Red Scare Industries (Tobias Jeg - founder)
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2019? (In order 1-5)
Hmmm, let’s do “5 Good Punk Songs NOT on our dumb record label”
- Bad Religion - "End Of History"
- Not On Tour - “Call It Freedom"
- Teenage Bottlerocket - “I Wanna Be A Dog"
- Little Teeth - “Thinning Out"
- Masked Intruder - “Maybe Even"
2. What band did you discover in 2019 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
I moved to the West Indies (for reasons too boring to discuss) and I got exposed to a lot of music from the Caribbean: Soca, Jab Jab, Reggae, etc. I think the 2019 album I heard the most was Farmer Nappy’s Hooked On Soca. And I mean, the songs were everywhere: coming from cars, bars, ringtones… Soca is pretty poppy and upbeat, so it’s not for everyone, but if you’re open to some island vibes, there are definitely some jams on that record.
3. How will you remember 2019? (In terms of music)
For Red Scare it was a pretty healthy combination of established comrades and young upstarts. In regards to the legends, we put out a Copyrights single, a Sicko anthology, and The Lillingtons did a picture disc for Record Store Day. As for the new blood, we had great debut albums from Philly’s Ramona and Scotland’s Billy Liar.
The label turned fifteen years old in 2019, so again we put forth something that combined the established Red Scare bands and the new acts. It’s a comp called 15 Years of Tears and Beers and it has 15 unreleased songs from all sortsa bands. They all really overachieved with their tunes and people seem to really love the collection. High five! If there’s ONE thing that kinda defines 2019 for us, it’s that compilation.
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2020?
Red Scare is releasing new music from Guerilla Poubelle, Sam Russo, and Broadway Calls. That stuff is already in motion. As for my 2020 wish list, I would love to work on new stuff from Red City Radio, Sincere Engineer, The Copyrights, Arms Aloft… everybody, really! There’s always some surprises that pop up too, and that’s the fun stuff. 2020 should be a good ‘un!
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2020?
I am the Tour Manager / Merch Servant for The Lawrence Arms and they’re probably my favorite band. If all goes as planned they’ll have a new record in 2020, so that’ll be a reason to hope we survive Trump’s WWIII. What else? The Euro Cup, for sure. Vince Staples, Worriers, and The Psychedelic Furs are all doing new records and I like them. You hear The Weakerthans have a new album?! I just made that up. Sure would be cool though.
6. What is your favorite way to pass time while on tour? Any apps, podcasts, etc you're into?
Hoo-wee, I talk a lot in the van. Like, A LOT a lot. I like to pry into weird personal shit just to get laughs, and it’s got to be super annoying for the band, but sometimes I get some real chestnuts outta them. In my mind I’m on a 6-hour TV show, but really the only one in the audience that cares is me. As Tour Manager I also am usually pre-occupied with boring shit like advancing with the promoter, sorting the guest list, etc etc. If they had any sense, they would pile on a bunch more busywork to keep me quiet, but they haven’t figured that out yet.
