Jesse James and the Outlaws is not just a clever band name, it’s a pretty accurate reflection of the musicians in this up-and-coming Wellington folk act. 

JESSIE Moss comes from a long line of outlaws. There are known Security Intelligence Service (SIS) files on her grandparents, aunt and uncle – and she suspects there is one on her.
“The SIS can ‘neither confirm nor deny’ there’s a file held on me…which I believe indicates there is either an active one, or that I am mentioned in other peoples files that are active,” she says.
Moss says her grandmother was feminist, writer and social activist Elsie Locke. Elsie and her husband Jack were prominent members of the New Zealand Communist Party and actually had their house bugged and spies following them round; while her aunt, peace campaigner Marie Leadbeater, and uncle, Green Party MP Keith Locke, have had SIS files on them since they were aged 10 and 11.
“We’ve had a good read of Elsie’s file and my aunt and uncles,” she says. “It’s creepy stuff. It’s funny because it’s a great archive of information for our family, but useless for the SIS because they were never doing anything wrong.”
If the SIS does have a file on her, Jessie believes it’s because of her association with some of those arrested in the ‘terror raids’ in 2007, friends she believes were arrested for merely “saying and doing things the state disagrees with”.
Through her music, Jessie addresses the things she has issues with.
“I have a strong belief that the western world is on the wrong track right now trying to grow our economy. Capitalism is totally unsustainable as it depends on exploiting finite resources. It is dangerous for us as people, and devastatingly dangerous for the environment we depend on. We need a revolution or we’re all going to eventually die as a species, simple as that … But the earth will probably keep on turning, so that’s nice. The earth doesn’t need us like we need it. Good on it.”
With his excessive facial hair and swinging dreads keyboardist James Coyle certainly looks the part of an Outlaw. But aside from “a bit of shoplifting when I was a poor student”, his slate is pretty clean. But James does see himself as a facilitator for causes.
“Jessie and I organised a concert called E TU in 2007 to raise awareness about the terror raids. We put our whole life on hold for a month and put on a massive shindig in Frank Kitts’ Park. Thousands of people came; Warren Maxwell (Little Bushman) said he would play early on, so the whole thing went off. This was a highlight for me.”
Jessie and James started playing music together in 2006, while Jesse was setting her grandmother’s poems to music. James helped Jesse to arrange and expand on her own songs and a casual duo formed.
In the usual way of Wellington bands, friends started jumping on stage too and “since we were Jessie and James, they became the Outlaws.
“We like the idea of Outlaws, people who don’t stick to the norm. Standing up and saying what one thinks against all odds is so important, anyone who sticks out can be labelled an outlaw, an outsider. We like outsiders because the mainstream gets boring. Outlaws are usually much more interesting,” Jessie says. The Outlaws certainly consist of interesting folk – there are members of Hikoikoi, Spartacus R and Fly My Pretties in the band.
The music they play is folk, or “electric folk” as a full band. Jessie plays acoustic guitar and sings, while James plays the piano, organ and Rhodes. Their influences come from classics like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Emmylou Harris. Their songs are structured around themes of the environment and Maori-Pakeha relations, with the odd song about relationships. One of these relationships is the one between Jessie and James, who are exes.
Yes, time heals all wounds, but it must still be difficult sometimes to be in a band with your ex. “Initially it was very hard and continues to present difficulties that we work on as they arise,” Jessie says.
“But we had built up a lot of music together and it seemed too much of a waste to just drop it, so we kept on despite it. We had a really amazing relationship together when we were a couple and by remaining friends and playing in a band together, we have managed to keep a lot of what that relationship was in our lives.”
James adds: “We didn’t have the easiest break up. After so long together our relationship seemed to be inseparable from our community so since then the future has always been uncertain. It’s one of the proudest things in my life that we made this record.”
The bravery of this pair is evident in the honesty of their lyrics.
“The experience has taught me how to put real emotion into my music, some of these songs were hard to play, but were part of a healing process,” James says.
Although the topic still seems a tender one, the love and respect between these two is obvious.
“I have always liked the way Jessie expresses herself through song writing, very provocative and heartfelt, in this way I see her as a true artist,” James says. “It’s hard to write a good protest song; Jessie has got the ability and the literary lineage that really comes through.”
Jessie is similarly fond of his style, “James is really good at both subtle accompaniment and leading songs; he takes great solos. He has a keys style which is founded in a classical training but has been heavily influenced by reggae skanking. He is great to work with… he’s very talented.”
Jesse James and the Outlaws debut album The Price of Gum release October 11, plays San Francisco Bathhouse, November 14, support from Mara TK