For the majority of people on this earth, pain defines our lives more than success. Justin’s parents divorced when he was one, and in high school a mentor that Justin looked up-to as a righteous man and esteemed leader, molested one of his friends. This same leader discouraged Justin from pursuing music. Before Justin realized it he had quit a band he started 5 years earlier and never played music in public for a decade. Until… in 2008 Justin pursued an expedition to Nepal, and climbed a mountain called Annapurna (10th highest mountain in the world). His Sherpa guide told the team not to drink any alcohol while on the climb because he had witnessed may people dying because altitude and alcohol are a bad combination. At base camp Justin met up with Swedish team who where taking whiskey shots. Justin had 3 shots and almost passed out. He went to bed that night scared to death that if he fell asleep he would die.
“You know it’s really easy to figure out what things are important when you are about to die. It seems all the distractions disappear and you get to the guts of why you are living. I felt I had to pursue music and from then until now I worked on a music identity called NASE.” – Justin
Questions sometimes lead us more than answers.
The earliest memory of Justin’s spiritual life came from his grandma. She was an old and fragile lady who asked him to memorize a phrase in exchange for a piece of dried fruit. Justin thought that dried fruit was the best thing since sliced bread at the time so he memorized it.
Have you ever heard the line from the bible that says….For God so loved the world that he gave (scarified) his one and only son (Jesus) that who should believe in Him should have ever lasting life? (John 3:16) This was the phrase.
One of the greatest questions in life is why do you exist? And what should you be doing with your life? These are the questions people wrestle with everyday. NASE music is a search for the questions, pain and struggle we face everyday. Justin’s grandmas phrase caused him to reach for a REHAB of his own heart and life. Realizing that the only way your true self can be fixed is reaching out to a God who identifies with us, and cared enough to reach out to us in the mist of pain and sacrifice.
