Jason Matthew Thirsk (December 25, 1967 – July 29, 1996)

Jason grew up in Hermosa Beach, CA where he was a lifelong resident. In the 8^th grade some older friends introduced him to bands such as Bad Brains, Black Flag, Cockney Rejects, and the Damned. Listening to punk and Oi! records had a huge impact on his life as within a few months he started his first band called the Juvenile Delinquents (J.D. for short).

Thirsk later went on to form other local bands mostly to play out at parties, never seeking to become signed to a major record label. After playing in a local band called Syndicate that only did cover songs, Thirsk became bored with this and wanted to write his own music.  He started the band Pennywise in 1988 with the intent of writing optimistic and inspiring lyrics that were melodic and political in nature. According to lead singer Jim Lindberg, “The punk scene had became really cynical and confused in the late eighties and it seemed like the only bands that were doing anything inspiring were the one's singing about positivity and unity and heading in a new direction." 

Despite his upbeat attitude, Thirsk struggled with alcoholism and depression and went into rehab several times. He left the band in 1995 to temporarily remove himself from the punk rock lifestyle in hopes of becoming sober.  On July 29^th 1996 Thirsk was sitting in his backyard drinking and took a pistol that he fired towards his house, ripping a hole into his refrigerator.  He then turned it on himself and bled to death of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his chest at the age of 28.

Jason is singing on vocals in this video, not playing bass.