Jeff Castelaz founded Cast Management and co-founded The Pablove Foundation. [1] He also Co-Founded and was CEO of Los Angeles-based Dangerbird Records, and was the president of Elektra Records.
Castelaz began working in music in his hometown of Milwaukee, WI, writing about music for Milwaukee Magazine , the local weekly newspaper Downtown Edition, and the national music magazine Ray Gun . In 1992 he began managing the band Wild Kingdom, which later reformed as Citizen King in 1993. Castelaz went on to help sign the band to MCA Records in 1994, and then to Warner Bros. Records where the band released their hit single "Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)" in 1999. By 2000, Castelaz had relocated to Los Angeles, CA and began to work with other artists and music producers before co-founding Dangerbird Records in 2004. [2]
The Pablove foundation is a US pediatric cancer nonprofit organization cofounded by Jeff Castelaz, with his now ex-wife Jo Ann Thrailkill, in 2009. [3]
Castelaz left Dangerbird in September 2012, to become President of Elektra Records. [4]
He stepped down as head of the label in September 2015 to focus on his work with Cast Management and his charitable work. "Running Elektra Records has been a dream come true," Castelaz told Billboard. "Being part of Atlantic Records Group, I've learned so much from Craig [Kallman] and Julie [Greenwald], and will forever count them as business mentors and friends." [5]
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022, Elektra Music Group was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), though both Elektra and 300 will continue to maintain their separate identities as labels.
Warner Music Group Corp. is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the global music industry, after Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME). Formerly part of Time Warner, WMG was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. It later had its second IPO on Nasdaq in 2020, once again becoming a public company. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG employs more than 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.
Shirley Ann Manson is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the American alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and distinctive voice. For the majority of her career, Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh and the U.S. to record with Garbage, which originally formed in Madison, Wisconsin; she now lives and works primarily in Los Angeles, while maintaining a second home in Edinburgh.
Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records, and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch has developed into a label that records critically acclaimed music from a wide range of genres. Robert Hurwitz was president of the company from 1984 to 2017.
Citizen King was an American music group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose style was a mix of hip-hop, soul, and punk. They are best known for their top 40 hit "Better Days ", which peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1999.
Lyor Cohen is an American record executive and entrepreneur. Cohen has been actively involved in hip hop at various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then led Def Jam. After Def Jam, Cohen took on a leadership role at Warner Music Group. In September 2012, Cohen resigned from Warner and started his own independent label, 300 Entertainment. On September 28, 2016, Cohen was named YouTube's Global Head of Music.
Atlantic Records Group LLC is an umbrella label owned by Warner Music Group. It oversees several labels assigned to its Atlantic Records unit. In total, the label group has nearly three hundred artists on its roster.
Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of artists including Silversun Pickups, Fitz and the Tantrums, Sebadoh, Minus the Bear, and The Frights
Robert Alan Krasnow was an American record label executive and entrepreneur who had a long and successful career in the music industry. He founded Blue Thumb Records, later became chairman of Elektra Records, and was a co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
John Janick is an American record executive. He is the chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records.
2 is the second album by the Los Angeles band Darker My Love. Recorded primarily at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, with additional recording at Sage & Sound, The Boat, Sonora and Westbeach Recorders, it is the first with Will Canzoneri on organ and clavinet. It was released on 5 August 2008. The artwork for the album was by the lead guitarist/vocalist Tim Presley. Several of the songs on 2 had previously been performed live in a different arrangement under various working titles, appearing on the set of live albums that Darker My Love recorded during their Spaceland residency in 2006.
Here Anonymous is the second studio album of Los Angeles-based indie rock group Eulogies, released by Dangerbird Records on April 7, 2009 on CD as well as 12" vinyl.
Michael Caren is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, A&R representative, and music executive. He is the current CEO of Artist Partner Group and Creative Officer at Warner Music Group. He is also the founder of the Artist Publishing Group and the former President of Worldwide A&R at Warner Music Group. Prior to that, Caren was the Executive Vice President of A&R at Atlantic Records and the co-president of Elektra Records. In addition to his work as a music executive, Caren has also written or produced numerous songs for artists including Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Kanye West, and others.
Monte Lipman is an American music industry executive and film producer. He is the founder and current CEO of Republic Records. Over the course of his career, he has worked with a wide range of artists, including James Blake, Drake, Florence + the Machine, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse, Post Malone, The Weeknd, Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, John Mellencamp, and numerous others. He is the brother of Avery Lipman.
Fitz and the Tantrums are an American indie pop and neo soul band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2008. The band consists of Michael Fitzpatrick, Noelle Scaggs, James King, Joseph Karnes, Jeremy Ruzumna (keyboards) and John Wicks. Their debut studio album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, was released in August 2010 on indie label Dangerbird Records and received critical acclaim. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The band signed to their current label Elektra Records in early 2013 and went on to release their second LP, More Than Just a Dream, the same year. Their self-titled third album was released in 2016, which contains their most notable song "HandClap". Their fourth studio album, All the Feels, was released in 2019.
Pickin' Up the Pieces is the debut studio album by American band Fitz and the Tantrums, released on August 24, 2010, by Dangerbird Records. After the success of their home-recorded debut EP, Songs for a Breakup, Vol. 1 and touring, Dangerbird signed the group, who immediately began work on Pieces.
More Than Just a Dream is the second studio album by American band Fitz and the Tantrums, released on May 7, 2013, by Elektra Records. The album was produced by Tony Hoffer at The Sound Factory in Los Angeles. The title comes from a line of the chorus from the group's lead single "Out of My League". Their song also featured as soundtrack in EA Sports game, FIFA 13 with "Spark".
Piero Giramonti is an American music business executive and Co-General Manager of Caroline Records. He has held various positions throughout the music industry with labels such as Universal Music Group, Harvest Records, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Records, and Dangerbird Records.
Jeff Gold is an American music business executive, author, music historian, Grammy Award winning art director, and music memorabilia collector and dealer.
Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff is an American record executive who has worked for A&M, Warner Records, Virgin U.S., Work Group, Apple, and Shangri-La Music. He founded Rock the Vote in 1990 in response to a censorship campaign against artists’ use of explicit language.