Don’t Fall in Love with Yourself is a documentary that explores the life of enigmatic musician and artist, Justin Pearson. From childhood tragedy to his rise in the San Diego punk scene, Don’t Fall in Love with Yourself takes an in-depth look at a career made out of blood, sweat and spit.

Much of the footage has been sourced from dozens of VHS & Mini-DV tapes recorded over the past three decades. With never-before-seen footage of one of the most interesting and unique musical movements is recent memory.

Interviews include Justin Pearson, Dave Lombardo, Eric Paul, Gabe Serbian, Jason Pettigrew, Travis Ryan, Jeremy Bolm, Jon Syverson, Molly Neuman and more.

For thoughts on Don’t Fall in Love with Yourself, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/1D3SR_N-57U?t=2933]

Video Quality

Don’t Fall in Love with Yourself comes to Blu-Ray from ETR Media and Vinegar Syndrome with a rock solid high definition master which presents this documentary to the full extent of its limitations. This feature consists of a mixture of newer interviews along with older clips, home movies and pictures to help round out the history of Pearson and his bands. The new talking head interview segments look impeccably sharp and clear with natural skin tones and some highly detailed facial features.

More recent material such as the movies and television shows Pearson has acted in are likewise sharp and detailed with only a small amount of variance to account for the original source. Any older footage seems to be derived from the most stable origins possible, some of which is understandably a bit grimy due to the consumer-grade technology of the time. The colors featured in the footage have a fetching sense of vibrancy to them. The encode does not feature anything in the way of compression artifacts or digital nuisances of the sort. While not all the footage benefits from a high definition presentation, this documentary still looks pretty great with the format.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray disc comes with a very good DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that delivers all of the sonic information quite capably. This is primarily an interview showcase with a robust amount of talking heads to complement the candid and archival footage. Dialogue is the centerpiece up front in the center channel as you get these anecdotes relayed in a controlled environment. The non-diegetic music and clips of performances both come through with a pleasing fidelity that comes alive as you would want. Without a surround sound presentation, the material is not so immersive, but it is understandable given the origins. There were no unwanted digital anomalies or other issues spotted. This track creates a pleasant listening experience. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director Jon Nix provides a free-flowing commentary track in which he gives additional background to his relationship with the subjects, discusses his approach to interviewing, the lack of negative things said about Justin during the interview process, the score created for the film and more.

Additional Interview Footage: There is 23 minutes of additional unused footage that provides some really interesting reflections that could not fit neatly into the finished film.

The Locust Live at Zed Records: A 20-minute performance from 1995 with opening voiceover from Pearson to give some context.

The Locust Live in Japan: An eight-minute performance from Japan with opening voiceover from Pearson to give some context.

The Locust Live at The Scene: A 15-minute performance from San Diego with opening voiceover from Pearson to give some context.

The Locust Live at Epicenter: A 12-minute performance from San Diego in 2007 with opening voiceover from Pearson to give some context.

Trailers: The disc provides the Teaser Trailer (0:22) and Official Trailer (1:32) for Don’t Fall In Love With Yourself. There is also a Teaser Trailer (1:01) and Official Trailer (1:59) for Beyond Barricades.

Photo Gallery: A collection of archival stills is provided.

Final Thoughts

Don’t Fall in Love with Yourself is a pretty engaging look at an artist and a music scene that has value for audiences outside of any established fan base. The construction is not exactly revolutionary and the particulars of Pearson’s life is somewhat in line with similar music documentaries, but Pearson himself is a dynamic personality and the interview subjects gathered to share their perspective on the man know how to tell a good story. Fans of the punk scene will especially love this one, but, as long as you do not close yourself off to the punk spirit as a whole, documentary fans should like exploring this world. ETR Media and Vinegar Syndrome have released a Blu-Ray featuring a favorable A/V presentation and some terrific special features. Recommended

Don’t Fall in Love with Yourself is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: ETR Media & Vinegar Syndrome have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.