Punk rock’s #MeToo reckoning reaches into Bay Area
Scandal forces Oakland Boogaloo fest to cut ties
The implosion of influential SoCal punk rock label Burger Records amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct is reverberating in the Bay Area, with the son of rock star Billie Joe Armstrong being implicated and a popular East Bay music festival scrambling to cut ties with the label.
After a string of sexual assault and misconduct allegations were levied against employees and musicians affiliated with Burger Records — with many accusations involving underage girls — the 13-year-old label this week announced it would shut down and remove its music from streaming sites. The burgeoning scandal prompted organizers of the annual Burger Boogaloo festival in Oakland, which was affiliated with
the label, to announce it had severed all ties with Burger Records and would change its name.
But the scandal’s shockwaves in the East Bay didn’t stop there. As the flood of sexual misconduct allegations against Burger Records filled up social media sites, Joey Armstrong, son of the Green Day vocalist and the drummer for the band SWMRS (pronounced “Swimmers”), found himself among the accused.
Lydia Night, a member of the well-known SoCal band the Regrettes, said in a post she was coerced by Armstrong into having a relationship with him while she was underage. Burger Records released music by SWMRS, which got its start in the East Bay, in 2016. Night said Armstrong was 22 when the two began dating.
“I was in a relationship with Joey that started when I was 16 and ended right before my 18th birthday,” Night wrote on Instagram on Monday. “For so long I viewed it just as being toxic and not something valid enough to share, but now I know that what I actually experienced was emotional abuse and sexual coercion by someone in a position of power over me.
“It’s important to me that Joey and his entire band are held accountable to fully understand that even though they may view themselves as ‘good guys,’ they are continuing to perpetuate the exact toxic culture they are trying to call out.”
Night, whose band performed at the 2019 BottleRock Napa Valley festival, decided to go public with her story after reading a social media post from the SWMRS showing support for the “brave” victims who had come forward in the Burger Records scandal.
“To put yourself and your trauma in the spotlight is a terrifying and selfless act,” the band posted on Instagram. “It is exciting that we are in a place in society where we can have these conversations and take the survivors’ stories seriously. These stories are sparking a long overdue conversation about abuse in our community.”
Armstrong later addressed Night’s allegation separately.
“While I don’t agree with some of the things she said about me, it’s important that she be allowed to say them and that she be supported for speaking out,” he wrote on the SWMRS Instagram page. “I respect her immensely and fully accept that I failed her as a partner. I was selfish and I didn’t treat her the way she deserves to have been treated both during our relationship and in the two years since we broke up. … I hope she can forgive me, if and when she is ready to do so. I own my mistakes and will work hard to regain the trust that I lost.”
It remains to be seen what the future is for the bands, employees and former employees affiliated with the Fullerton-based label and music store, but the allegations directed at Burger Records have been extensive. There’s even an Instagram account — Lured by Burger Records — that is “dedicated to amplifying voices and supporting those who were victims of sexual predation by predators involved with Burger Records.”
The label initially announced plans for “major structural changes,” including changing its name to BRGR, accepting the resignation of co-founder Lee Rickard and appointing Jessa Zapor-Gray, a respected music industry marketer and executive, as interim president. Zapor-Gray had intended to oversee the restructure of the label before handing off control to a full-time president. But as she later said in a statement:
“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. Therefore, I have decided to step away from the label entirely to focus on my other projects.”
Co-founder Sean Bohrman told Pitchfork the decision at that point was to shut Burger Records for good.
Along the way, organizers of Burger Boogaloo in Oakland stepped in to sever all ties to the disgraced record label.
“Burger Boogaloo, which always has been an independently produced festival run by Oakland’s Total Trash Productions, has severed ties with Burger Records, and will henceforth be changing the name of the festival,” organizers announced on the festival website, burgerboogaloo. com, adding that they were “horrified to learn of all the allegations.”
Organizers added that Burger Records officials “never profited from ticket sales; they simply lent their name to the festival, boosted the festival via social media and were given a merch booth on the premises.”
A new name for the festival has not been announced. The festival is next scheduled to take place July 1011, 2021, with a lineup that includes Bikini Kill, Circle Jerks, Pansy Division, Plastic Bertrand and Flipper.