Justus Proffit

Photography by Camille Mariet. Interview by Heather Hawke. 

Justus Proffit’s sophomore album Speedstar was released on August 20 via Bar/None Records and it’s an album that strives to learn about the makings of one’s inner peace all along the while knowing that the internal walls have to be torn down to get there. The album comes on the heels of his 2018 collaborative EP with Jay Som’s Melina Duterte (Nothing’s Changed), and his 2019 debut album (LA’s Got Me Down).

As a veteran of the LA’s DIY scene, the story goes that if you were attending shows in a pre-pandemic Los Angeles, it’s likely that at some point you ended up at the underground arts and living quarters called Topspace that was run by Justus, the venue hosted everything from hardcore to intimate dreampop. 

Justus grew up in a family of musicians, so much so that amplifiers and equipment acted as the living room spare furniture and house shows were a regular occurrence. His dad’s record collection included bands like Devo, TSOL, and The Dead Milkmen, while his mom, an artist in her own right, turned him on to songwriters like Robert Smith and Black Francis. At age 13 he was drumming alongside his brother and sister in a band, while at 16 he was touring the States in a slew of hardcore and punk groups. Never having intentions of forging a solo career, when his own band abruptly broke up, he figured to make good use of the studio time they had booked and performed every instrument on the collection of songs. The musical outpouring proved fruitful, and lead to a collaborative EP with breakout bedroom-pop artist Melina Duterte (Jay Som), a friendship with lo-fi pioneer R. Stevie Moore, and a record deal with the venerable indie label Bar/None.

During this time, his local notoriety started feeding back into Topspace, where every month they packed a full schedule of shows and before too long Justus ended up in the hospital with a torn esophagus. Though he started to pay more attention to his health, he’s not one to completely slow down so setback aside, he released his debut album LA’s Got Me Down the following year. Though he’s said that LA’s Got Me Down chronicles “years of struggle in an unforgiving city,” he adds it was the slow crawl of Covid that truly brought things to a grinding halt. Explaining, “When the pandemic started, I quit music, but I realized I needed to deconstruct my beliefs about music to get back into it, that’s what this record did for me.” Having taken a step back from music and reevaluating his relationship to “making art,” he says that the process of recording Speedstar in various studios across the west coast was the first time he’s felt “at peace with himself” or at least “tried to.” This new collection of songs that make up Speedstar, he says, is his “most intimate work to date.” With Speedstar, Justus infuses the familiar of carefully arranged pop music mixed with his own punk flare, but instead of hiding behind a shield of noise, the album instead shines a light on his scrupulous songwriting.

Justus Proffit’s web/socials: Bandcamp – Soundcloud – Facebook – Instagram

Hi! So, this past year has been pretty chaotic due to various reasons including the pandemic…Before we began, how are you doing with everything? How has this last year been for you and how are you feeling? How have you been coping with everything? 

I’m doing really great, I’m about to hit seven months sober so I’m really happy about that. Last year was really rough, this year has gotten a lot better and I’m feeling really good these days.
 
I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so during the pandemic. How has it felt, to you, as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then how to or if you want to creatively release it to the public?

During the pandemic I decided just to make a bunch of music, I think I realize that I’m just going to release a shit ton of music and not worry about how it gets released. I have a team of people that work with me and that’s really cool, but also, I’m going to drop a bunch of songs in between albums, I think. Just because I have so much music and I don’t wanna hold onto it.

Going back to the beginning. What was your childhood like growing up in a family of musicians?  What music did you grow up listening to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up? 

I grew up listening to punk music basically, when I was in like sixth grade to eighth grade basically just extreme music, Punk, Goth, hard-core, power violence etc. I think I picked up a Pixies record when I was a freshman in high school? And that’s when my musical taste changed to where I’m at now to be honest with you. Once I saw School of Rock, I wanted to become a musician, before that I just saw that my mom played music and didn’t really care.

Talking a little bit about your formative years… What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? When was the first time you felt super inspired by music? Were there posters on your wall when you were growing up? 

My first concert was when I was in fifth grade, I saw Aaron Carter, I’m still a huge Aaron Carter fan. No, I never went to any summer camps or anything like that I was never a fan of after school activities, I also was really bad in school. Shortly after the Aaron Carter concert I went and saw the Dead Kennedys.

For the Nothing’s Changed EP, I read that Melina oversaw tracking and mixing in her home studio (in addition to playing bass and keyboard), while you handled lyrics and drums, together, you shared guitar and vocal duties. Was this your first time handling the lyrics and/or drums? Now looking back on this time period, what have you taken away from this blessing of disguise about your previous band ending and this collaboration that you now reference back to on a regular basis?

I’ve been working so hard on music that I don’t see it as a linear “domino like” affect. I’ve been grinding so hard on music for years that it was bound to happen. That collaborative EP was just a fun thing, Melina and I are just friends and just wanted to have fun for the week. I don’t think of it as anything more. We didn’t make a set of rules to be honest with you, we just collaborated generally. Also, R Stevie Moore is insane. But I do like him. I don’t think we’re friends though.

Can you talk a little bit about the how/when/why’s of how working with Topspace came about?

Running Topspace was a nightmare and I did it for years. It’s funny because running a DIY space is the most stressful job and you don’t get paid shit for it, I am so happy I don’t do that shit anymore. It came about because I was just doing favors for way too many people and I’m not doing that ever again. I can do favors for people in other ways.

What was your songwriting/creative process like for Speedstar? How long was the writing/recording process of it? Was there an event or a specific timeframe where a large chunk of the lyricism came out?  

Speedstar is actually a compilation of three recording sessions, they’re all different times in my life. Four of the songs were recorded in Anacortes and I wrote those on the fly in like a week, the other ones are just either home recordings or songs that I did in the valley with my friend Sean. 

Did your writing process change since the last time you worked on music? Is that process something that’s shifted for you over time? 

Yeah, I think my influences just change all the time, so I emulate that a bit when I record, so that changes my writing and recording styles. This time around I think I was doing a little bit more vocal production and more guitar solos? It’s a little bit more like a shred/vocal heavy record.

Do you find it helpful to be intentional when it comes to writing the lyrics / music? Like “I’m going to sit down and work on a song.” Or is it more ephemeral, like you’ve been kicking something around in your head for days, weeks, months, and then suddenly it comes spilling out? Or is it a mixture of both?

I usually get a melody stuck in my head, and then from there I end up writing a song. So, I’ll just mutter random lyrics until I actually sit down and write them. Or I’ll just write a guitar riff and sing to that. That’s mostly the process for Speedstar.

Speedstar was recorded in studios across the west coast, and you’ve said that the making of it was the first time you’ve felt at peace with yourself. What was it like recording at those various places? At what point in the creative process did you know you wanted to record at a variety of studios? How do you think that played a part in the album? What studio?

Honestly, I was kind of just pressed to come out with a new record, so I compiled my favorite songs that I have made for the past two years.  I didn’t really plan on it coming together as a record until it was all finished.

The album was recorded in studios across the west coast, but where were you at physically, mentally when you wrote the lyrics/music for this?

I was in a lot of different places during recording all of this, I was really fucked up on drugs at one point. At one point I was having really bad anxiety to where I thought I was having heart attacks. Sometimes I was at peace, mostly not though. I was also going through a breakup when I wrote the Washington songs so that was kind of rough.

I read that when the pandemic started you quit music, but then realized you needed to deconstruct your beliefs about music to get back into it, and that’s what Speedstar did for you. With that in mind, what mindset did you have going into the creating / recording process of it? Did you feel any sort of limitations when writing or recording it? Which songs were the easiest / most difficult to create? What are two or three songs you are most proud of on this record? Why?

It was kind of nice because I didn’t take it seriously, I think? Or I like to think at least. It felt like low stakes. My favorite songs on the record are: 1) “There goes the fun” – I like that one just because the song is written very well and I’m really proud of the vocal harmonies that I created. 2) “Burning the ground” – I like this one because I feel like it’s very emotive and it got another lot of praise from my close friends and that’s really all I care about. And the last one there’s this song called “Change” and it’s just vocals and acoustic guitar, but I think it’s really personable and I hope you like it when you hear it.

How hands on are you with the making of / direction of the visuals (music videos, press images, artwork) that accompanies the music? Do you feel like the art that accompanies one’s music is more / less important than it used to be? How do you feel like social media impacts the intention behind all of this?

The album art was done by my ex-girlfriend; she did a really good job. I used to be a lot more hands-on about all my stuff now I like to collaborate with people because it’s just better to collaborate with people instead of do everything yourself. Social media is cool I’m not really worried about it I feel like the less I think about it the easier it is.

Does traveling influence you as an artist? Are you inspired by the places you go, or do you think your work would sound about the same no matter where you created it?

I love traveling and I have felt so many crazy experiences being away from home, I feel like I write really meaningful songs when I’m out of my town, I wanna travel more. I love to travel.

Have you had any mentors along the way?

Mentors or friends yeah for sure. I could really use a mentor at this point though I’ve been feeling a little lost lately but it’s all good.

What was your favorite part about the writing / album creation process? 

We’ve released it! I love to show my friends what I’ve made honestly. And I love to hear what my friends have made.

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