USS PARTIES IN VICTORIA
Victoria is the biggest market in Canada for Toronto-based duo USS, a.k.a. Ashley Buchholz and Jason Parsons. In fact, it’s the only stop on the band’s national tour with two shows. Filling rooms is no problem for USS — short for Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker — whose boisterous brand of alternative pop is moshpit ready.
The biggest tour of USS’s career winds down this week with three shows in British Columbia, two of which take place in Victoria.
The routing provides the duo of Ashley Buchholz and Jason Parsons with a healthy serving of home cooking at the end of their run. Victoria is one of the biggest-ticket markets in Canada for the Toronto group, which has been playing regularly for Vancouver Island audiences for nearly a decade.
“It’s been a long and amazing build in Victoria, thanks to the unrelenting enthusiasm of fans on the Island,” Parsons said. “From the [Fringe] festival in 2008 outside in the pouring rain to the Save-onFoods Memorial Centre with Hedley, we have literally done everything you could possibly do.”
The band, which earned a Juno Award nomination in 2015 for breakthrough group of the year, will bookend a sold-out show at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom on Friday with shows in Victoria at the Alix Goolden Performance Hall on Thursday and Sunday; those are also expected to sell out. With travel time included, Parsons is stoked that USS will spend four days in one of their favourite cities in the country.
“Of all the shows on the whole tour, Victoria is the only city that gets two shows,” he said. “And with the two shows combined, it’s our biggest [audience] on the tour.”
With performances in practically every major venue in the city, USS has been heading toward a Victoria breakout for some time. On this run, however, the group is doing it without the comfort of a headlining act. Filling rooms is hardly an issue for USS — short for Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker — whose boisterous brand of alternative pop is moshpit-ready.
“Because we take the live show so seriously, we go over the top with energy, and have those fun, kickstarter party moments. But at the same time, there’s songs for fans that want to hear about those feelings Ash has.”
Buchholz, who plays guitar in USS, is the group’s acknowledged frontman, while Parsons serves as the DJ, hype-man and production master. The amalgam of rock and rap is such that some fans often come for the party, but a growing number take the more serious messages to heart, Parsons said.
Polarity is a big part of the band’s second album, New World Alphabet, which arrived in January at No. 2 on the Nielsen and No. 3 on the Billboard charts in Canada. The first two singles, Work Shoes and Who’s With Me, follow the successful blueprint of past hits This Is the Best, Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole and Shipwreck. But there’s a newfound depth on New World Alphabet that fans won’t hear if they stick only to the singles.
“[Work Shoes and Who’s With Me] came out of us living in Los Angeles for a month and a half, and how much fun we had. But the rest of the record was made in various studios around Ontario in the winter. It’s not always sunny in Ash’s world, but we weren’t afraid to have those moments.”
The album title is a hint that things have changed within the group.
During concerts on their current tour, fans will see the big-picture thinking when Buchholz takes the stage alone, armed with only an acoustic guitar for the strength-through-struggle song Kit.
“It took him a long time and a lot of work to drum up the courage to sing before a few thousand people about the things he believes in and our band believes in,” Parsons said.
Victoria fans will find out soon enough. Parsons, for one, can’t wait. He loves the city so much, he said he’d move here if he had the chance.
“You guys get rappers and DJs and jam bands that we don’t see in Ontario. And it’s so special. People come out and support it, and become part of the vibe and the energy. You don’t really see that anywhere else in the country. That’s why we keep coming back for more.”