How to Lose Friends and Irritate People

Description

A paperback book with a flexi record of Justin’s band All Leather’s “We Eat Gauche Caviar” AND as an e-book (in DRM-free pdf, epub, and mobi formats). The book version comes with a copy of Das Oath’s self-titled Three One G release on CD.

In his new book, How To Lose Friends and Irritate People, Justin Pearson reveals his misadventures with two DJ duos borrowing him as a frontman, lending some “punk” street cred to their music. Known for being part of bands like The Locust, All Leather, and Retox, as well as the owner of Three One G Records, Justin has paved the way for bizarre, abrasive and political music, while pushing the envelope of what is expected or what can be done in a band. The Bloody Beetroots and Designer Drugs approached him to sing on their albums, and what came out of those two experiences is both pathetic and hilarious. From being forced to lip sync at Australian festivals in front of thousands, to being lost in the woods somewhere in Pennsylvania at a music video shoot gone wrong, Justin questions not only the DJ’s motives, but his own as well. Embracing actual musical instrumentation instead of laptop playlists, Justin trudges through the murky waters of musical capitalism.

Praise for How to Lose Friends and Irritate People…

“This book is necessary in it’s urgence for Justin to write his very own personal truth, and us readers to read it and possibly learn, or at least meditate… Not to fall into the mirage of a world that looks golden but still smells like a carcass. Purity of purpose. No compromises. Forever.” – Asia Argento 

“Justin Pearson is back with more tales from a life stranger than fiction. In this new work, Justin takes us along for a ride on his ill-fated Australian tour with the Bloody Beetroots in front of 15,000 sweaty/screaming bodies whose idea of anarchy comes more from American Apparel than Emma Goldman. In another story, after many hours of driving in a crowded van with a bunch of beer-drinking-beef jerky eating kids on the way to a video shoot that may or may not involve a live goat, we arrive to the location of the shoot: a remote forest somewhere in the state of Pennsylvania. JP tells each story like no one else could–mainly because no one else gets himself into quite the same kind of misadventures as he does.” – Jose Palafox 

“Justin Pearson occupies a unique niche within the world of underground music in America. As a member of polarizing bands such as The Locust and All Leather, he’s become synonymous with music which redefines the limits of technical prowess while blurring the lines between punk, noise, experimentalism and outright assault. As a lyricist and author, his aggressively contrary attitude and at times hilarious commentary on the scuzzy reality of do-it-yourself culture provide a glimpse into the mind of an artist whom, one could argue, has effectively used the underground to his advantage for close to 20 years. Which isn’t to say he’s an opportunist. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone contributing back to the culture from whence they came with the consistency and dedication Pearson exhibits year after year. Wearing his ideals on his sleeve, he is an icon within the punk scene – a cantankerous, shape-shifting, immaculately-groomed hybrid of old attitudes and new. With punk as his platform, Pearson has crisscrossed the globe endlessly, experiencing people and places from a vantage point few others could imagine. His writing sheds light on the mostly unglamorous reality of rock (anti-) stardom in the twenty-first century, free of the typical clichés of hotel rooms destroyed and groupies disrespected. Pearson’s life and art are case studies in DIY and few, if any, put their money where their proverbial mouths are with such aplomb”. – Sonny Kay