I first became aware of Justin Pearson back in the '90s through his bands Swing Kids, Struggle, and The Locust. On my first trip to Southern California, my band (Black Army Jacket) even played on a bill with The Locust at the sorely missed Santa Ana venue, Koo's Café. But I digress.
Throughout the years, Justin has lived and breathed his art, whether that meant recording and touring with his many bands and musical projects; running his label, Three One G, acting in feature films, hosting a podcast, and writing books.
The San Diego-based musician is gearing up for the release of GG Alien & The Mystery Meat, his fourth book. Written in Justin's infamously irreverant and blunt tone, the book will surely strike a chord with anyone who has struggled balancing trying to make a living doing something they love with the nightmarish grind of a minimum wage job. His experiences are wild and ultimately inspiring, but nothing is sugar-coated on GG Alien.
I had a brief chat with Justin about the book, the workmanship behind what he does, and the possible blowback from what his writings.
I've read many interviews with authors throughout the years where they say that they treat writing just like any other 9-5 job in the sense that they get up every morning and get to work. Though there are also those authors who only write when they muse strikes them. How do you go about it?
This is an interesting take on writing. I suppose it can be applied to anything though. My views of work and, uh, not work, are at times blurred. But as far as I can tell, the definition of work in America is steeped in capitalism and the outcome of success due to work is rated in some sort of financial reward.
I've come to realize that I am basically an intern for myself. This is not a complaint, but the fact that I am broke, and can't point out any sort of success in X amount of digits in a bank account certainly says something. And sure, all the anonymous comments on say, Lambgoat, would tell you exactly why I am broke. Some could very well be true. I'll leave that to the critics though.
But what is work, or even a chore, has no meaning to me. Is it fun to stare at a computer and write, then rewrite, and repeat that over and over for years, just to tell a story that maybe only a couple people will appreciate, and will also most likely piss off a handful of others, technically work? I suppose. But the good thing for me is, I'm not an author. I'm not even a musician. I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. The joke is certainly one someone, and that someone could be me.
I want to write, or create art of various forms, but I am distracted and derailed nonstop by a slew of things in this world. I'd love for the situation where I get to wake up and create something from 9 to 5 like a normal person. But that is just not in the cards for me.
Before the ease of traveling with a laptop, did you keep a journal of some sort? How do you make sure you capture the moment and not forget things down the line?
I wrote my first book in the era of laptops, so shortly before 2010 John Waters actually egged me on to write a book. So I wrote From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry. I was on tour when I wrote it, and got robbed. So I lost the book and had to start over, which was a pain in the ass.
15 years later, I wrote my fourth book, GG Alien and the Mystery Meat. The ongoing odd element of my writing is the endless cataloging of stuff I have going on in my brain. When I hear that someone is bored, or something is boring, I can't relate. I have so much bullshit in my head at all times that there is never any time for boredom.
When you told me about this book, you mentioned while it's not necessarily about music, it does relate to your "bizarre musical taste and musical endeavors." Why do you think you've always been attracted to the weirder side of things, and what does it say about you?
This is sort of like asking, "what is the meaning of life?" Or it's almost like when you are asking a band who their influences are, but to me, what is more interesting and often more important is what makes them like the crap that they dig. Like, what influences you to like the stuff that influences you. We all have these sets of standards, thresholds, dopamine spikes, etc. So what grabs us is one thing. And what we are exposed to is another.
Humans are complex creatures. Arrogant and stupid at times, but nonetheless, complex. So even the definition of "weird" is an odd thing for me. I'll meet someone and say, "you are so weird" as a term of endearment. The opposite of weird seems like it would be boring. So I choose weird everytime. I'm sure I'm on a spectrum of some sort, which draws me to the more absurd shit in this world. That can be traced back to my DNA, to my upbringing, social status, social skills, life choices, and so on. Even with my musical endeavours, they are seriously mutated by what I think San Diego has to offer.
So, 'GG Alien and the Mystery Meat' is this intersection of punk in so many forms. It's about a life hustle as a person in a lower-tiered band, working at a gay club, and seeing things that are the minutiae of daily life. It's me using various reference points to tell a story that perhaps someone will enjoy reading.
The title itself is a reference of the most absurd performance artist to have existed, yet, as an alien in a world who was crapped into a dance club which plays EDM nonstop. To me, the book is just a means to point out what punk is to me, and by punk I'm not talking about punk rock.
Were names withheld to avoid any hassle? Do you see any possibility of blowback from any of the stories you include in the book?
I should have withheld names. With my first book, From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry, the publishing company insisted I take out a pretty funny part, which was about how I was once married. They were certain I'd get sued. However, that part of the book was way too amusing to me to remove, and well, if I was to get sued, I could write an entire other book on that situation and roll out all sorts of shit that I did omit, which my ex would not want me to publish. Like the surface was barely scratched on that shit. I mean, I changed the name there, but it wasn't hard for said person to figure out who it was about.
So I had to sign a legal document saying that if there was a lawsuit, I was completely liable. I should have taken note, as I assume I also upset some guy who I was in a joke band with once, due to my writing somewhere, and when I dove into my second book, How to Lose Friends and Irritate People, I just let it all out using whoever's names the stories were about. But the thing I figured out was, not to talk shit about how stupid someone or something is, but how stupid I am for agreeing to go on tour with dudes in Venom masks who push play on CD players.
I'm the stupid one. Not only should I have picked a lane, but I was part of some pretty lame stuff, citing myself as the real asshole. So here I am again, in my new book, probably about to piss off at least two people; one a rich guy who paid to go to DJ school, and the other, a wealthy minister who paid for dudes to hook up with. Both drawing lines in the sand of class, being poor.
My only legitimate concern was that I would piss off the Karens of the Left, due to my use of language in the book. I do worry about the fragile left at times, not so much if they will destroy me, but more so for them, how they will ultimately destroy themselves for being full of their own shit. But yeah, blowback is a thing to consider. I just know to blow hard or go home.
What else are you up to these days? It seems like you're busier than ever, which is definitelty inspiring.
I have a couple job-jobs, to make ends meet. I also run Three One G, and lose money, or certainly do not pay myself a wage of any sort. Aside from that, I'm playing in Deaf Club, Planet B, and Satanic Planet.
I also have a podcast like 90% of the rest of the humans out there, which is called Cult and Culture. Nonetheless, I appreciate the fact that I can be even remotely inspiring to people, such as yourself! This means the smoke and mirrors actually works! Thank you!
***
GG Alien & The Mystery Meat will begin shipping on January 31st and can be pre-ordered now.
Three One G on social media: Facebook | X | Instagram
Tagged: deaf club, justin pearson, struggle, swing kids, the locust
