Jenny Toomey

Last updated
Jenny Toomey
Born
Jennifer Gillen Toomey

1968 (age 5556)
Nationality American
Occupation(s)Musician
Arts activist
Website JennyToomey.com

Jennifer Gillen Toomey (born 1968) is an American indie rock musician and arts activist.

Contents

Career

Toomey was a member of the bands Geek, Tsunami, Liquorice, Grenadine, So Low and Choke, among others, and has also recorded under her own name. [1]

In 1990, Toomey co-founded the Simple Machines record label with Geek and Choke band-mate Derek Denckla and a housemate Brad Siegal both of whom left the project over the next two years. Afterwards, Toomey ran the label with Tsunami bandmate Kristin Thomson from 1990 to 1998 out of several group houses in Arlington, Virginia. Along with TeenBeat Records and Dischord Records, Simple Machines helped document the D.C. punk and indie rock scenes. Tsunami was also greatly influential in the do it yourself (D.I.Y.) movement among the punk, grunge and indie communities. Among the artists released on Simple Machines are Tsunami, Grenadine, Franklin Bruno, Ida, Scrawl, Dave Grohl (recording under the name Late!) and Retsin, among others. [2] Through Simple Machines, Toomey and Thomson released The Mechanic's Guide, a DIY music guidebook which was influential in the independent music scene of the 1990s.

In 2000, Toomey was one of four founders of the Future of Music Coalition, a Washington, D.C. think tank that translates the complex issues at the intersection of music, policy and law, aiming to help (primarily independent) musicians, including intellectual property rights, health insurance, and the effects of corporate consolidation of radio and the music industry. She was the founding executive director. [3]

As part of her advocacy work, Toomey participated in many conferences, including the Future of the Music Industry forum held at Georgetown University in January 2003, among others. [4]

In November 2007, she was appointed Program Officer for Media and Cultural Policy in the Media, Arts and Culture Unit at the Ford Foundation, where she would later serve as Director of Media Rights and Access, then the Director of Internet Freedom, after which she became the domestic and international Director for Technology and Society and Finally in 2020 she became the Director of the Ford Foundation Catalyst fund, a 50 Million dollar investment in building the field of Public Interest Technology.

Discography

with Choke

with Geek

with My New Boyfriend

with Slack

with Grenadine

with Tsunami

with Liquorice

Solo

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Bricks were an indie rock band founded in New York City in the late 1980s. The group was formed by Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan while he was studying at Columbia University, along with Nashville-born singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell, plus classmates Andrew Webster and Josh Phillips. The foursome recorded at least 18 lo-fi songs between 1988 and 1990, which they released on a cassette and two 7-inch singles before disbanding. Their first single, "Girl With The Carrot Skin", enjoyed college radio airplay and was also made into a music video. Shot on super-8 film, the video featured the band eating and playing with copious amounts of carrots.

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References

  1. Rapa, Patrick (20 March 2003). "The Match: Indie rock mothers of invention Tsunami are still fighting the good fight and reuniting for Ladyfest". Philadelphia City Paper . Archived from the original on 26 April 2003.
  2. "Simple Machines Records: Story". Simple Machines .
  3. Ulaby, Neda (11 February 2004). "Jenny Toomey, Rocking the FCC" (Includes audio). Morning Edition . NPR.
  4. Adelstein, Jonathan S.; Lightfoot, David; Toomey, Jenny (6 January 2003). "Music Industry Digital Technology" (Video). Georgetown University, Future of Music Coalition . C-SPAN.