Ahead of Brisbane’s Mountain Goat Valley Crawl this weekend, we got Ali Flintoff from BOAT SHOW and Jess Locke together for an Arist v Artist interview.
BOAT SHOW v JESS LOCKE
BOAT SHOW: What’s your favourite personal tour story?
Jess Locke: Well, a few years back now I did a tour in South East Asia. The bands that usually did that circuit were hardcore and punk bands, and I was pretty much playing acoustic indie/folk music at the time. So it was a pretty strange mix sometimes, but no one seemed to really care and everyone I met was lovely. It was just a crazy experience. I played in a waterslide park to a bunch of extremely hyper teenagers and on a roundabout in Penang. The roundabout happened to be next to an Indian restaurant in which there was a band playing. We got invited in to jam with them and they gave us juice. That was pretty cool.
BOAT SHOW: What career/ hobby would you have if you didn’t play music?
Jess Locke: I’m one of those people that has way too many different interests and I find it difficult to commit to one thing. I do a lot of painting and illustration so I guess I could see myself making that into a more full time thing. I also am a big nerd and I love reading and studying. I’ve got an arts degree in English and Philosophy and I entertained the idea of becoming an academic but then became quite disillusioned with the University system and quit. Since then I’ve started a Psychology which I may or may not ever finish! Variety is the spice of life, I say!
BOAT SHOW: Would you rather set your guitar on fire, or never eat garlic again?
Jess Locke: Oooh thats hard. I think I would have to set my guitar on fire because I could always get another guitar, but never eating garlic ever again? That’s too much, I couldn’t do it.
BOAT SHOW: What’s your new song Dangerous about?
Jess Locke: I guess it’s just about being ignorant and afraid of the unknown, or people or ideas. I guess the song is just kind of saying, don’t focus on the differences between people, focus on the basic humanity… that kind of thing.
BOAT SHOW: What are your plans this year with all your projects? What are you most excited for?
Jess Locke: I’m looking forward to our tour in March which will include a stop off in Brisbane. But mainly I’m really exciting about writing and recording new material. We played so much last year that that’s really where all my energy went. Now I’ve had a bit of time off and finally had a chance to just write and it’s got me excited about starting that whole process again.
BOAT SHOW: You were recently over here in Perth. What’s you’re favourite thing about the West
Jess Locke: Last time we were over we went to Busselton and walked on the really long jetty. That was pretty cool and the water was reaaaaaally nice to swim in. Gosh just thinking about it now is making me thirsty and hot. You’ve got some nice beaches, I’ll give you that. Even though I got stung by a jelly fish at Cottesloe it was still really nice.
JESS LOCKE v BOATSHOW
Jess Locke: ‘All my friends are moving to Melbourne…’ you say in your song ‘The Big Smoke’. I think that sentiment rings pretty true for a lot of people these days. I moved to Melbourne via Sydney from a coastal town in NSW and, while I do love Melbourne, I sometimes miss certain things about where I grew up. What do you love about living in Perth and who are some of your favourite Perth based artists?
BOAT SHOW: Yeah I think while it being a very blunt song, it also came from envy because everyone was getting out of Perth and I felt like I was stuck there for a while. I have a lot of amazing friends here and the beach is always nearby. But it’s quite incestual which has it’s pro’s and con’s.
The music scene is incredible! Some bands i love at the moment are Carla Geneve, FOAM, Debbie Downers, Terrible Signal and Demon Days just to name a few.
Jess Locke: My songwriting process has always been quite a solitary and reflective thing and often begins with written words. What is the creative process like in the band? When I listen to the music it feels very energetic and intuitive and the vocals sit very naturally with the rest of the music. Do the songs come out of everyone jamming it out together or does Ali bring finished songs to the rest of you which you then flesh out?
BOAT SHOW: I bring finished songs to the band and they learn off the demos and always make it sound better! I usually just come up with a chord progression and a vocal melody first and then write the lyrics last.
Jess Locke: Do you all have other projects outside of BOAT SHOW, creative or otherwise?
BOAT SHOW: Yes! Kaity has a solo project called Kaitlin Keegan which is incredible. In my opinion she is the best singer I know. Joel has FOAM and Eat Alone, he fronts and writes for both. Ben has Human Buoy which Sam also plays drums in. And Sam travels the world with his handpan. Incredible instrument.
Jess Locke: I have a cranky old cat who I have to leave at home when I’m touring. Do you have pets and who looks after them when you are away?
BOAT SHOW: I used to have a Cockatiel named Sunny. My friends Mum took care of him while I was away. I miss Sunny so much.
Jess Locke: The album titles ‘Groundbreaking Masterpiece’ and ‘Unbelievable’ are both pretty epic and seem to contrast with the feeling of many of your song titles, for example, ‘Suffocate’, ‘Toxic’, ‘Restless’… Was that a conscious decision?
BOAT SHOW: Not a conscious decision! Never even noticed the contrast til now haha. We were just trying to come up with the most wanky album titles possible lol.
Jess Locke: Do you have any epic (or regular sized) plans for the coming year?
BOAT SHOW: This year is already looking huge! We head off on tour on the 16th of Feb. Mountain Goat Valley Crawl being the first tour show. Then a few festivals and shows to take us to the end of feb. Then for the whole of March we’re touring Nationally in support of Hockey Dad. Then in April I will be finishing off the 3rd Album. Then for all of May we’ll be touring nationally with DZ Deathrays, Clowns and These New South Wales. And on our few days off in Melbourne we’ll be recording Album #3.
More Jess Locke | Facebook | Spotify | Website
More BOATSHOW | Facebook | Spotify | Soundcloud
Mountain Goat Valley Crawl
SAT 17 FEB | FORTITUDE VALLEY, BRISBANE