhood, benny blanco) and Michael Harris (HAIM, Angel Olsen). How did you work with them?


Jesse ：Well, we all produced it together in LA in my studio. It just felt like a family, it was grounding and organic. We played with the melody a lot, with my voice. Jesse challenged me a lot as an artist.


━━So you tried a different approach to your vocals?


Jesse ：It was more about pushing myself and trying new things. I sing very languid and mellow while Jesse [Rutherford] sings faster so it was nice to challenge myself.





━━The vocal for “Patterns” had an emotional rap style, it had a strong impression.


Jesse ：I wrote that song in ten minutes and it was one vocal take. Do you know when you are in a room and telling your friend something that you are pissed off about? That’s that song.


━━So it’s less about the message and more about the feeling?


Jesse ：There is always an intent behind the feeling. The message is I’m pissed off and I want you to know.


━━In your album, what topics and emotions are being expressed?


Jesse ：There is a theme in the album. I talk a lot about people, how I grew up around them and having to decide who is genuine or who is not. Deciding the company you want to keep. I feel like I loved a lot in my life. I’m a lover and to love is not easy.


━━In the end, even when you have a bad feeling about some people you accept it with love in this album.


Jesse ：Yea, that’s cool that you felt that. The last song in the album I wrote six years ago. The word ‘Doomed’ is very negative but it wasn’t meant to be that. It’s to feel optimistic about your life and your choices and accept who you are as a person. The whole album is about myself saying things I wouldn’t normally say. As the woman I am today, just own it.

━━With this album, did you discover anything new musically?


Jesse ：I think this album was a bit more modern for me. We experimented with different things, like 808s. So I am excited to bring this to a live show. I already started writing new songs, I have tons of songs and I’m going to make another album. I want to do a country album.


━━In the coming future, how do you plan to combine your music and design practice?


Jesse ：I think I was always been like that, it was always been hand in hand but right now I want to focus on my music. I think as people though, we don’t offer one thing. I offer all of them so I don’t want to pick. I am a musician and I make cool things. I want to do both forever.





━━What do you want your listeners to take away from this album? Is there a feeling you want to express?


Jesse ：I feel like there are dark, mysterious and languid riffs and serious tones. I want people to feel liberated and strong in their bodies. There is a lot of femininity in the album, owning who you are whoever that might be. We all have something to offer and that is ourselves. I wrote these songs for me but now they are for everyone else. So I hope it reminds people to be themselves.


━━Your outfit today is dark yet has pop colour tones. It seems to have a similar aesthetic as your album.


Jesse ：I dress differently every day. I was in a fun mood today, so this is what I have on. Yesterday I was in all dark pants and converse. On stage, I take on a different person. I envy my father because he can wear the same thing every day. That would be easier.
I didn’t want to be late today so this is my “Don’t be late” outfit. These boots make me feel like Tokyo and my bracelet is my mom’s that she’s had since the 90s.





Photography Satomi Yamauchi(IG)
Text Takahisa Matsunaga



Jesse Jo Stark
Album “DOOMED”
Releasing on September 21st
https://jessejostark.salinks.co/doomed


Profile:
Jesse Jo Stark began writing music at seven, and at eleven formed her first band, ‘It’s complicated”. In 2017 released her first debut EP produced with Steve Jones, previously from Sex Pistols, and began her musical career. Before she releases the album, Jesse will be performing in London on September 30th followed by lives in LA and NY in October.