SOUNDS GREAT WITH USHER
Usher Bradon
T hey call me Usher Bradon but I prefer to be called Usher. I grew up in a small community called Marlos on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica. Being the 5th born in a family of 9 was the best thing that ever happened to me. This is because I was not trying to be the dad and command everybody else like my elder brother did, neither did I lose focus because of being pampered like my youngest siblings. So growing up I had to learn a few things. We were made to learn how to cook fofos when we were really young. I hated it but since I had no choice, I learned it the hard way because after showing no interest, the day of reckoning came one afternoon when mom drew a timetable.
After forgetting something was boiling at the small shack which used to serve as a makeshift kitchen, and with the intelligence of someone from class 6, I decided to conceal the evidence of completely burnt food by adding more firewood until the whole shack went down in flames.
Life at my Uncle’s place where my dubious behaviour made me seek refuge was better and from class 7 onwards I started experimenting with the IC chips which littered the whole compound, thanks to the lack of a proper waste management system. So every time a new client brought a radio for repair the more my stockpile grew. I have always been curious and therefore I could sit with my uncle after school where I started learning about the parts of a radio. As fate would have it, I developed a lot of interest and learned many things to do with transistors. And that’s how I got my first radio!
I could collect old speakers from the neighbourhood repair and hang them on the wall. Later on, I could connect with my Sanyo radio and feel gratified. Probably I was the first to invent a home theatre! That kind of noise did not go well with my uncle’s wife and therefore I was back to Marlos, but now with a skill.
During my school holidays, while in high school, I was famous for good - and bad - reasons! In a room adjacent to the main house where we used to sleep with my younger brother, it was loud music and a beehive of activities as villagers brought their radios for repair.
After high school, I had to succumb to my father’s demand to either reform or pack up and go, I chose the latter and that’s how I found myself in the streets of Kingston where I started off as a janitor in an electronic shop.
From that time, I don’t know whether it’s the big sound that follows me or it’s me who follows the big sound. But nothing can compare to the sound of a well-tuned speaker with zero noise and tweeters and bass harmonized for the perfect output.
I don’t want to say that I am an audiophile, but I know that I like big sound, which proabably makes people call me that.
Are they calling you the same? Feel free to share.