Music has been part of Justus Proffit’s life since forever. He joined his first band at thirteen, toured the country at sixteen, has collaborated with the likes of Jay Som and ran the all ages venue Top Space in LA. But the onset of the pandemic changed all that, removing any semblance of security or reliability—causing Proffit to re-evaluate his relationship with music in general. But rather than quit, he began to record new songs with a fresh mindset, forgetting everything he thought he knew to start with a clean slate.
Later this year, Justus Proffit will release the resulting album, SpeedStar, on Hoboken-based label Bar/None Records. In anticipation, he has released the record’s first single, ‘Burning the Ground,’ a pop song that combines influences from the last three decades—from Elliott Smith to Hovvdy.
Written and recorded during a stay with a friend on Guemes Island, WA, the song is inspired by the wildfires that were burning in the area at the time. The image of the fires become a metaphor for the juxtaposing themes of impermanence, destruction and control, and draws parallels between the beauty and chaos of the natural world with the beauty and chaos that constitute a life.
“It’s about destroying yourself and destroying things around you,” Proffit explains of the song in a Q&A with FLOOD Magazine, “but also with destruction comes rebuilding. Basically understanding that there is always divine beauty in complete chaos, and it’s all perfectly balanced.”
It could be beautiful
Completely in control
SpeedStar will be released via Bar/None Records on 20th August. Preorder it now from the Justus Proffit Bandcamp page, including on 12″ LP and cassette.
