Interview by Jason Schreurs
Retox are the latest in a long line of uncompromising, difficult, annoying and completely face-melting bands that San Diego punk-scene veteran Justin Pearson has helmed the microphone in. Pearson, also know for his work in The Locust, Head Wound City, All Leather and a host of other bands, has been making brilliant noise as far back as his ’90s hardcore outfits Struggle and Swing Kids, but with Retox it appears that he’s only getting noisier and more confrontational. And, for this, we offer him a salute. We recently chatted with Pearson about Retox and his plan to “settle down” very soon. Yeah, right.
One of things that struck me when listening to this new album, and I’ve followed your bands from way back, is that it doesn’t seem like you’re settling down at all, which I love. I love that Retox is just as hardcore and crazy as anything you’ve done. So that must be important to you?
Yeah [laughs]. It’s a trip though, to think about the “settling down” part, because while I would love to do something that would be considered “settling down,” this world is getting crazier and crazier, so why settle down? It doesn’t seem warranted. I feel like that would lazy or something, on my part.
A lot of musicians from that hardcore scene in the ’90s that you were part of have definitely “settled down” with some of their new projects. But you’ve been screaming your head off for a long time now. Does it ever get taxing?
I guess so. But there’s always important stuff to say; stuff that’s important to me. And it is taxing when you’re recording and you’re like, “Oh, I just screamed for six hours and my head is going to explode.” But, otherwise, it’s not really taxing, necessarily. I mean, I am feeling physically worse and worse; my body is really, really jacked up and I’m not sure exactly what it’s from, but on our previous Retox tour with the Dillinger Escape Plan and watching Greg [Puciato] sing and it’s like, “Stop whining and get back out there and do it!” [Laughs] But, I don’t know, I have a sciatic nerve that’s pinched and it’s screwing my arm up, and that’s not even vocally taxing, that’s like my whole arm is jacked up. And when I recorded the Head Wound City album last month it was just painful; there’s something really wrong with my arm and my back.
Have you ever considered doing a band that was the anti-Retox?
[Laughs] I don’t know, even if did do something that you could call “the anti-Retox,” it would still be Retox. It would be the same ethics, maybe just less aggression and intensity, but it would still have the same intellect and passion attached to it. With the people that I surround myself with, there could be a softer element. I’m still working on this All Leather record with Nathan Joyner and a couple of the tracks that we wrote were just very, very… I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s not brutal and fast; it’s more scary and depressing or something. Granted, I’m still screaming to it, but the band has a different feel and it’s not just straight-up hardcore. And I would go even softer than that, I guess, but a lot of it has to do with the people I work with and the opportunities I get.
Do you have any tips and tricks on how to sing, or scream, without blowing your voice out all of the time?
It’s funny being asked that, because for so long I would lose my voice, but it was because I’m allergic to cigarette smoke and we’d go out on tour and I’d get chronic bronchitis and that would be the worst; I would just fuck myself up. But now that’s not really such an issue. I do okay now. I do blow my voice out occasionally, but you just have to figure out how to work with it. I don’t know. Just take care of yourself: lots of tea, lots of Emergen-C, just don’t be a jerk, you know. Just be smart and get rest and stuff like that.
How do you come up with the song titles for Retox?
The song titles are always as important as the lyrics to me. I have this huge reserve of content that I draw from and put pieces together. But it has to have some sort of interesting spin to it, because that’s what would draw me into wanting to read and understand the lyrics. So the song name is the first impression, like, “What the hell does that mean? I’ve got to read that and figure it out.”
Do you get misunderstood a lot, as far as your politics go? You have a lot of satire and sarcasm in your stuff. Do people sometimes not get your sense of humour?
I don’t know. What would they not understand? People misunderstand all of the time, but I’m not really sure…
Do you often get the reaction that you’re looking for, or do they just say, “What the fuck is this guy on about?”
I think if someone is taking the time to listen to it, I don’t usually get a negative reaction to it. With that being said, there is this song on the new Retox album where I use the word “faggot” twice, and in the context of the lyrics, it’s warranted. But that’s like hearing Christian Death say “nigger” in their lyrics. It’s like, “Whoah, dude, that’s kind of fucked up,” and I’m not going to compare our song to Christian Death, but as far as the lyrics go, I would hope that it would draw someone in on another level. I think using words and terms like that to prove a point is definitely warranted. There are all of these weird social faux pas and restrictions, but if you just spill your guts all over the ground, it’s like, “Here, figure it out.” [Laughs]
What’s it like being on Epitaph Records?
With The Locust and Some Girls being on the label, and now with Retox and this new record, we’re part of the Epitaph family to some extent, and I really, really appreciate the label. I’m not a big fan of their roster, although I do like some of their artists, but I really like Brett Guriwetz, the owner, and the how the label works in general. But I’m also a fan of how much the average Epitaph supporters hate what I do [laughs]. I think it’s great; I really, really appreciate that.
How does Retox fit in with the rest of the San Diego music scene, especially with being on the road a lot?
That’s a good question. I’m not really sure, and I’m glad that it’s like that. Especially with The Locust, it’s always been like, “Good luck going on a tour with Rocket from the Crypt or something,” because people would be like, “What are you doing?! This is absurd.” So that does happen a lot, and it can be defeating, but for the most part Retox aren’t really a local band, because part of us lives in San Diego and part of us lives in Los Angeles, so we don’t really spend much time in one city together to play all the time, and we focus on tours a lot, too. But as far as what scene we fit into, we just did a tour with the Dillinger Escape Plan and it was very comfortable in that we felt welcomed by them and their fans, and they were a band we got along with and connected with musically, aesthetically and, more importantly, personally. So tours like that are something that’s good for us, and it’s good for the bands we play with, too, to have this snotty, antagonist punk band play before them. So there was a different element added to the lineup, and I appreciate bands that are progressive in the way that they function.
What’s the meaning behind the album title, Beneath California?
Well, you can interpret it however you want, but it’s really about what’s beneath it, or underneath it, like the roots or the soil. But it’s also what you don’t really see; things that exist that you don’t see, but essentially make us what we are. Us as Retox, or us as Californians, or even us as humans. It’s a focal point and hotspot in many ways, this State, so it was about recognizing that. But I don’t want to say too much, because I’d rather people interpret it how they want and get something from it that they can get from it themselves.
What would say is the purpose of Retox?
Oh, I don’t know. That’s such a huge question. I don’t know if there’s a purpose, but there’s more a need for ourselves; it’s like we have to do it. And that’s it. It wasn’t like the purpose was to change the world, or to change music, or the purpose wasn’t to, like, travel. The purpose is because the universe made us do it, and it’s what our DNA is structured as, and it’s what we need to do for ourselves, and then whatever the outcome is, positive or negative, that’s the outcome.
Retox’s Beneath California is out February 10 on Epitaph Records.
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