Jeremy Jay was born in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, in southern California. His family later moved north to Los Angeles, and then north again, to Monterey.

When Jeremy was 14, he began playing in high school bands with schoolmates, performing to packed venues in the area. Seeing her son’s devotion to music, Jeremy’s mother bought him an eight-track reel-to-reel recorder, which he used to make recordings in a studio that he built in the family garage.

When Jeremy was 18 he moved to Portland, Oregon, where he met Calvin Johnson, Beat Happening singer and founder of K Records, the...