We found the self proclaimed “King of Negativity”, Justin Symbol, during the Fuckboi Tour. He was at a little venue called The Champ in Lemoyne, PA, putting on a super dark and sizzling hot show. We got a chance to talk to him after his set, and he was fantastic! We look forward to seeing him play live again. He was loquacious as fuck and this is what he had to say!
You guys are really good!! I liked your show. It was fun. So where are you guys from?
Matt: Our mom’s vaginas
Justin: Brooklyn. Three of us live in Brooklyn.
So you’re from Brooklyn?
Justin: From God’s vagina and Brooklyn, and Mr. Evil is from near Brooklyn.
Evil: The most evil place in the world, West Chester, New York.
When did you decide you wanted to get into music as a career?
Justin: I was in college, and I was studying journalism. I didn’t wanna, uh, it was boring. So, I started fucking around with my laptop, fruity loops and shit, and I was making beats. So, I was like, this is a lot more fun. We could get stoned and stay up all night and make these beats on fruity loops. That’s how I got started with music, honestly, and then I got a drum machine.
Your family, were they religious?
Justin: No, not at all. My dad was Jewish. My mom, she was raised as a protestant. I was not religious growing up.
Are you Jewish?
Justin: No because my mom is not Jewish, and it goes by the mother. But, I did go to Israel, and that’s where I had the epiphany of like getting sober and changing my lifestyle. So, I do consider myself part of that tribe even though I’m not technically a Jew.
I see. That’s cool. Was your family cool with you pursuing music as a career?
Justin: I think they just always wanted me to be successful. So, they were always worried that what I’m doing is not a mass thing. They didn’t understand it because I come from “noise” music. I was doing that at first, and rightfully they saw that and were like, “Is he ever gonna make any money with that?” But, I just naturally started gravitating towards a rock direction as I continued with music.
Before Justin Symbol you were in a band, Nursing Home.
Justin: Yeah. There were two bands called Nursing Home. The original Nursing Home in Syracuse, NY, where I got started, and then there was Nursing Home in New York City. I was also in a band called BLACKBOMBS in NYC.
Where did the name Justin Symbol come in?
Justin: I was sick of being in bands where it everything had to be this group decision and everything took forever. I felt like I was actually still in the band Nursing Home, and I just started writing an album on the side with Baba Yaga, who has been like my musical partner in crime. He was in the first Nursing Home but not the second one. So, I started writing music with him, and I decided I just wanted to express myself, and I wasn’t able to express myself in this other band. I had this drummer that would tell me, “Oh I don’t like this lyric”, and “I don’t like that lyric.” It was just falling apart. I was at the point where I said to myself, “If I just do what I wanna do, and I pump out these music videos, it could take off”, and it did.
What’s everyone’s name that’s in the band right now and what do they play?
Justin: On bass we have Jabbath Kanezzer, and if you say that backwards three times the world will end.
Then you have Matt on guitar?
Justin: Yes Matt, Matt Minion and Will Evil are on drums.
“Purgatory” and “Control” are amazingly creative songs, and the videos are great. They both have Daisy Berkowitz featured in them. I heard there was another one Daisy was featured in.
Justin: Daisy played on V Ω I D H E A D, “Purgatory”, “Control”, and “Golden Shower”. Daisy was not in the “Control” video. He was not available, so the only video he’s in is “Purgatory”. But he played on those three songs.
How did you get him to do it?
Justin: We met when I was in Nursing Home – the second Nursing Home. There was a producer that I knew at the time. He invited me to come sing. It was an audition for the Daisy Kids. It was Daisy, his producer, and me. We were in a hotel room, and I was singing for them, and they liked my singing. We talked about me singing for the Daisy Kids, but that never really took off. Then me and Daisy stayed in touch because we really got along well, so when I did the album with Baba Yaga, I felt like the guitar was the weakest element on the album. We weren’t even gonna use guitar because we were really influenced by Kanye West. He did an album called Yeezus. So, we wanted to do an album like that. No guitar. Fuck rock and roll. But then, at the last minute, we were like, these songs should have guitar. So some of the guitar that Baba played just wasn’t cutting it. So, I invited Daisy to come and do some guitar, and he fuckin’ killed it. As soon as we heard his stuff, especially on “Purgatory”, with that solo and everything, we knew he just like gave it his soul.
I love Daisy. He’s got a great style.
Justin: So do I. It’s so unique, and I really felt like he brought that on the album. You know he is on “Golden Shower”; he just really made those songs complete where as they felt like sketches beforehand.
Do you think it helped get your name out there to have Daisy featured on your album?
Justin: I think having Daisy helped a lot definitely. But at the same time I think people were kinda quick to make assumptions like, “oh he’s working with Daisy” this and that, so I think it helped. But, it’s like when you work with anybody that’s bigger than you; they’re gonna be saying you’re nothing without that person, so I think there was a little bit of that. Of course I know – and Daisy knows – that nobody needs anybody; it’s just all about we work together because we want to work together. I really love him as an artist, and he loves me as an artist. I didn’t pay him anything. He did it out of pure love and appreciation for what I was doing and just out of friendship.
That’s fantastic. He was really nice to me, I mean totally cool. We did talk about you. When we were talking about you, I was telling him I really think Justin could do something big with his career, and he agreed with me. So I totally get what you’re saying. It’s not so much that he is pulling you along as that he really likes you and thinks you have a lot of potential.
Justin: I think it was something that we both had a spark happen. We seized on it. He just came down one weekend, and we did everything in one day. It was just incredible to hear it. We never rehearsed any of it prior. I had no idea what he was gonna do. He just came in, and we hit record, and then you know you hear those magical sounds I heard on those albums when I was growing up, and it’s just like, “this is it”.
That’s awesome! You credit Ministry’s Land of Rape and Honey for influencing you, but I have noticed you have some Marilyn Manson tattoos, and I met you after a Marilyn Manson show in Camden. So I am just wondering if Manson also influenced you as well?
Justin: Absolutely! Marilyn Manson is definitely one of the biggest influences, not just musically because I think he’s kinda a hybrid of many different things. I think this band is similar in many ways, as it is kinda a hybrid of a hybrid. He’s definitely one of the musical influences, but I would say more so visually. As a visual artist, I think he’s a genius. Growing up, he was always doing something that no other artists were doing. And, I know many of the things I saw him doing, I saw a hybrid: inspired by David Bowie, inspired by Alice Cooper, inspired by Skinny Puppy. He took all of those things and condensed them into one. I think that’s very much what I aspired in my music and my visual. You know I am influenced by Dada, and futurism pop-art is influenced by industrial music, like the rave culture in the early 90’s. It’s also influenced by old school heavy metal like Black Sabbath and post punk music, and I try to take it in that direction. Manson kinda showed me you can take all these different things and swirl them around into this incredible rainbow thing, and I just go with what I feel. He inspired me to say and do the whatever. That guy has balls. He doesn’t censor himself, and I don’t believe in self censorship. That’s another reason why I’ve had friction with bands in the past. Everyone’s always saying, “tone it down, tone it down”, and, “if you do this or this or that people aren’t going to like you”. You are never going to do anything that pleases everybody. What really connects with people is if you are yourself and you allow that inner self to shine. I think Manson definitely gave me that.
Justin ‡ Symbol – Purgatory feat Daisy Berkowitz
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He’s influenced a lot of people. Anybody else you want to credit?
Justin: Kanye West’s Yeezus, and Daft Punk. Baba Yaga was really influenced by Daft Punk when he did the synthesizers on the album. I was always influenced by post punk. You have some of those grooves in the bass (I did the bass on the album). I was vey influenced by post punk. Oh and also pop. There’s one part in “Black Friday” in the breakdown part where we have a set that sounds like the Black Eyed Peas, and we were almost mocking them in a way because the song is about consumerist culture. So yeah, we are very influenced in things that are made, not just underground, but mainstream as well.
I think you could be a big benefit in the music industry. You already have a lot of fans and fangirls. Have you noticed them picking up any?
Justin: Yes, and I appreciate it. I don’t try to put people in a box and say this person is a fangirl because it’s like, if you believe in what you are doing, everybody appreciates it and wants to feel like they’re a part of it and enjoy it. That’s great. I appreciate anyone that is a fan. I think there is a lot of misconceptions that people assume about me. I do try to put my real self out there so people know there’s more to me than the guy screaming, and I hope that they are connecting with that as well, and not just like me because they see me.
Do you write the lyrics and music both?
Justin: I write the lyrics, but, musically, it’s a collaboration. V Ω I D H E A D was me and Baba Yaga, who is someone I have worked with for about ten years now. He is like my brother. That album is like 50/50, and Daisy came in and added some icing on the cake. There was a drummer named Joe who added some live drums and stuff. I believe in musical collaboration 100% . You know, I think some of the earlier comments about how I said I don’t like band decisions, that’s more toward the artistic the presentational. I like to package things a certain way. I like to have my visual performance say things, too, so to speak. Musically, I’ve always been about collaborating with whomever is in my live band. So, the band we have on this tour will be the band that writes the next album. “Godhead” (the title track on our next album G Ω D H E A D) we wrote as a group. For the first time in my career, we wrote as a rock band. In a room, four guys just shooting out ideas, and we have a new song called “God Bomb” that we wrote for the next record. So, it’s definitely a collaboration, especially in the musical aspect.
I think the music became more sexual when I got sober.
So what’s been your favorite tour so far?
Justin: The Fuckboi Tour, mainly because I like the guys. We’re bonded a lot. The last tour, I felt like we were the unwanted step child or something. I got his vibe from the headliner and it was a little bit more like, “hands off! Stay away from me, give me my space!” This feels a lot more like I am more in a family. I would say that it has been my favorite tour so far. That being said, the Punishment Tour was a little bit of a bigger tour. Fuckboi was a little more grass roots, which is cool in it’s own way. Obviously, as an artist, you want to expose yourself literally and get your artistry to as many people as possible.
What’s the craziest thing you have done on stage so far?
Justin: I put a baby doll up my ass. I put a lot of things up my ass: Money, my finger, an icicle, a microphone. I don’t really think that’s crazy though. For me, crazy just means like tapping into something that scares people because it’s different. I think the craziest thing is to tap into the inner. I am all about the inner self now. I think makeup visual appearances are like a shamanistic way of releasing the inner self that we all have. So, I think that’s the craziest thing is when I just let myself go, feel the music, get into the music, and open my eyes. People are more into it. That’s the crazy. That’s the best thing you can do. It’s not about some G. G. Allen, I cut myself, or I did this or that. I mean, yeah that might be cool, but that’s not what it’s all about to me. It’s not a contest to say I’m the most shocking artist or the craziest artist. I’m sure there’s somebody out there that has a lot less to lose that’s a lot more nihilistic and is willing to go to lengths that are further than I am. I have no interest in holding a banner of I am the craziest person.
Evil: As long as it’s honest, there is no “craziest”. Even if you shove the microphone up your ass, as long as it’s coming from an honest place, then people are gonna think it is real. I mean, what’s crazy?
Justin: I mean what’s more crazy is the world we live in. I could never be more crazy on stage. I’m just reflecting that or channeling that in the way I feel emotionally.
All of your music that I have listened to has been sexual and dark. I’m just wondering has it always been like this with you, or did the music just help you evolve into this?
Justin: I think the music became more sexual when I got sober. Before that I was more about drugs and alcohol and self-destruction, so the darkness was always there. I think the sexuality has become liberated or more expressed as I’ve been sober. I feel more of my own sexuality and sexual energy. I am able to project that side of me more. I always kept that in, but the darkness was always there with the issues of substance abuse and depression/suicide. I think I am moving away from those things. When you combine colors they are black. So, there is a beauty in a rainbow before it’s combined and it becomes black. This last tour was called the Attention Whore Tour, and became the Fuckboi Tour. I’m exploring color more. I think on the next album, if people are expecting to call me the “King of Negativity” or the “King of Darkness” and give them a soundtrack to their suicidal fantasy, I don’t think that’s what’s going to come. I think I’m more about embracing life and my place in the world now than about self-destruction, self-loathing kind of thing. Sometimes you hit a wall, and I hope that people can grow with me and not say, “Oh I wish he was still like this.” I think it’s a trap that some artists fall into. So, early on in my career I am trying to make that clear that each album is going to be different thing. It’s going to be honest about where I’m at at that time, not catering to the box of what people want me to be.
Do you have any causes you would stand up for?
Justin: That’s tricky. I think that Matt has something.
Matt: Musicians who need instruments. Kids who get caught in hurricanes and shit.
I put a lot of things up my ass: Money, my finger, an icicle, a microphone. I don’t really think that’s crazy though.
I didn’t know about those. Good idea.
Justin: My life on tour is actually less busy. I put everything I have into the musical project. I don’t have time for much of anything. So, I think that it would be hypocritical to say, “oh I do this or that.” Some woman was saying, “Oh! You have to support breast cancer; men are getting breast cancer this and that,” and then she goes out and smokes a cigarette. I’m definitely not the type to be hammering my fist about this or that. I think we live in a society that is designed for getting sick and dyeing. I think the reason for that is that people don’t really die of natural causes anymore. So, death is an important part of our world. I wouldn’t exactly prevent people from dying because people are supposed to die. I don’t want it to be me or anyone I know, but unfortunately, that’s how it is. That’s how the cookie crumbles. As far as other things, like helping people express themselves or helping people against bullying, I think that would be something I would more try to support. As long as it doesn’t involve anyone telling anybody how to behave. That’s the tricky thing when you’re against bullying, and it’s like bullying is natural. Bullying is something kids do. So, what does that mean? Someone’s gonna be there like a security guard telling the other kids how they have to behave? So it’s tricky for me.
I have a question from one of your fans. He is in your group Fuckhead Army. Do you know Hunter Zimmerman?
Justin: Yes. Shout out to Fuckhead Army and SST (Symbol Support Team); without you we would have been fucked a long time ago!
What would you like to tell the world about your music and your band?
Justin: I think the main thing we have to say is “Stay Tuned!” because the next record we are doing is going to be fucking insane, awesome, and next level. We are taking it to the next level! Like I said, this is just the beginning. People should expect this project is not just pumping out the same shit over and over. What we’re going to do next is going to be WAY different. It’s going to be the next tier up. They should expect really big things from us and expect very different things as well. I also want to say thanks to everyone that has come out to the shows; the support we have online and in person is awesome. You know, it’s easy these days to just sit at home or sit on the phone whatever. I give people credit for coming out, like now on a week night, and supporting art and music live. Real instruments, you know, that’s not just a lap top! Just stay tuned for what we have next. If you guys want to support us, the best way to do that is either come to the show, or if you can’t come to the show, support on justinsymbol.com. I have gravel in my asshole now. Sitting here in pink panties, so that’s what I have to say. Kids if you are listening: stick gravel in your butthole, and tell your parents that Justin Symbol told you to do it!
