I Met One of my Heroes and He's A Pretty Cool Guy!

Ah, yes. The olde middle finger adage to the classic saying, "never meet your heroes."

Just this past week, one of my professors at Humber College, Pina Crispo surprised our class with a guest speaker. She totally kept it a secret the entire time, but when he walked in through the door, I was freaking out. It was Jason from USS.

If you don't know, I'm a HUGE USS fan. Like, it's dumb. Announcing on Radio Humber, whenever there is a USS song slotted in the mix, I DEFINITELY make it a point to try and talk about the band. I love these guys so much. They have such a HUGE sound. Totally uplifting, and (presumably) a RIOT to see live... (one day!)

I've been into them since I was in high school. I remember announcers talking about them on 102.1 The Edge. I remember hearing their music when all the customers left the restaurant I worked at in high school, and the servers were finally able to say "fuck it" and play music they really wanted to hear while closing up for the night. It was great. Effectively, I reached my coming of age with these guys and beyond. Their positive attitude, quirkiness, zaniness and all out fun and excitement really got me inspired. In fact, I would listen to their music, specifically the song, "Anti-Venom" every Sunday on my way up to the ski slopes when I was super into skiing. It was sick!

USS' music really hyped me up when I needed an extra pick-me-up, and put life into perspective when I was all up in my feelings. Such songs that navigated me through such feelings include: Nepal, Shipwreck, N/A Ok and Damini (their music videos are awesome btw). Oh, the memories! There are so many more great songs of theirs, so I really encourage you to look into all their music and message me with your favourites!

I was beyond grateful to find out that Jay was such a cool guy. Talk about someone who is incredibly down to earth, and super chill to talk to! He opened the floor up to questions, and would seemingly answer everything with the same enthusiasm as though he heard the same question for the first time. Jay gave us an insight into his journey in music, what he's up to now, and dropped some inspiration for us students of Radio Broadcasting at Humber College. I was most intrigued with how cool he was when it came to students coming up to him at the end of our class discussion and just snapping photos with him. I wanted a shot with him since the start, but I was super nervous. I hesitated to come up to him, totally waited till the last minute, and everything. I was completely unable to speak. Totally lost all my cool guy points!

Even then, Jay was super chill about it, what a guy!

Jason Parsons, that's Jay from USS! Keep it cool, Pater!

Long story short, I really love USS. I believe in their music. I've listened to them at my best and at my worst. At either time, I've felt incredibly motivated after hearing their music and taking it all in. Actually meeting Jason from the band was an experience I'd never forget. If you're reading this, thank you so much for being such an inspiration! And thank you, Pina for setting this whole ordeal up, you're the best!

Couldn't keep it together, I met Jason from fucking USS!!!