Meet Jesse K. Phillips

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse K. Phillips.

Jesse, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Gold Country, aka the isolated foothills of the Sierras in Northern California. Despite being groomed for baseball stardom or theology it was music that stole my heart. I’d spend my days examining rocks and exploring new terrain, and music was the bridge between my imaginative inner world and the unyielding expanse of nature around me. I taught myself to play bass and guitar through the tablature of rock radio hits in the back of Guitar World Magazine. From there, I discovered No Wave, Noise, Folk, Metal, Blues… I was a sponge who had discovered a new language that could emote and articulate like nothing else. As High School ended my family fell apart and I went out on my own to Sacramento where I found a weirdo culture of house shows and renegade art. Instead of college I toured, wrote, recorded, and experimented in music and art, living out a necessary nihilism.

In 2013, I moved to LA for a fresh start. In teasing out my next move, I consolidated my experience to realize I wanted to focus on composing and arranging music. This lead to film scoring projects and sound art installations. After working in a gallery setting, I was offered opportunities to expand my visual art, which brings me to where I am now; swimming in an abstract mix of music composition and sculpture in pursuit of pure expression.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Easy path? Haha, I’d love to meet a person who says “Yep it’s been a smooth ride”. But no, my path has been windy, bumpy, rocky, cloudy, and winding. Everyone has their shit, so I’ll spare my personal and family dramas, but I have to say the biggest challenge in being an artist is to accept that responsibility, own it, and feel comfortable in your own vision. I constantly felt (and still feel) waves of insecurity in different forms. Especially as time goes on does the rejection and blasé begin to cement in the psyche. It takes more work to persevere.
“Does anyone care?”
“Is this/am I any good?”
“Where is this going?”
“How long am I willing to be poor?”
“HAVE I LOST MY MIND?”

That last one is what I ask most often, especially as my interests venture further into the obscure. But my response is this: How much better to lose your mind and express yourself than to inhibit and die?

Life is brutal, everyone knows this. This brutality also allows for great beauty and tidal waves of emotion. I wouldn’t want this journey to be any other way.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Musically, I make some mix of ambient electronic, classical, metal, and noise. I believe music is imbued with the culture and context from which it is created. Living in Los Angeles, my material has focused on reflecting and exploring nature vs. urban decay and the effects of technology on the natural world and our place in it.

Visually, I use mixed media to create abstract sculpture. I feel my work to be a visual continuation or expression of my music.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
This is a tough one. It may be more abstract but my proudest moment has to be the birth of my daughter and the way she has become a lightning rod in my creative pursuit. In other words, I’m extremely proud of being able to take a break, live for someone other than myself, and experience the maturity of knowing I am expanding exponentially. I feel it is tied to my career because my ‘career’ is me.

Contact Info:

• Website: jessekphillips.com
• Email: actualess@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/xxsse
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/28JiYr1sDDTfNRYZlJdx4I

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