He is best known as lead guitarist in multi-platinum-selling[1][2] band Editors as well as Minor Victories alongside Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, Rachel Goswell of Slowdive and his brother James Lockey (with whom he also makes films under the Hand-Held Cine Club moniker).

Lockey grew up in his South Yorkshire home town listening to record collections belonging to his older brothers and credits the American college rock and grunge of Pixies, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, The Breeders, The Smashing Pumpkins alongside British bands such as The Wedding Present, Teenage Fanclub, The La's[3][4] with being part of his formative influences.

[7][8] The band signed a deal with Fiction/Polydor and started work on their first album 'All Roads to Fault with engineer Steve Albini[9] (Nirvana, Pixies, Shellac) at his studio Electrical Audio in Chicago, US.

[10] After a cycle of touring the band then headed into the studio with producer Flood (U2, Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins) to record their follow up - 2005’s ‘Ignoto’.

During the process of working with both Albini and Flood, Lockey refined his producing skills which he went on to use in the band's future records, Print is Dead and They Came From The Sun.

A long Way From Home[14] was released by the then fledgling Neo-Classical label, Erased Tapes Records and described by Lockey as "Prog-rock innit".

The band recorded three new songs for the compilation with producer Jacknife Lee (R.E.M, Snow Patrol) at his studio north of Los Angeles, U.S.[29] The deluxe edition of the release featured eight stripped-down acoustic versions of previously-released material under the title Distance: The Acoustic Recordings, which Lockey engineered, produced and, with cellist Brione Jackson, composed cello arrangements for.

Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite and Justin's older brother and film-making partner James completed the line up and the group created the self titled album remotely.

Since starting handheldcineclub the brothers have wrote, directed and produced and edited music videos and short films for Mogwai, Frightened Rabbit, The Staves, The Twilight Sad, Maps & Atlases, Editors, Band of Skulls among others.