01.22

Cult & Culture Podcast Episode 18 feat. Brian Amalfitano and Tommy Meehan of Deaf Club



The concept of Cult and Culture began as a short segment created by Justin Pearson, an internationally known musician, record label owner (Three One G Records), author, and actor. He is best known as bassist/vocalist for bands such as Dead Cross, The Locust, and Retox. Justin has come to know and work with a broad spectrum of captivating personalities and brilliant minds, many of which are key figures in the realm of popular culture and cult followings alike. John Waters was one of the first people interviewed for the project- an icon of both cult and culture. Other guests include a broad scope of musicians, producers, authors, and anyone passionate about what they do. In its infancy, segments were shorter, 10-20 minutes, and would be recorded while on tour. Since then, Pearson has collaborated with producer and musician Luke Henshaw (Planet B, Sonido de la Frontera) to build the idea into a proper podcast, now recorded at Penguin Studios in San Diego. The focus is not intended to be solely on people in any one realm, and because guests are friends and family, the conversations are frank, informal, well-informed and genuine.

Tommy Meehan (The Manx, Squid Pisser) and Brian Amalfitano (ACxDC), both guitarists in Deaf Club with Justin, take part in the newest episode of Cult and Culture. They discuss their methods when it comes to collaborating in the band, and the shared goal of creating organized chaos in order to push the listener and themselves. They share some of their early influences, including Gwar and Nirvana, and the ways in which these possibly unexpected foundations influenced their playing and theatricality in order to later form something newer, weirder and nastier. They also question the purpose of defining terms like punk and powerviolence, and have conversations about the uselessness of gatekeeping, how to confuse neo-nazis, and the importance of the cultural shifts and relevance that music can bring about beyond the music itself.