Jason Paul "Cone" McCaslin is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, serving as the bassist and backing vocalist of the band Sum 41.
Early life
McCaslin began playing bass at the age of 14, as a member of a grungegarage band called Second Opinion. He is of Irish/Swedish descent. Jason was born in North York, Toronto. He acquired the nickname "Cone" from fellow band member Deryck Whibley in high school, because he frequently ate ice cream cones at lunch.
Professional career
He co-created the garage punk/garage rock side project The Operation M.D., with Todd Morse, in which he goes by the name Dr. Dynamite. He plays bass and a bunch of other random instruments on the songs including lead vocals on a few tracks on both albums. The 1st album, We Have an Emergency was released in Canada and Japan exclusively in 2007. Operation M.D. then released their second album "Birds + Bee Stings" worldwide in late 2010 on their own label "Mouth To Mouth Music". He has also acted in many Sum 41 short films. For example, in "Basketball Butcher", he gets beaten up, killed and eaten by Steve Jocz due to beating him at basketball. He also played Dante the drug dealer in "1-800-Justice". He recently helped produce an album with Shelter With Thieves, a Canadian band from Halifax. The EP, entitled Confessions of a Toxic Generation, was nominated for 2 Nova Scotia Music Awards, for Group Recording and also Loud Recording. The band eventually won the Loud Recording award for the EP. In December 2009, McCaslin was also producing 5 songs for a new album by Canadian piano rock band The Greatest Invention, which eventually got released under Walter Senko. Then in 2010 he began producing 3 songs for 7 Piece Blue grass/Folk/Indie band The Strumbellas. In Sept. 2011 he was asked to produce the rest of the album. The album is now completed and called "My Father and the Hunter". It was released on February 21, 2012 and received a Juno Award Nomination for Best Root/Traditional Album. In October 2013 McCaslin made a cameo playing bass in The Strumbellas music video for End of an Era. In 2013 McCaslin began working with Toronto band . and produced their 7" which is out now and will also produce their upcoming EP and LP over the next year. In 2014 McCaslin began producing 2 songs for the band "LeBarons" which will be released in 2015.
Sum 41
In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records. The band released their debut album, All Killer No Filler in 2001. The band achieved mainstream success with their first single from the album, "Fat Lip", which reached number-one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains the band's most successful single to date. All Killer No Filler' was certified platinum in the United States, Canada and in the UK. The band has since released six more studio albums: Does This Look Infected?, ChuckUnderclass Hero, Screaming Bloody Murder,13 Voices and Order in Decline. Sum 41's first four studio albums are certified Platinum in Canada. The band often performs more than 300 times each year and holds long global tours, most of which last more than a year. They have been nominated for seven Juno Awards and have won twice. Their fifth studio album, Screaming Bloody Murder, was released on March 29, 2011 and was nominated for Grammy at the 2012 Grammy's for the song "Blood in My Eyes" in the Hard Rock/Metal category.
Producing/mixing discography
P = Producing, M = Mixing
The Operation M.D. – We Have an Emergency 2007 – Nominated for Casby 2 Awards
Shelter With Thieves – Someday Is Never Soon Enough Released April 19, 2011 – ECMA Award for "Loud" Recording of the Year
Operation M.D. + Itorero – "We Stand" Song from the charity album "Rwanda Rises Up" Released June 22, 2010
The Strumbellas – My Father and the Hunter – Released February 21, 2012 – Juno Award Nomination for "Best Roots/Traditional Album"
Walter Senko – From A Liar – Released 2013
Sun K – Sweet Marie 7" – Released 2014
Operation MD – Shake Your Cage – Released January 13, 2015
Sun K – Northern Lies – Released March 10, 2015
Anna Toth – Feeling Lost, Feeling Seen – Released July 2, 2015
LeBarons – Trains 7" – Released Sept. 11, 2015
Operation MD – Like Everyone Else – Released September 25, 2015
Instruments
McCaslin uses Fender '59 Re-Issue Precision Basses live and a Fender American Vintage '62 Re-Issue Precision Bass to record with. His personal favorite is an Olympic white Fender Precision Bass, since he was a fan of Dee Dee Ramone.
Personal life
He married on September 5, 2008. During the wedding, McCaslin's fellow band members Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 and Toby Morse of H2O and The Operation M.D. performed "One" by U2 and "Pieces" by Sum 41. McCaslin has two sisters. On December 22, 2014, his first son Max Grey McCaslin was born. On October 9, 2018, he and his wife Shannon had a daughter, Ayla Rose McCaslin.
