Indie music label Burger Records shutting down after accused of “curating” a breeding ground for predatory behavior and sexual misconduct

[Deleted member 3812]

Variety is reporting that indie music label Burger Records is shutting down:

Burger Records to Shut Down Completely Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Southern California indie label Burger Records will shut down completely, amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

variety.com

July 22, 2020

In the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against several employees and artists associated with Burger Records, the Southern California indie label has confirmed that it will shut down completely, forgoing an earlier plan to rebrand under new management. This follows a statement released earlier on Tuesday evening by the lable's would-be interim president Jessa Zapor-Gray, who said she would not be accepting the position after all.

"When I was asked to take over in this capacity, I expected some blowback for my decision to accept but I believed that the opportunity to have a role in effecting real and lasting positive change within the Burger and indie music scenes was worth the risk." She continues, "upon further review, I have informed Burger Records that I no longer believe I will be able to achieve my intended goals in assuming the leadership role at Burger in the current climate."

Speaking with Pitchfork, Bohrman stated that all releases from Burger Records would eventually be removed from streaming platforms, although the artists — who own their masters — are free to reissue their releases. "I hate dealing with lawyers so we never signed contracts with bands," he tells Pitchfork. Such acts include The Growlers, SWMRS, Part Time and Unkle Funkle, all of which have had allegations of sexual misconduct against them posted to social media during the past few weeks.

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This is after allegations came out on July 20th that Burger Records was normalizing a culture of sexual assault at its shows and within its catalog of artists and that members of SWMRS, Black Lips, The Growlers, The Buttertones, Part Time, Cosmonauts, and other groups represented by Burger Records have been accused of sexual assault, statutory rape, and sexual predation:

Burger Records employees, artists accused of rampant sexual misconduct

Burger Records has been accused of "curating" a breeding ground for predatory behavior and sexual misconduct. Additionally, sexual assault allegations have been made specifically against Burger Records signees and their associates, including The Growlers, The Frights, The Buttertones, and SWMRS...

consequenceofsound.net

Burger Records Employees, Artists Accused of Rampant Sexual Misconduct
Members of bands including The Growlers, The Frights, The Buttertones, SWMRS, and Cosmonauts have been accused of abuse and predatory behavior
JULY 20, 2020

Longtime indie label Burger Records has been accused of "curating" a breeding ground for predatory behavior and sexual misconduct. Additionally, sexual assault allegations have been made specifically against Burger Records signees and their associates, including members of The Growlers, The Frights, The Buttertones, SWMRS, and Cosmonauts, among others.

Many of the allegations were complied on an Instagram page called Lured_By_Burger_Records, which was launched in hopes of "amplifying voices and supporting those who were victims of sexual predation by predators involved with Burger Records." Numerous posts recount instances in which young, underage girls were invited into the back room of Burger Records' physical store in Fullerton, California, only to be to preyed upon by older men associated with the label.

"Burger Records is responsible for curating a culture built on pedophilic tendencies and teenage fetishization, allowing predators access to the thousands of teenagers paying $$$ to go to their nearly-daily shows being held," read a post to the Instagram account. "Men of Burger Records lured teens in vans, the back room of Burger Records, and a storage unit someone was living in within the Burger Records lot."

One anonymous poster said she was just 15 years old when she was "welcomed into the back burger records in Fullerton to 'hang out' with groups of age 29+ men being offered alcohol, drugs and a ride home." Another story, provided by Sloppy Jane band leader Haley Dahl, said, "When i tried to align myself in your world of bands I experienced literally countless acts of disrespect, objectification, and sexual misconduct — and witnessed even more. It was heartbreaking, and a few young women I knew who experienced the same things no longer play music as a result of it."

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[CoolestSpot]

Deservedly so after all that. How big a hit is this for indie music?

Also fuck those band names

 

[Deleted member 11421]

Listening to Part Time last year during some major health crises helped me out a lot.

Regardless, there are plenty of bands out there and I can't possibly support or feel the same about that music anymore.

I couldn't find much on it but apparently this wasn't the first time allegations have been brought up against the frontman.

 

[samred]

Deservedly so after all that. How big a hit is this for indie music?

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Not particularly massive, but the kind of label that anybody who is hip with record stores and touring musicians knows about. The first time I ever saw Shannon and the Clams was a SXSW gig sponsored/curated by Burger Records maybe 10 years ago. They and a bunch of other affiliated bands made statements, collected below by Brooklyn Vegan, and you probably won't recognize many of the band names (I sure don't).

Shannon and the Clams, Cassie Ramone, Colleen Green & more react to Burger Records shutdown

The Garden, Las Rosas, White Mystery, Peach Kelli Pop, The Aquadolls, Surfbort, Olden Yolk and Bleached also responded after Burger Records responded to allegations of sexual misconduct against associated bands and employees, and ultimately shut down entirely.

www.brooklynvegan.com

 

[Quantum Leap]

I've been following the allegations since the first ones came out against The Buttertones and was absolutely crushed to hear that some of my favorite bands like The Growlers and Part Time are also pieces of shit. I loved going to the Burgerama Festivals. Seeing all of this unfold has been sad and eye opening.

 

[Deleted member 2533]

Wooooah, so the SWMRS misconduct centres around their drummer, who is the son of Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong. Apparently while on tour with another band fronted by a 16 year-old-girl, the dude (who was 22 at the time) initiated a near two-year relationship that involved escalating sexual contact. The saddest part is that the girl's dad was on tour with her and he would get her to sneak around and perform sexual acts "on the sly" even when other people were around, so it's not like she was just thrown into a bad situation, she and her band have been working really hard (I'm listening to some of their stuff and it's pretty good).

 

[The Driver]

I didn't know the label roster too well but once I started to get into the story I saw the fuckery spilt over into bands and people I actually liked like The Regrettes and Cherry Glazer.

Huge mound of shit over there, can't believe that scene kept running like that for so long.

 

[Dennie Dee]

Big oof.

Like quite a few bands on that label, including The Growlers. I understand the decision made by Zapor-Gray, hope the non predatory artists find a way to get their music out again quickly.

EDIT: woof, read multiple articles it's even worse than I initially thought.

 

[Dyno]

So this is essentially an attempt at a cover up. Its referenced as sexual misconduct allegations but the actual accusations seem to be grooming and essentially running a pedo sex ring.

This would kind of explain why they're killing the company. They're trying very hard to avoid getting charges pressed I guess. Sounds like everyone involved should be jailed for an extremely long time and spend their life on a watch list.