Brand New - Science Fiction (August 17, 2017) [ARCHIVED] Album • Page 1618

I’d say give it another week to see what happens and give people a chance to voice their opinion and then shut this thread down and try to get this community to move forward without this band.

If I ever listen to this band again it won’t be publically, it will be in private and on I won’t be posting about them..

 

I don’t have the ability to necessarily move on forever without them, having engrained a quote into my skin of his that has motivated me and given me a sense of strength in darker times of my life. I can however, and have already begun to let go of my affinity and care for anything currently to do with them. I hope to see them say their peace with their fans, and announce the end soon without a goodbye tour if Jesse cannot acknowledge the true crime of his nature.

 

Thank you for everything you do, @Jason Tate. I have a lot of respect and admiration for you and what you do on this website. Thank you for working to foster a safe, inclusive, and respectable community. You are appreciated.

 

This is really cool! I'd love to see what a non-demo version looks like. Thank you for sharing.

It's going to be a bit before mine is ready. I only have one verse written so far. But when it's done, I'll share.

 

I think I might need to brain vomit a lot of stuff about this too. Probably won't be quite as articulate as Jason's, but it was gonna go on a tumblr blog with zero followers and effectively into the void if not here so I might as well put it somewhere that I can actually share it with people.

It's probably a little overblown to say this, but it really feels like this band has defined me as a person since I got into them at 15. Any difficult personal struggles I've had since then have had this band as the soundtrack in the background of them. It goes hand in hand with the depressive episodes I've had, the moments of wanting it all to end, and has been as part of the sadness as the sadness itself. It's probably not any different from countless other experiences people that listen to this band have had, because I guess that's a large part of why they resonated with people. So knowing that that is something I can't bring myself to listen to any more is as scary as it is upsetting.

But this incident has done too much to taint this band for a number of reasons. I can't help but feel that because I started listening at 15 and I'm 22 now that I can put myself in the victim's shoes- not to victimise myself in any way because it's absolutely not about that, but knowing that someone could've used those feelings that the band defines so well- that sadness, that feeling of being 'fucked up' and exploiting that is just despicable. Taking someone at a point that is likely a low in their life, taking something that they find solace in when they feel like they don't have much else... honestly it's lucky that it didn't cause even more damage than it had- maybe it did, we'll likely never know.

But I feel like I can't wholly go into how despicable it is because it's somewhere I've been too. Not in any way illegal, but hell I've been awful to girls before. People I've convinced I've wanted more from and then I've gone and used them for sex and dropped them. People I've been manipulative to. People I've gotten angry with when I haven't got my own way. If anything this statement has just brought the underlying guilt I've always felt to the surface. Seeing someone who was your hero go down because they've crossed the line makes you see the comparisons in yourself, and realise how sickening it is being out in the open. I'm so much more ashamed of it because I can see that behaviour in myself. The age of the person, as much as it's the legal issue, really can't be the focal point in my mind, because we can't as a society live where abuse can be tolerated just because it's legal. I have tried and tried to be a better person as I've gotten older. I think this is the wake up call I need to really look at my actions in the cold light of day and do what I can to rectify them.

We all need to learn from the mistakes of the people we look up to rather than just distance ourselves from their situations. It needs to be something we all do to change. I'm going to try contacting people I've wronged to do something other than ignore it. Something positive has to come out of this. As far as this band goes, I'm not going to support them any longer. I'm calling for a refund on the limited vinyl even if they don't cancel it themselves. I'm not going to the show next Saturday even if it's on. As hard as it is, I won't even listen to their music again. I can totally understand people that want to carry on with this, but I'm done. I don't want to make this about me in any way, because it isn't. But it needs to be something where we can prove that we're better than our idols, and that needs to start here.

 

I

I think Geoff might have been alluding to the rumor (99.9% confirmed) of why the European tour was cancelled many years ago.

 

This is a wonderful statement about a situation we would have recently thought unfathomable, one that I found myself nodding along with the entire time, realizing this is precisely how I feel about the matter. Thanks for putting this out there and just for the effort and work you put into the site in general.

 

This sums up my feelings exactly. I love this site, and I’m glad you founded it.

 

I’m gonna pop out of the thread I think. Love you all.

 

Yeah that Geoff Rickly podcast made me think Geoff knew something else aside from the aforementioned cancelled tours regarding a former member. I also got the impression Geoff didn’t like Jesse but thought he was a great musician so it was moot. Idk I don’t want to like drag Geoff into it but I’m guessing he was just speaking in general that if something else were to come out it would really mess the band up and now here we are.

 

I appreciate some of the people who don’t like brand new on this site not rubbing this in our faces.

 

The first time I saw Brand New live was when I was 14/15 years old. I remember being so damn excited for it. I was looking forward to it for months. And I'm thinking back about who I was at that age, how clueless I was about relationships because I had never even held a boy's hand, and the general naivety I had about the world. And it makes my skin crawl thinking about the girls he took advantage of that were just as innocent, naive, and confused as my own self at that age.

 

Maybe this site has been tame with that, but on Facebook I've seen some real shitty responses. I have one "friend" who hates Brand New and when the news came out he posted a link to the story with the caption "Hahahaha this is great I've always hated this band." And I'm like seriously dude? Just because you didn't like their music you're happy that young girls were sexually preyed upon?

This past month has made me realize that like 90% of people are just complete pieces of shit.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was about the same age when I first saw them.

 

Not sure if you got a reply to this, but I'm a huge fan the Trevor Project which provides support to LGBTQ+ youth.

 

Zarillo tweeted

 

Literally just saw this as you mentioned it, even though it was like 19 hours ago. Glad he's said he's supporting the victim. As difficult as it is given its his livelihood now, I hope he severs ties with Procrastinate.

 

I've been oscillating between anger and grief. And they weren't even a fave of mine so I'm not mourning as a fan so much as for just one more safe place and escape that has been taken away from ppl. I know some ppl can separate it out and continue listening to the band, but not everyone can, espesh some survivors of assault I've seen post their stories. This band was an outlet for them and there is a sense of betrayal and disgust that they were trying to run away or work thru something that caused trauma and just ended up running towards the music of another abusive predator. And so many men are commenting condescending things about how they shouldn't be so upset cause hero worship is stupid and u can't put ppl on a pedestal and I'm like okay, women know that more than literally anyone. We know men continuously let us down. It's why when we do find solace and comfort in something where we feel safe and accepted it's all the more difficult when it's torn away. And of course the survivors are most important first and foremost, and I can't imagine how it has been for them watching their abuser celebrated and revered for so long. I can't imagine. Idek. The whole situation is awful and while I don't want there to even be more stories about other musicians, I know that there are and I hope that the bravery of those coming forward against a beloved band like Brand New can inspire others to do the same, or at least give them some comfort knowing they're not alone and they have support if they need it.

 

Same. I mentioned this yesterday but one of the worst parts of this for me has been not only having the songs tainted but ALL of the memories from that time. How many of the interactions that I thought showed just how down to earth my favorites were and how much they appreciated their fans were really just part of this pattern? Did they come out and say hi to all the kids after the show because they wanted to give back or because they wanted to find the next potential victim? Were the ones who would respond to messages doing it to be open and humble or to increase that connection and fish for girls? Why would so many VIP packages allow you to run around backstage or behind the scenes without any supervision? I even saw a comment about FOB and underage girls at music shoots and it suddenly makes me paranoid remembering all the OCK invites I got that I only had to turn down because of distance. Was it all harmless and wonderful and special to be a part of or was it just another technique to hurt kids? I feel like I can't trust even my own experiences anymore.

 

As someone who likes certain bands with problems regarding members (Neck Deep, Moose Blood, Turnover), it's actually kind of interesting for me to see how certain people process this long term now it's a band they like. I've had people call me out for still listening to them before on here, or even wanting to talk about them.

 

I mean, it’s not like a contest or anything but yeah a spades a spade. I won’t listen to or support any of the bands you just mentioned just as I now won’t listen to or support BN after these accusations have come to light. It’s not “calling out”, it’s a reminder to people reading that hey this band has done sketchy shit. If this were any of my favorite bands, and don’t get wrong I may joke but TDAG, Daisy, FOYD, and even SCI-FI mean quite a bit to me, but after all this I just can’t listen anymore and I’ll do my best to be respectful to those that do but I’ll absolutely bring this up anytime the band gets mentioned in a positive light because it deserves to be brought up and be a reminder.

 

I remember Warped Tour and having all my faves just hanging around the grounds was so exhilarating for me. I was 15 and from a rural town and at that point it was literally the best time I'd ever had in my life. I was thrilled at how accessible the bands were to me. I remember meeting one of my faves and thinking that it was already one of the best memories I'd ever had. Since becoming an adult and learning of all the stuff that goes on at Warped and with many of those bands... I still have my memories but it's a weird feeling. Because if any of those bands had asked me on their bus or wanted my number I would have enthusiastically said yes and I would not have been prepared for the consequences of that.

 

Never posted in this thread, and to be honest outside of a few songs on Deja, if one of their tracks were to play randomly I wouldn't have the slightest idea of what this band sounded like.

Basically just wanted to say that despite having no emotional attachment, no nostalgia and no past whatsoever with this band, it's been really interesting and enlightening to read your thoughts, the thoughts from loyal fans on this matter. Grief, anger, resentment, betrayal, shock, condemnation - it's all been etched into the last few pages of this thread and I want to applaud everyone for telling their stories, recounting their memories and just generally being so supportive and accepting of each other even when you may not necessarily agree with where they're coming from. To see you all leaning on each other whilst finding the inner strength to process all of this yourself, that's been really powerful to see from an outside perspective looking in.

I've been really lucky. None of my top-tier favourite bands have ever been involved in something that's come to light where I've had to look inwardly and reflect on my relationship with the band members and their music. I hope that day never comes, but I'm not naïve enough to think that it won't. Obviously my thoughts foremost are with the direct victims and their families, but I wanted to touch on the fans too because I know this can't be easy. Respect to all of you.

 

The more I think about this situation, the angrier I get. The countless manipulative and predatory acts involved in all of this are just incomprehensible. And I hate that we were unknowingly part of creating the platform/power that Jesse used to his advantage.

Also, I probably need to change my username now. Is there a way to do that?

 

There is. If you click on the sidebar and scroll down, there is an “account upgrades” button. On that page you’ll find the option. It’s $3