Accountability in Music • Page 68

yo what the fuck? this has to be illegal if sheridan was giving him therapy no?

always got strange promotional vibes from PT- I get that marketing has to be an important thing when you're building up an organization, but it was a bit sus from what I saw.

 

So, because I'm dumb, some one tell me if I have it correct:

Evan was seeing a person from PT (which I still can't fully wrap my head around) who was not a therapist but acting as one. That "therapist" was also seeing Evan's ex. The "therapist" used information from those sessions to build a case around Evan, then called him out and had him make the statement we all saw, even though the victim didn't want it made public and went so far as to say that they were still okay with Pinegrove touring?

 

Speaking from personal experience, I had a less than stellar experience trying to get help from PT. I decided that my personal discomfort wasn't important, because I assumed they were doing a greater good and providing good service to others. When Sarah came forward with her experience and I found out there were dozens of people who felt similarly, it became clear that that wasn't really the case. From what I'm seeing around twitter, everyone felt the same way I did- "okay, it didn't work for me, but it's obviously doing some good."

I think also the social capital that Sheridan has built by working with popular bands made people who knew better afraid to speak out.

 

Knowing what Evan has done, but also knowing how it was brought to light and that it should never have been, and that the victim possibly still wants Pinegrove to be able to tour and release music is all very confusing for me

 

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but we all deal with trauma in different ways. I've had my own weird shit happen with a band member from a pretty popular band, but it was something that we ended up working through together. I wouldn't want them to give up touring because I've moved past it. It's possible the person in this situation felt the same.

 

weirdly enough punk talks almost feels like TWLOHA in some ways, due to that

 

could also have to do that the victim doesn't feel that evan is really a threat to others as well. i think that's a major part of why exposing abusers is important, we don't want them to use their clout to take advantage of fans and others that they have the opportunity of meeting on the road. if the victim feels that he did a shitty thing and she doesn't want him around but doesn't think he's necessarily a harmful person generally, maybe they just think it's fine

 

"now i have a t-shirt to go with my scars"

 

oh wow, i forgot about twloha. Are they still around? you couldn't go 2 minutes without seeing someone with a to write love deep v neck at every show i went to circa 2006-2010. i don't recall anything particularly suspicious about to write love aside from the fact that they kinda seemed to operate just like a merch company, but since I assumed they were still giving money to a worthy cause and speaking about an important subject, they were doing good.

 

always seemed like a company far more focused on making money and merch sales than actually helping kids. maybe they did do some positive, but there were probably charities that actually focused on the charity side instead

 

To Write Scam On Her Arms.

 

TWLOHA is rubbish and hasnt done shit besides sell some shirts and make depression and self harm trendy

 

I agree, and I’m pretty sure we’ve talked about that before and I agree with your assessment

 

If I remember correctly, the claims about TWLOHA being a scam were debunked. I'm at work, but there was a response to the post Jake just linked to at some point- I'll track it down later. I think it basically just cleared up some misconceptions about how non-profits function and use their money. Also, they severed ties with an anti-LGBTQ donor as soon as they found out about their beliefs.

In other news, PT plot thickens:

 

now that i'm thinking about it, lots of the "emo night" apparel really took a lot from the TWLOHA era of advertising

 

oh fuck I never heard about this. yikes. adds a completely new dimension considering what little money they donated went in part to a homohobic organization who apparently made a name for itself by having their australian supporters sign over their welfare (?) checks to them?

Reminds me also of the Invisible Children/Kony2012 thing too.

re: twloha/emo night merch- i've always thought it to be weird/irresponsible for these companies banking on that very specific mid 00s era of dramatizing mental illness (re: the "Ohio is for Lovers" period). it's like "haha when we were teenagers our friends openly talked about cutting themselves! so silly! funny!"

 

Uuugh, I’m so sorry that happened to you. I totally understand not wanting to take them on for the same reason people are afraid of band members or revealing anything about their personal lives in public, it’s just the part about unlicensed people giving therapy or publishing privileged information that I’m surprised went on for so long. I just hope the damage they’ve done to their clients and the overall view of therapy can be remedied in some way.

 

This is a friend of mine and she really nailed it here

 

doing more research it seems TWLOHA has made changes in recent years, which is fine, but back in the day they definitely were extremely suspect in their approach and what they were actually doing, they did not have the best reputation in the late 00's for a reason

 

my main problem with TWLOHA was always their image and marketing but that could just be me, their approach to the issue they tackled just didnt sit right with me

 

same here

that envy on the coast song you posted always hit it right on the nail for me

 

I think a weird decision NPOs/advocacy groups have to make is how intensively they wanna market themselves. like, it's very, very hard to make people care about your group unless you offer something that benefits them (ie a piece of merch, association with clouty musicians, so on), but at the same time, you (should) want to stay authentic and maintain your focus on helping people as your main goal. So idk the answer or whether TWLOHA did the right thing or not by making their brand all about their apparel line, but it's been something I've thought about for some time,.

 

Who woulda thought I learned everything I needed to know about DIY from the X-Files?

 

As an outsider it feels a little disheartening. I briefly dipped my toes into local activism work (not in a music or diy scene tho) and the more people I met I became very jaded. Cause I guess when I was on the outside I just thought we were all working for this common goal of equality and safety and everyone was like a big family. But the closer I got the more of the in-fighting I saw and how X group didn't want to show up if Y group was going to be there and there was so much drama about who was doing things the "right" way and I ended up removing myself back to an outsider because it seemed like nobody could find common ground to work together.


I guess I'm naive but I always hope if it's a passion that you've decided to dedicate ur life to that you'd go about things in a true and ethical way. Idk if people purposefully start out shady or if they think they're doing the right thing and lose perspective? Idk.

 

i never understand how people in local communities can't put aside petty drama in order to benefit the community. liking booking companies that won't work to book each other's bands on good shows? or stuff like that? it's just so dumb and hurts everyone