The One Where I Talk About How Sexual Harassment Is Not Ok (Capiche, Austin Kerr?)

Imagine this. You're chilling after a gig after seeing one of your favourite bands, a band who mean so much to you that they've played an integral part in forming your identity. You've seen them play several times before and you've interacted with them on social media so much that you can personally message them. In other words, this is a band whom you unconditionally trust. Suddenly, a member of said band proceeds to come up behind you and attempt to unhook your bra. How would you feel about this? Shocked? Betrayed? Violated?

Spare a thought for the people who are coming out about their harrowing encounters with Austin Kerr, bassist of Set It Off, in which they were subjected to harassment both in person and over messages. These encounters have ranged from persistent messaging in an attempt to force fans to have a threesome with him to underage sex and abduction. Despite being told to stop in many of these instances, Kerr would either continue his actions or only stop once he or the person whom he'd been molesting had been pulled away. 

That's not how consent works. No, would you believe, actually does mean no. By blatantly ignoring the fact that they didn't want to do anything, Kerr has denied them of their human right to choose what they want to do with their body. As result of being forced into unwanted sexual situations, there are going to be people out there who feel responsible for what happened to them because they couldn't stop it. For all the people who have spoken up, there are going to be just as many who aren't saying anything because they blame themselves. The one thing in common that all his victims will share however is a changed outlook on how they interact with musicians in the future. Being a musician means being in a position where you are trusted by your fans which, for the most part, many musicians understand. Kerr however has misused this position to abuse the trust of several of his fans, underage or not, who were all vulnerable due to their trust in him. His actions mean that for some victims, it's going to take some time before they can trust their favourite bands again.

Though there has been some issue as to whether incidents could have been prevented by the victims, that isn't the main thing because really, the victims shouldn't have been placed in such situations in the first place. What is important is that Kerr felt he had the right to degrade these fans and must now be brought to justice for what he has done, both to protect anyone who could be his next victim and to allow those who have been wronged by him to move on with their lives.

In spite of this, many have still been insisting that these fans have been making false allegations. If you're one of the people who have been protecting Austin or who doesn't believe what is being said, consider this; why would these ladies lie about a member of a band, which they really like, when the repercussions of such a lie would possibly cause the band to break up and would most definitely ruin the life of the member involved? To think that a person would be so juvenile as to make up stories of harassment for attention is absurd. These people have had to overcome their fear of Kerr to come forward about what has happened to them and to shame them for wanting to prevent anyone else from having such traumatic experiences is just plain wrong. 

At this moment, Set It Off hasn't published a statement so I can't confirm whether the whole band has been made aware of what has happened. Nonetheless, considering that their guitarist Dan Clermont has been told by fans of incidents on numerous occasions, including via Twitter dms which can be seen below (these dms were shown to me by one of his victims), it's unlikely that they don't know. Set It Off need to acknowledge what Kerr has done and take appropriate action before more people are left psychologically scarred. First and foremost, it is the fan's safety that matters and if Set It Off can't realise that, they don't deserve the right to play in front of a crowd, no matter how good they are.

Leap Of Faith : Watsky at Warped Tour

Leap Of Faith : Watsky at Warped Tour

Three days ago, rapper George Watsky made the decision to jump off a lighting rig during his set at Warped Tour in Alexandra, making headlines in national newspapers everywhere and prompting response for the foolishness of his actions. Having been present at the event when it occurred however, I'd like to mention a couple of things and bring in my own light into what happened.

Firstly, the jump really did not come as a surprise once he started climbing the ladder. Within about 10 seconds of watching Watsky climb, it became increasingly clear that he was going to jump off the lighting rig and I really don’t think I am the only one who realised this. At no point did he slow down while climbing the ladder up to the rig to sing so why would he have done so after he reached the top? Would he then calmly come down the ladder after finishing his song after the crescendo of the response from the audience?

I will say that it may have been slightly misleading as he did take his microphone up the ladder but as soon as he got to the top, he left it on the side before proceeding to walk slightly along the rig and then dive right at the end of the song. Now, please don’t think I’m blaming the crowd for parting; it was only instinct that they did what they did and the crowd wasn’t dense enough anyway for the dive to have been successful at such a height. However, I do want to know what security was doing at the time. I hadn’t been close enough to see what the security had been doing but in my opinion, they most probably did have time to stop Watsky. (This is an observation, I am not pointing the finger at anyone.)

I do not condone his actions nor do I think it was particularly smart of him to take such a risk but we have to remember something quite important: the dive was not planned. Having been present at the set when this occurred, I saw the looks on the faces of the band members which most certainly confirmed this had been a spur of the moment decision for Watsky.

This was not a publicity stunt; to say otherwise would be to go against what Watsky himself and his music stand for. What he had done was to make an instinctive decision to end his performance on the climax it had been building towards, though this unfortunately did not end as he must have hoped. As much of an assumption this may be, this is still an assumption based on his music and music for many artists are insights to their identities. Watsky in particular made one song about his work ethic, which can be seen below. (Lyrics are in the description in case you can’t hear what he’s saying as he raps quite quickly.)


Why would a man who even raps about working hard ruin his career which he has worked so hard to achieve with a stunt that goes wrong?

Whatever happened was the result of one stupid decision which although he should be held responsible for, shouldn’t be something hanging over his head throughout his career, nor should it be the only thing he is remembered for. Because quite frankly, had it not happened, he would have been remembered as being the rapper who made the people expecting a rock band have a good time.

Interview with Morain

Imagine there's a heat wave, much like the one in the UK now, and today, like every other day for the past few weeks, it's really hot. You're walking outside and although you can see some clouds, you don't think it'll rain as it hasn't done so in several weeks. But then you feel something drop on your hand, something cold, something unexpected. Rain. It's just a couple of drops tumbling down at first and slowly but surely, it gets heavier and heavier. Before you know it, you're drenched- your hair, your clothes, your skin, everything. After all this time of relentless heat, you suddenly feel cool and my, oh my, it feels wonderful.

That is Morain. They are the breath of fresh air, the hidden gem amongst all the bands who promise individuality yet are predictably generic. I had the pleasure of interviewing the lead singer, Wil Frost, so if you want to know more about this wonderful band, read on. They do not disappoint so make sure you give them a listen and follow them on twitter here.

Interview with Cytota

How do you describe a band like Cytota? Brummie? Melodic post-hardcore? Young? Although they are all of the above, I'd like to highlight two missing words which, in my opinion, sum them up most accurately; unashamedly talented. Some may choose to focus on the fact that they have come particularly far for a band of their age and while this may be true, I'd like to point out that their music should be the main thing that matters and everything else, be it their age or their home town, is merely a triviality when listening to their music. Other than that, what I really want to say is that Cytota is a band that is most definitely going to make its mark on the music industry if it hasn't already begun doing so. You better keep your eye on them folks as I'm certain you'll be reading about them in a music magazine near you soon enough. Anyway, enjoy the interview and if you like, you can access their Twitter here and their Facebook here to drop them a like or a follow. The official interview is here.

Interview with Crowns

A couple of weeks ago I met the lovely lads of a pretty sick band called Crowns. Although I hadn't listened to much of their music prior to meeting them, I could instantly tell from the tracks I heard that they're incredibly passionate about it and I really do recommend listening to them if you want to listen to a particularly uplifting yet powerful band that plays music oozing with raw emotion. Anyway, have a read of the interview but if you'd prefer the shorter version, click here.