Biography
Jess Locke (born Jessica Knight Locke) is an Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is originally from Avoca Beach, New South Wales, on the Central Coast; and is now based in Melbourne. Locke began performing as a solo artist in 2008. She has also performed as one half of comedy rap duo Origami Girls. Her first release under her own name was an eleven-track demo collection entitled "In the Bedroom," so called on account of it being recorded in her room in the inner-west of Sydney. It was initially released in December 2009 as a limited run of 50 CDs made for friends and family; and was later distributed online as a free download. Locke's next release was a split album with N. Martin, entitled "The (temperamental) Locket." The album featured four original songs apiece from Locke and Martin, as well as a cover of one another's songs. The album was released in September of 2010.
2012 saw the release of Locke's debut EP, Skins, which was released via Lesstalk Records in January of that year. This year also saw Locke touring internationally for the first time, playing a string of shows in South East Asia; as well as the year she relocated to her current residence of Melbourne. A collection of demos, her first new material since moving, was released under the name "2013" in January 2013. In 2014, Locke released a collection entitled "Z Sides" of previously-unrecorded songs; which was also distributed independently via a run of 100 handmade CDs. A lo-fi live recording, entitled "Live at the Old Bar," was also released as a free download via Locke's Bandcamp page.
In September 2014, Locke announced a crowdfunding campaign to get her debut studio album, Words That Seem to Slip Away, released on vinyl. The project was successfully funded; and the album was released via Art as Catharsis/Lesstalk in March 2015. The album's lead single, "Change the Sheets," was accompanied by Locke's first-ever solo music video, which was filmed in Sydney.
In 2016, Locke released a new single, "Paper Planes." The single was later revealed to be the first song lifted from Locke's second studio album, Universe. Prior to its release on Pool House Records, two further singles were released in mid-2017: "Better/Bitter" and the album's title track. 2017 also saw Locke join The Smith Street Band as an auxiliary live member; providing guitars and backing vocals. She had previously appeared on the band's 2017 album, More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me, as a guest vocalist.
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