Meet The Blossom

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This is a trite starter, but what have you been doing during shelter-at-home?

I've been recording lot, drinking a lot of tea, not watching any TV shows. I'm constantly on FaceTime with friends and family, but it’s been mostly recording, writing, and cooking a lot.

What have you been cooking?

Lots of thai food, like curries—I’m making curry, but putting everything I have in the fridge in it, kind of gross but also really delicious. And baking a fuckload.

Sounds like you’ve created a comforting environment.

Yeah. Though I've actually been feeling pretty lonely. This quarantine was really difficult at the beginning. I went through this whole phase where I felt really guilty that I was feeling lonely.

I [thought], "I have this cozy little apartment with everything I could need." I'm totally facilitated creatively— what I have to do is so simple, really: stay in my house, eat, record, and try not to leave, you know. But even though this is so simple, it's been really difficult. And I find myself feeling guilty about it, but it's pushed me to be more gentle on myself, especially with my creative process, because I’ve been hypercritical of myself creatively.

Therefore, you’re able to produce something creative despite, or rather, in celebration of everything that is going on outside.

Yeah. I’m like, how do I navigate this and not be hypercritical of myself—and use this time to not just be productive? I don't think this is about being productive. It’s about using this time to settle into myself, and carve out what kind of artist I want to be… The quarantine was kind of an incubator period.

Why did you chose The Blossom as your moniker?

I wanted something that wasn't somebody's name. A separation for myself and everything. It was super liberating.

So you’ve created a stage persona detached from yourself, yet I notice that your lyrics speak about really intimate, personal subjects—"Kill My Mind" comes to mind. Where do you attach and detach from your voice as The Blossom?

A lot of what I write and sing about is about anxiety and depression, and growing pains. I'm super emotional, and extremely emotionally acquiring. A lot of my family and the closest people that I love struggle with depression and anxiety and I have as well. I feel like naturally I like gravitate towards those sorts of topics because that is the most cathartic for me.

Also, in some way, I find pain voyeuristic. You know, I used to make really crazy choices ‘cause I'd want to feel something or feel through somebody. Now, writing and [making] music are like that— I can feel these things through my music, without having to go and experience the pain anymore. And other people can too. I lean towards the things people don't want to admit, or feel through, or talk about. I’ll do that for them.

What have you been listening to lately?

…A lot of Ruff Ryders and that whole era, like Dipset and Cameron. Then I've been listening to like a whole bunch of like Shoegaze stuff— I'm really into Duster at the moment. So I'll go from Duster to Shoegaze and finish with a bunch of trap and stuff. That's how I dissect music. That's the pallet that I lean towards. But Elliot Smith is the best ever songwriter, I believe.

His songwriting is undeniably complex. Speaking of, what’s your writing process?

Nothing special. I just sing into my iPhone speaker and I use a lot of vocals from my iPhone. The iPhone fucking microphone is one of the best in the world, because you can actually have a fucking microphone on you wherever you go. Like think about that. Like how cool is that? I can write anywhere and make music anywhere. I don't need to be in a studio or be in any sort of special environment. My setup is just a guitar, laptop, microphone, iPhone. That's it. I used to be embarrassed to say that I don't write my lyrics down on paper ‘cause I feel like it's a thing, but I don’t— I type everything on my phone notes!

You’re fully leaning into the digital thing.

Into the abyss! Well, the goal is not to just float off into it. I just utilize it. I have a healthy relationship with the internet. I mean, I fucking love being connected. Like, I love that. For me, its my friends, memes, and music— that’s pretty much it.

How has moving to LA changed your work, and your connectivity?

LA hasn't changed my music, my sound, or my influences. I just think it's changed my process. I just feel different when I write here. In New York I have such a short attention span and I can feel like quite selfish with my time and what I do with it. New York is just such a lustrous place for me, and I wasn't honoring my creative practice when I was living there as much as I am here.

I'm going to be honest, I'm not as inspired visually every day here, and feel a bit restless. But I also feel like I have to be adaptable. I need to make the most of any place I am, and be happy, and grateful for the fact that I can create.

That's good, I think that's good ultimately that's what truly successful people, have learned to do. Have you collaborated on any work?

I recently worked with Jessica Winter, who's really cool. She is signed to Warp Publishing in the UK and we wrote the track Bored Baby Blues, which is off the new EP.

We did that together, before the quarantine. And Dani Aphrodite worked on the video for that, as well. So that was the most recent time I was like in a room with somebody else physically, working. Other than that I write a bunch and then send it back and forth to my dad, who's in Sydney. We work virtually with each other.

So you and your dad collaborate? Since when have you been doing that?

Yeah, we collaborate a lot. Since I was like, God, since I wanted to record for the first time, which maybe was like 12 or 13. Yeah. I would bring him tracks and stuff, like songs that I really liked, and then I'd want to do covers of them so I would get him to do different versions of them for me. He has a recording studio, in our home.

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So did mine, but I don't think my dad and I are set to collaborate anytime soon. It's incredible when I meet people working well and creating with family.

He would just build random stuff and I would start writing melodies and stuff on top of those random beats. Then when I started making my own stuff, I started coming to him with that too, because I would need help.

It seems like it's a source of strength for both of you. How do you guys do it?

It's not like he fostered my music like, “Oh you have to come and do this at eight.” I always came to him, it was very reciprocal and it always has been. Yeah. I honestly need it and I think he needs it. And also there's no pressure. It just feels really loose and open and just natural.

What are you thoughts, feelings, actions surrounding the BLM movement in LA, and globally, especially as a non-black POC?

For me it’s about actively standing with both BLM and Black Power movements. Pushing the conversation of how POC non-black people and white communities can facilitate that within every choice we currently make and being consistently active in the long term. It’s not just about showing “solidarity” with “good intentions” It’s about challenging our own and each others actions and thought. Checking ourselves and our peers.These are conversations and actions that we as POC non black people and white people need to have. We need to do the work. I think its crucial for our advocacy to be consistent and not just part of an online echo chamber of information on the internet, i think we also need to be more conscious of the news and content we’re sharing and how it portray’s the black community.

I’m never shocked at police brutality or racism within America, it’s so normalized that i’ll be shocked when we dismantle, disarm and defund white fragility, white-supremacy and the white-economical infrastructure. Most importantly, we have to do the work. We need to support local black business’s as much as possible, educate each other, have conversations within our homes and share our skills to spread awareness within community. We need action. (A.C.A.B!!)

Music

Jesse Jo Stark Is in a Genre of Her Own

April 19, 2024

In the midst of a total solar eclipse, I got the chance to talk about music and style with Jesse Jo Stark.

As I’m on the phone with her from New York, Stark is on a tour bus with The Veronicas, driving through the Colorado mountains to enjoy some time off in between shows. The Veronicas have just started their Gothic Summer North American Tour, and Stark is opening the show. What’s special about this tour for the lifelong music obsessive is the sense of powerful feminine energy encapsulating the tour. “We just started [tour], but it’s been really lovely. I’m obsessed with the fact that we’re all women — it feels like a very powerful crew. The Veronicas are lovely, the crowds have been so fun, and the venues are beautiful. It’s gonna be a good month.”

Photography Sophia-Liv Maguire
Styling Marc Eram
Interview Angelina Hazzouri
Talent Jesse Jo Stark
Hair Antoine Martinez with PARADIS using Roz Hair
Makeup Sydney Szramowski
Photo Assistants Mia O’Neal, Rashaun Richardson
BTS Ms Josephine
Creative Producer Olivia Roper-Caldbeck

This is Stark’s second time touring since the release of her full-length debut album DOOMED in late 2022, which was very well received and led to Stark’s first sold-out international headlining tour on behalf of the album. Previous to her solo tour, she’s opened for various notable acts, such as Guns N’ Roses and Jane’s Addiction. I asked Stark, who’s been writing and playing music since age 11, what it was like to prepare for her first sold-out headlining tour. Unsurprisingly, before any tour, Stark goes into what she describes as “bootcamp mode” — dancing every day, vocal training, rehearsing with her band, and of course, working on her outfits. “That’s the sort of homework I love,” she says, smiling. (Even though we’re on the phone, I can tell she’s smiling when she talks about the outfit part. I’d smile too if I had her tour closet.)

What’s unique about Stark as a musician is that she has ultimately created her own universe by embracing every aspect of her creative upbringing, her raw talent, her fascinating influences, and her unwavering beliefs in not needing to fit into a certain box when it comes to her art. She creative-directs and styles all her own looks, referencing an ever-evolving list of influences that range from Vegas showgirls to Halloween to old films to her parents in the 90s. “I think when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from,” she tells me, “but now it’s just my blood. I constantly reflect on my childhood and everything I was taught and everything I saw. My brother and sister and I are constantly pulling influences from our parents from the past. I think, more than ever, I’m heavily influenced by them.”

Stark, the daughter of founders and owners of the self-made American fashion brand Chrome Hearts, and now its creative director and designer, is someone who always knew what she liked, but as she describes it, had to ‘go through the motions’ that come with growing up and knowing one’s identity. Today, her self-efficacy is palpable — and it’s inspiring.

...when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from, but now it’s just my blood.

When she’s on tour, Stark is growing with herself and with her art — she’s not afraid to take life as it comes and learn through the process. With every show, regardless of whether it was on her DOOMED tour or this tour with The Veronicas, Stark understands the importance of human connection through music. Seeing faces of music lovers like herself, meeting those who have traveled to see her, and visiting familiar and unfamiliar cities has reminded her that she loves being on the road. “The growth that happens on tour is so important to me as an artist.” Sometimes we have to leave behind what’s familiar in order to rediscover what’s important, and Stark is a proponent of this growth mindset.

Growth doesn’t just happen on tour with Stark — this evolution of herself happens within genre as well, and for Stark there’s no such thing. Since her first release Driftwood in 2017, the artist’s sound has shifted year after year, but in a harmonious way that still feels central to her gothic Americana roots. When asked if she’ll experiment with genre in the future, Stark confidently answers, “I think I’ve only experimented with genre. I don’t think anyone knows what genre I am.” (She calls herself a “horrific hillbilly” — a perfect descriptor.) Steadfast in her belief that we as humans can constantly evolve in our work, Stark thinks it’s antiquated to fit yourself into a certain box and focus on one specific trade in order to succeed. “If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time. I want to experience different things.”

Since Driftwood, a two-song EP rooted in rock and country, Stark has experimented with more robust beats and 808s on DOOMED, and her most recent single “skeleton” features a softer, grungier punk sound. Without fitting into a specific genre, Stark’s music is undoubtedly and wholeheartedly her own, transcending the boundaries of what many artists struggle with when finding their sound. “I don’t think we should have to label ourselves in any way, shape, or form; so I’m not going to. I will continue to make all types of different music.” Fuck yeah.

If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time.

This goes beyond just music — in terms of her personal style, the same mentality applies. We discuss the idea that clothing and dressing is a sort of playground, and personal style comes from within. Stark isn’t about following trends, but rather, she thinks it’s important to tap into different stylistic elements that amplify who we are at our cores. On her DOOMED tour, Stark wore a lot of leather and stuck to a fairly dark color palette. Right now, she’s into more bourgeois satin and lace, experimenting with different textures and wearing things that feel slightly daintier and more delicate. On this current tour with the Veronicas, Stark is making it more of a point to take everything in — absorbing inspiration from every city, writing songs on the road, recording video on a friend’s super 8 camera, styling and wearing new outfits, learning and performing new covers — ultimately growing through the whole experience.

It’s endearing and inspiring how well Stark knows herself. A Los Angeles native, she proudly tells me that the tour finishes on May 5 in her hometown, a show that she’s especially excited for. While we can’t predict what thoughtfully-curated outfit she’ll wear or what songs will be performed, with new music already underway, one thing is clear: Jesse Jo Stark is just getting started.

Music

9lives' Latest Single Continues to Push Sigilkore

April 19, 2024

The versatile artist, producer, and pioneer of the sigilkore genre, 9lives, has recently unveiled his latest single "CANADA" featuring jnhygs. In less than two years since his emergence onto the music scene, 9lives has carved out an impressive niche for himself as a prominent figure within the digitally-driven sigilkore movement. "CANADA" sees him teaming up once again with experimental dance artist jnhygs, following their successful collaboration on "XTAYALIVE".

With aspirations to establish himself within the mainstream arena of experimental music production and artistry, 9lives is blending his distinct dark production style with collaborations with a diverse array of influential artists who trust him to create innovative sonic landscapes. "CANADA" marks his second release of 2024, as 9lives continues to champion the burgeoning sigilkore movement, pushing the boundaries of genre, evolving into a multifaceted artist, and solidifying his status as a rising star with an expanding audience.

Image by Connor Pritchard

Reflecting on their latest project, 9lives shares, “In early 2023 jnhygs found my music and we started chatting through TikTok, releasing our first song together called "XTAYALIVE"." He adds, We’ve been friends since this song had a viral moment, and fans have been heavily requesting for us to work together again all over our videos.” Describing their creative process, he explains, “I sent a bunch of new ideas to jnhygs via Discord and she sent back vocals to “CANADA”, which I then used to create melodic layers and extra percussion to complete the song.

Music

Eclipsed at Vampire Weekend

April 16, 2024

It had been about a week since the goosebump-inducing communal howls at the moon, as it covered the sun through a cloudy Austin, Texas sky, left me needing to take a seat—suspended in awe of the totality of the event and the synergistic break from routine. I overheard someone say, “I mean, it feels like we’re all going to die, but in a way that’s okay, you know?" under the shadow of the eclipse's peak, ceremoniously brought in as the band performed “Jonathan Low,” (in Vampire Weekend's familiar ironic hue) a track they wrote for the third movie in the Twilight series, Eclipse.

It had been five years since the band had released an album. In celebration of their latest album, "Only God Was Above Us," ticket holders wrapped the streets in blocks outside the venue for the band’s first Stateside show in about two years. Event managers searched to replenish the venue’s stock of eclipse glasses, while the band prepped a show reminiscent of 'getting the boys back together again'.

Words and photography by Rianne Akindele

In between newly released songs like “Classical” and “Capricorn”, the boys filled the almost two-hour-long show with old favorites like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Diane Young” and a genre evolved rendition of “Sunflower” as the crowd danced barefoot feeling the Earth’s energy intertwined with their own and the vibrations from the amps on stage. People stole glances at the imminently darkening sky, artists doodled, friends grabbed onto each other to scream the lyrics in each other’s faces, and onlookers from the highest level of the parking garage across the street cheered on in a symphony of nostalgia and anticipation.

Adding to the layers of the celestial afternoon, the band invited to the stage the likes of Thomas Mars from Phoenix, Dave 1 from Chromeo, and guitarist Brian Robert Jones, inducing further levels of indie revival euphoria.

As the show drew to its close, and the zydeco/country-rock “Cocaine Cowboys” medley fiddled through the air, a conversation could be picked up between two sisters in search of their Lyft driver through closed-off streets,

“I wish this happened more often.”
“Eclipses or shows like this?”
“Both.”

It’s moments like these that remind us of our shared humanity and the power of collective experiences; a gathering of souls under the same sky, sharing the joy of music and a wonder of the stars above. Perhaps it’s the rarity that allowed such transcendence, reverence, and gratitude to be felt. Either way, what a beautiful moment in time it was.

Here are a few shots from the Monday afternoon: