Our inaugural Fan of the Month was an easy pick. Justin Goodman from our very own South Florida. 

Justin has been strapped in with this band since the early days of our grueling three-hour beach bar sets and he was just as enthusiastic then as he remains now. Instead of laughing us off as his local reggae band, Justin cemented his love for Artikal with a substantially sized forearm tattoo of our band logo. 

We are constantly spotting him wearing our merch sometimes just around town, sometimes to other people’s shows. He posts stories with our music. He tags us when he’s thinking of us. He comes to shows. He made his own bootleg version of our “I ❤️ A.S.S.” shirt that instead says “I ❤️ F.A.B.I.A.N.” because at some point his love for the band turned into a particularly specific love for our bass player. 

In fact most recently, Fabian was at a dinner with his entire family when he ran into Justin, who reacted as if he’d just encountered an A-list celebrity in the wild. He asked Fabs for a photo together, which made him look extremely cool and famous in front of the fam, something we always appreciate. Justin went the extra mile and photoshopped his own face onto a photo of Fabian holding his son so it looks like Fabian is holding a tiny version of full grown Justin Goodman. 

This is the sort of insane shit we are absolutely here for and want to reward. Sometimes you’re in the middle of a 16 hour drive day through rigorous mountain passes, the dog and 7 guys who haven’t showered in two days have been farting gas station boiled peanuts all over you and you’re starting to wonder why you ever got into this whole mess, and then you get a DM from a guy like Justin and you get a second wind. 

See, Justin isn’t just Fan of the Month because he’s permanently altered his body for us, made his own merch or has a Fabian fetish. He’s Fan of the Month because this is probably who he is to everyone in his life. He’s just one of those people everyone seems happy to see. He’s genuinely hilarious, reminds us all not to take things too seriously and is relentlessly enthusiastic. You can just tell he seems to center his life around making the people around him have more fun. 

Also he used to be a cruise director so I think he’s still finding a place for that energy to go. 

Justin, you’re the man. 

Go find him on socials (@justin_goodmann), give him a congratulations, introduce yourself and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to meet him at a show sometime. 

Q&A

1. Do you remember the first time you saw us live?
2. Why Fabian? (No offense, Fabs.)
3. What’s the secret to being an incredible cruise director?
4. You have the floor, what do you want Fabian to know?