JUSTUS BENNETTS

JUSTUS JUSTUSJUSTUS BENNETTS

84 JUSTUS

JUSTUS JUSTUS

JUSTUS BENNETTS

By: Olivia Vitarelli

Whether performing live or creating his next track, musician Justus Bennetts has one goal: provide comfort through the simple awareness that loneliness is universal. With a sound blending modern pop and rock music, Justus, at just 22-yearsold, has garnered over 200 million global streams. Here, he chats with Rival about his sources of musical inspiration, new single ‘Dead Inside,’ and the big move that started it all.

Justus grew up in Seattle, Washington, but moved to North Carolina when he was just fourteen. “Being able to get out of the small town I was living in to see another place across the country is definitely where I draw a lot of inspiration from,” he says. “Especially the feeling of being alienated and not fitting in.” This universal feeling of loneliness is a keystone of Justus’ music – he builds community through familiar experiences and sonic surprises. While he says many “people in [his] family were musical,” like his mom and uncle (performing in church and in a rock band respectively), his ultimate source of artistic inspiration is the emotional upheaval that came from a cross country relocation.

Although music was always an outlet for Justus, he “never really thought it was possible” to make it a career. “I was always just planning on doing it how my dad did, or at least going to college,” he reveals. “Just up until a couple years ago, I was writing music for fun with no desire or thought of it becoming a career.” But once people started responding to his work, he realized a future in the music industry might just be possible. “I knew I was making it when I started getting DMs from random people telling me how my music helped them,” Justus says. “Music is supposed to bring up a certain feeling, and as long as I’m helping people feel a little, then I’ve done a good job.”

The artist’s latest single, ‘Dead Inside,’ grapples with the inability to resist people who can hurt you so severely. “The song is basically about loving so much it hurts, but growing accustomed to the pain in chaos that it has become normal. I actually got inspired by a t-shirt I was wearing that had a skeleton on it. It said ‘you make me feel alive.’” Clothes aren’t the only unexpected source of inspiration for Justus. He adds, “I try to draw inspiration from every simple little thing I can. Whether it’s a TV show or something my girlfriend says, I just pull from my experiences. And when the right instrumental is playing, the thoughts and emotions tend to flow.”

Justus is currently wrapping up his second tour. “Performing live is such a surreal experience and I don’t believe it’s happening most of the time,” he reveals. “I’ll just be on stage singing and be like ‘oh shoot there’s a bunch of people watching me right now, wtf.’” After the tour concludes, he says, “My main focus for these next coming months is to relax, finish up this project that I’m looking to drop at the beginning of next year, and make tons more music.”

With his budding career just underway, Justus reflects on his journey to this moment, revealing, “As much of a carefree child as I was, I really was worried about my life and where I would end up. So I’d just tell [my younger self] to take it easy.” Mirroring the cherished sentiment he shares with audiences, Justus offers a reminder to himself: “everything will be okay.”

Photographer: Heather Koepp