Damon Locks is an American musician, visual artist, and educator, best known for being the lead vocalist of the post-hardcore band

Trenchmouth Trenchmouth was an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1988. Throughout its existence, the band mainly consisted of Damon Locks (vocals/percussion), Chris DeZutter (guitar), Wayne Montana (bass), and Fred Armisen (drums). ...

, a member of Exploding Star Orchestra, and cofounding Black Monument Ensemble.

Early life

Born and raised in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

, Locks enrolled at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

(SVA) in New York at eighteen, and moved to Chicago to attend the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

(SAIC) two years later.

Career

In 1988, Locks and his SVA and SAIC classmates Wayne Montana and

Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and writer. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, he co-created and co-starred in the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. He also co-created ...

formed Trenchmouth, a Chicago-based punk band, in which he was the lead vocalist and percussionist, Montana was the bassist, and Armisen was the drummer. The band released five albums during its active years: ''Construction of New Action'' (1991), ''Inside the Future'' (1993), ''Trenchmouth Vs. the Light of the Sun'' (1994), ''Volumes, Amplifiers, Equalizers'' (1994), and ''The Broadcasting System'' (1996). It disbanded in 1996. Locks and Montana founded another band, the Eternals, in 1999, releasing four albums: ''The Eternals'' (2000), ''Rawar Style'' (2004), ''Heavy International'' (2007), and ''Approaching the Energy Field'' (2011). In 2008, Locks joined Exploding Star Orchestra, a musical ensemble founded by Rob Mazurek, and worked on his first album with the ensemble, '' Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra'', a collaboration with composer

Bill Dixon William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...

. It was Dixon's final collaborative album before his death in 2010. Locks founded the jazz group Black Monument Ensemble in 2015, and recorded the group's debut album the same year. Consisting of fifteen members, Black Monument Ensemble performed the album, titled '' Where Future Unfolds'', live at the Garfield Park Conservatory in 2018. The album was officially released in 2019 through International Anthem, with Locks and the group credited as the primary artists. In 2020 and 2021, Locks released the albums ''Dimensional Stardust'' (as part of Exploding Star Orchestra) and '' Now'' (with Black Monument Ensemble). In 2023, he released ''Lightning Dreamers'' (as part of Exploding Star Orchestra) and '' New Future City Radio'' (with Mazurek). In 2025, he released his fourth album, '' List of Demands''.

Discography

Albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Locks, Damon 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers American DJs American graphic artists American jazz multi-instrumentalists American jazz percussionists American jazz singers American male jazz composers American music educators American performance artists American sound artists American spoken word artists DJs from Chicago American dub musicians International Anthem Recording Company artists Jazz musicians from Chicago Jazz musicians from Maryland Musicians from Silver Spring, Maryland Post-hardcore musicians Record producers from Illinois Record producers from Maryland School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni School of Visual Arts alumni Sound collage artists Vocalese singers 1960s births Living people