DEAR MASCULINITY: A LETTER TO THE BUTTERTONES, BURGER RECORDS, AND MORE

Hi, everyone! I wanted to weigh in on what has been happening with the numerous sexual allegations that have recently surfaced in the music industry. It has gotten to a point where two relatively big names in independent music- the Los Angeles-based group, The Buttertones, and Fullerton, CA-based record label, Burger Records, have decided to end their respective endeavors. 

What is happening with the Buttertones is absolutely disgusting. Earlier last week, I saw Clem Creevy, the founding member of Cherry Glazerr, come forward with her statement against Buttertones bassist (and former Cherry Glazerr member), Sean Redman. This was posted after another woman, Chloe Raznik, came forward with a very similar story against Sean as well. You can read Clem’s statement here.  Pardon my French, but fuck you, Sean Redman. For committing statutory rape (Redman was twenty and Creevy only fourteen), not wearing any sort of contraceptives and giving a young woman an STD, and treating her like shit when you were in a relationship, you deserve to rot in hell. I spent close to two hours on the now-deleted Instagram feed dedicated to sharing stories of sexual assault against the band, @exposing_the_buttertones_, and I do not even know how to respond, except for another fuck you to Richard Araiza. If you thought Sean was bad, well, just you wait to read about Richard. It was no surprise that the band’s label, Innovative Leisure, instantly dropped the band. The band basically followed suit by deleting all of their social media platforms shortly after the allegations were posted. It’s like they instantly vanished off of the face of the earth. No statement was issued, other than that Sean is no longer a part of the band. Well, no fuckin’ shit- he better not be! Not even an apology, or an acknowledgment that you’ve done something wrong? That’s what is so damning about all of this. For a band that I have been following for a bit of time now, even tried to fucking interview, it makes me completely shocked to have even wanted to make an effort to do so. 

The story over at Burger Records is pretty ambiguous and came out of nowhere. It was more of the same story, with anonymous allegations against both label members and staff popping up on social media. The record label They had a plan to try and restart under two different labels, but it apparently panned out. Read this quote from an article by Pitchfork staff writer, Evan Minsker- it is absolutely bizarre. 

“When asked about the future of the label and its leadership, [Burger Records founder Sean] Bohrman responded to Pitchfork, “We decided to fold the label.” When asked if Burger would still continue as the rebranded BRGR RCRDS, Bohrman replied, “Nope.” Asked for further comment, he linked to a clip of Porky Pig saying “that’s all folks.” 

Uh… the fuck? Not only have all of Burger Records’ social media accounts been wiped, but what surprises me the most is the greater ramifications here. All of the artists that have music on the label? Provided they re-issue their singles and albums independently, all Burger music is going to be gone from streaming services. That’s right, you heard me. GONE. While this termination is really the only thing you can really do here, it’s sad to see that Burger is going completely off the grid, too. Even though they were small, they were mighty. They had a really cool, diverse lineup, a unique little festival to show off artists on the label, and they even made cassettes cool again! Time will tell if another label will be able to be as omnipresent as Burger Record was. 

I feel horrible for them being victims of these fucked-up people, and nothing will be able to repair the trauma they have endured. I wish this shit could just be kept out of the music scene - and our world - entirely. While it’s definitely a victory for the people who have come forth, there is still a long road to recovery. The events in the last week leave us journalists, music consumers, and concertgoers with some big questions: Why is it that the independent scene has men who can’t treat women right? How do we build a better, safer indie scene, and make ourselves more aware of this type of behavior? We've seen these career-ending allegations happen to guys like Shane Blanchard (Bane's World), Ayce Barcelon (Acid Ghost), and one of Burger Records' very own bands, Caamp. Another band that I failed to mention in this list was SWMRS. A story surfaced from Regrettes frontwoman, Lydia Night, speaking about her vicious sexual encounters with SWMRS member, Joey Armstrong. It’s safe to say they will face a similar fate of the Buttertones and Burger Records.

I’ve never been a big fan of this recent wave of “cancel culture” and just writing these people and their accomplishments out of our history books because they were bad people. I'm all for fighting for social justice and change, but what needs to happen is that these people must be responsible and face the consequences of their actions; apologize for their mistakes instead of shying away from admitting them. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what will make an even bigger impact. That will prevent other musicians from pulling this same shit in the future. There have been threats of legal action against these bands, and I would not be surprised to see something like that happening quite soon. 

To wrap this up, I want to bring up something that relates to this issue: After reading Jon Krakauer’s book, Missoula, a few years ago, I came to learn two gigantic things: One, that the amount of stigma regarding this issue of sexual assault is fucking ridiculous. And two, the corruption of our legal system is, yet again, fucking ridiculous. If you are a victim of sexual assault or rape, please, get help. Bring your case forward. As troubling as it may be, there is a national sexual assault hotline (RAINN) to assist you. Call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org and live chat with a trained member of a sexual assault service provider in your area. 

Get your shit together, indie community. To all of the victims out there, I stand with you. Stay strong. We love you. Thanks for reading this, and I hope to see you back here reading more bazzreviews content down the road.

-Bazz