Josh Fischel, founder of Music Tastes Good, dies at 47

Josh Fischel, the founder of last weekend’s inaugural Music Tastes Good Festival in Long Beach, died Thursday afternoon of liver disease, according to festival organizers. He was 47.

The news came as a shock to the Long Beach and Southern California music communities, who just days ago saw Fischel overseeing the culmination of a life’s work in local music.

Though family and festival organizers knew he had been sick, no one knew how rapidly his disease would progress after the festival. Music Tastes Good was a three-day event in downtown Long Beach headlined by the likes of the Specials, Warpaint and the Squeeze, among many others.

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Theresa Wayman, on guitar, performs with the band Warpaint at the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Jenny Lee Lindberg, left, and Emily Kokal of Warpaint perform on the second night of Long Beach’s Music Tastes Good festival.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans take in the sounds of the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Dickie Ziggen performs with his band, the Ziggens, at the Music Tastes Good festival in downtown Long Beach on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the crowd at the Music Tastes Good festival in downtown Long Beach enjoy ringing cymbals that share positive messages, part of an installation along East Broadway on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Bryan Iniguez, center, sings and plays music with Felipe Mora Vera and Bobbie Dark in front of the Lil’ Smoke Shop as part of the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Visitors, reflected in a storefront window, walk down East Broadway while taking part in the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Daveed Diggs performs with the electro-noise rap trio Clipping at the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Francy Lew enjoys a light moment with her dog Max at the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans walk through a sea of soap bubbles as the sun sets on the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman plays with light boxes at the Music Tastes Good festival in downtown Long Beach on Sept. 24.

  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

“He couldn’t go more than a few feet in his golf cart without somebody stopping him to say ‘Hey, Josh!’ ” said Jon Halperin, the talent buyer and co-promoter of Music Tastes Good.

“It’s absolutely beautiful and poetic that he got to see this through.”

In an interview with The Times last week, Fischel said that the festival had been a years-long dream to finally produce an event that would document Long Beach’s local music scene and help establish the city as a touring destination.

“We have so much love for this town, and it’s grown so much,” Fischel said. “We’ve been dreaming of this for years, and this is the time to do it.”

Before founding Music Tastes Good, Fischel had been a touring musician, playing in the bands Bargain Music and Josh Fischel & the Fiction. He performed and worked with acts including Fishbone, Pearl Jam and the Black Eyed Peas, and promoted the Long Beach events series RiotStage and Live After Five. He also directed a documentary on the Long beach band Sublime, “Stories, Tales, Lies & Exaggerations.”

After Fischel’s death, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia told the Long Beach Press Telegram that “it’s a sad day for the city, but it’s also a sad day for people who cared about music and creativity in Long Beach.”

“I hope the community rallies around all the things he loved and will keep it going.”

Halperin said that Fischel had already begun to make offers to bands for a 2017 edition of Music Tastes Good, and he fully expected the festival to continue as a tribute to its founder.

“This was his life’s work,” Halperin said. “It had all built up to this. He told me he’d dreamed of this for 10 years, and he was just thrilled, absolutely thrilled,” Halperin said. “His legacy will live on. It’s going to be Josh Fischel’s Music Tastes Good festival. He’s not someone whose memorial is going to be 40 people in a room. We’re going to need space for a lot more people.”

Fischel is survived by his wife, Abbie; his mother, Maurine Fischel; brothers Zach and Ben Fischel; nieces Julianne Meursing, Morgan Fischel and Alexa Fischel; and nephew Max Meursing.

For breaking music news, follow @augustbrown on Twitter.

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UPDATES:

Oct. 1, 10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with additional survivor details.

This article was originally published Sept. 30 at 2:30 p.m.