179 – Toby Jeg (Red Scare Industries)

My First Band Podcast

Toby Jeg hasn't ever been in a serious band, but he's been instrumental in helping a ton of other people's bands release music. As the owner/operator of Red Scare Industries, Jeg has put out more than 150 releases over the last 18 years, including albums from The Menzingers, The Copyrights, Direct Hit!, Masked Intruder, Sincere Engineer, The Falcon, Teenage Bottlerocket, Elway, Brendan Kelly and countless other accomplished punk projects. And there are more Red Scare releases on the way!

Before he was running a well-respected independent label, Jeg was a farm kid in rural Washington who was falling in love with punk rock. While still unpacking from his recent move to Massachusetts, Jeg found some time to speak with My First Band host Tyler Maas about his new state, upcoming Red Scare output and times the two interacted in Wisconsin. Along the way, he also told Maas about attending college at Cal, interning at Fat Wreck Chords, volunteering to be Fat Mike's designated driver, his other career in artist management, the ethical approach he tries to take with Red Scare, charming his way into New Zealand and much more.

My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers").