Bio

Music has been a serious driving passion for Jason since his earlier teenage years. By the age of 16, he had already written his first musical, performed at his high school. Around the same time, Jason co-founded an originals band, Steep Descent. They supported some of Australia’s biggest bands of the day, including the Hoodoo Gurus, Huxton Creepers, Lime Spiders, and Ups and Downs.

1990 was an important year for Jason when he moved from country NSW to the musical mecca of Melbourne. But band work took a back seat for a few years, while he studied composition, and then music technology. Jason returned to the stage with a vengeance in 1995. His band, the Ugly Stick, won the final of La Trobe University’s band comp. They progressed onto the state final at Melbourne’s iconic Espy.

From 1998 Jason started doing solo gigs. His achievements in various songwriting awards are in the list below. Jason completed his second musical in 2013, with a solo performance carried out in 2016. In 2017 and 2018, Jason was busy in the studio with his first solo album, Harlequin Moon, released October 2018. The lockdown years of 2020 and 2021 saw Jason’s second album slowly come to life, with The New Sun released November 2021.

2022 sees Jason writing new songs and recording a third studio project, an EP of acoustic songs.

Musical achievements

1987 “The Reflection” (musical): composer/librettist, performer – Wagga Wagga, NSW

1992 Completed BA in musical composition, La Trobe University

1995 Reached State Final of National Campus Band Competition – St. Kilda, VIC

1996 Completed Grad. Dip. in Contemporary Music Technology, La Trobe University

2002-2004 Founder and President of ‘Music at La Trobe’, university music club

2003 Completed Certificate IV in Music Performance, NMIT (Melbourne Polytechnic)

2003 Winner, Darebin Music Feast (Theme Award) – ‘Land of Rivers’ – Northcote, VIC

2005 Finalist, Roddy Read songwriting award – ‘Each’ – Maldon, VIC

2006 Special Commendation Award, Darebin Music Feast – ‘Each’

2007 Finalist, Darebin Music Feast – ‘More Than A Memory’ – Northcote, VIC

2013 Libretto and score completed for “The Odyssey – A Musical”

2016 Debut performance of “One-Man Odyssey”: solo abridged version of “The Odyssey – A Musical” – Brunswick, VIC

2018 Debut album released, “Harlequin Moon”

2020 Reached Top 100 of The Songwriting Prize (nationwide comp run by Listen Up Music) – ‘Back To Life’, which is set to appear on Jason’s upcoming 2nd album

2021 Second album released, “The New Sun”

2022 Acoustic EP released, “Aurora’s Lament”

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