Dustin Michael Lothspeich

In 1982, Dustin was born in Arizona to Mary Kendall and Alan Lothspeich. From a young age, Dustin loved music and drawing. He was always listening to something or putting pen to paper. Around age 12, Dustin got into keyboards. Eventually, he moved to guitar, bass, and even played drums sometimes. He loved it! Some of his other best childhood memories were playing hockey on a lake in Michigan and playing basketball with his brothers. When drawing, he loved to copy library books that he liked by writing out all the words and recreating the drawings to make his own books to keep. He also became obsessed with sneakers at a young age and would draw the ones he wanted.

Dustin lived many places during his childhood but settled in San Diego in 2000. Here he became a part of the local music scene performing in bands including Old Tiger, Boy King, Chess Wars, Diamond Lakes, and Tusk, and with many other projects. Dustin's incredible ability to write beautiful words extended beyond his songwriting talents. He wrote for SoundDiego and other local outlets about music and more. Through his blog Gear and Loathing in San Diego, he highlighted the rigs of his fellow musicians and nerded out about pedals and amps. Dustin also hosted the SoundDiego podcast and prior to that co-hosted the Beer Night in San Diego podcast (formerly known as Three B Zine). In these roles, he highlighted the talents of numerous local musicians and brewers while drinking beers and laughing with his pals. Dustin supported the San Diego music scene yet again when he became a talent booker for the Merrow putting on so many incredible shows at the Hillcrest venue.

Dustin's last musical home for the past few years was Vinyl Junkies Record Shack where he made many new friends and reconnected with old ones. His loss looms large at the South Park record shop where he managed web sales.

While releasing music with Old Tiger in 2012, Dustin's song "Free" caught the ear of a local music blogger Jen Van Tieghem. The two became fast friends talking about all things local music and about the music they grew up on. The Beatles and REM were two they had in common.

In 2013, Dustin and Jen began dating and quickly realized they were meant to be one another's partners for life. Jen was even crazy enough to ask Dustin on their second date if he wanted kids.

In 2016, the pair got married at the Riviera Supper Club in La Mesa where they met in person for the first time. And they celebrated with a party and concert at the Merrow surrounded by friends, family, and of course, music.

In 2017, the Lothspeichs moved from Normal Heights to La Mesa. They rented a unit in the same duplex as Jen's parents. Everyone thought "poor Dustin," but it was his idea! He loved his in-laws and knew if they had a child it would be great to be so close to them. He was right.

In 2020, Dustin and Jen learned they would in fact become parents. It was the start of the pandemic lockdown and it was scary. The silver lining was they spent their pregnancy always together and bonding even more. The best day of their lives was November 21, 2020, when Harrison Atlas came earthside. Dustin and Jen chose his first name for George Harrison. It felt so perfect as his name that they barely even had to discuss it. And Dustin specifically chose the middle name Atlas because he knew Harrison would be his world and that he and Jen would want to give him the world.

Dustin was many things: son, brother, momma's boy, husband, friend, bandmate, co-host, partner, musician, writer, singer, co-worker, sneakerhead, bro bro, slop, doobins, and more. But the best thing he ever did was to become a dad. It changed him into somehow an even better man and he never loved anything as much as Harrison.

Some of Jen's favorite memories with Dustin before they had Harrison were their 2015 trip to Portland where D proposed, their 2018 trip to Las Vegas to see Nine Inch Nails at the Hard Rock Hotel, and their 2018 trip to Colorado for their good friends' wedding. Other stand-out memories include the time Dustin surprised Jen for her birthday by taking her to the Museum of Death in Hollywood, the time they both called out sick and went to the beach despite not being beach people, staycations at the Glass House, and talking outside of Lestat's until the sun came up. Of course, they also saw countless shows and concerts together - the last one being Tame Impala in 2020.

Dustin leaves behind his wife Jennifer Lothspeich, son Harrison Atlas, mother Mary, father Alan, brothers Danny, David, and Ray, and an unfathomable number of friends, family, fans, supporters, admirers, and probably a couple of haters.

A celebration of life will be planned for Dustin to honor his memory and his music. The family will share details as they become available.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the family's GoFundMe page which will support Harrison as he grows up: https://gofund.me/80a14985

Also, Dustin was always a better writer and copyeditor than I was. I know he would have helped me polish this up and fixed any errors for me.