Philadelphia’s pop-punk band, Cheer Up Dusty is the type of band that is filled with musicians that radiates determination and confidence that can easily be seen through their artistry. If you are looking for a new band to listen to that has an infectious tone and youthful urgency; Cheer Up Dusty is that band for you!
The band released “Everybody Hates Me II” a few months ago alongside an official music video that represents internal conflict within the narrator and how not overcoming certain aspects of themselves will hinder not only themselves, but those around them. This single holds unresolved insecurities that spill out into the lyricism, but the instrumentation holds the narrator accountable with it’s fast and unapologetic tone that pushes the narrator to recognize destructive behavior.
Interviewer: How did the band first come together?
Justin: “In late 2018 I left a band and ended a friendship. I was in a dark place and didn’t know what to do with my life other than just go to work, exist, and sleep. I finally told myself I’ll do it myself so then I spent all of 2019 recording our first EP, filming our 1st music video, getting promo shots, making the socials, and in November of 2018 I started posting. Then we just kept going.”
Interviewer: Where did the band name come from?
Justin: “This friend and creative partner I had would say “Cheer up Justy” whenever my depression kept me from being peppy or whenever I disagreed with whatever the band we were in was doing (it was a lot). That eventually evolved to “Cheer up Dusty” not even saying my real name as a put down. I decided to use it as the band name and flip the meaning.“
Interviewer: What themes naturally appear in your music?
Justin: “I write in a very “diary tone” and a lot of real names of people in my life, real scenarios, places, all the comes out. It’s all very direct. A lot of self doubt, self deprecation and overall storytelling comes through..or I’d like to think comes through.“
Interviewer: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you before?
Justin: “Music is so subjective that is hard to say. I’ll usually try to convince someone to listen to us in a comedic way. “Well if you like Warped Tour you may like us” or “It you like songs about hating yourself you may f with us”. We’re not AI, we play instruments, and we write around full time work, kids, wives, fiances, mortgages, and real life. If you exist there potentially you could maybe perhaps like us.“
Interviewer: What bands or artists shaped your music the most?
Justin: “All our members have different pallets. I can’t speak for anyone else. I grew up with alt music, emo, pop punk. I watched Blink and New Found Glory on TRL, I was 13 when American Idiot came out, I went to Warped every summer in high school. I used to be immature about it and say things like “if it’s not punk rock fuck that” without even understanding what punk rock meant or its importance. Now days I listen to whatever I want. Moby and Sigur Ros are pretty punk rock in my opinion. “
Interviewer: What makes your band different from others in your scene?
Justin: “We’re no different than any other band within our scene or not. I can’t sit here and tell you I’m different or deeper or special. I am not special, we are not special, no band or artist is. I’m Justin Humenik and I started Cheer Up Dusty and create the best songs, videos, content, and merchandise and perform the best most entertaining shows with my bandmates and I do my best with it. All I can hope at the end of the day is enough people connect with what I am making to one day do it around the clock. What makes us different from others? Maybe it’s my selfishness. I want to be a big band, I want to tour and travel, I want to be the reason the next generation starts bands, I want my name to mean something/anything. My selfishness. “
Interviewer: What kind of energy do you try to bring onstage?
Justin: “All of it. A band can be the best in my opinion but have the most boring shows imaginable. I approach our shows as entertainment not a showcase. We get 25-30 minutes to perform and in that time we need to connect with the audience, try to make it so they don’t forget us once they’re on their way home, and differ from the pack. I want people to enjoy themselves and for those few minutes not think of their bad day, or the last fight they had with their person, or whatever bad things happening in life. Every person at every show is going through something and I can only imagine most are unhappy. If I can make it where for 30 minutes they escape that even partially, I did it. Energy? Just as good of energy as possible.”
Interviewer: What keeps you motivated creatively?
Justin: “If I don’t create or think about creating I will see no point in existing. I am currently doing this interview at work because I am so sick, tired, of this unbearable modane life that I live (and most people live). Get up, shower, work, pay bill, run errands, and so on and so on. My literal sanity and wanting to exist another day are wrapped in creating something. “
Interviewer: What’s one thing you’ve learned from being in a band?
Justin: “You have to keep dreaming and thinking your goal (whatever that is) is going to happen even if year after year life doesn’t show you you’re any closer to it. “
Interviewer: What’s next for the band?
Justin: “We’re recording more songs, we’re going to shoot more videos, I am going to go into public places and film more content, I am going to send countless emails and messages and get left on read a lot and continue to bug whomever I have to for more opportunities.“
Interviewer: What do you want new listeners to remember after hearing your music?
Justin: “I want them to remember the effort is always there and that they the listener are far more important than I, the artist, could ever hope to be. “
Keep Up With Cheer Up Dusty Online: Website