Accountability in Music • Page 887

Kevin comments often on Andrea’s Instagram. Commented on the very post today she refers to them playing.

 

He called them friends back in September at the Ryman.

 

Welp.

 

Yeah, it caught me off guard. Was the first time I had heard anyone say "Brand New" in a positive light in years.

 

Just want to say, and I know it’s something that’s said before - and this is no endorsement of Jesse or any groomer/abuser/etc. (also, not a comment on whatever Kevin Devine said) - but people who we want to see experience consequences for their actions could and should have friends that, hopefully, are also holding them accountable.

That’s not to say they should endorse them as an artist or give them back their platform, but actually make sure they’re kept in check and rehabilitating themselves and learning from their actions. I know there are some that just deserve to be kicked in a hole and never be heard from again, but others should learn from what they’ve done and grow as a person and they, no doubt, need friends to be a part of that process.

 

Pretty much how I feel anytime people bring up K-Dev alongside the Brand New stuff. If he tours with them again or something, it's a different story.

 

i'm very conflicted. the woman still getting harassed for telling her story... those fans do not deserve a reunion.

 

Why would they need to even test the waters?
Just looked on Spotify - ‘Quiet Things’ has 75 million plays, they have a million monthly listeners. A BN reunion tour would sell out a certain sized venue (idk what size exactly) in half an hour easy.

 

I have bad news for you about stans of every band/artist on earth

 

Oh he HAD to quit brand new at that point and distance himself if he wanted a career still. They probably told him to do it. No doubt they are all still bros

 

I have a slightly different perspective on BN now (I dropped them when the allegations first came out, and this has only changed within the last few months, so it's not a fully developed thought, but...)
How do we know that JL hasn't put the work in to change?
He's always been intensely private. The allegations are far enough back, and he did admit to a sex addiction that he and his wife had to deal with through therapy.
What else are we owed?
If you, morally, can't support JL/BN moving forward, I get it.
If you want to assume the best and are okay with supporting BN, I get that too.
Maybe there are bigger problems in the music industry that need to be called out without hyperfixating on one that should have been closed out 7 years ago.
And again, I haven't fully worked this out myself. That's just where my head has been lately.

 

wasn't it a year ago when he was trying to offer guitar lessons to high schoolers until the parents found out about his past and got pissed and shut it down? idk why there is any reason to carry water for the guy at this point.

 

I listened to the Thrice/Manchester podcast the bands did before their recent coheadline tour and it was jarring to hear Andy even mention Brand New by name when he and Dustin talked about something. Felt like the first time I'd heard the name said out loud by anyone associated with them in a minute.

 

I’m very worried for the attention span of some posters, who seemingly can only focus on one problem at a time.

 

Kind of related to this but as I've explained to others, the whole calculus for me changes with streaming residuals.

If I only cared to listen to Brand New physical media and was capable of ignoring what he did and what many of the songs are likely about, I could find solace in knowing I already paid for the media and that was the last of the money he'd receive from me. That isn't the case with streaming anymore so if I go to my service of choice and don't have everything downloaded (or if you use something like Apple Music where it's possibly matched, they still get a residual) so that gives me the ick. It goes from a one-time thing I can wave away to "oh, he's getting paid".

I also know there is plenty of revisionism being done to this day around Jesse to allow people to excuse his behavior which further gives me the ick.

 

A band involved in one of the bigger scandals the larger 'scene' has dealt with in the past decade coming back without publicly taking accountability just won't cut it with me and plenty of other people. If he's done the work then I don't see why they can't collectively go on the record as having done so. I can't afford him the benefit of the doubt when the band's whole thing was shrouded in mystery toward the end of their activity. My point is that the onus is on him, and even then he doesn't necessarily have a right to reclaim his platform.

 

I'm interested in hearing what publicly taking accountability/going on the record would look like from your perspective. What would it take for you to move on, personally? Maybe your thoughts can help me out too.

 

I feel like the damage has been done and it's too extensive for me to ever reconcile my feelings surrounding this band but: if Lacey comes out and says he's done xyz in accordance with his actions being brought to light then at least that's something. When Dylan Matthiesen of Tiny Moving Parts was accused of sexual assault in 2019, he apologised publicly but didn't put in much of any rehabilitative work from what I can see. When The Front Bottoms helped cover for a former band member accused of assaulting the same person, they buried it. It's been seven years, and it'll be too little too late for some, but at least naming the issue and detailing the steps he's taken would be something. The vague 2017 statement was probably the best he thought he could do at the time. If BN mount a comeback with nothing more said, I don't think that's enough.

 

I’m less concerned with what self-serving steps he’s done to fix himself and more concerned with how he’s made amends to the victims.

 

Speaking for myself only, any hope they had of me moving on died when their fan base was launching vicious attacks at the accuser and they stayed silent. Any apology, proof of therapy, volunteer work etc etc is whatever to me after that. They can rot.

 

I think y'all would be surprised as to who still keeps in touch with JL and fam. But as @Zilla said last night (and something I said in the SF thread as early as 2017 when all this shit happened), I wouldn't expect their close friends and family to completely ditch them, and in some ways, it can still be healthy for positive friendship/relationships to hold individuals accountable while also not using their platform to endorse or support them publicly.

 

Yeah it's made even worse by their silence on continued attacks on at least one survivor that we know of. Deeply fucked up situation all around. I did see that same survivor's standpoint as 'support them or don't, just keep that shit off around me because it's incredibly triggering', which is totally fair.

 

Oh I don't think I would be surprised at all to find out folks are still tight with them. It was just odd to hear Andy throw the name out since I rarely hear them mentioned by other artists that isn't in a negative context

 

You also hardly ever see anyone wearing their merch.

I do think there are plenty of people who would go to a reunion show but there are also plenty of people who treat them like the pariah they are.