Jason Herring

Jason Herring
Ten Millimeter Omega Recordings

For most of Jason Herring’s life, he has been involved in music. Whether it be in bands, as a DJ, running his own record store (the former Milestone Records), or operating his record label, he has had his hand in getting tunes in folk’s ears for decades. He has seen the evolution of a number of aspects in the entertainment industry. Heck, when he got started, there was no internet. If you wanted someone to come to your show, you had to physically hand them a printed flyer and personally invite them. If you wanted someone to hear your music, you had to give them a cassette or compact disc. That tape or CD was made at a studio and the time spent there was precious.

Now-a-days, most artists don’t even (have to) publish (physical) albums, what with all of the digital options of getting your music to the people (see: Amazon, Anghami, Apple Music, MediaNet, Boomplay, Deezer, Instagram, Facebook, Adaptr, Flo, YouTube Music, iHeartRadio, Claro Musica, iTunes, Joox, Kuack Media, CD Baby, NetEase, Qobuz, Pandora, Saavn, Spotify, Tecent, Tidal,TikTok, and other ByteDance stores). But Herring does.

Morphing from an analog beginning to today, Herring can boast a home recording catalog that is quite impressive. Celebrating twenty five years, his record label has been cranking out quality, indie releases for dozens of regional acts. He has been instrumental and consistent in promoting and successfully pushing out music with his platform using his skill at remaining relevant while sharing his gifts of marketing.

Herring is the front man for his own band, The Mystery Plan, alongside his lovely wife and a handful of talented friends. When he is not DJing or writing new songs, he is behind the computer working to keep new releases of other acts on his label. It’s a fulltime job. One cannot just put out an album and expect it to sell itself. He gets that and he is good at it.

When I say that Ten Millimeter Omega Recordings has put out countless albums, I’m not exaggerating. I couldn’t count them all. Not only does The Mystery Plan (and his previous bands including The Interstellars, Muchacho and Moonburn) have over twenty releases, Herring has a slew of other acts on the label (Heart of a Ghost, Micah Gaugh, Miami Dice, Ania, VonFunkHauser, the Dirty Drummer, Baleen and Cement Stars – just to name a few). He seems to be doing it naturally and tirelessly.

The machine, that is Herring’s momentum, almost came to a screeching halt on April 29th of 2023. He collapsed in front of God and everyone at one of his live shows. It was a widow maker; the worst of the worst heart attack. The world almost lost a great talent. We would’ve been robbed. The doctors brought him back, several times, from an almost certain death. Luckily for us all, he is still here and shows no signs of slowing down (and there is no omega -end- in sight; pun intended). With his beautiful daughter going to college this fall, he is celebrating the best days of his life and it is a wonderful thing to behold. Catch him at a show and buy some vinyl or follow the label on Facebook, Apple Music, Tidal, and Bandcamp, if you can keep up.