Justin Marc Lloyd is one of the most prolific artists you'll ever come across. It's exhausting trying to keep up with all of the releases from his many projects, and those coming out of his imprint, Rainbow Bridge Recordings. Add on top of this, constant live shows and an ever-changing outer appearance; it's easy to ask, "When does he sleep?"
My guess? Very little.
First thing's first: exactly how many music/sound projects do you have going, right now?
Including full bands with rehearsed songs, nine. And, then there is another band that broke up, but we are still finishing our album. Lastly, there is a band in Baltimore I fill in for here and there when they are down a member.
Tell us about the them.
Pregnant Spore is my main project at this time. It is
mostly electronically-based, abstract and experimental sound. Tape
manipulation, homemade instruments, vocals with lyrics… There are really no
rules with this one. It's almost always produced organically and performed all
at once for the recordings, with no computer editing or processing besides
light mastering if needed. I try to keep my approach creative, exploring
new territory with every new piece. It has been a challenge and a joy to
try and just strip from myself from any conventional means of expressing myself
that I've been conditioned to know, and to just let loose completely.
This has resulted in a lot of interesting discoveries and meaningful
recordings/performances with this project.
Ghost Volcano is a three-piece between the guys in Mold Omen and
I. It's a pretty weird and sparse-sounding group in which I perform a
little more minimally since Andy and Mike have their own thing going on with
violin, vocals, guitar, warped records, etc.
Lessons is my project with Andy that is sort of along the lines
of Ghost Volcano but a little more dense. We have only recorded by
swapping short files back and forth which creates an interesting energy in the
pieces. We have performed live once, though.
Dementia and Hope Trails is a guitar-based, psychedelic, drone/ambient
solo project. Lots of reverb, delay, modulation and looping. It is
mostly melodic, but some of my longer pieces dabble in more cacophonous
territory. It is a very emotive project for me and is mostly focused
around loss or nostalgia.
False Flag is a power electronics/harsh noise/industrial project
centered on false flag terror and government tyranny. It is actually all
assembled and processed using computers, but the source material and
sound-generating processes vary. I often collaborate with others and it has
become sort of a collective.
Inappropriate King LIve is all computer-assembled as well, but
it is mostly field recordings I have made myself, and then (sometimes)
manipulated using software. It's very diverse as far as vibe and aesthetic
because compositions vary in style somewhat heavily.
The Human Excuse is a solo acoustic endeavor, but
post-production usually results in a lot of manipulation, processing and
layering, resulting occasionally in very noisy or ethereal and ambient pieces.
Live, I perform with just a guitar. Folk songs, sappy melodic
acoustic shit mostly. I've been doing that since high school.
Widow's Bath is a collaboration between Matt Boettke (Scant, Sex
Complex) and I. It has turned out to be a harsh noise collaboration but
pretty psychedelic, kind of Government Alpha-style.
OK Putrid is an electronic noise project between my good friend
Kait and I. We have nothing recorded yet, and are still finding our
niche.
Sea Breezes is a contemporary screamo-meets-space rock group I
do with some friends. I play guitar and do most of the vocals. Not
too out of the ordinary but we use lots of effects on our guitars. It is
a way for me to dip into my punk/screamo roots with a huge pedalboard while
screaming my head off about ex-girlfriends and shit.
Boat Water is a sort of Baltimore super-group I am in with a
bunch of friends and my sister. We do songs anywhere from acoustic
folk/country jams to Codeine or Mineral-influenced slow, electric, ambient
songs. We all play multiple instruments.
I think that's it...but, I am never sure anymore.
How long have you been involved with music? Did you start out doing more experimental-based sounds, or was there a point of introduction into this world?
I'd say my introduction in music was prog rock/metal in my
earliest years. I was very into Rush, Dream Theater, and also into a lot
of death and black metal (the not so crust kind). I still like all that
stuff, but as I played more and more guitar, I started getting into more and
more experimental styles with the use of processing and effects. It was
really a heavy progression from buying a few pedals up until now where I'm
actually purposely busting equipment and altering it to create new sounds void
of all structure and rhythm. I still enjoy playing in more punk or
rock-oriented bands.
You run Rainbow Bridge Recordings aside from your many projects. Things seem to be going well from what I can tell. You have a steady stream of releases flowing from your well, it seems. What separates RBR from other labels/imprints? Why start one, at all?
It started as just a name I could put behind all of the releases
my various projects or bands would self-release. It was actually just a web
store at first. I also acquired an interest in helping out other projects I really
loved, so it grew. Now, several years later, it's blown up into something that
keeps me very busy and requires a lot of money to fund. My next batch is going
to be mostly smaller names because there is too much good stuff out there that
isn't getting heard.
If I were to try to think of reasons why my label could be set
apart from others, it could be that the art style is really colorful, sometimes
silly and sometimes bizarre; sometimes even obnoxious. In a way that pleases
me, though. A lot of labels focused on harsh noise are bigger fans of darker
and more gritty artwork, but I prefer the brighter aesthetic, I think. I like
combining even the harshest of releases with bright colors. The Boar tape I put
out not too long ago, which, at the time, was an unmoving HNW project, was
plagued with rainbow colors across the front cover. I just really fucking love
color.
Aside from being creative, sonically...you also seem to enjoy the visual aspect of art as well as sound; even down to your personal appearance. Do you find that people tend to judge you more based on your colorful appearance in a scene where a majority of the visual aesthetic seems focused on the darker side of life?
Well, I don't necessarily think that people are focused on the
darker side of life so much as the idea that they are not concerned with their
appearance in a creative mindset. A lot of people I know, in the noise
community and otherwise, especially when it comes to the "less weird, more
harsh" stuff, just jeans and t-shirts tend to be the limit. And there is
absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Some people express themselves with
fashion, some don't.
I was dressing the way I dress now in elementary school. I've
been shit on for it my entire life. But it is who I am and I don't do it to fit
in OR rebel. I just do it because it's what I'm attracted to, how I feel
comfortable and true, and how I feel honest. I am negatively judged, but that's
anyone's life who does anything that at all sticks out. People will always be
judged based on appearance, especially in communities where a person's style
isn't common. It is a shame, but I am not saying I don't judge people
habitually myself. I think it's something we all do.
But I like to focus my energy on the idea that it's
counter-productive in so many facets of life. It does hurt sometimes, but not
necessarily due to how people will insult or judge me personally. I moreso just
get so bummed out about humanity's tendency to categorize and form opinions on
people based on the silliest of things. The male jocks are expected to wear
baggier clothes with short, masculine hair and a macho attitude. The gay dudes
are expected to talk with a lisp and behave flamboyantly. The crust punks are
expected to be shitty, dirty, lazy people with wear patched up clothes and a
few dreadlocks. Straight dudes are expected NOT to wear make-up or a dress. All
of that is total bullshit. All of those thought-processes should be magically
eradicated.
You definitely seem to have a love for a lot of harsher style noise. What attracts you to this particular style/approach?
It's odd that you say that! I think people perceive Pregnant
Spore as harsh noise because of it's energy or textures, and even aggression is
sometimes perceived. But rarely is there anger or darkness in my sounds, in my
opinion. I don't go crazy with distortion. I don't really fit into the harsh
noise style. I like playing loud, because I like to fill a room and overwhelm
it. Music is more effective that way.
I know a lot of the frequencies I may
produce with my equipment can be grating or harsh to the ears, but to me, harsh
noise as a genre title seems to be more focused on things that I'm not too
interested in creating.
Who are some other artists, or things, in general, that inspire you in your creative output?
Weather is a huge factor. Weather changes always fill my tank
and make me want to record and perform relentlessly. I am also inspired by
traveling and experiencing different cultures, surroundings and experiences
despite my irritating agoraphobic tendencies. Lately, I have been heavily
inspired by searching and researching new scientific and spiritual aspects of
life… meditation, eastern philosophy (the Daodijeng especially), energy,
psychotherapy and self-improvement techniques. Of course, personal experiences
are emotional experiences and a lot of my Pregnant Spore and Dementia And Hope
Trails material is very much based around trauma and drama experienced in the
romantic, spiritual, mental or social parts of my life.
Last year, you put on the first Rainbow Bridge Fest in Baltimore, MD which was fucking GREAT! I remember you saying that you weren't going to do it this year. Now, you are. Why the change of heart, and what can we expect this year? Details?
To be honest, Matt Boettke has been bugging me. We were recording Widow's Bath material at my house and he turned and looked at me and said "Look dude… can we do Rainbow Bridge fest this year if you just let me handle most of the booking and organizing? I already have a plan." How could I say no to that?
What are you trying to achieve, personally, through all of these different modes of expression?
I am obsessed with creation and expression. I am not saying I am
the most interesting being and that I have a ton of introspect and innovative
ideas to offer the world, but I feel like there is so much in my brain piling
up at all times. Pouring it out there is like taking out the trash. It's a
purging. Of course it is more than just that... it's not just unleashing
build-up, because I obviously try to thoughtfully compose and concentrate on
themes, and care about how it's presented. (I can't say that about my early
material, however.)
I get shit for dabbling in so many different styles. I know a
lot of people think that playing acoustic singer-songwriter tunes, harsh noise
and powerviolence in different bands at the same time in your life makes you
some sort of fake or poser trying desperately to get attention or acceptance
from everyone. I always thought a main point of being any sort of artist was to
be passionate, honest and selfish. If you feel so inclined to create in
different mediums and in different styles because it all makes up who you are,
then by all means, do it.
So, there is really nothing I am trying to accomplish, per se.
That isn't the question. The question is "are you being honest and
passionate about what you're doing, even though you're doing ten thousand
different things?" And I would have to say yes, at least to the best of my
ability. I am not a perfectly enlightened and pure being, and there are always
distractions from honesty and passion that can show up in my art, but I suppose
that gives it it's personality. When I do what I do, from what clothes I put on
to what kinds of bands I'm playing in and with what people, I am trying to do
it with no inhibitions and in the most pure way I can, stripped down, raw, as
if I was wearing my heart and my brain on the outside of myself for anyone to
see or hear if they were so inclined.
If you could change one thing about the noise/sound scene, in general, what would it be?
Community, and the stimulation thereof by means of merely
flat-out politeness, respect and acceptance. Just like any scene, there are too
many cliques and too much prejudice. Too many promoters who only invite their
friend's bands to play and disregard hidden gems who can't get anyone to take
them seriously because what they do might be a little different. Too many
stuck-up assholes who act so much better than you when you try to talk to them,
whether you are giving them a compliment, asking if they'd like to help with a
show, or what have you. I wish that naming names wasn't a shitty thing to do,
and I know that I am not perfect about all of this either, but there are at
least ten people I could name off the top of my head that are pretty
accomplished and experienced in the noise scene but at the same time, give the
noise scene a bad reputation for being so nauseatingly pretentious.
Sometimes I feel like the nicer and more genuine you are, the
less "cool" you are and the less your art is respected or admired.
It's sad, and it would be ideal if that changed. However, the only thing I can
change is me, and my disgust for the scene is a downfall of my own, because I
think I spend too much time worrying about it and being upset about it. I
should be more positive but I'm so damn jaded already! I'm too young to be
jaded! I haven't been doing noise long enough to be jaded.
GX Jupitter-Larsen is one of the oldest (no offense, GX) people still
active in the currently thriving noise community, and he just happens to be one
of the most polite, modest, humble, easy to get along with guys I've ever met
in this scene. He is legendary and highly respected, and also happens to be
someone you can chill at with a diner until 2am talking about reality TV
without any ego or elitism taking up space in the conversation. I'm sure he
hates 80% of the noise he hears, and I don't blame him for that, but he's not
going to be a jerk to you for it. He doesn't act better than you because he
founded The Haters. He's an example of a handful of people like him, but I'm sorry
to say, not enough. One of the shittiest feelings is being treated like garbage
by some of the people you look up to the most. I thought macho hardcore was
bad… noise is worse. Everyone, group hug.
