Justin Pearson’s writing draws largely on his experiences in other creative realms– mainly, but not exclusively, his lifelong career as a musician, along with the many jobs he has had to take on to continue on this path. From an early age, Justin sought refuge in the world of punk and DIY ethics. This lead to the formation of his first band, Struggle, and touring at fifteen years old, which he has continued to do so for the last thirty plus years in subversive and, at times, divisive acts including The Locust, Swing Kids, The Crimson Curse, Some Girls, Retox, Head Wound City, All Leather, Planet B, Dead Cross, Deaf Club, and Satanic Planet. His use of quick wit and rapid retorts have been known to get him both into and out of trouble, and this is a staple of his writing style as both an author and lyricist.
Pearson’s latest writing, GG Alien and the Mystery Meat, dives into a slew of intertwining subjects surrounding art, class, and sexuality, to name a few. Here, Justin steps right up to the line of a social faux pas steeped in current social politics as he reflects on navigating working a minimum wage job at a gay club while maintaining a non-paying job as a “musician” throughout his thirties. Addressing an ever-present overwhelming capitalistic economy as well as his potential cultural appropriation, he lays out (or maybe coughs and spreads out) his absurd and questionable time spent as an employee at San Diego’s most popular gay night club.
“GG Alien & The Mystery Meat is a gritty, fascinating and beautiful meditation on the intersection of punk and queerness from a counterculture legend. Justin Pearson’s writing voice resonates with just as much power and honesty as his screaming voice.” —Chuck Tingle (Camp Damascus, Bury Your Gays)
“Reading GG Alien and the Mystery Meat is the perfect view into Justin Pearson’s mind. Tender, crass, sensitive, irreverent, loving and wild all in one. The details are hysterically funny and some of the imagery is so clear I needed to close my eyes but couldn’t look away. A must-read for true punks and all of us who love the music underground.” —Molly Neumann (Bratmobile)
“Take this job and shove it… into a book. Being punk past forty means you’re an elder who has likely worked the most insane shit jobs of your life, whether they were fun, awful, paid the bills, paid at all, got your dick sucked, or encouraged you to tell people you could bend in half and suck your own. Those jobs* meant you could continue to make ‘art’ and hopefully pay rent. Reading Justin Pearson’s story of fucking up, fucking off, and shockingly not fucking at all during a nearly decade-long run as a gay bar’s odd otter reminded me that we are all freaks on a similar path. I think? Don’t bother buying a bookmark or upsetting uptight zinesters with dog-eared pages. Despite ADHD, exhaustion, and a spaced-out brain, I blasted through this in one sitting. Justin will hold your attention from the first page to the last.” —Jenna Pup (HIRS Collective)