Jess Wall – Composer, Songwriter, Guitarist
I began playing guitar at 16 and set my sights on playing rhythm guitar for Led Zeppelin as soon as possible! Well, needless to say, Led Zeppelin didn’t need a rhythm guitarist so I had to figure out a plan b. My dream for years was to be a giant rock star, or maybe at least a “big” rock star and for 10 years I poured all I had into two different projects. First up was Pincushion Jones, my first love as far as bands go and we gave it our best. We recorded 3 cds and released them by ourselves and played every club in LA that would have us. The Roxy, The Troubadour, you name it and we played there multiple times. The closest we came to having something happen was being told by A&M after they came to see us play was that they liked us be they just signed a band called Dishwalla and we were too close to them in style but “thanks anyway”. “Who the hell was Dishwalla” we all said to ourselves. Well, we found that one out rather quickly in the next year or so by turning on any major radio station in the country for more than 5 minutes.
After 5 years of trying, the mighty PCJ disbanded and I was lucky enough to be introduced to Joey Lugassy and the two of us started out a great friendship and music relationship that still lasts today. We formed DAYSIX and had some great success with our band. Our highlight was being able to film a video for Amnesty International and having that video debuted at Amnesty International’s first ever film festival held at the Director’s Guild in Hollywood. It was a great honor and the video has been played in multiple countries around the world.
Joey and I eventually moved in different directions musically and with the advice and help from two great friends and composers, RC Cates and Dave MacLeod, I purchased my first Pro-Tools rig and jumped into the world of composing. Eight years and hundreds of cues later, I’m happy to say new shows are adding my music consistently and I’m very honored about that. I work very hard to be the ultimate team player and strive to bring my music experience and intuitive sensibility to every project. I’m proud to say my latest work has been featured on Fox Sports, So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol and E Entertainment and you can see a full list of credits here.
In addition to composition, songwriting is my passion. I really enjoy the process of writing a song from start to finish and while writing a song all by myself is really cool, collaborating is what I really like and do the best. I favor putting the almighty music ego aside when writing and try to let the idea grow organically between myself and and the person/people I’m collaborating with. Don’t get me wrong, I was told one time during a session that “there’s the Leo in him coming out” when I really felt strongly about a section of a song, but I do my best to not let my ego get in the way of a great idea. I feel that some of the best work that I have ever done was a collaboration and I continue to this day working with great songwriters.
And just for fun I play in a rockin’ cover band called Marcia Marcia Marcia just to get out there, crank the amp up and have some fun. If you’re ever in the LA area, come on out and check us out for a good, sloppy rock and roll time.
Well, that ought to hold you for a little while….If you’ve actually taken the time to read all the way to here, thanks very much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy what you hear.