These days, Ty Segall is about as much of a household name as any garage-rocker could ever hope to become—you may recall having seen his face splashed across billboards around town in recent months advertising his record, Emotional Mugger—but before he was a Pitchfork darling, he was an Orange County teen with a singular goal. As he told the LA Times, he wanted to put out a record on the LA indie record label In the Red Records.
Fast forward a few years and Segall will be among the headliners of a three-night celebration of the label’s 25th anniversary which runs tonight through Saturday at the Echo and Echoplex in Echo Park. He’ll be performing alongside a litany of other influential musicians who have come up through In the Red’s roster.
Much of the credit for the label’s success goes to founder (and, for the first two decades of the label, sole employee) Larry Hardy. He managed to stay sustainable for so long by focusing on vinyl back in the era of Napster and scouting for talent that resonated with him personally, even if it fell outside the commercial mainstream. A few hits and, of course, a few helpful car commercial licensing deals for his artists kept the operation sustainable longer than anyone expected. Along the way, he cultivated an aesthetic that can now be seen in so many of the local Highland Park and Eagle Rock bands out there today with stringy hair and loud, fuzzed-out guitars.
Over the years, Hardy has put out records from the likes of the Vivian Girls, the Black Lips and the late, critically-beloved Jay Reatard, making it exciting to see what young bands coming up now get In the Red’s taste-making imprimatur.
In the Red Records 25th Anniversary festival starts at 7:30pm on July 14, 15 and 16 at the Echo and Echoplex music venues. Enter through the Echoplex at 1154 Glendale Boulevard. Single-day general admission tickets are $28.50; three-day passes run $58.50 for general admission to $123.50 for VIP.