Jeff Castelaz founded Cast Management and co-founded The

Pablove Foundation The Pablove Foundation is a US pediatric cancer nonprofit organization founded by Jo Ann Thrailkill and Jeff Castelaz. The organization is named for Thrailkill and Castelaz's son, Pablo Thrailkill Castelaz, who, in 2009, at six years old died from ...

. He also Co-Founded and was CEO of Los Angeles-based

Dangerbird Records 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 ...

, and was the president of

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) 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 1 ...

Career beginnings

Castelaz began working in music in his hometown of

Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, writing about music for ''

Milwaukee Magazine ''Milwaukee Magazine'' is a monthly city magazine serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area in Wisconsin, United States. It bills itself as "Southeastern Wisconsin's most authoritative source for Events and Dining," and reports a readership of ...

'', the local

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...

''Downtown Edition'', and the national music magazine ''

Ray Gun A raygun is a science-fiction directed-energy weapon that releases energy, usually with destructive effect.Jeff Prucher, '' Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction,'' Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162 They have variou ...

''. In 1992 he began managing the band Wild Kingdom, which later reformed as

Citizen King 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 (And the Bottom Drops Out)", which peaked at on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

in 1993. Castelaz went on to help sign the band to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

in 1994, and then to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

where the band released their hit single "

Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out) "Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)" is the debut single of American music group Citizen King from their second studio album, '' Mobile Estates'' (1999), as the second track. It was first released to rock radio on January 26, 1999, and was giv ...

" in 1999. By 2000, Castelaz had relocated to

Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and began to work with other artists and

music producers A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

before co-founding

in 2004.

Pablove foundation

The

Pablove foundation The Pablove Foundation is a US pediatric cancer nonprofit organization founded by Jo Ann Thrailkill and Jeff Castelaz. The organization is named for Thrailkill and Castelaz's son, Pablo Thrailkill Castelaz, who, in 2009, at six years old died from ...

is a US pediatric cancer

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization cofounded by Jeff Castelaz, with his now ex-wife Jo Ann Thrailkill, in 2009.

Elektra Records

Castelaz left Dangerbird in September 2012, to become President of

. 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 allmanand Julie reenwald and will forever count them as business mentors and friends."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castelaz, Jeff Businesspeople from Milwaukee Living people Year of birth missing (living people)