Jason Mark Kerrison (born October 15, 1976) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

singer-songwriter, producer, and former radio broadcaster, best known as the lead singer of the band

Opshop Opshop is a New Zealand rock band who formed in 2002. They released their first album, '' You Are Here'' in 2004, their second album '' Second Hand Planet'' in 2007, and their third album '' Until The End of Time'', which debuted at number one ...

. Kerrison's albums with Opshop have gone multi-platinum and received critical acclaim. He received the 2008 APRA Silver Scroll Award for the hit single " One Day". In 2011, Kerrison was made a member of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

for services to music in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. In 2015, he received the Southland Music Ambassador award at the ILT Southland Entertainment Awards. In addition to Opshop, Kerrison has worked on side projects including The Babysitters Circus, and has embarked on a solo career, collaborating with other artists and actively performing in concerts and charity events. Formerly a broadcaster for

Mai FM Mai FM is New Zealand's largest urban contemporary radio network, promoting Māori language and culture and broadcasting hip hop and rhythm and blues. It is located in Auckland, and is available in twelve markets around the country. The network ...

and involved in the setup of

Kiwi FM Kiwi FM (formerly Channel Z) was a New Zealand alternative music radio network. From 1996 to 2005, as Channel Z, it broadcast alternative and local music for a youth-oriented market. From 2005 to 2015, as Kiwi FM, it broadcast predominantly New ...

, Kerrison has also appeared on television as the host of ''XVenture Family Challenge'' alongside

Kate Freebairn Kate Freebairn is an Australian journalist and television news presenter. From 2013 to 2021, Freebairn was a weather presenter for the Adelaide edition of ''10 News First''. In 2020, Freebairn relocated to Melbourne, where she presented the ...

, and as a judge on ''New Zealand's Got Talent'', among other media appearances''.'' In 2021, he was the winner of series 1 of ''

The Masked Singer NZ ''The Masked'' ''Singer NZ'' is a New Zealand reality singing competition television show based on the ''Masked Singer'' franchise which originated from the South Korean version of the show ''King of Mask Singer''. It premiered on Three on 9 May ...

'', appearing as

tuatara The tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') is a species of reptile endemic to New Zealand. Despite its close resemblance to lizards, it is actually the only extant member of a distinct lineage, the previously highly diverse order Rhynchocephal ...

. Kerrison's fringe beliefs and doomsday prepping have earned him notoriety in the media, with some journalists branding him a conspiracy theorist. In particular, Kerrison's views on government and media reactions to COVID-19 mandates, his belief in the

2012 phenomenon The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count ...

, and his project to construct of an off-grid bunker home, have been the subject of interviews and commentary. In 2022, Kerrison said that his public views had created a strain in his relationships with other members of Opshop, and that it would be difficult for the band to reunite.

Early life

Kerrison was born in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

to parents Judith Moir, a nurse from a farming family, and Francis "Frank" Kerrison, who was a freezing worker and jazz musician. His father is of

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

heritage, while his mother has a mixed European ancestry from Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia. Kerrison's family moved to Christchurch when he was an older child. He attended St Theresa's school and St Bede's College, then later moved to Hillmorton High School. After leaving school, Kerrison went on to study broadcasting at Christchurch Polytech, which later became the New Zealand Broadcasting School at the

Ara Institute of Canterbury Ara Institute of Canterbury, often simply referred to as Ara, is an institute of technology in Canterbury, New Zealand. It was formed in 2016 from the merger of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) and Aoraki Polytechnic. A ...

. He went on to study Bachelor of Arts at Auckland University in

Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

. Kerrison played the violin and bass at school. He was also exposed to the piano and drums from his grandmother and father, respectively. His father was a musician in his own right, popular in Invercargill for his

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...

band Three Plus One. Despite this influence, Kerrison doesn't claim to be a

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

and instead sees himself as a singer-songwriter, once claiming he is "not good at anything with an instrument." At Hillmorton, he played in multiple school funk bands and participated in

Rockquest Smokefreerockquest (SFRQ) is an annual music competition for intermediate and high school bands throughout New Zealand. The first Rockquest was held in 1988, and was organised by Christchurch radio station C93FM as a local event. The following ...

, where he made friends with other musicians. His circles eventually came together to create the band Gorilla Biscuit, which took up residency at Dux De Lux, playing regular gigs.

Career

Kerrison started his career in

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...

, getting his first media role at

. He was later involved in the set up of

. During this time, Kerrison played music in bars, mainly in a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

. Kerrison held various roles and internships during his broadcasting career, including at TVNZ, and MoreFM. In addition to his artistic and broadcasting work, Kerrison is behind Control Freak Music, an independent label founded in 2008, and Noise Control Entertainment, a music publisher and live performance production company which was founded in 2010.

2002–2014, 2018: Opshop and The Babysitters Circus

While playing in Auckland backpacker bars, Kerrison formed Opshop. Their debut single, ''Saturated'', was submitted to a contest on the ZM radio station, kicking-starting the bands career. Opshop went on to release '' You Are Here'' in 2004, with label Siren Records, which went platinum. For their later albums, the group worked with producer

Greg Haver Greg Haver is a Welsh music producer, based in New Zealand. He is best known for his work with the Manic Street Preachers and Melanie C. He has worked on a number of award-winning singles and albums. With Manic Street Preachers, he was involved i ...

. Their follow-up release, ''

Second Hand Planet ''Second Hand Planet'' is the second album of New Zealand rock group Opshop Opshop is a New Zealand rock band who formed in 2002. They released their first album, '' You Are Here'' in 2004, their second album '' Second Hand Planet'' in 2007 ...

'', went 3× platinum and spawned the hit single " One Day". The band released their third album, ''Until the End'' ''of Time'''','' under the label Rhythmethod. It debuted at number 1. In an interview, Kerrison said he had hoped ''Until the End of Time'' would not be the last Opshop album. However, the band later went on hiatus, a decision which was allegedly not unanimous. Kerrison expressed a desire to move into production and didn't want to be indefinitely defined by Opshop. The band played a performance at Homegrown festival in 2014 before parting ways. In the years leading up to this, Kerrison was also involved in The Babysitters Circus, a side project with four other artists, which found some success in 2011 with the popular single "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". In 2018, Opshop reunited for a performance at Homegrown festival in Wellington; the band's guitarist, Matt Treacy, claimed they had not been in the same room since putting the band on hold. In a 2022 interview, Kerrison said his public opinions on COVID-19 mandates would need to be "addressed" if Opshop was to reform, and suggested it would be difficult for the band to reunite. He chose not to provide details, but stated he felt "betrayed".

2014–present: Solo career

Following the hiatus of Opshop, Kerrison pursued solo projects and sought to establish an independent production and licensing strategy, leaning into the business side of the music industry. In 2015, he released his first solo project, ''#JKEP1'', an EP which was made available on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

. He continued playing a gigs, including with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra. Kerrison followed up with ''#JKEP2'' in 2016. Kerrison has released singles in collaboration with other artists, including with Jackie Bristow on the single "Warrior Spirit" in 2016, and the 2017 song "Humming Along" featuring

Annie Crummer Anne Crummer (born 1966) is a New Zealand pop singer and songwriter of Cook Islands descent who has seen success in both a solo career and as part of various musical groups. Crummer represented New Zealand at the 1987 ABU Popular Song Contest ...

and Betty-Anne Monga, written to celebrate

Emirates Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competitions since 2007. Team New Zealand be ...

’s victory in the

America’s Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known a ...

whilst Kerrison was a

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

NZ ambassador. In 2024, Kerrison collaborated with Jesse Wilde in an anti-mandate protest single "We Had A Choice?". Since 2016, Kerrison has released several of his own singles as a solo artist including "A Wonderful Way", "I Will if You Will", "The Timing", and "Someone Should Love You ft. Leigh Franklin".

Other media appearances

In 2015, Kerrison presented at TEDxChristchurch on the use of the

Golden Ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...

in music composition. In 2019, he was the co-host of ''XVenture Family Challenge'' with

. Kerrison appeared as a judge on series 2 of ''

New Zealand's Got Talent ''New Zealand's Got Talent'' was a New Zealand reality television show which premiered in 2008. The show was based on the ''Got Talent'' series. The show featured singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other variety performers of all ages co ...

'', alongside Rachel Hunter and

Ali Campbell Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer and co-founder of the British reggae band UB40. UB40 sold more than 70 million records worldwide and toured for 30 years with the original l ...

''.'' He reprised the role the following year in

series 3 Series 3 may refer to: * 3 Skypephone Series, the mobile phone series * Apple Watch Series 3, smart watch * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 3, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 3, the automobile model * BMW 3 Series, the automobile model li ...

of the show. In 2015, he was a guest judge on series 2 of The X Factor New Zealand. In 2011, Kerrison appeared in his capacity as a talent judge in episode 11, series 1, of

Jono and Ben ''Jono and Ben'', previously titled ''Jono and Ben at Ten'', was a satire, satirical news and entertainment show hosted by Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce in New Zealand. The show aired on Three (New Zealand), Three on Thursday nights at 7:30pm, and ...

. In 2021, Kerrison appeared as a contestant in series 1 of ''

'' as the tutatara, and was crowned the winner of the series.

Personal life

Kerrison lives with his partner, Adele Krantz, in an

off-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical gr ...

"bunker" home on a rural property in

Kaitaia Kaitaia () is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupōuri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on State Highway 1. Ahipara Bay, the southern end of Te Oneroa-a- ...

. In 2011 (leading up to 2012), Jason Kerrison built the bunker after watching the 2009 film 2012. He said that John Cusack's performance was convincing, forcing him to think the end of the world was upon us. The property is named "The Great Northern Retreat." Kerrison has three siblings, Tash, Melanie, and Brogan. Their father, Frank, passed away in 2024 in Christchurch. In 2017, his mother, Judith, remarried to Kenyan national Gitonga 'Mich' Obadiah. After Obadiah's visa was declined, it was revealed that Kerrison had privately appealed to

Kris Faafoi Kristopher John Faafoi (born 23 June 1976) is a former New Zealand television journalist and Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for the Mana electorate from 2010 until 2020, when he became a list MP. Faafoi held a numbe ...

for help, with Faafoi promising (but ultimately failing) to intervene in the immigration case. The incident sparked accusations of inappropriate conduct and racism against Faafoi and government immigration services, respectively.

Religious and spiritual views

Kerrison's mother is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and he attended church as a child, inspired by the singing in church. However, Kerrison does not identify with a religion and described himself as "close to being an atheist" in a 2015 interview, criticizing

religious indoctrination Indoctrination is the process of inculcating (teaching by repeated instruction) a person or people into an ideology, often avoiding critical analysis. It can refer to a general process of socialization. The term often implies forms of brainwashi ...

and

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

. Instead, he describes himself as being "inclined towards the spirit" and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

. Kerrison was a believer of the

and is a doomsday prepper. In 2009, he began building a bunker home in Northland out of shipping containers and

shotcrete Shotcrete, gunite (), or sprayed concrete is concrete or mortar conveyed through a hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface. This construction technique was invented by Carl Akeley and first used in 1907. The concr ...

, dubbed the "ark", purpose-built to survive an apocalypse scenario. However, Kerrison's doomsday beliefs had softened by late 2012, and he told reporters that he and his family would not use the bunker as it could not be completed in time. In 2013, he retrospectively stated that he did not believe 2012 would be the end of the world, but that it would be "the end of time ...the start of a whole new sequence."

Political views

Kerrison is politically vocal and has endorsed fringe beliefs on the COVID-19 response and 2012 calendar predictions, branded a conspiracy theorist by some media outlets and journalists. In response, Kerrison has argued that having conflicting opinions is part of a healthy democracy, but conceded some of his views had put a strain on his relationship with members of Opshop. Kerrison was against the COVID-19 lockdown and participated in the

2022 Wellington protest The 2022 Wellington protest was an anti- mandate and anti-lockdown occupation of the grounds of Parliament House and Molesworth Street in Central Wellington during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The occupation springboarded off the New Z ...

, in support of anti-mandate protesters critical of the government COVID-19 response and vaccination mandate. In particular, Kerrison believed that debate on vaccine mandates and the national lockdown was being unduly shutdown and experts with dissenting opinions were being "muzzled." He took a stance against requiring proof of vaccination to attend events, and pulled out of a Christchurch performance which required them, believing his attendance would be hypocritical. In 2022, Kerrison was criticised after getting into a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

spat with journalists Hilary Barry and Russel Brown regarding the anti-science views of some of the Wellington protesters, after sending them images depicting Nazi war criminals being executed. Kerrison subsequently removed the posts and apologised after he was accused of "veiled death threats." He later stated he did not regret criticising Barry's posts, but regretted posting the image without properly considering the source or the impact it would have. In 2024, Kerrison collaborated with Jesse Wilde in an anti-mandate protest single "We Had A Choice?". In an interview with conspiracy theorist Liz Gunn, Wilde said the song was inspired by his inability to travel to the 2022 Wellington protest after failing a

COVID-19 rapid antigen test COVID-19 rapid antigen tests or RATs, also frequently called COVID-19 lateral flow tests or LFTs, are rapid antigen tests used to detect Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19). They are quick to implemen ...

while unvaccinated. Kerrison was not interviewed about the song.

Charity

Kerrison has performed in a number of charity events in support of local causes. In 2009, Kerrison performed in the ''Starship Supernova Swing'' concert alongside

Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and director. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series ''Xena: Warrior Princess'', as Number Three (Battlestar Galactica), D'Anna Biers on the re-im ...

, fundraising for

Starship Children's Hospital Starship Children's Hospital is a public children's hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Opened on 18 November 1991, it was one of the first purpose-built children's hospitals in New Zealand, and is the largest such facility in the country. Altho ...

. In 2015, he contributed to the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

charity song ''Team Ball Player Thing'', a project for research charity Cure Kids. Following the

2010 Canterbury earthquake The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercal ...

, Kerrison partnered with Paul Ellis to create '' Band Together'', a relief concert held in Hagley Park. It featured 26 acts and several local media personalities, and was attended by then prime minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...

. In 2023, Kerrison performed at Mike King's ''Gumboot Friday'' concert to raise money for mental health. In 2024, Kerrison performed in a fundraiser for fellow artist Rowdy Rose to attend the USA Radio Awards in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Awards

Kerrison has won nine NZ Music awards, mainly in relation to his work with

, and has been recognised for his contribution to the New Zealand music scene, including receiving the APRA Silver Scroll Award for his work writing " One Day". In 2011, Kerrison was made a member of the

for services to music in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. In 2015, he received the Southland Music Ambassador award at the ILT Southland Entertainment Awards.

Discography

Singles and EPs

* "You Want Me as Me" (2015) * ''#JKEP1'' (2015) * ''#JKEP2'' (2016) * "A Wonderful Way" (2017) * "Humming Along" (2017) * "I Will if You Will" (2019) * "The Timing" (2021) * "Someone Should Love You" (2022)

As featured artist

* " Walking Away" by K.One (2010) * "Nothing More for Xmas" by

Mike Puru Mike Puru (born 20 August 1975) is a New Zealand television personality, radio host and weather presenter. Puru worked at the New Zealand radio station The Edge (radio station), The Edge from 1995 until 2015 and hosted the first two seasons of ...

(2010) * " Team Ball Player Thing" by KiwisCureBatten (2015) * "Warrior Spirit" by Jackie Bristow (2016) * "Pray for the Love" by Jackie Bristow (2019) * "Listen with Your Heart" by Tihei (2019) * "We Had a Choice?" by Jesse Wilde (2024)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerrison, Jason New Zealand musicians APRA Award winners Living people People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch 1976 births Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit 21st-century New Zealand male singers New Zealand male songwriters Ngāpuhi people Masked Singer winners