All language subtitles for Dont.Fall.In.Love.With.Yourself.2022.1080p.BluRay.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

(mysterious music)
(static buzzing)

- I'm Justin Pearson

and the bands that I'm in
or have been in the whole,

like, there's a starting, Struggle,

and then I briefly played in a
band called Brain Tourniquet,

and Swing Kids, Crimson Curse,

the Locust, Holy Molar,
Ground Unicorn Horn,

Some Girls, All Leather, Leg Lifters,

Dead Cross, Head Wound City.

Maybe one more that I can't think of,

but I think that might be it.

♪ A Jesus fish ♪

♪ Won't save you ♪

♪ Fanatic fits ♪

♪ Lead to a mental diaper rash ♪

♪ No matter how you look at it ♪

♪ Worm food is worm food ♪

(dramatic punk music)

- [Interviewer] if you had
to describe the kind of music

that you played, how
would you try to put it?

- The best, the most
effective way to describe it,

like, if I had to pick one
would just be annoying.

(energizing music)

So, you know, like at the grocery store,

like, "Oh, you play in a band?

Like, what kind of music is it?"

And if you say punk, they're
gonna think Green Day,

or they're gonna, you know,

I don't know what they're gonna think,

so I just always say annoying.

And it's good because
they normally get confused

and don't talk to you,

or then it just kinda changes the subject.

And that was kind of like how

I took a liking to saying that.

And it's just, I just like,

I just like fucking with people.

- What do you think, really, you know,

in terms of your musical future,

where are you guys headed?

- Down the toilet.

- When you first meet Justin Pearson,

he might come off just a tad off-putting.

- He can sour a mood in a matter of words.

- But it's not, and I don't
mean that in a bad way,

I mean that in a way that like some people

don't have the best reaction

unless the person's just,

"Oh, oh, oh," up their ass, you know?

"Oh, very nice to meet you."

He's just like, "Hey," you know?

- He stood out like a
nail that you trip on.

- He has a reputation for being able

to have a properly functioning

bullshit detector at all times.

- There's no bullshitting.

I actually could pick up on
that when I first met him.

- He always seemed to me like someone

who was ahead of the curve.

People like that are always
just a little intimidating.

- I think he's just this,
like, weird kinda cool dude

that was kind of a dick. (chuckles)

- He just seemed very present.

He just seemed very devoted to his craft

and devoted to...

- [Interviewer] Hold on one second.

- Oh yeah, sure, sorry, what happened?

(people laughing)

Oh my God, that's great.

I would love to have that in the video.

(people laughing)

Who's in there?

- [Interviewer] Charles.

- I'll yell at him.
- No, no, it's no big deal.

- Well he...

Stop flushing the toilet!
(people laughing)

- I kind of make fun of him
and say he's a hippie sometimes

because he's like a secret hippie

'cause he like loves essential oils

and is all about yoga and all this stuff.

But yeah, it's kind
of, it's kind of funny,

the difference between I
think what people think he is

and how he is in just the average day.

(energetic electronic music)

(energetic electronic music)

- But when he has so many
tracks, I'll be like,

"Wait, wait, what's that?"

Like that one, the blue
one or whatever, you know,

and like, dude, he can't even hear that,

it sounds so cool.

Bring out, like, take
out all this other stuff

and luckily he's not like
a dick to me about it.

- I'll pretty much work until we say stop.

If not, I'll keep layering.

(energizing electronic music)

- When he was first born, I wanted a girl,

'cause I grew up with three brothers,

but when I saw how
beautiful a baby he was,

I mean, it was like, yeah, I'll take him,

I'll keep him. (chuckles)

And he was, he was a really good kid.

- I grew up in Phoenix and San Diego.

I mean, I was born in Chicago,

but I was only there until
I was eight months old,

which sucks in retrospect,
going back there,

I think it's rad.

I would've rather have grown
up in Chicago than Phoenix.

- [Interviewer] Yeah,
Chicago's pretty cool.

- And Phoenix is not cool.

- [Interviewer] What was Phoenix like?

- Shitty.

Yeah, like around 10 years old,

I just, I found
skateboarding and it, like,

it changed my life and it was sort of like

the segue to music for
me because of Thrasher

and that's what I grabbed onto as a kid.

Well I got my first skateboard
in San Diego on vacation.

I found it in an alley.

When we lived in Phoenix, we
would vacation to San Diego

to this place called Mission Beach.

There's like a boardwalk
and a lot of tourism

and there was a lot of
surf and skateboard shops.

We went to like Burger King or something

and it was in the alley
behind the place that we were,

you know, that we parked at.

So I just randomly saw
this green skateboard

and I was scared like, "Oh my god,

someone's going to be pissed
that I have their skateboard."

But you know, my dad was
like, "Take it, it's there."

And so I remember the whole
time I was in San Diego,

I would just, it was like I didn't have

to stick around with my parents.

I went everywhere.

- The skateboarding was fine.

Skateboarding, he really liked that

and he would do that when he
was in like middle school.

Right before we left Phoenix,

he started getting into
the punk rock stuff, too.

- It was like this weird shift.

I mean, I remember like being
into like Star Wars toys,

kids stuff and like Nintendo
and then all of a sudden

I was like, oh, I'm into skateboarding

and into like punk and
into like blowing shit up

and like shoplifting and stuff.

Like, oh, I'm gonna be like bad now

and be into all this bad stuff.

Because you know, at
that time skateboarding

wasn't as mainstream and like, yeah,

I just remember my parents
like being really bummed

that I was into this stuff, you know?

Which also fueled it, you know?

It's like, cool, you guys are not into it,

so I'm gonna do that.

And I really do think, like,

if I didn't sort of discover
that world of stuff,

being in Phoenix would've went down, like,

a really stupid route.

I was like a sponge, like soaking it up.

It was lot of, like, kind
of weird crossover stuff.

'Cause it was like when Beastie Boys'

"Licensed to Ill," came out,
so I was really into that

and I was really into
Slayer "Show No Mercy,"

so it was like rap and metal, you know?

But to me it was just all, like,

it all just seemed annoying
and my parents hated it all

and so I thought it was cool.

I hated my parents, so I was
like, yeah, that's great.

This is gonna be my life.

If I did anything wrong,

like my parents would take my skateboard

or they would break my records

or smash my tapes or whatever and, like,

they helped me off to a good
start, you know? (laughs)

Yeah. I needed that.

I needed to know that it
was like not acceptable.

My dad was rarely cool.

There was like probably like five times

where I thought like,
wow, he's really cool.

I mean, and my perception was

he just didn't like his family,

like the jerk in like a John Hughes film,

because he knows that I was aware

that he'd beat the crap out of my mom

and give her a black eye or
something like that, you know?

And then, you know, he
felt bad or something.

I'm pretty sure they just thought

I was oblivious to it, you know?

But I mean, I saw all of it.

I saw all of the shit that my parents

would do to each other.

He would just get wasted and pass out

and I would just steal all his money

and essentially use
that and go buy records

or do things that I, you know,

knew that he wouldn't be into

because here's this like,

asshole, alcoholic, misogynist jerk

telling me, I'm like, into bad stuff.

I'm like, you're a bad person.

So, you know, like, I don't know.

I don't think it's that big of a deal.

So my dad was just spiraling

down this sort of sketchy route in life.

He lost his job and he
had a bunch of DUIs.

There were always these people
calling our house for him

and I was told, like, "if
anyone calls for your dad,

he doesn't live here."

But the weirdest thing was
the night that he died,

we went to this school function.

We were dressed as terrorists, you know,

with panty hose over our faces and shit.

So it was like the night before Halloween.

I remember running home
really quick to get something,

like camouflage clothing or something,

and my dad wasn't supposed to be there,

so I was like, "Oh,"
and grabbing my stuff.

And I remember him making
this really strange effort

to talk to me and to, like,

ask what I'm doing and ask how I'm doing

and I was just like, "Well fuck you, man.

I'm outta here. This is stupid.

Like, you don't ever talk to me."

And I remember about to
leave to go out the door

and he hugged me and kissed me.

And I just remember leaving and thinking,

"That was weird," and then
hadn't thought about it

for like years and, you
know, until years later

when I was like, wow,
that night was strange

because it felt like he'd
made some sort of effort,

which he had not made effort ever.

And I remember staying at my friends

and I remember sleeping on his floor

and the phone in the house kept ringing

and it was like four in
the morning or something

and it was just ringing and
ringing and I was just like,

"Fuck, what the hell's going on

with my friend's family," or whatever.

And then right when the sun
started to kind of come up,

I remember like kinda
hearing a woman crying

in the other room and I was just like,

this is probably not good.

And then eventually my friend's mom

took my friend Mike out of the room

and then my mom came in and
it was her that was crying

and you know, she told
me, "Your dad's dead."

And I didn't react. I didn't
really know what to think.

I didn't like know what to do,

and I was just like, "All right."

And so we got up and
went back to our house

and the police were there and
the whole front lawn was like,

you know, taped off.

My grandmother was there.

And I just remember not
understanding it for a long time.

He went to this, I guess he
had like some kind of meeting,

like a work meeting at the first new job

and he got wasted afterwards

and it was at a restaurant that had a bar.

Started hitting on this girl
and she had two friends.

One was 19 and one was 21

and they got in an altercation

and so the place threw all of them out.

And so they followed him to our house

and then in the driveway got out

and hit him with the
crowbar or a tire iron.

He had a brain aneurysm,
which is why he would,

that's why he would get drunk
all the time really easily.

When the hit happened, the
brain aneurysm exploded

and that was what caused the actual death.

So I think in court, it
didn't hold up for some reason

and regardless, the
people didn't go to jail.

It was a bummer. (chuckles)

I mean, you know, so yeah,
Halloween just, it's just weird.

And even growing up, even like
in my early 20s and stuff,

it wasn't really that
Halloween was sad for me,

but it was sad because I
thought about my mom a lot

and I thought she must be upset

and it must be hard for
her to kind of reflect,

'cause she still is in love with my dad,

which is hard for me
to understand because,

you know, of the abuse.

But then at the same
time, I would think like,

well, my mom's not gonna
get beat up anymore.

But she did.

Not too long after my mom
got her next boyfriend

who was just, was worse than my dad.

Instantly got this new
boyfriend that beat me

and her up and our dog.

So I never really had time to, like,

to process it, you know?

'Cause I didn't have parenting.

I didn't have like normal morals

that I guess you would
give to or teach to a child

or a preteen, you know?

I just, it was fucked up.

I mean, it was a weird
mix of things, you know,

because I remember already like
starting to fight at school

and like fighting people.

(Justin sniffles)

(airplane engine
whooshing in the distance)

(interviewer speaks indistinctly)

You should call the airport,
tell 'em... (laughs)

- Justin, I'm surprised, you know,

Davis never let anybody
else use that camera,

ever, except grandma?

- [Friend] Hello.

(kids laughing)

- So for whatever
reason, when my dad died,

my mom wanted to bring
his ashes to Mission Beach

or Pacific Beach, but that trip was a mess

because I remember
flying and she had to get

this special paperwork to be able

to bring his ashes, and
they, it was fucked up.

They made her open the urn
and they were like pushing,

like they stuck a pen in the
ashes and like, crazy shit.

And my mom was so pissed

and I just felt bad for her, you know?

- Justin go away.

I'm talking to grandma.

- [Justin] Again? (laughs)

- [Karen] Come on, don't waste the film.

- So we got to San Diego eventually

and she was pretty drunk

and I remember her trying

to throw the ashes out into the ocean

and it was like blowing back

and I was just like,
"This is fucking lame."

But it was that night that
she met her new boyfriend

and I saw, like, through
the door of the hotel room

kind of cracked open and
she was like kissing him

and I was like, "What
the fuck is going on?"

I didn't say that, but I was thinking it.

"What the is going on?"

And then a couple days later it was like,

oh, there's a new dude.

Back in Arizona, he would,

he came out there to visit and stuff.

And I was like, "That was quick."

And it was bad.

The first trip that he took
to visit my mom, he hit me.

I mean, I was pretty shitty.

I was, I like, I just remember
like, just being like,

"Fuck you," to my mom
about everything, you know?

But this guy had no place to
try to parent me, you know?

I mean, we had just met
and, like, my dad just died

and my parents were not really effective.

So my mom moved us to San Diego

and bought this new house
that this new guy, Frank,

also lived in.

It was a weird transition.

So when my mom got this new
boyfriend and she kind of,

she checked out a bit more

and so I had like a lot more freedom

and so then I would
start discovering stuff.

And I remember being 12
and going to see The Cramps

and I discovered a bunch of crazy shit

because I started going to Tijuana.

There was this venue down
there that was 18 and up

and I got a fake ID when I was 13

and I would just go to TJ

and like see PIL pretty
early on, Agnostic Front.

I didn't really like them.

Or like MDC, Circle
Jerks, you know, and GBH.

It was pretty, pretty rad.

I mean, I was like 13 and 14 years old,

sneaking out of my house and
sneaking into another country.

I don't know how or why,

but I talked my mom into buying me

this like $150 Washburn bass guitar

and so that was kind of
like, that was kind of it.

And I didn't really have an objective

except that I started
hanging out with Jose.

- I remember going with Justin to Phoenix.

- We went and saw Suicidal Tendencies play

on my 15th birthday.

- I was kind of scared, you know?

I'm Latino, there's a whole bunch

of Nazi skinheads at this show.

- And there was this huge skinhead.

He had one tattoo on
his arm that just said,

"I hate (bleep)," and I
just remember thinking like,

"How fucking frightening."

- And I don't know what
the fuck's gonna happen,

but I know that Justin had my back.

- But we were like watching a band

that has Latinos and Blacks in it.

He's there to see Suicidal Tendencies,

but he's just a fuckin' idiot, you know?

So we got like very
political and confrontational

and pissed people off.

- That no matter what, he's willing to get

his nose broken with me
if anybody fucks with me.

And so that was like the
night that I was, like,

I like this person, I like this kid.

I think we're gonna be
friends for a long time.

- That night we were like,

we're gonna start a band, you know?

(hardcore punk rock music)

The thing is it wasn't about the music.

That was just kind of
like this sort of vessel

to just be like fuck you
to you and fuck you to you.

And like, just kind of
start dealing with our shit.

- [Jose] We just wanted to do something.

We wanted to play music and we also wanted

to get a message across.

- [Justin] So now all of
a sudden I'm in a band

with these three of my other friends

and we can say a bunch of shit
that we think is relevant.

- There was a lot of stuff
in San Diego happening

with the Border Patrol.

There was a lot of stuff
around police brutality.

So I felt like a lot of
our lyrics focused on that.

- I think he was telling
me that he went on tour

with Struggle when he was like
15 or something like that,

which is incredible, that
he was able to do that.

I think he probably just
had the bite very early on.

- He was 15 and I bought him a van

and they were going on tour,

he and the rest of the band members.

One of the drummer's father
got the van registered

so that they could drive the van

because it wasn't registered

and these kids were 15 years old

and I took a chance and let him go.

- I'm pretty grateful
because I ended up bypassing

a lot of stupid shit
that kids do, you know?

Like, it, a lot of that
stuff didn't matter to me.

Like what to do on the weekend?

Just seemed irrelevant,
I mean, at that point.

- And the worst thing he ever
did was he had dreadlocks.

- I don't know, I remember
I had grown dreadlocks

and they were just, my hair was gross.

I was, I mean, I was a
pretty gross person I guess,

you know, like I was a
scummy punk or whatever.

And my mom just came in the house

and like just flipped out
at how disgusting I was

and she hit me and said
something about my girlfriend

and "Get out of house!"

And I was like, "All right,
fuck you, I'm out. I'll split."

In retrospect, I'm pretty
sure she didn't think

I would leave for good,

but I left the house, basically,

because I was getting
sick of getting beat up

by my mom's boyfriend.

And I graduated high school
living in a co-op that was,

you know, full of hippies and shit.

It was weird.

I used to have my nose pierced
right here at the center,

and I did it myself with a
safety pin and it got infected.

Our first band breaks up
because people are moving

to go to college and we started
another band, Swing Kids.

And soon as we had an option to tour,

it wasn't that you question it,

you just get fired and you go on tour

and then you come back and
do the same thing again.

Get another shitty job
until the next tour.

(punk rock music)

So with Struggle, it was
very overtly political.

The obvious political slant was alienating

to a lot of people.

And not that they didn't
share the same beliefs,

we would sort of just
kind of bum people out

by just always being very
serious and being pissed.

Swing Kids was saying like,
we're into like cool shit,

like weird jazz.

- I brought in sort of
the free jazz component.

I was very much influenced by the politics

of Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor.

(frenzied piano music)

- People said he wasn't a
jazz musician because he was,

it was almost like noise.

- I wouldn't call it just noise

because that noise is reflective

of what's happening with those
people who are producing it.

And so for me as a person of
color living in the border,

having been born in Tijuana,
growing up in San Diego,

to me, I could definitely relate

with that kind of vibe that
those artists were introducing

when they were around.

- Going into the realm of jazz,

talking about Cecil Taylor
or bringing in, like,

the relevance of, I don't know,

like Naked City or something.

(frenzied punk music)
(singers screaming)

And it brought in all these things

that I don't think we were
consciously really aware of,

which was like the tambour of notes

and the structure of songs

and the rephrasing of what
music is supposed to be.

There wasn't a focus on melody.

There was a focus on tension and release.

So we started just kind of getting,

for the lack of better
words, into weirder shit.

(frenzied electric guitar music)

(punk rock music)

So there was this sort of world

where you could start
introducing other things

and it was kind of cool.

Because we were still
being very political,

we were still playing benefit shows,

we were still doing these things.

Like we were living lives

that we felt had a political agenda.

How you spend your money is more political

than what you're saying to an audience.

So we were realizing those things.

(punk rock music)

- [Jeremy] Southern California is divided

into three regions.

You got LA, then you got Orange County

and then you got San Diego

and all three places have
completely different worlds

and scenes and things like that.

- [Justin] You think of like
something like Los Angeles

where there is a lot of arts,

but in San Diego there was nowhere to go.

There was nothing that was
being offered to younger people.

It was just only about white tourism.

- I've always been sort
of fascinated by it

because San Diego's a very strange town.

Military town, college bro
town, also a border town

so there's a lot of cultural
melting pot in there, you know?

It's definitely more
interesting than Orange County.

- Now that border region
is kind of like a microcosm

of a larger systemic global apartheid

where people are divided
by these boundaries.

- If you grew up in San Diego
and you weren't like a surfer

or a bro or a jock or
like a a military person,

it was kind of like a
revolting place to be,

so you went the opposite way.

- And San Diego definitely
has a very specific sound.

- I think that the
uniqueness that San Diego has

comes from the fact that
it's not spelled out.

(frenzied punk rock music)

There was no obvious way to do anything.

(punk rock music)

- And there was just a
lot happening all at once.

Bands and visual art and
writers and magazines,

and it was a really exciting time.

- We would find ourselves
playing with hip hop bands

or with funk bands.

For instance, like at the Che Cafe,

I remember, going to the
Che and seeing Heroin play

and a three piece jazz band

and then it was all you can eat spaghetti.

(frenzied punk rock music)

(tense synth music)

San Diego's an expensive city to live in

so we would live in these,
like, shitty neighborhoods

and we would just have
everybody live there.

We rented out the closet, you know?

And everybody shared a room
and when you left on tour,

you subletted your room or whatever.

I mean, it was a big two story
house and it was a duplex,

so the first level was one house

and the top level was the second

but we all kind of intermingled
and the show would be over

and the next morning you'd find someone

rolled up in the drum rug like passed out

or you'd find like syringes
or barf, or, you know,

fuckin' weird shit.

I remember playing, I
remember the Locust played

and at one point someone had brought

a Christmas tree into the house.

We didn't have one, it was just like,

oh, the show's happening, we're playing

and there's a fucking Christmas tree.

(frenzied punk rock music)

- That's kind of like the spirit
of San Diego show sometimes

where you're just like, oh,

there's that girl that dresses
like a chicken sometimes

and she's getting
carried out of the Casbah

for throwing a drink at the bartender.

(frenzied punk rock music)

There was always this naked kid at shows.

I remember a Holy Molar show
where he was just, like,

on top of everybody in the
pit and jumping off stage

and it was, it was a little bit too much.

(people shouting)

- [Audience Member] Somebody
give that man a blow job!

- We were working with these labels

that were just putting
out garbage, you know,

and I thought, like, I
could do that myself.

At least that bad or better.

A lot of it had to do with Eric Allen.

So he was in Unbroken and
Swing Kids and Struggle.

I met Eric before I ever played in a band

and we just felt we could do better.

And so Eric kind of
egged me on, he's like,

"I have these two Unbroken songs.

You should put out this
Unbroken seven inch,

you should repress the Swing
Kid stuff on a new label."

You know, and he would joke around

and he kept calling it JP
Records and shit like that.

And I was like, "Well, I need a name.

I don't know what name to call it."

And so at the time, Swing Kids had covered

"Warsaw" by Joy Division and
it's the chorus to the song.

♪ Three, five, zero, one, two, five go ♪

(punk rock music)

♪ I was there in the back stage ♪

♪ When the sun came around ♪

♪ I grew up like a changeling ♪

♪ To win the first time around ♪

♪ I can see all the weakness ♪

♪ I can pick all the faults ♪

♪ Well, I concede all the faith tests ♪

♪ Just to stick in your throats ♪

(punk rock music)

♪ Three-one-G ♪

♪ Three-one-G ♪

♪ Three-one-G ♪

- We had another record
that we wanted to release

and Justin just said,
"I would love to do it."

The process of it was very,
involved very little stress.

- He was friends with the
dudes and offered up money

to do the recording and do all that stuff.

And back then, that's all I
really fucking hoped to ask for.

And it was just always really cool.

- I guess when I started, like,

getting a little bit more
absurd was this release,

the Crimson Curse Festival,

the "Deer" seven inch,
which came out as a square.

To press this, it's, the cost of a 12 inch

with an additional, like,
fee of cutting it to a shape,

so it's like totally not practical.

Especially like when I was
releasing stuff like this,

this is Three One G number
seven, it was like, you know,

you couldn't really sell a
seven inch for more than,

I don't know, $4 or $5.

Like, that was like the maximum amount

that you could like kind of charge,

so it was, I didn't,
I lost a lot of money.

But it was still, you
know, what I wanted to do

and it came out looking
pretty fucking rad.

- The dude puts out what he
likes, for better or for worse.

- It was ridiculous. So expensive to do.

- [Interviewer] Do you
ever regret those choices?

- No, because I'm glad
I got to see it, like,

you know, be done or whatever.

Otherwise, I think, like,
I mean, I don't know,

when else would you have
seen a square seven inch?

Or I would never have been able

to see a square seven inch, you know,

so it was cool for me just to
kind of, like, see it exist.

And I mean, I think doing stuff like that

kind of made Three One G a thing.

Like people were like, "What the fuck?

There's this label doing a square record."

But I had an idea to do, you
know, like a puddle shape,

so it's a puddle and then like
all the body fluid colors.

So there's, there's each color
with a very crude drawing

of the body part that I
guess produces the color.

This is the urine, urine color.

I think, like, that's pretty fuckin' rad,

like a puddle shape.

It was, like, 'cause
we were trying to think

of what shape could you do
that's just kind of stupid

and I was like a puddle
because it just looks, like,

it looks crummy, but the
fact that it's vinyl is just,

I don't know, pretty
rad and just out there.

- They started the business Three One G

to put out a lot of the records

that Justin's fans were
doing and then, you know,

became a place of real credibility
for music and community.

- I think what's cool about Three One G

is not just so much the
bands that were on there

and the bands that JP puts out,

I think it's just the whole aesthetic,

the whole presentation of it.

- A lot of the bands are confrontational

and aggressive and I think
that's just about, like,

being a human in America
and in this century

and the, you know, the few
years before this century.

- I feel fortunate that I
was able to release records

to people on a record label
that had the integrity

that Three One G had.

- So Eric Allen to me was, like,

he was like a really good prankster

and that was the main thing
that drew me to that guy.

I don't know, I just
thought he was a genius.

And then he started playing guitar

and I realized that he
really was a genius.

- Oh, I also know that he struggled

with mental health issues the
way that many of us punks do

and still do, you know,
and for us that music,

that cultural production was
a way for us to let it out.

- So, you know, he got involved in drugs

and overdosed on purpose.

He committed suicide.

- And I know that Eric felt
like he couldn't really come out

and address some of the things
that he was dealing with.

- It was weird because,
you know, it was like,

I was pretty mad at him for doing that

because I feel like if
I'd known I would've,

we would've made it better.

Everyone would've made it
better for him, you know?

But it was his own thing, you know,

he wasn't able to tell
anybody and that was that.

- A lot of people who, and
this is not to talk shit,

but a lot of people who all
of a sudden after his death

were bringing flowers
and being all, you know,

emotional and like as if
they were really there

when he was going through the shit,

when he really needed people,

those people were not there.

And so I felt like, for that reason,

I didn't go to his funeral.

(melancholy music)

- [Interviewer] Did you end up going

to that last show that was played?

- [Jose] No, I did not go.

- Is that part of why?
- Yes.

Yeah.
- Okay.

- I want to remember Eric in my own way,

and I know that the kind
of person that he is,

because I've been there,

I've struggled with suicide
ideation and suicide attempts

and so yeah, that's all
I can say about that.

- It's one of those things where he just,

he was like only meant to
be here for a short time

and he made his impact and was done.

- I think JP took Eric
Allen's death pretty heavy.

Kind of took a step back
and kind of was very,

had to look inward and
look at our own culture

as the way that I did,
our own punk culture.

We can say we are against
this and we are against that,

but what the fuck are we for, right?

- It seemed like the end of
the world constantly, you know?

And so it wasn't, like, let's start a band

because this is fun.

It was let's start a band

because we absolutely have to do this,

for whatever reason.

Survival, mental survival, you know,

something along those lines.

And so it was just, there was
just no other option, I guess.

- The origin of the Locust,

it started with the original
drummer, Dave Astor and myself.

So we're walking down the
street kind of asking people

that looked like weirdos,
like if they played bass,

Like, "Hey, do you play bass?

Do you play bass?"

And we ended up running into
one of the guitar players

of a great band called Antioch
Arrow and so he asked him,

"Oh, do you know a bass
player, or do you play bass?"

And he's like, "No, but my friend does,

you know, Justin Pearson."

And we're like, "Oh, that guy?"

So we ended up hitting
him up and, you know,

to our surprise, he's like, "Yeah."

We were kind of just like
crazy, metal punk dudes.

At that point, he was like,
ooh, let's get in Dylan,

who sang in Struggle.

- Dylan's a great singer,
great, fun person,

he'll sing and we'll just
sound like Crossed Out.

But for whatever reason,

Dylan wanted to play second guitar

and wanted to get this
friend of his to sing

and it was what it was,

but it was never our initial intention.

And I think not, it's
not what Bobby and Dave

and I wanted to do.

It just kind of, you know, cohesive riffs.

We wanted to just kind of just be

like this brutal mess of stuff.

So the other person
that that was brought in

is this guy Dave Warshaw,

who was Dylan's friend at the time,

and who was just gonna sing.

He had some modular synths

and wanted to kind of just play this Moog

as like an interlude in
between some of the songs.

And Bobby and I were like,

"Dude, you gotta play it all the time.

Like it is the best
thing we've ever heard."

And to go kind of go back to
mine and Bobby's childhood,

we were really into stuff like Devo

and like The Residents

and things that were just
kind of weird and quirky.

And the Moog to us was like that.

And we're like, "Oh my
God, let's do this thing

that's like brutal like Crossed
Out and weird like Devo."

(punk rock music)

You know, a few months went by,

couldn't have been much time.

Dylan and Dave decided
that they were gonna move

and quit the band and Bobby and
I were just kind of psyched.

We're gonna get a keyboard player

and we're gonna do exactly
what we want to do.

So we enlisted Jimmy Lavalle.

I knew he was able to play keyboards

and Bobby and I went to this pawn shop

and found one of those
realistic Moogs that's,

it was like 75 bucks or something,

which was, you know, it
was totally an accident.

If we wouldn't have ever had
Dylan introduce us to Dave

as a second singer in the band,

we never would've even thought
of having a synthesizer.

- Oh, it was perfect.

It was super brutal, you know.

It was really fast and then it had

this sci-fi sound to it, so I was,

the first time I heard it, actually,

Jimmy played it for me, I was like,

"How am I gonna get in this band?

How am I gonna play
this? I want to do this."

You know, it was like the coolest shit.

Because when I was a kid

it was like I was really into
like brutal metal, right?

And then I was into punk,
but the sloppiness of it,

what kind of like turned me off

because when I was learning to play drums,

I was really into the proficiency

of listening to extreme metal
music or whatever, right?

And then to have the
next step be, fuckin',

that brutal sound with fuckin'
weird keyboards over it?

It was like that was the coolest shit.

I don't think it could
get better than that,

for me, personally.

I started Cattle Decapitation

with the original drummer, Dave Astor.

I was playing guitar in that band

and we were just like
rehearsing one day and he said,

he was like, "Hey, you
know, you should probably

play a guitar in Locust, second guitar."

And I was like, "Yeah, I totally should."

And he talked to the dudes
and the next thing I knew,

I was in the band and
then I was just going over

to Bobby's house to learn
all the guitar parts.

- Locust had come to
play and they were about

to go on a European tour
and you could kind of sense

that there was a bit of flux in the band.

I think he knew at that point
that I was into synthesizers

and noise and that sort of thing

and he just kind of hit me up about it.

I went to San Diego a couple times

and Bobby showed me how to play the songs

and I guess that was it.

At the time we had the
original drummer, Dave Astor.

It seemed like at some point his interests

and our interests were starting to diverge

and he was really
becoming a great drummer,

but we were looking to explore more.

I think he felt like things might not

have been going his way and
decided to leave the band

and Gabe decided at one point he wanted

to try and take over drum
duties and it just felt right

and, you know, when he sort
of jumped on the drum kit,

it really kind of broke
things wide open for us

in a lot of ways.

- Hi, I'm John Waters and now
you're gonna hear the music

of the Locust, one of my favorite groups

that I guarantee will make
your parents horrified

if they hear it coming from your bedroom.

Play it loud and they'll
call the psychiatrist.

♪ Dr. Mister So and So ♪

♪ Wait until it's over ♪

♪ Nothing is king now ♪

♪ And nothing's getting older ♪

♪ That jerk lives like ♪
♪ A missile with ♪

♪ His pecker in one hand and ♪
♪ His pooper in the other ♪

♪ That jerk lives like ♪
♪ A missile with ♪

♪ His pecker in one hand and ♪
♪ His pooper in the other ♪

♪ What about the paperwork ♪

♪ Bowels working overtime ♪

♪ Feed the faxes apple dumplings ♪

♪ Pay that fucker overtime ♪

♪ What about the paperwork ♪

♪ Bowels working overtime ♪

♪ Feed the faxes apple dumplings ♪

♪ Pay that fucker overtime ♪

(frenzied punk rock music)

♪ Hey there, bossman ♪

♪ Fickle fucker ♪

♪ Hey there, bossman ♪

♪ Fickle fucker, buy me dinner ♪

(frenzied punk rock music)

♪ Hey there, bossman ♪

♪ Fickle fucker ♪

♪ Hey there, bossman ♪

♪ Fickle fucker, buy me dinner ♪

- I just remember feeling like it was some

of the most antisocial music

that I've ever heard in my entire life.

- If I had to describe the Locust,

I'd probably just tell 'em
the titles of the songs

are longer to say than the
actual songs themselves.

- It was intriguing to
me because I felt like

there were elements of the Locust

that I could in my own head categorize.

But then there was so much of it

that I couldn't wrap my brain around.

They were fusing a lot
of different influences

in a very creative way

and they were all very quite handsome.

I liked their hair a lot.

- Like how do you remember
small, compact bits

with complex information in it?

I always was absolutely
fascinated by that.

And I still don't know,

I still don't know how he figured it out.

A thousand miles an hour seemingly,

and all that information coming in through

and it's all kind of,
it's blocked just so.

I was absolutely fascinated by that.

- I was captivated by the speed
and ferocity of that band.

- I would love to know what drives

other people towards this sound.

For me, I kind of had like
this very bizarre upbringing

and in my more formative years,

I dealt with a lot of
anxiety and depression

and my introduction to
this music was no wave.

And there was just something
about the dissonance

that they were creating that
made my brain feel so good

that I had never experienced before.

- Those types of things,
those left of center things,

things that are perfect,

but then there's just one ugly thing

that's right in the middle of it.

Those things are appealing to me.

- Appeal? I have no idea, man.

I mean, I've tried to sell
things before in stores.

I was shitty at that

and I'm not trying to
sell music, you know?

- We liked Slayer.

Before that we loved Venom
'cause they were playing fast

and really horrible sounding things.

There's that, then what's the next thing?

Well, there's weird psychedelic music

with all sorts of freakouts on it.

Feedback freakouts.

Okay, well then there's free jazz.

So there's like a continuum
of extremity that isn't,

isn't defined by specific music

as much as it is an aesthetic.

(frenzied punk rock music)

JP and the rest of the guys in Locust,

I think they get bored really easy

and that's why they were all into things

like synthesizers and
electronics and like,

let's mix this stuff into this music

that we've been playing
all this other time

and that's another reason
why they just brought

in their trip into it.

Which is I guess what
you're supposed to do

in order to maintain some
sort of aesthetic continuum

of anything to survive.

It has to mutate, and these guys were just

heavy on the mutation tip a
lot faster than everybody else.

(people shouting)

- [Band Member 1] All right!

- [Band Member 2] Fuckin'
A, dude. The war cry.

(people laughing)

- I'm at the Eiffel Tower.

We went to tour in
Europe like pretty quick

after we started the band.

- [Gabe] Stop it, dude.

- [Justin] Action right there.

The action.

(band members laughing)

(people chattering)

- [Band Member 1] Salt Shaker, huh?

- [Band Member 2] I guess.

(punk rock music)

- We're stuck in traffic
and havin' a smoke.

- One of the guys from Doom was there

and we were pretty psyched.

Like, wow, there's like
a legend, you know, here

and he was heckling the
shit out of us, you know

and making fun of us.

Before we even started
playing he was like,

"You guys look like mods and
you have a fuckin' keyboard,"

and he was just laughing
at us and I was just like,

"Give us a minute and then
you're gonna eat your words."

(frenzied punk rock music)

♪ Fuck ♪

- We played one song
and I remember his face

just being like, "What the fuck?"

You know?

We would get a lot of criticism

mainly for the way we looked.

It wasn't even for the
music, but, you know,

and occasionally for the music too,

but it was usually because
we had certain haircuts

or certain clothing.

(heckler shouts indistinctly)

Was it you that said that?

- [Heckler 1] Yeah, it was me.

- Why do you fuckin' say stupid shit?

- [Heckler 1] Oh, because
I think you look stupid-

- [Heckler 2] We like stupid music!

- It sucks that you guys
paid to watch stupid music.

- You know, the Spock
haircuts, the insect glasses.

- You know, I remember
like looking at pictures

of the Dead Kennedys or
the Dead Boys or Crime

or whatever, any band, you know?

And people looked weird
and that was the point.

- It was punk rock in
a sense of arrogance.

The whole concept of Kurt Cobain

and Seattle grunge being
like the antithesis,

we're the anti rock stars,

we look like we just got
done changing your oil

at the Mr. Goodwrench garage.

But like, here's the Locust.

We've got these suits and
all of this accoutrements,

as it were, and they're still the hardest,

most punkest, most in your face outfit.

Which probably fucked up a lot of people

who live and die by the
punk rock rule book.

You can't do this, you can't wear this,

you can't look like that.

Synthesizers in your hardcore
band? Are you kidding?

You know, back in the
late 90s or you know,

a lot of people were just kind of like...

- [Interviewer] All right,
can you just test it?

Like, so just talk like you're describing-

- Sure, these are my
silly outfits. (laughs)

And check, check one, check two.

(Justin clears throat)

There was this magazine
called "Hit it or Quit It,"

that was popular at some point

and they kept criticize,
well a lot of people

criticized the Locust, the way we looked,

and what we dressed with regular clothes,

sort very similar to how I'm dressed now.

But they were talking about
like our fashion sense

and I think as a a joke, we thought,

you know, we should try to
wear some kind of uniform.

And so we were in San Francisco,

we were about to go to Japan
for I think our first time,

our second time, and we
went to this thrift store

and they had four of these vests.

But, I mean, it's sort of
like campy sci-fi looking

and we thought like,
yeah, that'll be cool.

We didn't really take
ourselves very serious clearly.

So we did it and it seemed like a success.

We went to Japan and people were psyched

on the way we looked.

(punk rock music)

(punk rock music continues)

(punk rock music continues)

- It's dripping off his fuckin' chin.

I successfully spat back.

Who wants their pants?

Oh, and their whatever.

Oh man, they got on fuckin' spit.

- [Camera Person] His own spit.

Pants and his spit.

- We're like, all right, well
we're gonna do another tour,

let's make another uniform.

So we bought these, some
sort of crossing guard

type of outfits and we just
sewed on these reflective pieces

and we had our logo, you know, sewn on.

We've got welders glasses,

which I think are pretty gross now.

And of course they came, you know,

fully equipped with like these hot pants.

(punk rock music)

The thing that I think was, like,

sort of pushing us into this direction

of wearing a uniform was we were on tour

with hardcore bands that were pretty macho

and masculine and like really, you know,

didn't have necessarily the sense of humor

that we think that people should.

I mean, yeah, we're politically minded

and we're socially conscious
and we have all these,

you know, ideas, but at the same time,

like if you take yourself seriously,

you just kind of come off as
an asshole, in my opinion.

(audience members shouting indistinctly)

- Who got a mic?

- [Audience Member 1] Fuck you!

- [Audience Member 2] Get
the fuck off the stage!

(people laughing)

- [Band Member] All
right, come on, let's go.

- And it was crazy, too,

because I remember wearing that uniform

and getting in fights with people.

I broke a dude's nose with my
head while we were playing.

And it's like, it wasn't like,

there was still, you
know, I guess, you know,

masculinity at these shows and it wasn't

that we were like into fighting

but people were trying to fight us.

- Video camera?
- Yeah.

- [Camera Person] How do you feel, man?

You gonna be all right?

- I feel good, man.
- Can you see okay?

- I took this one for the Locust, man.

You know?
- It looks sexy.

- This kid came up to me and
said that the Locust fans

were trying to beat him up,

so I said, well, you
know, that's fucked up.

I'm gonna take one in
the eye for the Locusts.

- [Camera Person] Thanks man. Fuck.

- Show you that we can all be tough guys.

- [Camera Person]
Something's gonna come out

of there, I think.
- An alien, probably.

- Just shut the fuck up.
- All right.

- I'm sick of hearing you, man.

It's none of your business, man.

It's some personal shit.

- [Audience Member] Nice leggings!

Oh my fucking god.

Nice pants, man.
- Nice gorilla pants.

Gorilla pants.

- [Audience Member] It's beer.

- Hey, kick it.

I don't want a beer on
me. Shut the fuck up.

Give me a beer, I'll pour it out on you.

Would you fuckin' like me to do with that?

- [Audience Member] I had
nothin' to do with it.

- All right, then chill. That girl sucks.

I don't wanna wear a fuckin' beer.

Shut the fuck up!

Listen, if I poured a beer on you,

would you fuckin' like it?

No? So shut the fuck up.

In one sense it was really good

because we were known,

but in another sense it
was like we were showing up

and getting beaten up, maced,
getting our tires slashed.

- We've gotten in a lot of
fights together. (laughs)

Yeah, we have a special connection

because of the random acts of violence

that were inflicted on us.

- [Justin] But it all kind of tied

into this whole, you
know, antagonistic, like,

middle finger to music

or to music culture or
something, you know?

- Tough guy hardcore, for
all intents and purposes,

you listen to that and
like, okay, yeah, whatever.

You got your Cookie Monster vocal,

you're on the downstroke, God bless you.

But you listen to a Locust
record and it's just incredible.

It's incredibly foreign
and weirder than hell

and shocking to a lot
of people who will say,

"That's not hardcore."

I'm like, bullshit, they're
playing faster than you.

(people laughing)

- [Band Member 1] Boo.

- [Band Member 2] What's he gonna do?

- [Band Member 1] I
thought he just gotta do...

What is he doing?

(band members laughing)

- [Band Member 2] No,
dude. No, you're done.

They're in there, dude.

- [Band Member 1] That was fucked up.

(lighter clicking)

Just puts it out, dude.

Yeah, pull it back a little.

Pull it back a little bit.

(people chattering)

Does this get you laid, dude?

(people laughing)

(lighter clicking)

- [Band Member 2] The
shit will not catch fire.

- [Band Member 1] Are you
gonna get bored in 10 minutes?

- [Band Member 2] I'm gonna
get bored, I'm gonna get bored.

I wanna see actual fire happen.

- [Band Member 1] What the fuck, dude?

- [Band Member 2] His hair
will not catch fire, man.

- [Band Member 1] Set his head on fire.

That smells so bad.

- [Band Member 2] it smells so bad.

- Well, Troy, it's one of the Locusts.

He's invaded my home and displaced me.

I'm calling my exterminator right now.

- [Justin] Hello, this is
this week's prerequisite.

It's the first Antioch Arrow LP

and it's for fans of anything creative

or remotely interesting.

- I mean, we were doing
what we wanted to do.

Like we weren't bound by anything.

- Seriously, dude.
- It's 10 of us.

(band member laughs)

- Doesn't fuckin' matter.
- We're the Locusts.

It doesn't matter.

(punk rock music)

- Our shows in the UK
with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

were probably some of the
most interesting shows

that we've played as a band.

- [Karen] All right, go for
the, go for it, go for it.

(people exclaiming)

- The audiences there hated us.

You know, they were there
to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

and wanted nothing to do with us.

There was one in particular,
it was in Birmingham.

- You know, we've had
everything thrown at us

from like beer bottles
to stools, bar stools,

pints of full beer.

- Onslaught of things thrown
at us the entire time.

- And someone threw a pint
glass at my collarbone

and broke it.

- And it was just like fucked up.

It was like raining beer.

And I had a computer that
I was running samples

in between the songs.

There was like little
atmospheric sounds going on

and a beer landed on my
computer and I fuckin' lost it

and I picked up the pint glass and just-.

- And stood up on his
drum seat and puked in it

and was gonna throw it in the crowd.

- But it was great cause I'm
holding this fuckin' pint glass

and there's, everyone in the front row

is just doing their best to get away.

- And it was just so crazy to watch.

- But they can't cause there's all

these people pushing forward.

- It was weird because I saw

all these younger people
in front and I'm like,

they're not the dudes that were throwing

the glasses, you know?

- There's no way to tell, right?

Yeah, so I just dumped it on my head.

I'd never felt power like
that before. (laughs)

- He had some like issue
or something for a while

where he just kept puking when he'd play.

I think I just drove up there
to see 'em or some shit.

I think it was the
Hollywood House of Blues.

- Which is one of those
venues where you're like,

Locust shouldn't be playing this venue.

- I mean, I walked in at
the fuckin' perfect time.

I missed the Locust set,

but I walked in as it
was just like, you know,

"Thank you, good night," kind of thing.

Gabe stands up on his drums-

- And threw up all over his drums.

- Horked all over.

- Vomited through his mask

and then sat back down
and started blasting

and then it just like flew everywhere.

- Just completely puked everywhere

and there was every single
person in that venue,

and it was packed, I don't
know, 3000 people or some shit.

Every single person just went, "Yeah!"

(people chattering)

- [Justin] Hey, you got
any words to the camera?

- Oh, it feels so good.

Oh, fuck.

- [Justin] Give me a kiss.

(Gabe chuckles)

- When I was in high school

I remember this kid would run
the mile and when he was done,

he would just start
fucking puking everywhere

and I think it was
something similar to that.

It's just like, I'd be
pushing it really hard.

I'm a little dude vegetarian and I don't,

I never really knew how
to take care of myself.

I smoked and I drank all the time as well.

- [Manager] We have to load out the stuff

because the venues gonna be
filled like in 10 minutes.

- All right.
- All right.

- [Manager] Thank you so much.

- Chug, chug, chug, chug.

Chug, chug, chug, chug.

Chug, chug, chug, chug.

Yay!

(wind whooshing)

(Gabe pukes)
(camera person laughs)

(Gabe pukes)
(wind whooshing)

- [Camera Person] I can't.

- Grand finale.

(camera person laughs)

(Gabe pukes)
(wind whooshing)

So I wasn't really taking care of myself,

that probably had a lot to
do with it, but I don't know,

just fuckin' playing as hard and fast

for those, even the like
little short bursts,

would just wear me out
and like, I would overheat

and just start puking everywhere.

(hardcore punk rock music)

(audience cheering)

(Gabe puking)

(audience cheering)

- [Justin] Thank you very much.

You can talk all the shit you want

and say all the horse shit comments,

but your fuckin' friend's
bands and your bands,

and all them, they don't
fuckin' throw up on assholes.

(audience cheering)

- But I got quite good at it.

I could like miss the drums.

The first few times I did
it, it would get on the drums

and then I'd hit the drums

and then it would just
be flying everywhere.

It was a fucking mess for everyone,

but I got better at it

and eventually I could
just have like a bucket

if I needed to puke and I could
do it without missing beats.

It was pretty sweet.

But it usually would happen
when the song would end. Ugh.

And then it'd be, "Oh
fuck," and just everywhere.

(audience members chattering)

(audience cheering)

- [Justin] This next song is called,

"Anything Jesus Does, I Can Do Better."

(audience cheering)

(frenzied punk rock music)

(frenzied punk rock music continues)

(frenzied punk rock music continues)

(frenzied punk rock music continues)

(audience cheering)

- [Gabe] I'm done.

(Gabe puking)

- [Justin] I think we're done.

(audience cheering)

- Hey, welcome to the show.

Welcome to the show.

Guests are here confessing to their lovers

that they have been
hiding secrets from them.

(audience exclaiming)

You know how we feel about that.

- Scott Beibin was in
San Diego for something.

He'd run a record label, Bloodlink,

and put out the "Struggle/Undertow" split.

We were sitting in our
living room and he said,

Jerry Springer was on,

he said, "Let's call and,
and and be on the show."

And we're like, "Okay."

And so he called and left a message.

On the spot, made up a story
based on the four people

that were in the house and that was it.

Four in the morning I get
this phone call and he's like,

"JP, you gotta, wake up,
you gotta," you know,

and he's like freaking out.

I'm like, "What? What happened?"

And he's like, "Jerry
Springer, they're gonna call."

And I was like, "What?"

And he like, as soon as he said that,

the other line beeped
and I was like, "Oh fuck,

I got another call."

And he goes, "It's them."

And I felt like I was in
trouble and I was like,

"Okay, what am I supposed to say?"

He said, "Do you remember
the story that I said?"

And I was like, "No."

He's like, "All right, just
answer the other line."

So I answered it and I was like,

"Hey, you're gonna have
to let me call you back.

I need to wake up."

And so I clicked back over,
got the story with Scott,

woke up, got outta bed, made the call

and the next day I was
on a flight to Chicago

with my two roommates who
were also a part of the story.

And we did it and went to the show

not knowing that it was gonna be anything.

- Now please meet Justin.

Justin says he needs to tell
his girlfriend that he's-

(audience cheering)

That he has been sleeping
with her roommate-

(audience exclaims)

And a mutual friend.

Justin, what's going on?

- Well, you know, I'm into rock and roll

and I live the rock and roll lifestyle

and stuff happens, you know, and-

(audience members cheering)
(audience members booing)

And we all met up at a
hotel and discussed, like,

this is who slept with who

and this is who is breaking up with who

and how this whole like relationship,

four-way thing happened
and no punches to the face,

no matter what.

- You live with your girlfriend?

- [Justin] Yes.

- And you guys have a roommate?

- Yes.

- And she is the one you're sleeping with?

- Yes, one of the people
I'm sleeping with.

(audience exclaiming)

You know, I was really
afraid to break character

and so we go out on stage,
we're doing the performance.

- Yeah, and how is the relationship going?

- Up and down.

I mean, in the beginning it was wonderful.

We were gonna get married, have children.

I was gonna put his name in a heart and-

- [Jerry] Right in the-

- But if I'm here,
obviously it's not good.

(audience exclaiming)

(audience laughing)

(audience clapping)

- Moi?

- I love you.

I love you more than anything, Justin.

(audience awing)

- [Jerry] Go ahead, talk to her.

I mean, she seems like a lovely lady.

- Well, you understand, like,

I go away on tour for like a long time

and you're always pissed at me

and always mad about thinking
that I sleep with everyone

or whatever and like, I mean,
stuff happens, you know.

Like when we go on tour
and like things happen

and I haven't been faithful
and I've been seeing someone.

- Who the (bleep) is it?
(audience exclaiming)

Who is it?

Why?

Why the (bleep) would you
say you wanted to marry me

and have children with me?
(audience exclaiming)

- It was fucking crazy and scary and weird

and I had to try not to break character.

And of course Alisia punched
all of us in the face.

- [Alisia] How the (bleep)?

(hit thuds)
(audience cheering)

(audience continues cheering)

- [Audience] Jerry, Jerry, Jerry.

Jerry, Jerry.

(audience cheering)

- I get punched in the face
and I thought, you know,

like when you get punched,

like snot and everything and
your eyes start watering,

I thought I was bleeding.

And so I, you know, I was like,

I blew my nose thinking it was blood.

- Okay, if you know
you guys are roommates,

you know that that's a boyfriend-

(audience exclaiming)

- And the crowd was, like, loving that.

- [Jerry] This is such a class operation.

- Part of it was a performance,
but part of it was, like,

dude, I just got fuckin'
punched in the face and, like,

what the fuck is everybody cheering for?

And like, you know, and
I'm like, kinda like,

I'm not an asshole, but
then I was thinking like,

oh, I am an asshole,

'cause I'm the douche
in the story, you know?

So when we got there, before we went on,

we had to sign all this paperwork

saying you can't lie and if you're lying,

you'll be fined, each one of
you will be fined $10,000,

which is a lot of money now

and definitely a lot of money then.

(audience cheering)

They go, "We're gonna
go to commercial break."

And so they bring me into the back

and this fuckin' little piece of shit

throws me up against the wall

and there's like the
two big security guards

and this guy's like yelling at me,

"You disrespected our house."

And I was like, "Dude, pretty
sure I've seen episodes

where there were like people pissing

and shitting on your floor and KKK members

throwing cake and shit like that.

Like, I don't think it matters."

And he was like, "Fuck you."

And I was like, "No, you
know what? Fuck you."

And I kind of pushed the guy
away and next thing I know,

I was just thrown on the ground

and dragged down this
hallway by these two men

that said that they were off-duty PD

and they're like, "You
waived your rights on that

when you signed that paperwork, man."

And I didn't really realize
what I had gotten into.

It was like mob mentality, you know?

These people were like,
no, you're gonna do

your fuckin' performance
and you're gonna do it well.

At that point it turned, like,
from being fun and whatever,

like our goal was like trying
to like instigate something.

It turned to just being like, fuck,

I just want to get out of this alive

and not have to be fined or go to jail

or beat up or whatever.

So I was like, all right, fine.

Like let's go do this show.

(upbeat jazz music)
(audience cheering)

- [Jerry] Is that true?

There's someone else you've
been sleeping with as well?

- Well sometimes (bleep)
happens, you know and-

(audience booing)

We go back out there and ham it up

and we're sort of fighting
and just doing the stupid,

all the stupid shit that we did.

- And there's someone else,

so let's bring out that someone else.

(audience cheering)

- A lot of the shit they
edited out was great.

I mean, there was a part where me

and this audience member,
like, ran at each other.

He was calling me a fag and I was like,

"I'm gonna show you fag. Come here!"

You know, and I knew the
guy could beat me up,

but I knew that they
wouldn't let us fight.

But I was like in the
audience ready to fight.

And then like one guy was asking about,

you know what God would think of all this

and I was like, "There's no God."

And the crowd just ate it up.

You know, as soon as the
show was over, it was,

they put us in a limo

and sent us all to the airport together.

The weird thing is, though,

as far as promotion is,

it went, like, it was huge on a level

that I never had experienced.

Because again, pre-internet,
the day after it aired,

people were on the
street fucking chanting,

"Jerry, Jerry," and I'm like, dude, whoa.

And it happened a lot and
it happened everywhere

and it happened at times,
like at fucking Kmart

and it happened in Tijuana,
it happened in Holland,

it happened in Japan.

It was like just the weirdest shit

and I didn't understand, for one,

like I was on TV making out with a dude,

and I would assume people
would be pretty bummed on that,

especially whatever year that was.

And people were just
psyched that it was, like,

"You were on that show."

- And like there's always different ways

of challenging patriarchy
and all of the different isms

that we live under and I feel like JP

has a way of doing it in
a really subversive way

where there's always a
sort of hidden transcript

and it's not so obvious all the time.

- But I mean, over the
years, I've embraced it.

And it was absurd, you know?

And so I think people
just like ran with it

and it became a thing,
for whatever reason,

that I still hear about every single day

on tour by someone, you know?

I don't know, the ring's cute.

- My wedding, my ring finger. (laughs)

But it's not that bad.

- [Friend 1] I don't think
it is, but it's just...

- [Justin] Gabe, you want me to get you

some tea and crumpets?

(people laughing)

- Justin.
- Is it just him?

- [Gabe] Yeah, it's just,
that's just from the splatter.

- [Friend 2] Your nail's gnarly, dude.

- [Friend 1] Your snare drum looks

pretty fuckin' tough,
though, now. (laughs)

- [Gabe] See, it's just that flap.

- Flaps are bad.

So I started managing the Locust

and I saw them, I actually
remember exactly when it was.

I went to one of their shows

in San Jose or something South Bay.

I saw them loading out

and how long it took them to load out

and what they got paid
at the end of the night,

and I was like, "This is not right."

- [Audience Member 1] It's
probably taking longer

to set up than they're gonna play.

- [Audience Member 2] Yeah, I know.

It's gonna be awesome.

- "So if you want to talk
while you're on tour,

let me know."

When we started to sort of explore

what it would look like to, you know,

work with another record company,

have a little bit more resource
in terms of production,

you know, an advance to buy
a van and things like that,

that was, you know, I kind
of helped facilitate that.

- Well, let me backtrack a little bit

because, so all the Locust
stuff up until that point

was on GSL and GSL was
a lot like Three One G

at the time where we had no money.

You know, our full length
album was recorded for, like,

I don't know, like $1000 or something,

you know, which is not much money.

And we, you know, we had like
five days to record a record

and you know, so we were cutting corners

because the music was
very dense and we needed,

we really wanted to work with someone

that was like a producer
that could actually help us,

you know, not produce it musically,

but produce it sonically
because a lot of that shit

just turns into mush.

So we were, you know, we really wanted

to find a label that would have a budget

that we could really work with,

work in a good studio and
put out a great record.

- As punk rock started coming
up in New York and England,

there was this one very bizarre
group that I think that,

you know, that I was really
super into and that's Devo.

I secretly worshiped Devo.

We weren't allowed to say that

'cause in the LA hardcore scene,

Devo was like, you know,
they were new wave.

You would pogo to Devo. It wasn't tough.

I saw that in the Locust.

I honestly thought that they could,

that they were an embryonic
Devo in the making.

- Brett approaching us was
this strange validation

of everything we'd been
doing up to that point.

I have a lot of respect for
Brett Gurewitz as a person,

as a businessman.

- We liked Brett a lot and
I liked a lot of the people

that were associated with the label,

but it had this stigma
that was the antithesis

of what we were about.

- But Epitaph, especially at that time,

was kind of known for
being a pop punk label.

It was like the Offspring
and NOFX. I hated that shit.

- We kept coming back to
Brett with these other ideas

and our, what I came down to was like,

we wanna be on Anti-.

- Well honestly, I wanted
to sign him to Epitaph,

but he was too cool to be on Epitaph.

He wanted to be on Anti-.

- In in the real world,
I mean Anti- and Epitaph

are the same label, but
it's not called Epitaph

and Anti-had Nick Cave and Tom Waits

and all these awesome artists
that we really did like,

where we, you know, did not like Rancid,

but what, for whatever reason,
he ended up agreeing to it

and we had the biggest budget
for "Plague Soundscapes"

that I think I've ever had in a band.

- In a lot of ways,

I sort of still feel like it's crazy

that we ever landed there,
that we never really fit in,

but it was also sort of
the most perfect place

for us to land.

- And it was great because
we were really confident

that we were gonna be able to record

the best thing we've ever done.

We were working with Alex Newport.

- [Joey] We could rely on
his ear to just let us know,

like, okay, we got what we needed.

(Justin squealing)
(band member laughing)

- We were so psyched,

but as soon as that
became public knowledge

that we were doing this record
on Anti-, which was Epitaph,

we got the, like, just
the criticism poured in.

Everyone was saying we
sold out and we suck

and we're gonna fuckin'
sound like pop-punk

and what do you want us to do?

Go back to being on GSL and
like just scrounging up money

to put out a mediocre recorded record?

When you have a $1000 recording budget,

you have X-amount of
hours and you're paying

for just some guy to
push record, you know,

and mic it and then push record.

But like with a producer
in a studio with two weeks,

you have the ability to do
takes until you get it right.

You have the ability to
have someone actually, like,

put time into making
each sound be cohesive.

Like make sure the high hat's there.

(frenzied percussion music)

Make sure the snare comes through

when the blast beats are happening.

(frenzied percussion music)

Make sure certain synth frequencies

aren't competing with
the guitar and the bass.

(electric bass music squealing)

Make sure you sing properly.

(singers singing indistinctly)

(camera person laughs)

- We were really able
to record it in a way

that we hadn't before and hear it in a way

that we hadn't before.

- It was 100% analog
and so that it was like,

I mean we had changed after that record

and embraced that concept
of digital recording.

But we were this, we were trying to be

like these analog purists.

So it was, that's another thing, too,

is that shit costs a
lot of money, you know?

Tape was expensive.

Two inch tape, you know, was just,

we went through a lot of it.

We were able to do it until
everybody did it perfect.

I think it's a flawless record

as far as our musicianship is concerned

and the way it is recorded.

I don't wanna say it's
like a perfect record

in the sense of like music or art.

It's just, I'm saying like, technically,

it's a flawless record.

That was the first time we
were able to experience that.

(hardcore punk music)

But the ironic thing is

as soon as "Plague Soundscapes" came out,

the Dillinger Escape plan did
the record with Mike Patton

and then Converge did it,
did a record with Epitaph,

and then Epitaph was like,
oh, all of our friends

are over here now and it's fine.

Like, I really doubt that
anyone criticized Converge

for signing to Epitaph proper.

- Well, I think, you know,
the records that they made

when we were working, so like
"Plague Soundscapes" was like,

you know, an amazing record
and working with them,

like hearing them find that
creativity was tremendous.

- When "Plague Soundscapes"
came out, it was like full on.

I mean, at one point we did
like a four month long tour

and it just kind of kept going.

(frenzied punk rock music)

(audience cheering)

- Seeing them play in London
with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

and getting respect from their peers

beyond sort of underground
punk was also really wonderful.

- I mean, we toured with Rocking the Crypt

or Andrew WK or whatever, you know,

just what whatever didn't seem right

was like also a reason to do it.

(punk rock music)

- Everything seemed the same,

just like at a larger scale.

I mean, maybe when we played
like the bigger rooms,

you wouldn't have like, you know,

people shitting in the mosh pit

as much as you would at
smaller things we've done, but.

- [Interviewer] Is that
something that's happened?

- Yeah.

- [Interviewer] Do you
wanna tell that story?

- I just remember we
were playing some show

and someone shit in the pit

and then there was like some other guy

riding a bicycle in the pit
and then there was, like,

trash cans swirling around as well.

And then someone fainted

so we had to stop the show
to get that person out.

- And there was more critical, you know,

recognition of their work,

which I think was important
to them and me, you know,

and their producers and the label

and people sort of recognizing

that they were a unique and special band.

- You know, we were growing
and still sort of dealing

with a lot of. like,
negativity from people.

So that was when we started adding more,

I guess linear pieces
and having interludes

and having these sort
of landscapes of sound

where it wasn't just so dense.

(dramatic synth music)

I think musically we started
evolving into something else.

So the next record we did was
"Safety Second, Body Last,"

which has these like very
large chunks of material

where there's space.

(dramatic synth music)

You know, we started focusing on things

like just dynamic and where
before it was just dense

and absurd all the way through.

And so we started kind of
like thinking about other ways

to write music and thinking
about other elements

that we kind of skipped out on.

(dramatic synth music)

(frenzied punk rock music)

A lot of it had to do with timing,

so before we had recorded it,

we had kind of linked up with Mike Patton

and touring with Fantomas.

You know, Fantomas seemed a lot

like what we were doing in the Locust.

(strange synth music)

It has these like, like,
spacious movements that happen.

From there we just kept kind of evolving

into figuring out ways
to write other stuff

that was still brutal and mid tempo

and kind of structurally
written in a more mature way

and not so, like, let's
throw out all these ideas

and just be like, blah, you know?

It's kinda like, let's
don't just regurgitate

the same thing.

Let's think it out, let's
have it be an evolution.

(strange dramatic synth music)

(frenzied punk rock music)

(frenzied punk rock music continues)

I had became friends with
this music supervisor

and she licensed some music for a movie

and her really good friend is Asia Argento

and so she called me out
of the blue and said,

"Hey, Asia wants you to be in this film.

She saw your Jerry Springer thing

and thinks that you'd be a good fit."

(child and Justin yelling)

- [Child] Fuck you people!

- I mean, I didn't know what it was.

I just said, yeah, to like a movie.

Like it could be anything, you know?

Like fuck, it could have
been any kind of movie

and it exceeded my expectations,

My own fuckin' age?

What the fuck?

(items clattering)

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. (sobbing)

I wanted to do more acting,

but I don't really know how to act

and I don't really know
how to get into a movie.

And then I ran into these
rad dudes from this band,

the Manx at a Head Wound City show

and they do "Uncle Grandpa" the cartoon

and they started "Rick and Morty."

You know, they're like,

"Hey, you wanna be in 'Uncle Grandpa?"'

And I was like, "Yeah."

And so then I was like
a free sample snack elf.

- Hello friends. Welcome
to Free Sample City.

We're the free sample elves.

We make free samples all day long.

Take a look.

Free samples of veggie
sausages, currently on sale.

Be sure to sample our pineapple salsa

with crispy dried kale,

vegan walnut cookie bites,
freshly baked in our tree.

Care for a sample? They're
free, free, friggidy free.

- You know, on "Uncle Grandpa,"

like giving out like
vegan snacks to these,

to the characters of the cartoon.

- Y'all are some sick freaks.

- It was awesome, you know?

And I got paid really
well and it was easy.

- Like I always say, don't be
a piggy at Free Sample City.

- It's again, it's like,

it just kind of fell into my lap

and I was able to do it
and I was open to do it,

'cause maybe someone else would be like,

"I don't want to be in a cartoon."

I'm like, yeah, I'll be
in a fuckin' cartoon.

I mean, I'll be in a pancake
commercial, you know,

if you ask me to or whatever.

- That'll teach you a lesson

for taking advantage of
us free sample elves.

Don't you know, we already hate ourselves.

- The time when I was doing
the Locust and Some Girls,

they were both full-time,

but it wasn't like full-time
in the sense that, like,

when your album comes out, you
have this insane tour cycle.

I mean, even now, like none
of the bands that I'm in

go by those sort of industry standards

where you put out a record

and you're touring for
nine months, you know?

It's sporadic and
there's a lot of downtime

to do other things.

I just think I need to be busy regardless.

You know, if I'm not writing a record

or recording a record or on tour,

I'll think about like
something I should do

with Three One G or I'll
start writing a story.

Hey, let's work on a
video project, you know?

Or let's start a podcast or
whatever. Like, something.

Let's do something.

- He is like a workaholic,

but sometimes I wish I
could just say, like,

just take a break, you know?

You're stressing yourself out.

I mean, I wouldn't want him
to do anything else, though,

because I know that that's him.

(punk rock music)

- [Joey] After we
finished our touring cycle

for "New Erections," we
definitely took a break.

- You know, I think at some point

we just kind of had to step
back from being an active band

for close to 20 years.

- In my mind it felt like
things were plateauing in a way

and it seemed like a
break made a lot of sense.

I mean, if for no other
reason than to keep things

from feeling stale.

- I mean, I think everybody
got busy with life, you know,

and busy in different ways and you know,

a lot of times I'll hear like,

oh, you're, you're doing all these things,

why don't you do the Locust?

And it's like, well, I'm not the Locust.

I'm one of the four people
and it's not my decision.

And if I was busy with the Locust,

I probably wouldn't have done
these other things, you know?

So it's, everybody does,
everybody has their own reasons,

you know, and at some point
we'll play again, just,

there's just no pressure.

(dramatic synth music)

(hardcore punk rock music)

- This last pass felt
really good. Vicious, fun.

It just felt like it was renewed.

The energy and excitement

and the stamina to do it
were renewed and back again.

(hardcore punk rock music)

- You never know how long people like this

will be around doing this for,

so I think you should
eat it up while you can.

♪ No, no no adult education ♪

♪ Lubricating the driest generation ♪

♪ No, no, no adult education ♪

♪ Lacks all responsive stimulation ♪

- I don't know.

I guess the ultimate goal of
all of this shit is that, like,

I want people to think.

Even if they're very critical or emotional

or whatever it is, you know,

like as long as they're
there thinking something,

then that's great
because there's all these

other platforms of art,
music and television

and film and whatever you want to pick

that required no effort and
I think that that's boring.

- I think the thing about
him being an open book

is very important.

I think he's really misunderstood.

- He's a diehard, man.

That guy is, is just, he's the real deal.

- One of the most tender
people I've ever met.

- You know, he was the
best man at my wedding

and he scared the fuck
out of all the little kids

'cause of his mohawk
that he had at the time.

- I love him. You can put
that in the documentary.

- [Interviewer] Scooch
over, we can get two shots.

- What are you doing?

Get back in, get back in the seat.

- I'm getting over here by you. (laughs)

- Get in the seat. Get in the seat.

- You know, Marx once said that, you know,

the tradition of all the dead generations

weighs like a nightmare on
the brain of the living.

- He's got this whole pile of his past

kind of pushing him into the future.

- And when you're 12 years old
and your father is murdered,

like his was growing
up in an abusive family

with an alcoholic father
and him getting abused

and his dog getting abused,

I think made him more resilient in a way,

but it also taught him early on

that the world is a fucked up place.

- I never wanna say, like,
oh pity me or something

because I had a roof over my head

and I was able to eat at
least shitty TV dinners.

But now I think my mom
is the coolest person.

Sure she has her flaws, but we all do

and she did her best, you know

and I think she did a pretty damn good job

with what she was given and she's rad.

Or maybe this one.

- What? We're really gonna put these on?

- Yeah, why not?

(Justin laughs)

- I liked your furry one better.

- Oh, here, put this one.
- No, no, I'm just teasing.

How does this go on?
- It's okay.

You can wear the furry one.

- It's fine.

(Justin laughs)

- Here, you gotta arrange
it a little bit. (laughs)

- It's not Halloween yet. (laughs)

Ah.
- Sorry.

- You got my hair caught in that.

- [Justin] Oh, shit.

- Ah!

Okay, this is good.

- You okay?
- Yeah.

All right.

(all laughing)

Whatever. (laughs)

(all laughing)

- Oh, mom.

(all laughing)

All right.

- I love you.
- I love you, too.

Thanks.
(Karen laughs)

- Make things the best that
you can with what you have.

It's what we in Latinx
communities call rasquache,

to make do with what you have.

- To be honest, this is what I think.

I think Justin Pearson is an artist

and he can't fucking do anything else.

I've even said to him like,

what would you do if you couldn't do this?

What if you couldn't start
and do the record label?

What if you couldn't
make records, go on tour,

just even record music?

And he'd just give me the
blank stare and just go,

"I don't think about that stuff."

(dramatic synth music)

♪ I found trouble and I got no help ♪

♪ I did good and I got no thanks ♪

♪ Now reverse to develop ♪

♪ Watch dead dad shoot his blanks ♪

(dramatic rock music)

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Watch me swim in great garbage ♪

♪ God give me a miscarriage ♪

♪ My work pays the lowest wage ♪

♪ So I'll throw that the
thing right in self-storage ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, our time is short ♪

♪ Gonna get pregnant
in small claims court ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, our time is short ♪

♪ Let's abort, kill life support ♪

(dramatic rock music)

♪ Elapsed time nursery rhyme ♪

♪ Prep white crime and work full-time ♪

♪ Happiness is a new idea ♪

♪ Just hang out, diarrhea ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Now take a shit in reverse ♪

♪ Now rehearse and get worse ♪

♪ Sing another nonsense verse ♪

♪ Live in the armpit of the universe ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, our time is short ♪

♪ Gonna get pregnant
in small claims court ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, our time is short ♪

♪ Let's abort, kill life support ♪

(dramatic rock music)

♪ I found trouble and I got no help ♪

♪ I did good and I got no thanks ♪

♪ Now reverse to develop ♪

♪ Watch dead dad shoot his blanks ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, come bogeyman ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, our time is short ♪

♪ Gonna get pregnant
in small claims court ♪

♪ Come bogeyman, our time is short ♪

♪ Let's abort, kill life support ♪

(dramatic rock music)

- I've wanted to learn to play jazz music,

but I think I need to get

some sort of instruction with that.

Every time I try and do
it, it's like, just like,

just like brutal guy
trying to play jazz music.

It's just too rock and roll,
like I can't, I can't get it.

So that's something I'd
like to focus on, I think.

I think I like the Charles
Mingus bass playing.

I think like playing
with a bassist like that

would be really pretty rad.

Yeah, I think I'd like to
do that for a little bit

and I'd probably get bored with it

and want to get brutal again.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

There's just something about
playing, like, brutal music

that you can't get away from, you know?