Justin Salinas is probably best known as drummer for the Word Alive. The group's debut Fearless Records release, Deceiver, was recorded in 2010.



Justin Salinas started playing drums at the age of thirteen. At first he would just beat on plastic bowls and pans, trying to stumble into the drumbeat on Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.



After he got his first real drum set, a Pearl Export kit, Justin Salinas started his first band, Descent, at fourteen and began playing shows soon after.



In 2004 Justin Salinas moved to Portland, Oregon, to join the Facedown Records band Inked In Blood. After many member changes and no stable lineup in the immediate future, Justin decided to part ways and join the Victory Records band Scars Of Tomorrow. Recalls Justin: "The transition from IIB to SOT involves my craziest tour story ever. SOT was in the studio recording The Failure In Drowning in New Jersey when I flew in on a couple days’ notice and went straight to the studio to hear the new tracks. Shortly after getting to the studio, I noticed a horrible pain in my stomach and decided I better play it safe and go to the ER and see what was going on. What was going on was appendicitis, and I went in for emergency surgery to get my appendix taken out a few hours later. I was released from the hospital the next day and had a day to rest and eat nothing but Jell-O. The day after that, I was in a rehearsal space learning the SOT set list. I had two practices (six hours total) to learn the set before leaving for a five-month run of tours. That first tour I had staples in my stomach, and I could barely lift my snare drum, but I pulled it off without missing a beat."



After SOT decided as a band to start a new chapter, some of the other members and Justin Salinas decided to start a band called the Hollowed. They recorded a cd and were signed to Rise Records but broke up before the record was even done getting mixed.



Then started a journey of filling in for bands. Justin Salinas first filled in for the hardcore/punk band Furious Styles (Eulogy Records) on a short US run. Shortly after, Justin joined the Rise Records band Catherine. Justin Salinas then filled in for the Solid State records band My Children My Bride. After filling in for MCMB, Justin Salinas decided to take some time off.



Then randomly one day, Justin Salinas was asked as drummer for the Word Alive. And the rest is, as they say, history.