Jeffrey Ernest Rosenstock[2] was raised in Baldwin on New York's Long Island.[3] He was born to a Jewish mother who worked as an art teacher and a German Catholic father who worked as a lawyer. Rosenstock identifies as Jewish.[4] His sister is TV writer and playwright Kim Rosenstock.[5]
Career
Jeff Rosenstock performing at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on November 6, 2012.
Rosenstock formed his first band, The Arrogant Sons of Bitches (ASOB) in 1995, when he and his friend Joe Werfelman chose not to attend a friend's funeral due to feelings of discomfort, spending the day playing Green Day covers instead.[6] In the midst of ASOB's breakup in 2004, Rosenstock recorded a solo song under the moniker Bomb the Music Industry, which evolved into his next musical project.[7] Bomb the Music Industry became known for their DIY ethic and commitment to accessibility, earning a reputation as "the Fugazi for the internet age of punk."[8]
Jeff Rosenstock performing in 2017
Following the release of Bomb the Music Industry's first full-length record, Album Minus Band, Rosenstock founded Quote Unquote Records, the first donation-based record label, distributing all the label's releases digitally through a pay what you want model.[1]
Rosenstock began his solo career in 2012 by releasing his debut solo "mixtape"[9]I Look Like Shit two months after Bomb the Music Industry! had announced their intention to break up.[10] This was followed by the Summer Seven Club project in 2013, which granted purchasers of Rosenstock's 7-inch single "Summer" exclusive access to new songs periodically released over the following months. All the songs from Summer Seven Club were later collected and made available as the Summer + compilation album.[11] Rosenstock's first studio album as a solo artist, We Cool?, was released in 2015.[12][13][14][15][16] His second solo album, entitled Worry, was released on October 14, 2016. On New Year's Day 2018, Rosenstock released the ten-track Post-, his third studio album.[17] His fourth studio album, No Dream, was released on May 20, 2020. A ska version of No Dream, titled Ska Dream was released on April 20, 2021.[18] He released his fifth studio album, Hellmode, on August 31, 2023[19] worldwide - a day earlier than the scheduled September 1.
Since 2018, Rosenstock has composed music for the Cartoon Network animated series Craig of the Creek.[22] Rosenstock released a cover of the show's theme song on the 2019 live albumThanks, Sorry! performed by his solo band under the moniker Death Rosenstock. In 2020, the first full musical episode of the show was released, for which Rosenstock wrote all the music and lyrics; the soundtrack was released later that year.[23] The soundtrack album for the Craig of the Creek animated film, Craig Before the Creek, released in 2024, with Rosenstock once again credited for writing all the music and lyrics.
In September 2023, Rosenstock and other members of their band contracted COVID-19 and postponed all upcoming shows during their 2023-2024 North American Tour to promote their album Hellmode.[24]
Personal life
Rosenstock married his longtime girlfriend, Christine Mackie, in 2015.[25] The pair had been living in an apartment in Brooklyn, but in January 2020 they moved across the country to Highland Park, Los Angeles.[26]
On November 8, 2024, Rosenstock came out publicly as non-binary on Bluesky, having previously privately identified as such for eight years. He stated his pronouns would stay as he/him in the same thread.[27]
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