Emmaus grad Jason Kushy amasses 43,000 Spotify listeners as EDM career takes off while serving as Navy officer

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — By day, Jason Kushy forecasts weather for the U.S. Navy. By night, he’s building an electronic dance music career that has landed him among the top fraction of artists on Spotify.

The 27-year-old Emmaus High School graduate has amassed more than 43,000 monthly listeners on the streaming platform since releasing his first original track in June 2025 — all while serving as an active-duty naval meteorology and oceanography officer stationed in Monterey, California.

“I think back to times when my parents were like, ‘You need me to do what?'” Kushy said, recalling when he would haul speakers to backyard parties as a teenager.

Born in Texas, Kushy moved with his family to Lower Macungie Township in 1999. His journey into electronic music began in the basement of that home around age 11. Armed with an $80 DJ mixer and an old home theater system he found in his parents’ storage room, he taught himself the basics through YouTube tutorials.

“Most of my friends were making fun of me for listening to ‘robot noise,'” Kushy said.

A gymnast at Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center in Allentown, Kushy spent his teenage years working for Wesley Works Entertainment in Emmaus, DJing proms, weddings, sweet 16s and bar mitzvahs across the Lehigh Valley.

The company’s owner, Wesley Barrett, gave Kushy his first professional opportunity after the teenager spent a year and a half persistently requesting an interview.

Barrett was recently elected to the Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners.

But Kushy kept his passion for EDM private, spinning top 40 hits at events while producing electronic tracks alone in his room.

After graduating from Emmaus in 2017, Kushy attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he competed on the gymnastics team before moving to the co-ed squad, eventually serving as team captain.

He credits the military institution with instilling the discipline that now allows him to balance a government career with music production.

“I’m still able to budget my time correctly,” he said.

Following his 2021 graduation, Kushy served four years in Norfolk, Virginia, completing two deployments to South America aboard Navy vessels. He provided weather support for humanitarian missions, including mobile medical facilities in Guatemala.

He is one of roughly 400 such officers worldwide, providing weather models and oceanographic data for Navy operations — everything from ship navigation to calculating drift patterns when equipment is lost at sea.

The turning point came last May when Kushy attended Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas alone. Watching performers on stage, one thought consumed him: “Why am I not up there?”

He began releasing music shortly after, with his debut EP “Quick Draw” dropping that summer. By September 2025, he had signed with Miami-based record label Direct Action Records, and his three-track EP “Keep It Moving” climbed to No. 18 on Beatport’s Tech House Top 100 chart worldwide.

Kushy said he hopes to eventually perform at Musikfest in Bethlehem as a tribute to his Lehigh Valley roots and the friends who supported him from the beginning.

“I would just love the opportunity to play there,” he said. “Kind of as a thank you for everyone.”

His father, who introduced him to EDM through Sirius XM’s BPM channel during drives to gymnastics practice, said the success comes as no surprise.

“Anything he puts his mind to, he’s always had a track record of making it successful,” Stan Kushy said.

Today, Kushy juggles three jobs: his Navy duties, his music career, and coaching children’s gymnastics in Monterey — a nod to his Parkettes roots. He plans to continue building his audience before booking live performances, targeting venues in San Jose and San Francisco by this summer.

His long-term vision: serve his country during the week, then hop on a plane to perform on weekends.

“I still serve my country throughout the week,” Kushy said. “Then Friday through Sunday, I get to give people a moment to enjoy themselves through my music.”

Kushy’s music is available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other streaming platforms.