Jesse Jo Stark is gliding through the pews of an old Spanish church on the east side of Los Angeles. A vivid, ornate altar looms above her as she reigns in Demna’s jet-black, cape-like, pleated Balenciaga dress. Stark is in her element, poised to release her debut album, Doomed, in September. She’s feeling blessed 

“Firstly, I would like to say that I know the word ‘doomed’ sounds negative, but I think it has hope in the meaning,” Stark says. “When I said the word ‘doomed’ out loud it just kind of summed up everything I’ve been feeling my whole life. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. You’re born the way you are and you’re judged for it. I feel like this album is an ode to myself really owning who I am and not giving a fuck. Also, it’s a really cool fucking word.” Born and raised in Los Angeles to Laurie Lynn and Richard Stark, founders of Chrome Hearts, she grew up in Malibu, running wild when it was still a “tiny beach town”. “Growing up by the beach when I was little, there were no shoes, it was mellow.” Now, Stark splits her time between the west side of LA and east London, where she thrives on its dark “underbelly vibe. It’s punk rock and you have to search for the sun.” She’s spent the last few years writing music in both cities, sharpening her sound and finding her voice. 

Stark gained momentum opening for Guns ‘N’ Roses and Jane’s Addiction on tour, and her EP A Pretty Place To Fall Apart soundtracked a Channel 4 collaboration with Balmain on British TV, the five-part episodic drama Fracture, which she also starred in. And now, Stark has found her sweet spot on Doomed. It’s fierce, assertive and thrilling. Distorted vocals sound brilliantly twisted, guitar riffs crank with magnificent evil and a shrill Psycho-like scream closes the opening track 666 in the Subs. While it’s evocatively dark and dangerous, Stark finds levity, soaring sky high on the disarming lullaby Love Is a Dream and simply having fun on the closing track, Trippin, which sounds straight out of a ’90s movie rom-com, like 10 Things I Hate About You. She strikes the balance between “the light, the dark, the heaven, the hell”. She lets down her guard. “I just think where I come from, my family, and what I have to offer... Well, I keep a tight crew,” she says. “I’ve had to really fight for my space in music, being an independent artist and just doing it the right way in my head.” She’s battled with Los Angeles, noting the “toxicity” that seethes through the city. “I reject anything fake. I refuse to play in that playground. There are sycophants and people climbing ladders. I think it’s fun to entertain when you’re young and you’re figuring out who you are, but you reach an age [where] you’re like, I’m not doing this anymore. Now, I really feel good.” 

Stark has a soft lightheartedness to her, which she attributes to the “childlikeness” of her parents. She’s got a good crew behind her, too. “They [my family] are my best friends. I think the common thread with the people I love in my life is their heart, behind it all. I think that’s something people don’t notice, you know, because my parents started Chrome Hearts. It’s first generation. It’s literally us just sitting around a table having a conversation, saying, “Do you like this?” There’s something authentic and beautiful about that. My dad has taught me detail, I really take that into consideration with everything I do. My mom brings me into a spiritual, grounded place. My godmother always tells me to be myself. I hang onto that.” Her “Fairy Godmother”, as she’s saved in her phone, is Cher (yes, the Cher) and is a big part of Stark’s love for music. “My godmother – who I really don’t like to name-drop because she’s just my godmother – I went on tour with when I was a little girl. She let me play with make-up and talk to the dancers and make a little outfit and go on stage. She was gnarly. I was around a lot of adults who were really motivated and serious. I just didn’t know any other way. I wanted that, I wanted to be taken seriously and I wanted to pave my own way. I learned a lot from them. I learned how to be on a tour bus when I was young.” Was she the model daughter? “No,” she says with a grin. “I was always the rebel... I would say Frankie [her 19-year-old younger sister, fraternal twin to her brother, Kristian] is the angel. I’m the devil. Frankie is a light. My brother and sister constantly challenge me... I’m learning from them all the time. There’s a pureness that comes from my sister and a deep love that comes from my brother. They are the definition of what love feels like. They’re my best friends.” 

The last few years have been formative for Stark. She’s learned how to be alone and has reconnected with herself: “There’s a power in that, going to a restaurant and eating by yourself. Or being in a park by yourself. You get to know yourself. I think there’s a freedom in being yourself. You can always tell if someone is being themselves. With everything going on in the world recently I’ve realised how fortunate we are to have freedom.” That liberation is felt throughout her album – she’s wholeheartedly being herself. Working in her LA studio was when the Doomed universe came to life. “I grew up in the studio. I may only play guitar as best as I can but I know how to be in the studio. I have good ears and it was such a collaborative project.” Her key collaborator, musician and producer Jesse Rutherford of The Neighbourhood, who Stark met through a friend, became a vital part of the album. For fans of Rutherford’s work, his influence – and his vocals – can be clearly picked up on throughout the project, fitting right into Stark’s sonic world. “We got each other. It took a minute. I like that we fought. It was a challenge to be in each other’s lives and he lyrically pulled things out of me that I never thought I’d say. There’s humour in our lyrics. I know that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t met him. A lot of the songs existed but we changed some of them. I told him that he needed to be a part of this project... I think the way the album is produced, the timing and who I am in my body right now has allowed me to deliver these songs in a different way. I think we find ourselves over and over again. This album is perfect timing for who I am as a person right now.” 

The person Stark is right now is determined, self-assured and asserting her place in the music industry. “I need a lot of courage to put my boots on and go on stage but I know I’m supposed to be there.” Stark has been on the road with her boyfriend, British musician Yungblud, who she credits for encouraging her drive. “He is unstoppable. He’s inspired me to just go for it.” Between shots on our shoot, she works with her best friend Emma Cali Franzino on designs for her clothing label Deadly Doll, which was not born out of a desire to do her own Chrome Hearts, but an urgent need for merch. “I was like, I gotta make fucking merch for the show I’m about to play. So I asked my dad if I could use his screen printer! And now my best friend runs it with me. It’s so fun.” She’s thinking about what her upcoming shows are going to look like. In the future, she would love to perform in a cemetery, and her dream festival to play is Coachella. When it comes to the music industry, she has issues, saying with a sigh. “I can’t stand any industry. I don’t think fashion is any better... I think everything has been done [before] but I think we’re inspired by the past and then we create the future by reinventing it. But the blatant copycats and inauthentic bullshit, the powerhouse of feeding us the same top 40 is chaotic and I hate it. But then I re-centre [myself] and go find a cool indie band worth my time to support,” she says with a laugh. “I’m just saying, can we mix it up?!” Those judgements that Stark has felt throughout her life, and of her place in music, have been happily laid to rest. “I’ve accepted them. You can really only be yourself, we only have ourselves to offer. I’m doing my best. I don’t think I’m proving anyone wrong, I’m just proving myself fucking right. I’m just doing me.” Today, Stark is definitely doing her. She plays dress up in Demna’s finest creations, morphing into different characters, dancing madly and strutting in sunny, floral Balenciaga spandex. “I’m having fun. I’m feeling good and grounded,” she says. “My dogs are here [in LA], I go to the beach, I love my car. It’s such an amazing life, I’m so grateful. 

Jesse Jo Stark wears Balenciaga AW22 throughout. Photographed by Elliott Morgan and styled by Roxy Lola.

Follow Jesse Jo Stark HERE and listen to Doomed HERE.

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