Tobias Jeg (Red Scare Industries)
What are your top five albums that were released in 2022? (In order 1-5)
I say it every year (oh god, here he goes again!): Red Scare puts out my favorite records, and I ain’t even bullshitting. So that’s my list. But here’s 5 good songs from 2022 that are NOT on Red Scare:
- Dan Andriano and the Bygones “Sea Level”
- Gregor Barnett - “Driving Through The Night”
- Bishops Green - Ravens Cry”
- Totally Slow - “Acid Rain”
- The Vandoliers - “The Lighthouse”
What band did you discover in 2022 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? How so?
Red Scare re-issued the Sludgeworth album that came out on Lookout Records 30 years ago, and even though I have been around the project for a few years (took forever to rebuild that damn thing), it’s only when I saw how many people were talking about it and sharing stories about Sludgeworth did I actually feel like I “discovered” them. Sometimes it takes a bit of living history to understand and appreciate a band, ya know?
As for “new” stuff, there’s a band that is from a couple towns down the road called Beachblanket that I think are good. They play pretty dubbed-out reggae rock. There’s also a band from Chicago called Won’t Stay Dead that played at War on X-Mas and they were real good too!
How will you remember 2022? (In terms of music)
I started the year living in Chicago and we moved to Western Massachusetts in July, so it feels like two very different years. Chicago is arguably the best music market on Earth, so it’s been an offbeat, divergent transition for me. But like anything, life is what you make of it, so I’ve been trying to get out and see some bands. There’s a DIY space in Holyoke called Apeland that has been doing shows and I saw The F.U.’s! So yeah, some new scenery and new music (venues, bands, etc.) to discover.
What can we look forward to from you in 2023?
We have all the best new shit coming out: The Brokedowns, The Bollweevils, Broadway Calls, Tightwire, and more... Oh, and as always, we have an open invitation to Swedish punk legends, Randy. Let’s go, Randy, the means of production ain’t gonna seize themselves.
What records are you looking forward to most in 2023?
I know Sincere Engineer is recording new stuff. I think Fucked Up has a new album coming? I go to a handful of Broadway musicals throughout the year, and I look forward to that for sure!
Live shows are still a mixed bag as we adapt to social gatherings in a COVID world. What is something positive you see about touring right now? Anything you’d like to see change?
I book shows for a lot of smaller bands, and the downturn has hit them the hardest. Could be various elements of the economy, could be people having cold feet about going back to shows, could be... anything! Can’t forget, we had a major cultural shift during the pandemic: people changed jobs, folks moved, they got older, etc. Entire scenes have been disrupted, and it’s hard to say if it’ll ever come back to the way it was. Bigger bands and legacy acts are doing fine, but what bums me out is seeing how many people are losing their shit—and paying hundreds of dollars—for bands like MCR and Blink. Save some of that enthusiasm for the rest of the community.
Tobias Jeg – social media links
- Twitter: @RedScareToby
