Chaos & Kindness store owner just wants to change lives

LACONIA — Justin Spencer said he grew up in poverty, with two alcoholic parents in a trailer park in Loudon. When he was 10 years old, he determined that his life would be different.

Today, he’s part of a successful rock band, Recycled Percussion, that recently was playing 500 shows a year in Las Vegas. He has now spun out a new project, Chaos and Kindness, which is aimed at giving people experiences to show them that they can shape their future to be better than their present.

That’s the idea behind the television show that the band produces and airs on WMUR. It’s also the concept behind the storefront they are developing at 777 Union Avenue.

Chaos and Kindness represents the kind of lifestyle that Spencer and his bandmates follow. It’s a blend of wild, rock star behavior, followed up with acts of altruism. “Go streaking and feed the homeless,” as he described it.

Soon, Spencer said, there will be Chaos and Kindness stores around the country and world. He said he wanted the first one to be in Laconia, the city where he was born.

They had thought about opening the store in Las Vegas, where they are well-known, or in trendier cities in New Hampshire, such as Portsmouth or Manchester. But, said Spencer, that would have run against the mission of Chaos and Kindness.

“I wanted to go where nobody wants to go,” he said. “We wanted to go where we thought we would bring value to the community.”

Once Chaos and Kindness opens, which could be as early as September, Spencer said, he predicted it will become a destination for people all around the state. That will be partly because it will be where they film the television show, but it’s also because of the unique experiences he said they will offer.

“It’s a store that will be unlike anything anyone has ever seen before,” he said.

The space will be divided into two halves. The “Kindness” half will offer ways for people to help uplift others, such as by bringing donations for food pantries.

The other half will be dedicated to “Chaos.” Spencer said people will be able to do things they’ve never done before, such as painting a message on a pane of glass, then smashing it with a baseball bat while being recorded in high definition. Those videos will be shared to social media, which will further drive interest.

Yes, the store will sell typical band-related merchandise, such as hats, T-shirts and stickers, but it will be much more than just retail. Spencer, whose hand is tattooed with the directive “Think Bigger,” said he wants the products and experiences proffered at Chaos and Kindness to spark friendships between strangers, and to let them see how they can take command over their conditions.

“I don’t think people realize that they don’t have to live the life that they’re living,” he said. “How (expletive) cool is it if you can change somebody’s life?”