Justin Pearson was born cursed with the cheekbones of a poseur and the heart of a lifer. Pretty as pie and tenacious as a badger; that much is nature’s fault. Everything that’s come after is entirely on the man himself. Pearson, in the past few decades, has been the singer and/or bassist for *deep breath* the Locust, Deaf Club, Struggle, Swing Kids, Some Girls, Holy Molar, All Leather, Retox, Head Wound City, and Dead Cross. That’s without consulting Wikipedia or our 7-inch collection. The fact that the last two bands—sharing members as they did with Blood Brothers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Faith No More, and a little band called Slayer—aren’t the bands that most people know Pearson for is indicative of a life lived on one’s own terms, for good or ill. Incapable of being in a band that either sucks or—seeing as most of them have songs with titles like “When I Grow Up I Want to Fuck Like a Girl” and “For a Good Time Call Someone Else,” played at the speed of black light—makes any money, it’s not terribly surprising that, in the aughts, San Diego’s cutest (nonpanda) misanthrope/idealist answered an ad saying “15 minutes of dancing for $150" and ended up working for most of his dirty 30s as a barback at Rich’s, a club known for its beefcake, leather, and themed parties that occasionally included a live camel act.

Pearson not getting the go-go dancer gig can be chalked up to art being subjective. As to why he didn’t go for the more lucrative job of bartender?