Over the weekend, multiple anonymous sources brought sexual misconduct allegations against various artists and staff affiliated with the California garage rock label Burger Records. Within days, co-founder and president Lee Rickard resigned, and the label issued a statement announcing “major structural changes” within the company. Now Oakland’s Total Trash Productions, promoters of the label’s annual Burger Boogaloo festival, have announced that they have distanced themselves from Burger Records and will continue the event under a different name, yet to be announced.
“Burger Boogaloo, which has always been an independent production festival run by Oakland’s Total Trash Productions, has severed ties with Burger Records, and will henceforth change the name of the festival,” Total Trash wrote in a statement on its website. “The label’s involvement was always fairly perfunctory, and Burger Records never benefited from ticket sales; They simply lent their name to the festival, promoted it through social networks and were given a merchandising position in the venue. Total Trash Productions is horrified to learn of all the allegations and a more detailed statement on the matter; what the festival will do to further ensure the safety of its attendees can be found in the full statement below. “Scroll down to find the full statement.
Yesterday (July 20), Alice Bag announced on Facebook that her band decided to cancel their appearance on the upcoming Burger Boogaloo “in light of the information that has recently appeared about Burger Records and some of its artists and employees.” Bag added: “We commend the bravery of survivors who have shared their stories and hope that their voices are a catalyst for change.”
In light of the recent allegations against Burger Records and several of the bands on its label, Total Trash Productions has made the decision to end our long-standing association with Burger Records. We want to express our sincere support to the brave women who have come forward to share their stories. We also want to sincerely apologize to anyone who has been victimized or harassed at any of our events. As Burger Boogaloo organizers, we accept responsibility for what happens at the event, and while we have always worked to take swift action to remove people from the event or our training who have acted violently or inappropriately, we know that we can always do so. you do better. We owe it to our fans and our community. As many of you know, Total Trash Productions has been hosting music shows and festivals here in the Bay Area for over a decade.
We are made up of a small group of staff and volunteers who live and work in Oakland and the Bay Area, and we have always strived to create a positive, fun and safe experience for our community through our shared love of music. Total Trash first became familiar with Burger Records’ backup tours for their bands, and that led to the festival. The festival in Mosswood has always been produced by our Northern California production company, and we have hired Burger to do the promotion. While we personally had a generally positive experience working with Burger Records and were unaware of the allegations that arose this week, we understand that there are many young women and others who have suffered traumatic experiences at the hands of certain bands and individuals. associated with Burger Records. We are concerned and disgusted by the allegations that have arisen, and we support the survivors.
Last night we cut our ties with Burger Records. Our production company was founded 10 years ago by a couple who has been the victim of sexual assault, and it would never be our goal to put people in danger at our event. Moving forward without Burger, our event will now continue only as Total Garbage Production. At Total Trash Productions, we recognize that we are not perfect either. Organizing a music festival is not an easy task and we have definitely made a lot of mistakes along the way. Even after all these years, we continue to grow and learn how we can do better. But we want everyone to know that we see it, we hear it and we are listening to it.
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